For traders and investors who need to manage their accounts on the go, a solid mobile investment app can be an invaluable resource. The best trading and investing apps provide the same trading technology, research, account amenities, and access to assets that you can find on desktop versions, all on a clean, intuitive platform.
After hundreds of hours of rigorous research, data analysis, and live platform demos, we found E*TRADE’s mobile platform is the best overall for both investors and traders due to its optimal mix of intuitive navigation, robust portfolio and risk management capabilities, complex trading tools, and more. E*TRADE is just one of 47 online brokers and robo-advisors we evaluated based on several criteria critical to mobile traders and investors. Now, read why we like E*TRADE and learn how the rest of our winners might be best for you.
Best Investing Apps of 2024
- Best Overall: E*TRADE
- Best Automated Investing App: Wealthfront
- Best App for Active Traders: Interactive Brokers
- Best App for Options Traders: Interactive Brokers
- Best Low-Cost Trading App: Webull
- Best Full-Service Investing App: Fidelity
- Best App for Saving: Acorns
Best Overall: E*TRADE
- Account Minimum: $0
- Fees: No commission for stock, ETF, and mutual fund trades. Options are $0.50-$0.65 per contract, depending on trading volume.
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Why We Chose It
E*TRADE, Investopedia’s choice as the best online broker for mobile investing and trading, solidifies itself as a pioneer in both mobile and online trading by offering two well-designed mobile apps. Thanks to ongoing enhancements, E*TRADE’s two mobile apps are lean, yet comprehensive enough to provide both investors and traders with the right mix of what matters most in an intuitive mobile experience, including robust portfolio and risk management capabilities, deep research, easy-to-digest education, innovative tools and features, and more.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Top-tier research
Wide range of well-designed tools and resources
Pre-built and automated portfolio options
Strong educational content
Cons
Lacks international exchange trading
No direct crypto investing
Fractional shares only available through a robo-advisor portfolio or dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP)
Overview
Founded in 1982, E*TRADE has been at the forefront of embracing innovation that makes for one of the best customer experiences in the industry. Following Morgan Stanley’s acquisition of E*TRADE in 2020, the company has only continued to advance its capabilities by integrating many of Morgan Stanley’s highly regarded research materials, thought leadership insights, and large pool of financial advisors into E*TRADE’s offering.
E*TRADE operates as one of the largest online brokers in the country, providing an expansive list of investment choices and trading tools to its customer base. In addition to the company’s highly regarded web and desktop platforms, the E*TRADE Mobile and Power E*TRADE apps offer both Apple and Android users an intuitive, highly responsive, and feature-rich experience.
For less advanced investors who depend on a fast and reliable platform for managing critical banking features like managing cash, transferring money, depositing checks, and paying bills, E*TRADE Mobile is a solid choice. The entry-level E*TRADE Mobile app also allows users to view live Bloomberg TV while gaining access to third-party research and breaking news. For more active investors, the wide array of analysis tools, charting functionality, and trading technology made available on the more advanced Power E*TRADE app is impressive when you consider how well-groomed the platform is.
Best Automated Investing App: Wealthfront
- Account Minimum: $500
- Fees: 0.25% for most accounts; no trading commission or fees for withdrawals, minimums, or transfers
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Why We Chose It
As part of Investopedia’s 2024 Best Robo-Advisor awards, we chose Wealthfront as our best overall pick, as well as best for portfolio management, best for portfolio construction, and best for goal planning. It is also our choice for best automated investing app because of how it delivers these best-in-class elements, and so much more, to investors on thoughtfully designed iOS and Android apps that are on par with the desktop experience.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Amazing investment portfolio selection
Hundreds of ETFs for customization
Daily tax-loss harvesting
Automated bond portfolio available
Free, highly capable digital financial planning tool
Cons
No access to financial advisors
No live chat
Difficult to connect with a live product specialist
Overview
A pioneer in using automation to develop low-cost investment portfolios for its American customer base, Wealthfront was founded in 2011 by technology entrepreneurs Andy Rachleff and Dan Carroll. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Wealthfront delivers a powerful, digital-only investment experience that gives users access to comprehensive money management features through an elegant, sleek design.
