Best Investing Apps: Our Recommendations

Best Overall for Stock Trading: Public

Public app logo

Public is a sleek, user-friendly platform that we highly recommend using as your primary stock trading app. Their key differentiating factor from other trading apps is the social side of it. As a trader on Public, you can join group chats with like-minded investors to get their opinions on everything from which tech stock to buy, a crazy market dip, an up-and-coming startup, or just to chat about anything. 

Public also categorizes stocks into issue groups that you may find interesting, such as Fighting Disease, Rise of the Machines, Meatless Revolution, and Do the Right Thing. Through this option, you can determine which stocks are right for you and your values. 

There are no account minimums or commission fees to trade on Public. They also don’t sell your trades and don’t allow day traders on the app, so the environment is perfect for investors who don’t want to spend all day studying the market.

Pros:

  • No account minimums or commission fees
  • Option to buy fractional stocks 
  • Chat rooms to ask questions and get advice from more experienced investors and friends 
  • Generous referral program 
  • Lots of information on all the stocks so you can build your overall investment knowledge

Cons:

  • Not a great passive investing platform
  • No options for cryptocurrencies
  • No desktop version

Notable Information:

  • Founded in 2018 
  • Founders: Jannick Malling, Matt Kennedy, Peter Quinn, and Sean Hendelman 
  • No account minimums or commission fees
  • Tradable assets: stocks and ETFs
  • Mobile friendly only
  • Tax-loss harvesting: No
  • Fractional Shares: Yes
  • Robo-advisor: No
  • Cryptocurrency: No 

*Note: this is for USA traders only. Head to our European trader page here. 

 

Best Convenient and Versatile App: Robinhood

Public app logo

Robinhood is another easy-to-use app with no fees or account minimum. Robinhood is more versatile, however, bringing cryptocurrency into the mix. You can also trade from your computer or your phone. Signing up is extremely quick and easy, and you can instantly transfer $1,000 into the account with no waiting period. 

Robinhood became famous initially for allowing fractional shares. They’ve added new features along the way, such as the ability to trade cryptocurrency for free. A particularly notable features is the versatile data they offer by way of candlestick charts and easily sortable lists of stocks that you can customize based on most popular, rising, falling, price, and other metrics. Robinhood Gold, which is $5 a month, allows you to trade stocks on margin.  

Like many other investing platforms, Robinhood recently introduced a high-yield savings account. Their account is particularly advantageous, however, because it pays 0.30% and you can access it through a debit card or ATM. 

Pros:

  • No account minimum or commission fees
  • Trade cryptocurrency for free
  • Get started very easily and quickly 
  • Helpful data and charts
  • High-yield cash account 

Cons: 

  • No ability to trade mutual funds or bonds
  • Customer support is lacking 
  • The research and charts they present are not as extensive as other apps 

Notable Information:

  • Founded in 2013 
  • Founders: Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt 
  • No account minimums or commission fees 
  • Tradable assets: stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrency 
  • Mobile and desktop friendly
  • Tax-loss harvesting: No
  • Fractional shares: Yes
  • Robo-advisor: No
  • Cryptocurrency: Yes

*Note: this is for USA traders only. Head to our European trader page here. 

 

Best for Passive Investing: Wealthfront

Wealthfront logo

Wealthfront takes the cake for passive investing because of its highly advanced algorithm-based robo-advisor, which automatically invests your assets based on a variety of factors. You also take a risk assessment when signing up, so the algorithm can determine how to invest your money. This app is the premiere option for hands-off investing. The robo-advisor diversifies your assets in a variety of categories, including U.S. stocks, foreign stocks, emerging markets, dividend stocks, real estate, TIPS, and a variety of bonds. You can tailor your passive investing experience to suit your needs, such as saving for a house, a college fund, or early retirement. 

On top of being able to invest your money without having to pay too much attention to where it’s going, you get access to a high yield cash account, which you can access via a debit card or ATM. Wealthfront also has the option for taking out loans with the Portfolio Line of Credit option. Tax-loss harvesting is another key feature of the app. If you choose this option, Wealthfront sells your securities at a loss, which offsets your taxable gains. 

All of these extra benefits and the hands-off approach come at a cost, however. The account minimum is $500 and they charge a 0.25% management fee. They are also less flexible for investors looking to put smaller amounts into the markets, since no fractional shares are available. 

Pros:

  • Hands-off, passive investing approach
  • Wide variety of options for investing 
  • Customizable risk tolerance
  • High-yield cash account
  • Tax-loss harvesting 

Cons:

  • Management fee and account minimum
  • No access to human advisors if that is what you want out of your investing experience
  • No fractional shares available 

Notable Information:

  • Founded in 2008
  • Founders: Andy Rachleff and Dan Carroll 
  • $500 account minimum and 0.25% management fee
  • Tradable Assets: U.S. stocks, foreign stocks, emerging markets, dividend stocks, real estate, TIPS, and a variety of bonds
  • Mobile and desktop friendly 
  • Tax-loss harvesting: Yes
  • Fractional Shares: No
  • Robo-advisor: Yes
  • Cryptocurrency: No

*Note: this is for USA traders only. Head to our European trader page here. 

