Stash Review 2026: Pros, Cons and How It Compares
Stash simplifies the process of selecting investments with an app suited for beginners. But fees are higher than those of some competitors.The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.
Our take: Stash aims to make investing approachable for beginners. The robo-advisor/brokerage hybrid charges $3 or $12 per month, depending on the service and account type you are looking for. If you want a little hand-holding while you build a portfolio of stocks and ETFs, Stash may be a good fit. If you just want automated management, it may be best to look elsewhere.
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Stash offers both DIY and automated investing, meaning it's a good option if you're looking for more customization. Keep in mind that only a standard brokerage account can be managed automatically. If you want an IRA managed as a robo-advisor, you'll need to look elsewhere. Stash also has no tax strategy or human advisor access.
Where Stash shines
DIY and automated investing: Stash marries the idea of DIY investing with an automated portfolio, giving clients the option to choose how involved they want to be. Often, robo-advisors are fully hands-off, meaning you can’t pick any of your own investments.
Stock round-ups: If you like the idea of investing with minimal effort, Stash can round up your purchases to the nearest dollar and send that money to your investment account.
Stock-Back® Card: Stash's Stock-Back® Card lets you earn stocks as rewards when you shop.
Where Stash falls short
No managed IRAs: Stash does not offer automated IRA management.
No tax-loss harvesting: Smart Portfolios don't offer tax-loss harvesting.
No human advice: Stash's offering of personalized advice refers to guides and how-to articles, as well as automated portfolio management available through Smart Portfolios.
If tax-loss harvesting is important to you, consider these alternatives instead:
Best Robo-Advisor for Portfolio Options  Wealthfront |  Betterment |  Vanguard Digital Advisor |
What type of investor should choose Stash?
Beginners who want to learn how to invest.
Investors who want to buy fractional shares.
Investors who want to choose their own investments and get automated portfolios.
What the Nerds think
"Stash is a good robo to consider if you're a beginner who wants to dip your toes into picking your own investments but don't quite feel ready to pick all your investments on your own. It gives you the best of both worlds. Just be aware that Stash's automated investing offering doesn't support IRAs, so if that's what you're in the market for, you'd want to look elsewhere."
Stash at a glance
Account minimum | $0 ($5 for Smart Portfolios). |
Account management fee | $3 per month for automated investing. $12-a-month tier available with access to Kids Portfolios (custodial accounts) and higher Stock-Back® rewards. |
Investment expense ratios | 0.06% to 0.08%. |
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing) | $0 standard transfer fee, or 1% fee for instant transfers. Outgoing ACAT full or partial transfer fee: $75. |
Portfolio mix | Smart Portfolio mix is well-diversified but lacks exposure to non-market correlated assets like REITs and commodities. Over 4,000 individual stocks and ETFs are available in the DIY individual brokerage account. |
Socially responsible portfolio option | Offers six socially responsible portfolios focused on gender diversity, clean energy and more. |
Accounts supported |
Note: Only individual brokerage accounts are available to be managed with Smart Portfolios. IRA and UTMA/UMGA accounts are available for DIY management only. |
Tax strategy | Not available. |
Human advisor option | Not available. |
Bank account/cash management account | Stash offers access to an online banking account with a stock-back rewards debit card, but the account doesn't pay interest. |
Customer support options (includes how easy it is to find key details on the website) | Phone and email support Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern. |
Reviewed in: Oct. 2025
Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2025
How to sign up for a Stash account
You can sign up for a Stash account through the robo-advisor's website or app, where you'll be prompted to create a username and password. To set up an account, you'll need to provide your bank account information, Social Security number, age and proof of identity.
You'll also answer questions about your risk tolerance and savings goals to give Stash an idea of your investing preferences. After paying the monthly subscription fee, you can fund your account and get started investing.
How much does Stash cost?
There's no account minimum required, and Stash's Smart Portfolios only require $5 to start investing. Some robo-advisors have $0 minimums, but others have minimums as high as $500 or even $5,000.
Stash charges no standard transfer fee, but there is a 1% fee for instant transfers. A $75 ACAT fee is charged if an investor chooses to move assets to another brokerage firm. Stash customers can withdraw from their Smart Portfolio at no cost, and there are no fees for selling investments.
The ETFs available through Stash have an average expense ratio — the annual fee charged to investors — of 0.06% to 0.08% for all Smart Portfolios. That’s fairly standard compared with Stash’s competitors.
Subscription pricing
Stash offers two levels of its subscription service. Here's what each tier offers:
Stash Growth ($3/month) | Stash+ ($12/month). Everything you get in Stash Growth plus: | |
Investing |
| Up to two Kids Portfolios you manage yourself (custodial UGMA / UTMA accounts). |
Banking | Bank account and Stock-Back® Card which earns 0.125% back in stock. | Bank account and Stock-Back® Card with 1% back in stock (subject to terms and conditions). |
Insurance | $1,000 life insurance policy. | $10,000 life insurance policy. |
Other robo-advisors charge a fee based on the amount of money they are managing for you. For example, Wealthfront has a 0.25% management fee — if you have $1,000 under management, the annual cost will be $2.50. Wealthfront will also build your portfolio, rebalance it and apply tax-loss harvesting on taxable accounts.