Similar to other traditional robo-advisors, Wealthfront builds automated investment portfolios based on customers’ responses to an initial questionnaire. Upon completion, users receive a customized investment portfolio that may be diversified across 17 global asset classes to match the user’s goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance.After establishing a risk-adjusted portfolio, users can compare other options with greater or lesser risk profiles that include a different mix of riskier stocks and more conservative bonds.
Wealthfront’s powerful tax-loss harvesting feature also helps taxable accounts avoid unnecessary tax payments. Additional customizability is found in hundreds of available ETFs, including crypto, tech, value, growth, and ESG-aware funds, and users can customize their holdings for an ideal investment fit. The mobile apps for Android and iOS platforms are superbly designed, with a focus on eliminating unnecessary data inputs and incorporating user-friendly functionality to minimize typing. Users are still required to enter their security credentials when linking external accounts, but the user’s experience along the app’s feature-rich journey is intuitive and consistent when utilizing the many key features found on the desktop version.
Best App for Active Traders and Best App for Options Traders: Interactive Brokers
- Account Minimum: $0.00
- Fees:$0.00 commissions for equities/ETFs available on IBKR’s TWS Lite, or low costs scaled by volume for active traders that want access to advanced functionality such as order routing.$0.65 per contract for options on TWS Lite; that is also the base rate for TWS Pro users, with scaled rates based on volume. $0.85 per contract for futures.
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Why We Chose It
Best App for Active Traders
As part of its ongoing focus on making its superb trading platforms more accessible to retail traders, Interactive Brokers now offers three apps from which customers can check on their account, conduct research, and place trades on the go. However, it’s the company’s IBKR Mobile app that stands as a shining example of how this industry veteran’s sophisticated trading technology, innovative tools, and excellent cross-platform functionality create the best experience for active mobile traders.
Best App for Options Traders
Researching the many factors that can affect an option’s value adds extra layers of complexity when compared to trading stocks and ETFs. With the IBKR Mobile app’s Options Wizard and Options Analysis tools, much of the hard work is done for you. When combined with the ease with which complex options strategies can be staged on the app, IBKR offers options traders an incredible advantage when trading on the go.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Unequaled breadth of available trading markets
Very competitive commission and margin rates
Excellent trade execution
Innovative mobile trading tools
Commission-free option
Cons
Commission schedules can be complex
Commission-free option requires sacrifice
Limited access to IPOs and OTC stocks
Overview
Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, Interactive Brokers (IBKR) was originally founded as T.P. & Co. by chairman Thomas Peterffy in 1978. Listed on the Nasdaq, IBKR is a publicly traded company with more than 2.75 million client accounts and more than 2,900 global employees. Known for being one of the first adopters of technology for financial markets, the company continues to excel at delivering the highly advanced trading features, seemingly boundless customizability, and alpha-creating capabilities that have made it so popular among institutional and professional traders. In recent years, however, the company has invested in making its platforms more accessible to beginners.
IBKR’s three mobile apps are targeted toward different audiences. The IMPACT app is a unique platform that makes investing more transparent by allowing clients to use third-party data providers and proprietary in-house algorithms to analyze their IBKR brokerage accounts using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data. The GlobalTrader app is a stripped-down, intuitive, and easy-to-use platform that allows less experienced traders to trade in more than 90 stock markets worldwide around the clock, plus options and cryptocurrencies. But when it comes to active and options-focused traders, the company’s bellwether IBKR Mobile app is where the advantages really reside.