 

Best for Long Term Investing: M1 Finance

M1 Finance Logo

M1 Finance is best for the more experienced investor who is in it for the long haul. Like Wealthfront, M1 Finance is a robo-advisor. With no management fees or portfolio minimums, M1 is a great low-cost option. M1 is a bare bones approach to investing, with no goal-setting or portfolio building assistance. Instead, you get a host of customizable features to choose from and the freedom to do things that you can’t on Wealthfront, such as trade fractional shares, force a rebalance of your account, and pick individual stocks. 

On M1, your portfolio is displayed as a pie, which is easily customizable. You can also create pies within the slices—“sub-pies”—allowing for even more personalization. You can compare your portfolio to “expert portfolios” and can also pick from pre-made pies, so you can have a more passive investing experience. M1 is not an advisory service, so it does not offer assistance with financial education. 

There is a cash management portion of the app, M1 Spend, which you receive 1% cashback on. M1 Plus Members have access to Smart Transfers, which invests remaining money from your M1 Spend account that you don’t need for daily living expenses, based on a threshold you set.

Pros:

  • No management fees or account minimum
  • Highly customizable
  • Easy to use pie charts for visual representation of your account 
  • Ability to trade fractional shares and individual stocks of your choice
  • Cash management account

Cons:

  • Limited advisor and education functions
  • Limited passive investing options 
  • No goal-setting 

Notable Information:

  • Founded in 2016
  • Founders: Brian Barnes
  • No management fee or account minimum 
  • Tradable assets: stocks and ETFs
  • Mobile and desktop friendly
  • Tax-loss harvesting: No, but has their own, more limited feature called Tax Minimization
  • Fractional Shares: Yes
  • Robo-advisor: Yes, but it’s considered a “hybrid” between hands-off and more active investing 
  • Cryptocurrency: No 

*Note: this is for USA traders only. Head to our European trader page here.

Honorable Mention: Webull

Webull logo

Webull is another low-cost, easy to use investment app that had to make the list. With no account minimums or fees, free cryptocurrency trading, and day trading allowed, Webull has the flexibility of Robinhood with more complex charts and information for more advanced investors like users of M1 Finance. It’s considered a solid choice for intermediate-level investors. 

One of the reasons this is not the best app for beginners is that the educational content is lacking. The charts and graphs for more advanced investors are a great resource, but if you don’t know how to use them, you’ll have to do some outside research. And the flexibility is a bit of a give and take because even though you gain access to cryptocurrency, you lose access to mutual funds and fractional shares. 

Webull also allows you to customize your experience even more if you’re willing to pay a bit. You can add market quotes and a variety of widgets to your desktop with their 4.0 version. 

Pros:

  • No account minimums or fees
  • Access to cryptocurrency 
  • Great charts and resources if you know how to use them 
  • Customizable widgets on the desktop version 

Cons:

  • No mutual funds or fractional shares
  • Limited educational content 
  • No cash management service 

Notable Information: 

  • Founded in 2017
  • Founder: Wang Anquan 
  • No management fee or account minimum
  • Tradable assets: stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrency 
  • Mobile and desktop friendly 
  • Tax-loss harvesting: No
  • Fractional shares: No
  • Robo-advisor: No
  • Cryptocurrency: Yes 

*Note: this is for USA traders only. Head to our European trader page here.

Honorable Mention: Sofi

Sofi logo

SoFi is another stellar investing app, but more than that, it has a wide variety of loan options for investors looking to borrow. SoFi is a good option for an investor who wants an all-in-one solution for their money. With no account minimums or fees, cryptocurrency trading available, and auto and active investing options, SoFi has it all. 

The company originally started as a loan platform in 2011 and did not add investing until 2019. Understandably, they are seasoned lenders with great options if you’re looking to borrow money. You need a credit score of 680 to qualify for a loan from SoFi and minimum loans start at $5,000. You get the added benefit of unemployment protection and career and financial advising. 

For investors not looking for loans, the active investing options are more limited than they are on other apps. You don’t have access to mutual funds or bonds, so the app is not ideal for retirement planning. You are able to buy fractional shares, however. The free financial advising is also a huge plus that other similar apps do not offer.

Pros:

  • No account minimums or fees
  • Active and passive investing available
  • Many options for taking out loans
  • Free financial advising provided 
  • Ability to trade cryptocurrency 

Cons:

  • No mutual funds or bonds available 
  • Not ideal for retirement planning

Notable information:

  • Founded in 2011 for loans, 2019 for investing 
  • Founders: Mike Cagney, Dan Macklin, James Finnigan, and Ian Brady
  • Tradable assets: stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrency 
  • Mobile and desktop friendly
  • Tax-loss harvesting: No 
  • Fractional shares: Yes
  • Robo-advisor: No, but you have access to free financial counseling from a certified advisor 
  • Cryptocurrency: Yes

*Note: this is for USA traders only. Head to our European trader page here.