Robinhood has been one of the most popular investment apps for years now, and you’ve likely seen the company in the news during that time.
In many cases, though, Robinhood has made headlines for the wrong reasons. And with a load of relatively recent negative press, many investors have been abandoning ship. As a result, the app lost 11% of its users from Q2 to Q3 in 2021.
Robinhood is still going strong despite those losses, and the company has attempted to make good on past apologies. They’re focused on innovating to stay up to date with trends in the mobile-first investment industry.
While Robinhood is still one of the most popular mobile apps for investing and people looking to become investors, it’s worth looking at what Robinhood has to offer compared to its quality alternatives.
What is Robinhood?
Robinhood is a popular investment platform and app; people saw it as one of the most popular trading apps for quite a while.
Robinhood’s popularity began to soar when the company started offering commission-free trades in 2015. Commission-free trading, coupled with the app’s simplicity and user-friendly interface, made Robinhood a genuinely competitive platform. At the time, brokerages were still overwhelmingly charging commissions or fees on every trade.
After Robinhood started taking over a significant market share in its industry, its competition followed suit. This trailblazing process left Robinhood a step ahead of its competition, and it still boasts low costs and positive user experience ratings.
Robinhood seemed unstoppable for several years, but then the company became mired in controversy.
A scandal—the subject of CEO and co-founder Vlad Tenev’s apology to users—was followed by a drop in Robinhood users and revenues. However, during the same timeframe, Robinhood’s competition was catching up in terms of service offerings. Now, there are several apps like Robinhood that are worth investigating.
What Apps Are Similar to Robinhood?
There are several apps and robo-advisors that are similar to Robinhood, and many Robinhood alternatives are designed for a more specific purpose than Robinhood was.
Some alternatives simply offer better service than Robinhood in specific areas.
Some of the best Robinhood alternatives include these investing apps:
- Titan
- WeBull
- Gemini
- Charles Schwab
- Acorns
- eTrade
- eToro
- TD Ameritrade
- Ally Invest
Titan App as an Alternative to the Robinhood App
The Titan investment app is a unique alternative to the Robinhood app since it offers a team of investors to manage your investment portfolios actively. The two are comparable in many ways, but Titan has a few unique selling points that Robinhood doesn’t currently offer.
Like Robinhood, Titan is a “mobile-first” investment platform. And like Robinhood, Titan offers a minimum investment of only $100 and does not charge commissions or any kind of trading fees, but a flat monthly fee of $5 for accounts with deposits of less than $10,000.
But though Titan’s low cost and transparent fee structure make it similar to Robinhood in some fundamental ways, there are several areas where Titan differs significantly from Robinhood.
Let’s review three key features that make Titan a good alternative to the Robinhood app, provided these are important for you.
1. Have an Expert Investment Team Actively Manage Your Investments
Robinhood markets itself as a force for the “democratization” of investing. That claim is valid, as they do enable users to conduct the same kinds of transactions that financial managers make on your behalf. Therefore, you will have to manage your own investments if you choose this trading app.
While this is true, it’s also true that you can benefit significantly from active professional management from a dedicated team of professionals, especially if you don’t need to pay a premium for it.
Titan’s offer is simple and proves that you can receive professional investment management at a very affordable cost.
You pay a very low, flat management fee of $5 per month up to $10,000 deposits or an annualized 1% if you deposit over $10,000 on your account. For that minor fee, Titan’s analysts will manage your investment portfolio. You do have to provide some inputs on your risk tolerance and investment goals; Titan will then base your portfolio mix on these inputs.
Once you provide your information, though, you’ll be good to go, and you can view the progress through their mobile app.
It’s important to note that active management isn’t the best approach for everyone. Many people want more control over their investments. However, self-directed investing is also not for everyone, as it can be both challenging and time-consuming. Understanding the key differences in approaches can help you make the right choice in investment apps.
2. Access In-Depth Educational Resources on Trading and Investing
While you have all the decision-making power with a Robinhood account, they also try to support users with some educational materials. Learn.robinhood.com, for instance, offers material on investment basics and provides users with financial literacy resources and simple guides to available asset classes.
Titan, meanwhile, offers a Research section with valuable information about how they make strategic decisions about your investments, aside from educational resources. These Research and Educational sections include:
- Daily Three Things Update: Each day, Titan’s team publishes three things that are happening on that day, and their effects on the investment market.
- Ongoing Research: As part of their efforts to keep their investment strategies transparent, the Titan team writes about their decisions, strategies and current affairs that impact their decisions.
- General and In-Depth Educational Resources: Titan also offers an Article Library and Educational Resources section on their app, to help you learn more about investing.
Rollover your IRA, 401(k), or 403(b)
If you want to open a new IRA, 401(k), or 403(b), you have several options for funding a new account. One of those options is a rollover. A rollover takes place when you “roll” funds over from an existing account into your new one.
This is one area where Robinhood is lacking. There are three Robinhood accounts types, but none of them are retirement accounts.
Robinhood only offers taxable brokerage accounts; they don’t offer any retirement or other tax-advantaged accounts.
On the other hand, Titan offers retirement accounts and enables in-app rollovers. Users can roll over their old 401(k)s into Titan, and you can choose between Individual, Trad IRA, or Roth IRA accounts. IRAs opened through Titan’s app follow the same regulations all IRAs must follow and boasts all the same tax advantages. Once you have chosen your account type to fund your account, your portfolio will be managed by Titan’s analysts.
Learn More About Titan as an Active Investing Alternative to Robinhood App
Titan is a good alternative to the Robinhood app if you’re looking for a similar service but want a team of investors to actively manage your investment portfolios at a low cost.
To sign up for Titan, visit their website to create an account and download the app. You will have to choose between an Individual, Trad IRA, or Roth IRA account and add funds to it. After that, select your risk level and your investment strategies (they offer four different ones, including a crypto-managed portfolio) and monitor the progress of Titan’s investment team through the mobile app.