From the palm of their hands, active traders and those with a heavy options focus can access over 150 markets worldwide with the IBKR Mobile app. Like its other apps, IBKR has designed its Mobile app so that users can perform tasks efficiently. Nowhere is this more obvious than when using the Options Wizard tool. This innovative feature recommends a list of options strategies based on the user’s market opinion, which they can then filter by aggressiveness, probability of profit, max gain, and more. Once a strategy is selected, the trade can be placed with one simple tap. IBKR Mobile also provides the same market-moving information as the company’s desktop Trader Workstation (TWS) platform, which earned IBKR the best broker for advanced traders distinction as part of our 2024 Best Online Brokers and Trading Platforms awards.
Best Low-Cost Trading App: Webull
- Account Minimum: $0
- Fees: $0 commissions for stock, ETF, and options
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Why We Chose It
Webull is our top selection for the best low-cost trading app because of the impressive mix of charting capabilities, research amenities, and overall user experience it delivers, all while levying $0 commission for trading stocks, ETFs, and options.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Simple account setup process
Impressive trading platforms
Commission-free trading of stocks, ETFs, and options
Available fractional shares trading
Extended hours and pre-market trading available
Cons
Payment for order flow (PFOF) increases potential for slow trade executions
Fixed income and mutual fund investing not available
Limited portfolio management tools
Overview
Launched in the U.S. as a licensed broker-dealer with a mobile-first focus quite recently—in 2018—Webull operates in 10 major markets and 15 regions globally. Active market participants, particularly younger, self-directed traders, will appreciate the very capable charting and broad range of services that Webull delivers with no required account minimums and commission-free trading of stocks, ETFs, and options.
Make no mistake; with few planning tools, limited account types, and far fewer account amenities than some full-service competitors, long-term investors will not find what they are looking for in Webull’s mobile trading app. That said, traders will find Webull’s app-based capabilities to be impressive. In addition to competitive margin rates, Webull's mobile platform delivers beautiful charts and robust watchlists that are highly customizable and respond incredibly well when either rotating the phone or pinching the screen. Although Webull is not known as a social trading platform, the mobile app’s community feed is a place where users can share market ideas and strategies and ask questions of other members.
Best Full-Service Investing App: Fidelity
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- Account Minimum: $0
- Fees: $0 for stock/ETF trades, $0 plus $0.65/contract for options trades
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Why We Chose It
Of the five mobile apps that Fidelity offers its customers, it’s the newly designed Fidelity Investments app that opens the door for all types of investors and traders to access key full-service features like a top-tier investment offering, a large selection of available account types, available brick-and-mortar support centers, and so much more.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Extensive research and screeners
Excellent order execution
Strong portfolio analysis and account features
No payment for order flow on stocks and ETFs
Top-tier educational content, screening tools, and research capabilities
Cons
Virtual assistant needs improvement
Just two digital coins available for trading
Minimum balance required for some index trading
Multiple platforms may be required to access all tools
Overview
With a history dating all the way back to 1946, Fidelity has long been an industry leader when it comes to lowering fees, and it has a stellar reputation as a broker with a huge customer service network—including more than 200 customer centers—supporting its low-cost, high-value offering. In an industry full of innovative companies competing for the attention of an incredibly diverse universe of traders and investors, Fidelity delivers the most well-rounded product offering to suit the needs of nearly every investor.
Since Investopedia began evaluating online brokerages in 2019, Fidelity has shown a commitment to improving its financial products and services. Recently, those efforts have expanded to financial advisor support, bond liquidity analysis, and platforms like the new Fidelity Youth app, which is a free app that helps teens manage their own finances. For investors and traders of all levels, however, the Fidelity Investments app is a well-designed, user-friendly platform that provides access to a comprehensive account overview, trading capabilities, Fidelity’s premier research, and more on Apple, Android, and Amazon devices.
The Classic version of the Fidelity Investment app is slated to be phased out in June 2024, making way for the newest version. Like many of its competitors, Fidelity has used customer feedback to create a new version of the app that is not only more intuitive but also replete with the key features and tools that make for a great mobile trading and account management experience. The new app is smartly designed, offering enhancements like multi-screen trade experience, increased customization, enhanced options trading, and more, all while continuing to give customers access to an expansive list of key full-service features that caused us to name Fidelity the best overall online broker, as well as best for low costs, best for ETFs, and best for cash management.
