Stash vs. Robinhood 2023: Which is the best for you?

If you’re looking to start an online investment portfolio, Robinhood and Stash can both be appealing options. Their do-it-yourself platforms are a great way for traders to start investing.

Robinhood is a commission-free platform that allows active investors to trade options, exchange-traded funds, and stocks with ease. Stash is a beginner investor and robo-advisor application that makes searching for stocks easy. Plus, they offer managed portfolios for investors who don’t want an active role.

When you’re ready to fund your brokerage account, get up a free Wise account. You can set up recurring payments, withdraw earnings, and even convert and hold balances in over 54 currencies. Plus, you’ll save up to 6x when you send money abroad.

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📝 Table of contents
Stash vs Robinhood: At a glance Fees Features and Services Education and Research Customer Support Bottom line: Is Stash better than Robinhood? Frequently asked questions

Stash vs Robinhood: At a glance

Stash and Robinhood differ in many ways, but they offer some similar investment products and have solid mobile and desktop platforms. They also both offer a range of research and education products.

But their payment structures are completely different. Stash offers three account plans with distinct features, while Robinhood is commission free outside regulatory fees. Because of this, you’ll notice a gap in who these products work best for.

	Stash¹ ²	Robinhood³
Account fees	$1/month - Stash Beginner $3/month - Stash Growth $9/month - Stash+	$0 - No maintenance, opening or closing fees, but there is a $75 fee to transfer out an account.
Minimum deposit	$5	$0
Stock trading fees	$0 - Included in the monthly account fee	$0 - commission $5.10 per $1,000,000 of principal (sells only), rounded up to the nearest penny - Regulatory fee $0.000119 per share. The Fee is rounded up to the nearest penny and cannot surpass $5.95 - Regulatory Trading Activity Fee
Options trading fees	Not available. You can only trade stocks and ETFs on Stash.	$0 - commission $5.10 per $1,000,000 of principal (sells only), rounded up to the nearest penny - Regulatory fee $0.002 per contract (options sells). The fee is rounded up to the nearest penny and is never higher than $5.95 - Regulatory Trading Activity Fee
Investment offerings	Individual brokerage accounts, IRAs, custodial investment accounts	ETFs, Options, Stocks, ADRs, fractional shares
Mobile app	Mobile check depositing, and quotes available.	Advanced features including news feed, alerts, live earnings calls, and various charts.
Desktop platform	Offers education materials and quotes	Very simple but has customizable order buttons, the ability to take actions directly from charts, and lots of widgets.
Research & education	Financial news articles and investment information.	Financial news from top providers—WSJ, CNBC, Reuters. You get access to Morningstar and other advanced data with a Robinhood Gold Membership.
Customer support	Phone and email support 8:30a to 6:30p EST Monday through Friday, and email-only support on weekends 9a to 5p EST.	24/7 email and social media support, and you can request a service call from inside the app.
Best for	People learning to invest Fractional shares Investors who want robo-advisors	Margin accounts Smartphone users Individual accounts

💡 Curious about other Robinhood competitors? Check out our article about Robinhood alternatives.

Fees

Stash doesn’t add commission or regulatory fees when you trade on the platform. Instead, Stash has a three-tiered account fee system that gives you access to a variety of different investment and banking products.

Stash Beginner

Stash Beginner is the lowest tier at $1 per month. This gives you access to a personal investment portfolio, advice through guides and educational materials, banking access with Stash’s Stock-Back card, and access to $1,000 of life insurance through Avibra.¹

Stash Growth

Stash Growth is their second tier. For $3 per month, you get everything from Stash Beginner, additional personal finance advice as guides and educational materials, access to their robo-advisor account called Smart Portfolio, and access to a retirement portfolio account—Roth or Traditional IRAs.¹

Stash+

At $9 per month, Stash+ is their third tier. You get everything from Stash Beginner and Growth, access to two custodial accounts for children, additional educational and guide materials for family finance, access to their Stash+ Market Insights report, 2x stock on your Stock-Back card, and the life insurance offer from Avibra raises to $10k.¹

Robinhood

Robinhood has no account maintenance fees or inactivity fees. There are also no commission fees on stocks, ETFs, or options. But when you make a trade, they’ll pass down regulatory charges from the SEC and FINRA to you. The fees are:

• Regulatory Transaction Fee - $5.10 per $1,000,000 of principal (sells only).³
• Trading Activity Fee - $0.000119 per share—equity sells/stock and ETF—and $0.002 per contract (options sells). Never more than $5.95.³

You may wonder how they make money if they don’t charge any fees. Robinhood makes money through payment order flows. Or, they direct their orders to specific market makers, who pay them cents on each share traded. But if you do this millions of times, it adds up!

Robinhood also has a Robinhood Gold membership for $5 per month. This gives you access to margin trading, which has a rate of 2.5%³.

Withdrawals and Deposits

Robinhood has no deposit or withdrawal fees—ACH or wire transfer. But if you want to transfer your account to another brokerage, they charge $75.³

Stash has no ACH deposit or withdrawal fees, but you’ll also pay $75 to ACAT for an outgoing account transfer.⁴ Stash has no information posted regarding incoming or outgoing fees for wire transfers.

