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.
Here’s more on how they compare.
Robinhood vs. Stash
Robinhood is best for:
- Frequent stock, options or ETF traders.
- Individual taxable accounts.
- Margin accounts and 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.) |
| Tradable securities | • Stocks. • ETFs. • Options. • Cryptocurrency. • American Depositary Receipts for over 250 global companies. |
| 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 | Free but limited. (Robinhood Gold, which costs $5 a month, includes access to Morningstar Research Reports and NASDAQ Level II Market Data.) |
| Customer support options (includes website transparency) | Email and social media. |
| Promotion | Refer a friend who joins Robinhood and you both earn a free share of stock. |
Learn more: Read our full Robinhood review
Stash is best for:
- New investors who want guidance selecting investments.
- Tax-advantaged and taxable individual retirement accounts.
- Thematic or impact investors.
Stash at a glance
| Account minimum | $0 |
| Account subscription fee | $1/month ($3/month to add a retirement account; $9/month to add custodial accounts and other services). Stash is not a robo-advisor and doesn't have discretion to manage customer accounts. |
| Investment expense ratios | Expense ratios average 0.23% for ETFs (0.34% for ETFs that focus on socially responsible investments); no investment fee for stocks. |
| Account fees (annual, transfer, closing) | No annual or inactivity fee; $75 outgoing transfer fee. |
| Portfolio mix | More than 1,800 ETFs and individual stocks available. |
| Accounts supported |
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| Tax strategy | Not available. |
| Automatic rebalancing | Not available. |
| Human advisor option | Not available. |
| Tools |
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| Bank account/cash management account | Stash offers an online bank account with debit card and rewards program, but the account doesn't pay interest. |
| Customer support options (includes website transparency) | Phone and email support Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Promotion | Up to $560 cash credit to invest with qualifying deposit. |
Learn more: Read our full Stash review
Curious about other options?
If you want to start investing but need more advice on who to invest with, see our roundup of the best brokers for beginning investors. It compares today’s top online brokerages across all the metrics that matter most to investors just starting out: fees, minimum balances to open, and investor tools and resources.