Best App for Saving: Acorns
- Account Minimum: $0
- Fees: Personal: $3/month, Personal Plus $5/month, Premium: $9/month
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Why We Chose It
Acorns’s Round-Ups® product is an effective way for savers to automatically redirect spare change into investment dollars, allowing those small sums to reach their full growth potential. For even faster growth, users can use Acorns’ Round-Ups Multiplier to multiply their savings.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Low-fee, diversified investment portfolio options
Invest “spare change” with ease
Multiplier feature enables faster investment growth
No hidden fees
$0 account minimum
Cons
High fees can be a large percentage of small account value
Limited investment selection
No tax-loss harvesting
Consistent saving and investing required to build a meaningful investment amount
Overview
Founded in 2012 by four colleagues, including the father-son team of Jeff Cruttenden and Walter Cruttenden, in Irvine, California, Acorns is a unique digital wealth management platform designed to make it easy for individuals to start investing and saving. At the core of Acorns’ strategy is its Round-Ups feature, which enables users to automatically invest their “spare change” with every debit or credit card purchase.
Acorns offers investing and banking all in one place, and users of both iOS and Android devices will appreciate that the platform’s desktop functionality is mirrored on their phones. The Acorns app makes it easy to perform common tasks like setting up an account, making changes to your account, and utilizing the Round-Ups feature to automatically round up purchases to the next dollar and invest the leftover change. Customers who sign up for an Acorns debit card will benefit from automatic, real-time round-ups of their spare change on purchases they make, compared to having to wait for round-ups to reach a minimum of $5 when using a linked external checking account or credit card.
Like many financial apps these days, Acorns also allows mobile users to deposit checks. In fact, this is the only way for users to make check deposits, since Acorns does not offer users the ability to cash or deposit checks via any of the 55,000+ no-fee ATMs within the AllPoint Network. It’s important to understand, however, that, for small accounts, the monthly account fees could outweigh the savings feature, depending upon the investor’s level of use.
Research Insights
When evaluating stock trading apps, prioritizing accessibility, reliability, and functionality is crucial for traders seeking to engage in seamless and efficient trading activities. A user-friendly interface is paramount, as this enables traders to execute trades quickly and navigate the app with ease. Reliability and uptime are also critical considerations, as traders rely on the app to execute trades swiftly without encountering technical glitches or downtime. Ensuring that the app offers robust security measures to protect sensitive financial information is also essential for maintaining trust and confidence among users.
Cost-effectiveness remains a significant factor, with traders scrutinizing not only commission fees but also other associated costs, such as account maintenance fees and foreign exchange fees for international trading. Moreover, advanced trading features, such as real-time market data, customizable watchlists, and the ability to annotate charts, can provide traders with valuable insights and analysis capabilities to inform their trading strategies. Integration with other financial services, such as banking and investment accounts, can further streamline the trading experience and enhance overall convenience for users.
By prioritizing accessibility, reliability, cost-effectiveness, and advanced features, traders can select a stock trading app that meets their specific needs and preferences while enabling them to navigate the dynamic world of stock trading with confidence. - Amrut Deshmukh, Investopedia Research Analyst
The Bottom Line
Our exhaustive research has found that E*TRADE is our overall pick for best investment and trading app because of how it optimizes its mobile platforms to include the right selection of research and account amenities, intuitive and user-friendly navigation, complex trading technology, and more. Active traders will find that Interactive Brokers’ legacy of providing industry-leading advanced trading capabilities carries over to the company’s mobile platform, while options traders will revel in the platform’s innovative, yet easy-to-use tools.
Although Fidelity and Webull both offer market participants low-cost trading options, these companies are at the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to account amenities and trading execution. Fidelity’s mobile platform is best suited for beginner and more casual experienced traders as well as all levels of investors looking for access to superior investing tools, research, and full-service brokerage features on the go, while Webull delivers an advanced, though user-friendly mobile trading platform for active traders looking for $0 commission for trading stocks, ETFs, and options.
