Robinhood vs. Stash: 2021 Comparison
Robinhood and Stash both appeal to DIY investors. Robinhood offers free trading and appeals more to active investors, while Stash offers far more educational content and the option for a managed portfolio.
We're doing more and more on our phones every day, and that includes investing. If mobile trading matters to you, two names worth comparing are Robinhood and Stash.
Robinhood is a free-trading app that’s ideal for investors who want to trade stocks, options, exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrency on a barebones platform without paying commissions or fees. The Stash app aims to make the process of finding and selecting investments — specifically exchange-traded funds and individual stocks — easy and approachable for beginners to build their portfolio. Stash also offers a managed portfolio for investors who want to be completely hands off.
Here's more on how they compare.
Robinhood is best for:
Mobile users.
Individual taxable accounts.
Margin accounts.
Cryptocurrency.
Robinhood at a glance
Account minimum | $0 for brokerage account and for Robinhood Gold account; $2,000 for a margin account (regulatory minimum). |
Stock trading costs | $0. |
Options trades | $0. |
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing, inactivity) | No annual, inactivity or ACH transfer fees. $75 ACAT outgoing transfer fee. (Robinhood Gold costs $5 a month.) |
Tradeable securities | • Stocks. • ETFs. • Options. • Cryptocurrency. • American Depositary Receipts for over 250 global companies. • Fractional shares. |
Number of commission-free ETFs | All available ETFs trade commission-free. |
Number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds | None. |
Trading platform | Web platform is purposely simple but meets basic investor needs. |
Mobile app | Mobile trading platform includes customizable alerts, news feed, candlestick charts and ability to listen live to earnings calls. |
Research and data | News available from WSJ Markets, Reuters, Barron's, CNBC Business and Cheddar. Gold members have access to research from Morningstar, Nasdaq, Nasdaq Totalview level II Market Data for an additional $5 per month. |
Customer support options (includes website transparency) | Email and social media. |
Stash is best for:
Investors who want guidance selecting investments.
New investors.
Thematic or impact investors.
Stash at a glance
Account minimum | $0 |
Account management fee | $1/month ($3/month for access to a retirement account; $9/month to add custodial accounts and other services). |
Investment expense ratios | 0.16% for non-thematic funds, 0.25% for all funds overall. |
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing) | Stash has a subscription fee. No annual or inactivity fee; $75 outgoing transfer fee. |
Portfolio mix | More than 3,000 ETFs and individual stocks available. |
Socially responsible portfolio option | SRI portfolio option available to Stash users. |
Accounts supported |
|
Tax strategy | Not available. |
Automatic rebalancing | Smart Portfolios option features automatic rebalancing upon withdrawals or contributions, plus quarterly rebalancing. |
Human advisor option | Not available. |
Tools |
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Bank account/cash management account | Stash offers access to an online banking account with a debit card, but the account doesn't pay interest. |
Customer support options (includes website transparency) | Phone and email support Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, chat feature |
» Curious about other options? View the best online brokers for beginners
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Fees$0 per trade | Fees$0 per trade | Fees$0 per trade |
Account Minimum$0 | Account Minimum$0 | Account Minimum$0 |
PromotionNone no promotion available at this time | Promotion$5 to $1,000 in free stock for users who sign up via mobile app | PromotionGet $600 or more when you open and fund an E*TRADE account with code: BONUS21 |
