Best Roth IRA Accounts for 2026

Mutual fund selection: The race was tight, but the differentiator was that Schwab offers about twice as many no-transaction-fee mutual funds as Fidelity. These funds are popular among Roth IRA investors, who tend to want to be hands-off with their portfolios. Knowing you can find the funds you want without paying a fee to buy — or sell — them is nice peace of mind; the wider the selection, the more likely the broker is to have a specific fund you’re after.

Educational support: Schwab also stood out to our team because it puts a lot of effort into creating investor education materials — articles, sure, but also video explainers and full courses — and tools, like a free, self-guided way to create a financial plan and track your progress. These are all really useful ways to get off on the right foot if you’re just starting to invest in a Roth IRA, and they feel authentically helpful rather than performative. (You can read our full review of Charles Schwab here.)

The app isn’t as slick as competitor apps, especially for people who aren’t advanced stock traders. (Among that group, Schwab has a bit of a cult following for its thinkorswim trading platform, which came over during its acquisition of TD Ameritrade.) It feels a little bit clunky and outdated. But on the other hand, I make a point of not checking my Roth IRA and other retirement accounts frequently — I’m in it for the long haul, and I don’t want to spook myself when the markets are rocky. So I don’t necessarily need or want a super slick app here.

Finally, some of us (myself included) would argue that there’s a bit of a tipping point when it comes to the number of mutual funds on offer — too many to wade through can make a relatively straightforward decision overly complex. If that’s you, you might prefer Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.

Retirement planning tools: Fidelity’s are among the best — our team gave it a perfect five stars in this category. The tools give you everything you need and nothing you don’t. One example: The Fidelity Retirement Score, which is represented as a tracker right near your accounts. It quickly and easily tells you where you stand on a scale of 1 to 100, and compares your progress to the same time last year:

You can adjust and review your plan at any time, simulating how prepared you’ll be for retirement based on various market conditions. You can also link external accounts to include them in the simulation. And if you also have non-retirement accounts at Fidelity that you plan to use for retirement — like a taxable brokerage account — you can assign them as part of your retirement savings so the tool factors those amounts in.

No-fee index funds: Fidelity is the rare broker that has earmarked a selection of its mutual funds and index funds as no-fee, which means they don’t charge the expense ratios that are typical of mutual funds, index funds and ETFs. Fees drag down your portfolio’s value over time; avoiding them as much as possible is always a good idea.

Like Schwab, Fidelity also has a robo-advisor, Fidelity Go. It’s a good choice for investors who want to be hands-off, and it doesn’t charge any advisor fees on balances under $25,000 — so if you’re opening a Roth IRA for the first time, you could get free management for several years due to the annual contribution limits.

Frankly, not much. The areas where Fidelity can fall short are more applicable to active, advanced traders — for example, you can trade options contracts for less elsewhere, and some very advanced assets aren’t offered, such as futures trading. But these are areas most Roth IRA investors won’t even notice, as they’re typically short-term strategies rather than retirement investments.

1% match on all contributions and rollovers: Anyone with a Roth IRA (or traditional IRA) at Robinhood can get a 1% match on direct contributions, transfers and rollovers. There’s no cap outside of the IRA contribution limits. For contributions, this match is worth $75 in 2026 if you’re under age 50, or $86 if you’re 50 or older. That assumes you make the full contribution.

If you transfer a balance in, either from another Roth IRA account or as a 401(k) rollover, Robinhood will base the match on the value of any transferred cash and securities. Let’s say you’re transferring in an account worth $50,000 — Robinhood would kick in $500.

3% match if you’re a Robinhood Gold member: Here’s where the match starts to get really good, and where Robinhood differentiates itself from other providers that are also offering a match. If you enroll in Robinhood Gold, a subscription service that costs $5 a month or $50 annually, you get access to a number of premium features. One of them is an increased IRA match of 3% on contributions. That means making the full allowed contribution in 2026 would get you $225 if you’re under age 50 or $258 if you’re 50 or older. Quick math shows this easily makes up for that $50 subscription fee and then some.

You might have the same question I did: Does this match put you over the contribution limit, which could result in a tax penalty? The answer is no. The matching dollars that come from Robinhood or any other broker’s matching program are considered part of your investment return, not a contribution.

Also, props to Robinhood where props are due — the company has made some waves for targeting beginner investors, but not providing much in the way of educational support or highlighting the risks and considerations that come with investing. But Chris Davis, NerdWallet Investing's Managing Editor, called out that Robinhood is one of the few brokers we tested that shows you the Roth IRA eligibility rules and withdrawal penalties in the app before you open an account.

Robinhood’s match is really generous, especially with Robinhood Gold, so please know I feel greedy as I say this, but it’s worth noting that the elevated 3% match you get with Robinhood Gold is only available on contributions, not rollovers or transfers. On those, you’ll still get 1% even if you have Robinhood Gold. But again, I wouldn’t turn my back on 1% — if you’ve accumulated a large Roth IRA balance elsewhere and you’re looking for a new home for it, that 1% can add up quickly.

The other thing I’ll say about Robinhood is that while it, too, has a robo-advisor — Robinhood Strategies — the matching program is not available on those accounts.

Finally, there is some fine print here to understand, as always. Most notable is that you must keep the amount of funds that earned the match in your Robinhood IRA account for at least five years; otherwise, Robinhood may claw back the match as a fee.

One free appointment: All SoFi members can set up one complimentary appointment with a financial planner. The appointment is 30 minutes long, and the planner can advise you about how to prioritize your goals or invest your Roth IRA once you’ve opened it. This is super helpful — a lot of people take the step to open a Roth IRA but then don’t know how to invest what they’ve contributed. Some people fail to invest the money at all. If you don’t want to pay the ongoing cost of a robo-advisor and your situation isn’t complex enough to work with a financial advisor, this 30 minutes may be all you need.

SoFi Plus gets you more: SoFi Plus is a premium program that’s similar to Robinhood Gold. It offers a range of premium features for $10 a month. One such feature is unlimited one-on-one appointments with one of SoFi’s financial planners. If you consider the ongoing cost of a financial advisor, getting access to advisors for $120 a year is a pretty sweet deal. This is especially true if you don’t need an ongoing relationship with an advisor or investment management — SoFi Plus is more of an on-demand option, available to answer your questions or give you guidance when needs arise.

A bonus: Like Robinhood, SoFi offers a 1% IRA match. Unlike Robinhood, that match is also available on SoFi’s robo-advisor product.

It used to be easier to access a SoFi Plus membership; eligible direct deposits got you there and waived the $10 monthly fee. That made this financial advisor access all the more attractive. SoFi eliminated that feature in March 2026, which is a bummer. The company also charges an IRA closing fee of $100. You’re here to open a Roth IRA, but it’s worth looking ahead and anticipating fees like this.