Finally, Wealthfront and Acorns are both award-winning robo-advisor platforms. Wealthfront’s industry-best automated portfolio management, goals-based asset allocation, and access to banking and investing tools make it well-suited for investors seeking the best automated investment experience. Acorns, on the other hand, specializes in delivering on-the-go functionality to investors looking for a recurring savings plan with the unique ability to allocate change left over on purchases to passive income or growth opportunities.
Compare the Best Investment Apps
| Company | Fees | Account Minimum | Mobile App |
| E*TRADE | No commission for stock, ETF, and mutual fund trades. Options are $0.50-$0.65 per contract, depending on trading volume. | $0 | Android, iOS |
| Wealthfront | 0.25% for most accounts, no trading commission or fees for withdrawals, minimum balance requirements, or transfers | $500 | Android, iOS |
| Interactive Brokers | Maximum $0.005per share for Pro platform up to 1% of trade value, $0 for IBKR Lite | $0 | Android, iOS |
| Webull | $0 commissions for stock, ETF, and options | $0 | Android, iOS |
| Fidelity | $0 for stock/ETF trades, $0 plus $0.65/contract for options trades | $0 | Android, iOS |
| Acorns | Personal: $3/month, Personal Plus $5/month, Premium: $9/month | $0 | Android, iOS |
Why You Should Trust Us
Investopedia collected and analyzed several criteria that are the most important to readers choosing the right mobile app to fit their investing and trading needs. We used this data to evaluate a total of 47 online brokerage and digital wealth management platforms based on their mobile usability and functionality, and other features to provide unbiased, comprehensive reviews to ensure our readers make the right decision for their needs. Investopedia launched in 1999 and has been helping readers find the best investment apps since 2019.
Everything You Need to Know About Brokerage Accounts
How to Choose an Investment App
Now that you know the best investment apps, the next step is choosing the best investment app for you. However, everyone has different financial goals and needs that they alone must consider. Below are some key considerations you will need to factor in when choosing an investment app:
- Your investing style: Are you the type of trader who wants to utilize sophisticated indicators and trading strategies? If that's your objective, an app like Wealthfront wouldn't be a good fit. In this case, you would be better off going with an app like Interactive Brokers. However, if you are the type of investor who wants an app to do all the work for you, then Wealthfront is the clear winner.
- Fees and costs: The investment app you choose should be cost-effective for your financial needs. For instance, Wealthfront is an excellent service. However, its 0.25% annual fee, although small in the grand scheme of things, does add up the longer you have the account and the more it compounds in size. Investors who want to pay $0 in stock trades with low costs for options trades may want to consider Interactive Brokers or Webull.
- Investment options: When choosing an investment app, you will want to easily fund your account and buy and sell stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, cryptocurrency, options, and futures smoothly and seamlessly.
Choosing the right investment app that fits your needs is critical to you reaching your financial goals. Cost, functionality, and your particular trading style are all important considerations when making your decision.
How to Get Started With Investing Apps
Investing apps can be a convenient way to start investing in the financial markets. Luckily, getting started on this journey is as easy as following these key steps.
1. Define your investment goals: Clearly define your financial objectives and risk tolerance. Whether you aim for long-term growth, short-term gains, or a mix, understanding your goals is crucial to establishing a strong foundation for choosing the right platform to fit your needs.
2. Research and choose an investment app: When researching the various investment apps that are available, consider factors like the user interface, fees, available investment options, investing tools, and customer service.
3. Download and install the app: Once you've identified the right app that aligns with your investment goals, download and install the app.
4. Set up your account: Open the app and begin the account creation process. Provide necessary personal information, including your name, address, and Social Security number. Verify your identity by submitting required documents.
5. Fund your account: Connect your investment app to your bank account. This enables you to transfer funds seamlessly for investing purposes.
6. Explore investment options: Familiarize yourself with the various investment products available. Stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds are common choices, but it is critical for you to choose an investment vehicle based on your risk appetite and investment strategy.