Keep in mind, if you opt for Stash Growth ($3 a month) or Stash+ ($12 a month), you’ll have the opportunity to pick your own investments through an individual brokerage account. This DIY-and-automated approach is rare among robo-advisors.
One other bonus feature Stash offers is life insurance access through Avibra, but the benefit amounts are hardly meaningful: At the $3-a-month tier, the benefit amount is $1,000, and it rises to $10,000 at the Stash+ $12-a-month level.
Stash's portfolio selection
Stash’s automated portfolios are made up of ETFs that include exposure to U.S. stocks, international stocks (in both developed and emerging markets) and U.S. and international bonds. Stash uses fractional shares so that all of your money is invested.
Stash also has a tool to educate users about the power of investing. Users can quickly adjust a slider to indicate their monthly deposit and growth potential, or anticipated investment return, and the app will show how much the user could have after one year, five years and 10 years.
The provider also offers six socially responsible portfolios that are focused on gender diversity, clean energy and more.
» See more sustainable portfolio options: Check out the best socially responsible robo-advisors
Other key Stash features
Automatic rebalancing
Stash Smart Portfolios offer quarterly automatic rebalancing if your portfolio drifts 5% away from your target allocation. For example, if your portfolio has an 80% stock allocation, and it jumps to 85% stocks, Stash will rebalance it for you.
Banking account/cash management option
Stash offers access to a banking account with no overdraft fees or minimum balance through Stride Bank. It lets you save automatically using roundups and auto-invest, and it also lets you set goals by separating your cash into spaces for specific purposes. This tool can help with budgeting, and your goals can be customized for what you’re saving for. However, Stash’s banking account does not pay interest.
Instead, Stash's Stock-Back® Card rewards users with a percentage of their purchases back in stock. So when you shop at Walmart or Amazon, you’ll earn stock in those companies. When you spend at a local business, you’ll earn a stock or ETF from a preselected list. Stash Growth ($3 per month) customers earn 0.125% stock on all everyday purchases. Stash+ ($12 per month) customers earn 1% back in stock on all purchases up to $1,000 each month (subject to terms and conditions).
Customer support options
Stash offers phone and email support Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
Retirement planning tools
Stash is one of the only robo-advisors we review that provides an IRA match on contributions. Stash+ ($12) offers a 3% match on contributions for Roth and Traditional IRAs.
The provider also offers retirement-related educational tools. These include an AI-powered "money coach" that can suggest investment strategies related to retirement planning, as well as a retirement calculator to see how you're pacing against your savings goals.
» Eager to pick your own investments? See our picks for the best online stock brokers
Good to know about Stash
Accounts supported
For a managed Smart Portfolio, clients only have access to an individual brokerage account. Pretty much every other robo-advisor NerdWallet reviews gives users the ability to have a managed portfolio with an IRA.
This is one of the clear instances where Stash Smart Portfolios falls behind its competitors. If you’d like to invest in an IRA or custodial account, you can, but you’ll need to pick the investments for it yourself.
Tax strategy
Stash does not offer any form of tax strategy. Many other robo-advisors offer some form of tax optimization. Tax-loss harvesting, which is an investment strategy that can reduce the amount of tax you may have to pay after you sell your investments, is offered by several robo-advisors.
» Want to check out other providers? View our picks for best robo-advisors
Human advisor option
Stash’s website states that all clients receive “advice” for beginning investors, personal finances, family finances and market insights. The fine print clarifies that it refers to “Financial Counseling Advice, which is investment advice in the form of guides and educational materials.”
The “personalization” comes from the information users input when their accounts are being set up, similar to quizzes other robo-advisors employ to gauge an appropriate asset allocation. It does not mean that you receive tailored advice from a financial professional. If you have specific questions you’d like to ask a financial professional, you may want to look elsewhere.
Is Stash safe?
While investing always comes with risk, Stash partners with a third-party member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects up to $500,000 in securities and $250,000 in cash. This means that in the event that Stash were to fail, your money would be safe up to that limit.
Is Stash worth it?
If you’re looking for access to both a managed portfolio and an individual brokerage account where you can dabble in picking your own investments, Stash may be a good fit. Stash also provides access to fractional shares, allowing you to diversify with very little money.
But if you’re just looking for automated investment management, you can get similar services for a lower cost elsewhere. Other robo-advisors will also allow you to have an IRA managed.
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All NerdWallet reviews and lists of the best investing products are created by our editorial team of full-time writers and editors, independent of any business relationships. In this case, our investing team's comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokers and robo-advisors. Our aim is to provide an independent, balanced assessment of investment accounts 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