Not too long ago, if you wanted to start investing, you had to go to your local bank and talk to an investment advisor. Fortunately, in today’s digitized world, you can begin investing with the click of a button in an app.
In this article, you will discover the best investment apps to invest in stocks, bonds, options, ETFs, bitcoin, and other assets.
| App | App Store Rating | Trustpilot Score |
|---|---|---|
| SoFi | 4.8 | 3.8 |
| e*Trade | 4.6 | 2.5 |
| Stash | 4.7 | 4 |
| Betterment | 4.8 | 3.7 |
| Acorns | 4.5 | 3.4 |
| Personal Capital | 4.7 | 4.4 |
| eToro | 4.1 | 2.2 |
| Robinhood | 4.8 | 1.9 |
| Wealthfront | 4.8 | 3.4 |
| WealthSimple | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Coinbase | 4.7 | 2 |
| Ellevest | 4.7 | n/a |
Best Investment Apps in 2020
Below, you will find a list of the best online investment apps, reviewed and rated by criteria such as fees, number of users, Trustpilot score, and more.
SoFi
SoFi is a digital money and wealth management services provider that enables users to save, borrow, and invest in an easy and straightforward manner. SoFi stands out from many of its peers for offering zero-fee automatic investing, which is a particularly popular service among young and first-time investors.
- Fees: $0 per trade
- Number of Users: 1+ Million
- App Store Rating: 4.8
- Trustpilot Rating: 3.8
E*Trade
E*Trade is one of the oldest and most popular online brokerages that enables you to trade on a zero-commission basis. E*Trade stands out for having one of the broadest offerings of investable assets that range from stocks and bonds to CDs and mutual funds.
- Fees: $0 per trade
- Number of Users: 5+ Million
- App Store Rating: 4.6
- Trustpilot Rating: 2.5
Stash
Stash is an automatic micro-investing app that allows users to start investing with as little as $5. Stash is ideal for young and first-time investors who are still learning the ropes but want to invest in a simple, hassle-free manner.
- Fees: $1 – $9 per month
- Number of Users: 2.4+ Million
- App Store Rating: 4.7
- Trustpilot Rating: 4.0
Betterment
Betterment is a market-leading digital wealth management app that enables investors to invest in low-cost ETF portfolios that are specifically tailored to each investor’s risk appetite. Betterment stands out for offering an easy, automated investment service that enables anyone to invest in the financial markets.
- Fees: 0.25% per year
- Number of Users: 500,000+
- App Store Rating: 4.8
- Trustpilot Rating: 3.7
Acorns
Acorns is a micro-investing app that enables users to automatically round-up the spare change of each purchase and add it into a low-cost ETF portfolio. Acorns is ideal for young and new investors who only have a small amount of investable capital available.
- Fees: $1 – $3 per month
- Number of Users: 3.5+ Million
- App Store Rating: 4.5
- Trustpilot Rating: 3.4
Personal Capital
Personal Capital is a digital financial advisor and personal wealth management platform that helps people to manage and invest their money. Personal Capital stands out for offering digital and human financial planning for an affordable rate.
- Fees: 0.89% per year
- Number of Users: 1.7+ Million
- App Store Rating: 4.7
- Trustpilot Rating: 4.4
eToro
eToro is the world’s leading social trading platform that enables users to “copy” successful traders in a fully automated fashion. By copying the traders of several high-performing traders, new investors can generate similar returns in an automated manner. Additionally, eToro also enables users to actively trade CFDs on assets such as stocks, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies.
- Fees: 0 per trade
- Number of Users: 3+ Million
- App Store Rating: 4.1
- Trustpilot Rating: 2.2
Robinhood
Robinhood is a zero-fee trading and investment app that enables anyone to start investing in the financial markets with the click of a button. Robinhood enables you to trade stocks, options ETFs, and cryptocurrencies.
- Fees: 0 per trade
- Number of Users: 3+ Million
- App Store Rating: 4.8
- Trustpilot Rating: 1.9
Wealthfront
Wealthfront is a digital wealth management app that enables users to invest in a low-cost ETF portfolio in a simple and automated manner. Wealthfront is an excellent app for investors who want to build a brand portfolio over time with little to no hands-on involvement.
- Fees: 0.25% per year
- Number of Users: 100,000+
- App Store Rating: 4.8
- Trustpilot Rating: 3.4
Wealthsimple
Wealthsimple is an online wealth management app focused on millennials who want to invest in the financial markets in a simple, easy, and automated manner. Wealthsimple creates low-cost ETF portfolios based on each investor’s risk preference.
- Fees: 0.4% – 0.5% per year
- Number of Users: 65,000+
- App Store Rating: 4.5
- Trustpilot Rating: 4.4
Coinbase
Coinbase is arguably the most popular digital currency investment app in the world. Coinbase enables users to invest in and securely store a wide range of digital assets, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum.
- Fees: 1.49% – 3.99% per trade
- Number of Users: 13+ Million
- App Store Rating: 4.7
- Trustpilot Rating: 2.0
Ellevest
Ellevest is an online wealth management platform targeted at female investors. Research shows that women invest differently than men, and is exactly what Ellevest focuses on. Ellevest builds personalized portfolios for each user based on their risk preference and investment goals.
- Fees: 0.25% per year
- Number of Users: n/a
- App Store Rating: 4.7
- Trustpilot Rating: n/a
What is the Best Investment App?