💡 Wise is a great option to fund your brokerage accounts with. You can set up recurring deposits into your account and withdraw earnings from your brokers with ease. Plus, with Wise, you can also convert and hold balances in 54+ currencies.

Fund or withdraw from your brokerage account with Wise – And save up to 6x

What does Stash and Robinhood have in common? Well, one thing for sure is that they offer low fees to their customers.

The same is true for Wise (formerly TransferWise).

Once you get a Wise account for free, you can and use it to fund your brokerage accounts, or withdraw your funds and convert them to over 54 different currencies. Plus, you can save up to 6x when sending money abroad with Wise.

How is it possible the fees are lower with Wise? There are no hidden fees—you only pay a small and transparent fee. And the exchange is always done using the mid-market exchange rate.

Wise offers the world’s most international account.

What are the benefits of a free Wise account?

• Hold or convert 50+ currencies,
• Instant, low-fee money transfer
• Order a card to spend in any currency,
• Bank details to get paid in 30 different countries,
• Multi-currency direct debits

Open a Wise account for free today—it just takes minutes.

Save up to 6x with Wise

Features and Services

With Stash or Robinhood, you can get individual brokerage accounts to invest in stocks and ETFs. And they both have mobile apps through iOS or Google Play. However, each has some core differences in their features and services.

Investment Accounts

With a Stash investment account, you can buy and sell ETFs, individual stocks, or fractional shares. Fractional shares can help you to invest in higher value companies at any amount, which is why Robinhood also offers this product.

Stash Growth or Stash+ accounts give you access to a Stash Smart Portfolio. This is a robo-advisory platform where you set a risk profile for your portfolio and let the Stash application handle your investments.

On the other side, Robinhood is a more like a DIY platform that allows you to buy stocks, ETFs, and options all commission free. The platform also allows you to invest in ADRs from foreign markets, and you can set up a margin account with a Robinhood Gold membership.

Stash does not offer options, ADRs, or margin accounts, which can be a deciding factor if you want to do more advanced level trading.

Retirement Accounts

Robinhood does not offer an IRA. But Stash offers both a traditional and a Roth IRA through its Growth and Stash+ tiers. However, it’s important to note that Stash does not offer automated management of IRAs.

Bank Account

Robinhood does not offer a bank account. It offers a cash management account that’s like a checking or savings account because it earns interest, you can withdraw money from it, and use a debit card. But the money is not held at one financial institution and is instead automatically invested in very low-risk securities.

Stash offers a true bank account to help you save money. It has no monthly fees or minimum balances, and comes with a Stock-Back rewards debit card. This card rewards you with fractional shares on qualified purchases.

Education and Research

Both Robinhood and Stash have a decent amount of educational and research guides to help you invest. However, neither offer personalized investment advice nor financial advisors. Robinhood offers access to Morningstar research with a Robinhood Gold membership.

Customer support

There is no inbound phone line to call customer support through Robinhood. Instead, they offer social media, email, and a way to request a customer service call through the application. These are all available 24/7.

You can contact Stash customer support by phone or email from 8:30a to 6:30p EST Monday through Friday. There is email-only support on the weekends from 9a to 5p EST.

Bottom line: Is Stash better than Robinhood?

Stash and Robinhood are both online brokerages with mobile apps that make it easy to invest. Robinhood offers commission-free investing on a bare-bones platform, so it’s very appealing to active traders.

Stash offers account plans for people who want to invest in stocks, but don’t really know how to start. It works mainly as a beginner platform with tons of educational material and access to fractional shares. Stash also has a bank account available and a Stock-Back debit card to help you to put more money into your investment account.

There’s a low bar for entry with both investment apps, and they both have a user-friendly interface. Whether one is better than the other is entirely up to your needs. But there are plenty of other Robinhood alternatives available.

Whoever you choose to invest with, Wise is a great option when you withdraw your money from brokers. With a free Wise account, you can hold and convert balances in over 54 currencies. And you’ll save up to 6x over big banks when sending money abroad.

Learn more about Wise

Frequently asked questions

Can you actually make money on Stash?

Yes, it’s possible to make money using Stash. However, like any investment, there is an element of risk.

At the beginner tier, you choose your own investments based on Stash’s research. At the higher tiers, you still have this option, but there’s also the option for robo- advising. Stash has no personalized or human advising based on your needs.

If you want to be hands-off with your investing, you can always work with a licensed investment professional to set up a personalized portfolio. This can help to minimize your risk.

Is it worth paying for Stash?

Stash offers both a managed portfolio and individual brokerage options, so you have both automated and DIY investments. The platform also gives you access to fractional shares, so you can invest in high-value companies with fewer funds.

On top of these features, Stash has a banking account with a card that allows you to build up your investments and a life insurance offer. If all of that is a good fit for you, then it could be worth it to pay for Stash.

However, if you just need automated investment management, there are cheaper services out there. There are also robo-advisor services available that will manage your IRA for you.

Can I have both Robinhood and Stash?

Yes, it’s not illegal or prohibited to have an account with both companies at the same time. Just be sure to report your investments from both companies when tax season arrives.

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Sources:

1. Stash - Pricing
2. Stash - Ask Stash - What are the trading fees?
3. Robinhood - Robinhood Financial Fee Schedule
4. Stash - Ask Stash - What are the ancillary account fees?

All sources checked on 23 November 2021