Betterment vs. Vanguard: 2025 Comparison

One question facing robo-advisors like Betterment: If these services are simply building portfolios out of index funds and exchange-traded funds — primarily from Vanguard — why wouldn’t investors just go straight to the source?

Vanguard has heard that question, of course. That may be one reason why it has its own offerings, including online financial advisor Vanguard Personal Advisor and a digital, lower-cost robo-advisor, Vanguard Digital Advisor.

The below comparison focuses on how Betterment stacks up to Vanguard Personal Advisor. But if you're interested in Vanguard's robo-advisor, we have a full review of that here.

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on Betterment's website

Betterment is best for:

Hands-off investors.
Retirement investors.
Those who want automatic rebalancing.
Users who like goal-based tools.

Betterment at a glance

Reviewed: Oct. 2024

Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024

Account minimum	$0 ($10 to start investing).
Account management fee	0.25% annual fee on balances over $20,000 or if you set up recurring monthly deposits totaling $250 or more. Otherwise, $4 per month.
Investment expense ratios	Expense ratios of 0.04% to 0.11% for Betterment Core Portfolio.
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing)	$75 fee to transfer investments out of Betterment. No fee for cash withdrawals.
Portfolio mix	Core Portfolio uses ETFs from 12 asset classes. The portfolio mixes are well-diversified. Clients who want exposure to non-market correlated assets like real estate investment trusts (REITs) and commodities can obtain access through Flexible Portfolio. Crypto ETF portfolio consisting of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
Socially responsible portfolio options	Three socially responsible investing portfolio options: Broad Impact, Climate Impact, and Social Impact.
Accounts supported	Individual and joint taxable brokerage accounts. Roth, traditional, inherited, rollover and SEP IRAs. Trusts. Ability to link external accounts for better-informed advice (but not direct management).
Tax strategy	Tax-loss harvesting*. Tax-Coordinated Portfolio (asset location) tool. Tax Impact Preview tool. Charitable giving tool.
Automatic rebalancing	Automatic rebalancing is included in the advisory fee at no additional cost. If a client’s portfolio deviates or drifts from its allocation, Betterment will rebalance the portfolio back to its target allocation in certain circumstances. Betterment also uses any cash flow, such as a dividend or deposit, to partially rebalance your portfolio.
Human advisor option	Betterment Digital doesn't offer access to financial advisors and no longer offers an advice package for purchase. Betterment Premium includes access to a team of financial advisors.
Savings account/cash management option	Cash Account** with no fees or minimum balance requirements, unlimited transfers and FDIC coverage of up to $2 million in individual accounts or up to $4 million in joint accounts at program banks.
Customer support options (includes how easy it is to find key details on the website)	Phone support Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Eastern time. Email support and questions also answered through social media.

» Read our full review of Betterment

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on Vanguard's website

Vanguard Personal Advisor is best for

Access to a team of financial advisors.
Comprehensive financial planning.
Larger account balances.

Vanguard Personal Advisor at a glance

Reviewed: Oct. 2024

Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024

Account minimum	$50,000.
Account management, planning or subscription fee	For an all-index investment option, Personal Advisor clients pay a net advisory fee of 0.30%. Clients with an ESG or active/index investment options may pay an advisory fee ranging from 0.25% to 0.27% or 0.26% to 0.35%, respectively.
Other account fees	None.
Setup or onboarding fee	None.
Advisor access and credentials	Unlimited appointments over phone, email or video. Clients can also reach their advisors through Vanguard's mobile app. Most advisors are certified financial planners. Investors with account balances under $500,000 get a team of advisors; investors with balances of $500,000 or more get a dedicated advisor.
Financial planning services	Can advise and create a custom portfolio for a variety of situations, such as saving for retirement, college or a family vacation home. Services include: Social Security optimization, dynamic spending, tax efficiency, long-term care and medical costs, high-level guidance on estate planning, charitable giving, Roth conversions and trust services.
Investment expense ratios on portfolios	Average expense ratio is 0.05%.
Portfolio construction	Vanguard Personal Advisor creates customizable portfolios on a client-by-client basis. It uses low-cost Vanguard index funds and ETFs, which are diversified with tight tracking. Vanguard Personal Advisor also offers three ESG funds (scored on environmental, social and governance factors for sustainable investing).
Brokerage options	Clients must move money to Vanguard but can keep outside investments if there are embedded gains or other reasons to do so.
Accounts supported	Individual and joint brokerage accounts. Roth, traditional, rollover, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs. Trusts. Vanguard record-kept 401(k)s plans. Personal Advisor will consider and provide guidance for other account types (e.g., 529s, UGMA, UTMA, non-Vanguard record-kept 401(k)s, and spousal accounts), but does not directly manage them.
Tax strategy	Assets are allocated strategically among taxable and tax-advantaged accounts to optimize for taxes. Tax-loss harvesting Tax-exempt municipal bonds. Minimum tax cost basis method.
Customer support options (includes how easy it is to find key details on the website)	Customer support is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time. Ability to schedule appointments with an advisor at any time.

» Read our full review of Vanguard Personal Advisor

» Want to check out other providers? See our top picks for robo-advisors.

Methodology

How do we review brokers and robo-advisors?

NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokers and robo-advisors. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.

We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars).

For more details about the categories considered when rating providers and our processes, read our full broker ratings methodology and our full robo-advisor ratings methodology