According to our criteria, the online investment app with the highest score is SoFi. However, while SoFi may have received the best rating, it does not necessarily mean that it is also the best investment app for you. The reason for that is that different apps are targeted at different types of investors.
For example, Robinhood is a zero-fee trading app targeted at active investors and traders who like to be hands-on with their investment. Conversely, Coinbase allows you to invest in cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin, while Wealthfront invests your money into a low-cost ETF portfolio on your behalf.
Therefore, before you start investing using a dedicated investment app, you first need to be clear on what you want to invest in, whether you want to be more hands-on or hands-off with your investments, and much capital you want to invest.
If you are unsure at the moment, the right move is probably to start with a beginner-friendly investment app.
Best Investment Apps for Beginners
If you are a total newbie and are just starting out with investing, it makes sense to reach for the most beginner-friendly options. Three of the best investment apps for beginners include Betterment, SoFi, and Wealthfront.
Betterment
Betterment offers automated online investing that enables you to invest in a diversified portfolio of low-cost ETFs in a completely hands-off manner. The so-called “robo advisor” is excellent for beginners as all you need to do is answer a few questions to determine your investor profile and risk-preference, and then your money is invested on your behalf for a small annual management fee of 0.25%.
Key Features
- Automated online wealth management
- Supports retirement accounts (Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and more)
- Offers tax-loss harvesting
- Free automatic rebalancing
- 0.25% annual management fee
- Human financial advisors available for premium users
SoFi
SoFi is a money and wealth management app that provides users with a range of products, including a mobile bank account, student loan refinancing, insurance policies, and online investing. SoFi offers both active and automated investing at zero fees, which makes it an ideal app for young and inexperienced investors.
Key Features
- Zero-fee active and automated investing
- Investable assets on offer include stocks, ETFs, and crypto
- Supports retirement accounts (Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and more)
- Free automatic rebalancing
- Wide range of additional products, including loans, insurance, mobile banking, and financial planning
Wealthfront
Wealthfront is a leading automatic investment service that stands out for its simplicity, low fees, and tax-optimization services. The digital-only platform allows you to plan, save, and invest using one app. In addition to the company’s flagship automated investment platform that enables you to invest in a diversified, low-cost ETF portfolio, Wealthfront also offers FDIC-insured high-yield cash accounts for more risk-averse savers.
Key Features
- Automated online wealth management
- 0.25% annual management fee
- $500 account minimum
- Tax-loss harvesting
- Free automatic rebalancing
- Supports retirement accounts (Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and more)
- Also offers high-yield cash accounts and credit lines
Best Small Investment Apps
You may not have deep pockets right now but that does not mean you can’t start investing today. There are several small investment apps that are dedicated to exactly that: small investments.
Acorns
Acorns is arguably the market-leading app for small investments. Not only is the app incredibly user-friendly, it also enables anyone to start saving with as little as $5 in a fully-automated manner. That means even people who have little to no understanding about investing can get started by having the app automatically round up purchases and invest them into an ETF portfolio on their behalf.
Key Features
- Automatically invest spare change into low-cost ETF portfolio
- Mobile bank account plus cash-back reward debit card
- $1 to $3 flat monthly fee
- $0 account minimum, $5 to start investing
- Free automatic portfolio rebalancing
Stash
Stash is another top pick among small investment apps. The mobile app enables users to invest small amounts into stocks and ETF portfolios as well as automatically round-up their spare change into an investment portfolio. If you are new to investing, Stash is an excellent entry-level app to get you started.
Key Features
- Invest small amounts into low-cost ETF portfolio and/or stocks with guidance
- Automatic spare change round-up investing
- Mobile bank account plus cash-back reward debit card
- $1 to $9 flat monthly fee
- $5 account minimum
Best Stock Investment Apps
If you want to trade stocks, there are a large number of stock investment apps you can choose from. To make the choice easier for you, here are our two top picks: E*Trade and Robinhood.
E*Trade
E*Trade is one of the longest-standing stock trading apps that has been in the market for several decades. There is a long list of reasons why E*Trade has over five million users. From its incredibly wide range of tradable assets to its highly-rated customer service, the popular online brokerage is a great place to start for both new and experienced investors.
Key Features
- Zero-fee stock trading
- Large selection of tradable assets, including stocks, futures, option, mutual funds, ETFs, and more
- Access to research reports
- $0 account minimum
Robinhood
Robinhood enables you to trade and invest in stocks, options, gold ETFs, and cryptocurrencies without zero trading fees. The California-based startup pioneered the zero-fee commission model that was later following by established online brokerages (such as E*Trade.) Robinhood stands out for being a no-frills stock trading app for investors who want to actively trade a range of markets.
Key Features
- Zero-fee trading
- Trade stocks, option, gold, ETFs, and crypto
- Margin trading
- $0 account minimum
Should You Use an Investment App?
If you prefer a human touch and are happy to pay a wealth manager a sizable fee to advise you on your investments or manage them for you, then you don’t need an investment app. However, if you prefer to have your investment portfolio visible on your smartphone and want to be able to make investments with the click of a button, investment apps are the way to go.
Today, you can purchase Tesla stock, investing in an ETF portfolio, or bet on a surge in the price of bitcoin simply by downloading an app. Additionally, you will not have to fork out hundreds of dollars in fees for an investment advisor as you did in the pre-digital era.
As long as you understand what type of investments you can make using the app(s) you have chosen as well as how much they will cost you in fees, you are probably better off using investment apps to start your investment journey.
What’s Next?
Now that you know what investment apps are out there, you can download the one that suits your investment needs and make your first investment today.