7. Start small: Begin with a small investment to get comfortable with the app's functionality. You should also learn by using the paper trading function that many of the top platforms now offer. From there, as your confidence and experience start to build, begin to increase your investments gradually.
8. Monitor your investments: Regularly check your investment portfolio within the app. Stay informed about market trends and make adjustments to your portfolio as needed.
Pros and Cons of Using Investment Apps
Investment apps are sophisticated software systems that allow investors to conduct their trading on a mobile platform right in the palm of their hand. Although there are many pros to using investment apps to secure your financial future, there are also cons that investors need to note before using these platforms.
Pros
- Convenience: Investment apps allow investors to easily log in to their financial account and make necessary adjustments anywhere in the world.
- Beginner-friendliness: Most investment apps are much easier to use and require a lower learning curve than the desktop versions. Generally, investors won’t be inundated with a complex layout or weighed down by many options to handle their finances.
- Low fees and entry requirements: Investment apps typically have lower costs and more affordable entry requirements than desktop investing software. Many investment apps are free or have a $0 minimum to open an account. Wealthfront is an exception, as it requires $500 to open an account and charges fees upward of 0.25%. However, it also offers one of the best hands-off services in the robo-advisor industry, which, to many investors, may be well worth the cost.
Cons
- Limited functionality: Investment apps will operate differently from their desktop counterparts. The investing app may exclude charts, tools, and investing resources essential to the trader's success. However, limitations are specific to each platform and differ in what they offer. When choosing an investing app, ensure it coincides with your trading style.
- Limited customization: Most desktop-based investing platforms allow investors to fully customize their layout to improve their focus on what matters most to them when they invest. Investing apps may allow some sort of customizability, but in most cases, there are very few options to get it how the investor may want it. Investors are usually limited to the layout provided by the investing app and cannot customize it according to their preferences.
- Limited customer service: Investing apps may limit customer service resources, and customers may be encouraged to find solutions on their own within the app's resources, such as its FAQs or an online forum. If the investing app does provide customer service, it may not offer ideal solutions to the investor's issues.
How Much Money Do You Need to Invest Through an Investment App?
The funding requirements for an investment app will differ with every platform. For instance, Wealthfront is the only investment app covered here that requires a $500 minimum investment to open an account. If you are interested in the robo-advisor sector but find the account minimum too steep, then robo-advisors like Betterment may be a better fit as it requires only $10 to start investing. When it comes to online brokers, top platforms like Interactive Brokers, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Webull do not require any account minimum. However, investors will need to conduct their due diligence to ensure they can meet all requirements before opening an account.
Desktop vs. Mobile Experiences
Desktop trading platforms still have a strong customer base because of the superior trading experience they provide. Thanks to the growth of app-only retail investors, however, brokers can’t focus solely on the desktop experience. Mobile-first and mobile-only brokerages already exist, and established brokers are having to simultaneously develop their desktop and mobile platforms to keep up.
To do this, many brokerages have changed their product approach to focus on creating a consistent experience across multiple devices. This means you can usually find similar workflows and key tools regardless of which platform you are on. This comes with a trader-specific caveat, as many desktop platforms intended for active traders have to cut out a lot more when transitioning to mobile when compared to brokerages with platforms aimed at average investors.
The extent of this feature reduction has been lessened as the smartphone technology running these trading apps has improved, however, and more brokers are aligning and synchronizing key features across both the mobile and desktop workflows such as analysis, research, screening tools, money movement, and charting. More recently, complex trading strategies originally reserved for desktop experiences like multi-leg options trades and contingent orders have been enabled on apps as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Best Investment App?
Determining the best investment app depends on individual preferences and investing goals. Our research has determined that E*TRADE is the best investment app overall, because it optimizes its mobile platforms to include the right selection of research and account amenities, intuitive and user-friendly navigation, complex trading technology, and more. Ultimately, however, the app you choose should align with your investment strategy, risk tolerance, and financial objectives.
What Should I Consider Before Using a Stock Trading App?
App-based trading gives you access to financial markets right at your fingertips, wherever you are located. When considering investing through a mobile app it’s helpful to identify your goals, preferences, and investment strategy. Being aware of your personal investment experience and educational opportunities can also help match you to the right trading platform. It is also important to evaluate the broker as a whole, rather than just by the mobile app. A slick app can’t make up for the impact of higher-than-average trading fees and poor execution, for example.
As you decide between different apps, you may find some platforms provide paper-based accounts that let you experiment with trades without risking your personal capital. Testing out more than one app-based investment offering can also give you more insight to properly compare and contrast features that match your preferences. All these factors can help determine which app will be the right fit for you.
What's the Difference Between Finance Apps and Investing Apps?
In this review, we are focused on investing apps rather than finance apps. Investing apps allow you to actually buy and sell assets and, in practical terms, are the apps provided by brokerages to trade in your account with them. There is a wider universe of financial apps out there, and some brokerages also offer finance app functions through their investment apps (i.e. external account syncing with financial analysis on your total holdings).
The key difference with a finance app is that you cannot trade stocks or assets through those apps even though you may be able to sync your brokerage accounts to the app. In contrast, investment apps enable you to research investments, check positions, and place new orders, all without having to leave the app. Finance apps generally stop at being able to display your brokerage account balance as part of your overall financial picture. Some of the most popular financial apps are budgeting apps, and we review these separately from our investment app reviews.
Are Investment Apps Safe?
Generally speaking, all investment apps built by major financial institutions are safe to use. Not only do these companies implement high security standards and carry SIPC insurance to safeguard the accounts of those using their mobile application, butmarketplaces such as the App Store for iOS and Google Play forthe Android operating systems also have strong security protocols that each app must pass tobe authorizedfor their marketplace. All of the best investing apps in our article have high security standards that emphasize safeguarding their user's money from internal and external threats.
What Is Robinhood?
Robinhood is a user-friendly investing and trading app where users can easily trade stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options, and cryptocurrencies on the platform. A pioneer in offering commission-free trading, Robinhood remains popular among newer investors. However, the platform lacks more sophisticated financial tools, asset categories, and research capabilities that advanced traders look for in a broker.
Which Is Better: Robinhood or Webull?
Robinhood and Webull are often thought of as being similar investing platforms. However, our research has uncovered several differences between the two. For instance, Webull's platform offers a far more robust trading experience that includes advanced technical charting capabilities, available quantitative studies, deep market news, fundamental comparison tools, excellent customization, and broad options trading features. Robinhood, on the other hand, delivers a more basic trading experience that is best suited for new and beginner investors. The company's Learn vertical stands out as a plus in this regard. In addition, Robinhood's 1% match should appeal to investors looking to open a retirement account. Ultimately, our research found that Webull is the best app offered for low-cost options trading and low-cost day trading, in addition to being thebest low-cost options broker.
How We Picked the Best Investment Apps
Investopedia is dedicated to providing investors with unbiased, comprehensive reviews and ratings of online brokers and robo-advisors. Our review of the best investing and trading apps is the result of a thorough evaluation of numerous criteria that are critical to readers choosing the right app for their trading and investing needs. We used this data to develop comprehensiveonline brokerandrobo-advisorranking methodologies for evaluating a total of 47 online brokerage and digital wealth management platforms based on their cross-platform functionality, mobile usability, trading technology, and more features, to provide unbiased, comprehensive reviews to ensure our readers make the right decisions. Our last assessment of brokers and robo-advisors to determine the best trading and investing apps was performed in April 2024.
Dotdash Meredith receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Advisers LLC (“Wealthfront Advisers”) for each new client that applies for a Wealthfront Automated Investing Account through our links. This creates an incentive that results in a material conflict of interest. Dotdash Meredith is not a Wealthfront Advisers client, and this is a paid endorsem*nt. More information is available via our links to Wealthfront Advisers.
