Acorns Vs Robinhood: 2023 Comparison

Robinhood and Acorns both aim to make investing easier for beginners but take extremely different approaches. While Robinhood simplifies the process of buying stocks & options. Acorns focuses on making it extremely east to invest using the power of round-ups and passive exchange traded funds (ETFS).

This Robinhood vs Acorns comparison can help you understand the main differences between the two platforms so you can decide which one is right for you.

Overview

Acorns Vs Robinhood: Pros and Cons

Acorns Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Invest in Roboadvisory ETFs on autopilot	$3 to $5 monthly fees
Round-up purchases to invest extra money	No individual stocks or cryptocurrencies
Earn cashback on major retail purchases

Robinhood Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Trade stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies for $0	No retirement accounts
Store crypto in your Robinhood wallet	No UTMA custodial accounts
No monthly maintenance fees
No account minimums

Robinhood Vs Acorns: Commissions & Fees

	Acorns	Robinhood
Stock & ETF commissions	N/A	0%
Options commissions	N/A	0%
Crypto trading fees	N/A	0%
Account Transfer Fee	$50 per ETF to transfer ETFs. $0 fee to liquidate all ETFs and close your account	$75
Account Maintenance Fee	$3 for personal accounts. $5 for family accounts.	$0 or $5 per month for Robinhood Gold

Robinhood and Acorns take different approaches when it comes to fees although both platforms keep commissions & fees extremely low overall.

Acorns charges a monthly maintenance fee of $3 for personal accounts and $5 for family accounts while Robinhood charges zero monthly fees unless you upgrade to Robinhood Gold.

Acorns is worth the fees because you gain access to automated Round-ups and can easily move your funds between your checking, savings, and investment portfolio without any hassle. Acorns provides pre-built ETF portfolio with automatic rebalancing so you can put savings and investing on complete autopilot.

Robinhood offers you more control over your investments without paying a dime in commissions. You can use all of its products and services for free unless you want the extra perks of Robinhood gold, which allows you to increase your instant deposit limit and borrow more money on margin.

Investment Types

	Acorns	Robinhood
Stocks & ETFs	Roboadvisor ETFs	Yes
Fractional Shares	No	Yes
Crypto	No	Yes
Options	No	Yes
Mutual Funds	No	No
CDs	No	No
Bonds	Roboadvisor bond ETFs	No
Forex	No	No

Acorns Invest creates predetermined portfolios based on your risk tolerance and time horizon. Your money is invested in a mix of exchange traded funds and you can change your allocation from Conservative to Aggressive depending on your investment goals.

This reduces your overall risk but you lose 100% control of your investments and cannot buy individual stocks, trade options, or invest in cryptocurrencies. Roboavisors are good for beginners but you may want more control over your portfolio if you feel bullish about a specific publicly traded company, sector, or crypto coin.

Robinhood doesn’t offer any robo-advisorary service because you have 100% control over your investments.

You can select from a wide range of NYSE, NASDAQ, and OTC publicly traded stocks & ETFs, trade call and put options, or invest in cryptocurrencies using Robinhood’s crypto wallet.

Robinhood offers the most simple UX for beginners and makes trading stocks & options extremely easy.

Robinhood also offers fractional share trading for stocks & crypto so you can start investing with as little as $1. These amazing features along with $0 minimums or maintenance fees give Robinhood a big edge amongst its competitors.

Account Types

	Acorns	Robinhood
Taxable Brokerage	No	Yes
Margin	No	Yes
Roboadvisor	Yes	No
Traditional IRA	Yes	No
Roth IRA	No	No
SEP IRA	No	No
UTMA/UGMA Custodial	Yes	No
Checking	Yes	Yes
Savings	Yes	No
Credit Card	No	No

Acorns provides access to a robo-advisory account as well as IRA retirement and UMTA/UGTA custodial accounts depending on which plan you choose.

Robinhood offers a taxable brokerage account and margin account only. You cannot open a retirement or custodial account with Robinhood but it’s possible that they add these features in the future.

Both Robinhood and Acorns offer cash management accounts that can be linked to a Visa debit card for making purchases. The main difference is that Acorns lets you round-up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invest the different in your Acorns Invest account. Robinhood doesn’t offer round-ups at the moment.

Acorns Vs Robinhood: Mobile App and Desktop Platform

Both Acorns and Robinhood offer a mobile app and desktop platform experience for users. You can download each respective app for Android or iOs depending on which phone type you own.

Acorns Vs Robinhood: Which App Will Make Your Wealthy?

If you are seeking quick returns then Robinhood is your best option. You can turn a few hundred dollars into a large sum of money quickly by trading options. You can also buy YOLO stocks and other high risk cryptocurrencies that are extremely volatilie. If you are looking for long term passive wealth then buy dividend stocks and build a dividend growth portfolio for the future.

If you want longer term wealth with less risk and volatility then go with Acorns and invest in ETFs. While ETFs are kind of boring, many successful investors have used them to retire as millionaires and build a substantial fortune.

Acorns Vs Robinhood: Which App Is Best For Beginners?

Both Acorns and Robinhood are suited for complete beginners. Acorn is good for risk adverse ETF investing beginners while Robinhood is good for risk taking stock and options trading beginners.

The Bottom Line

I use both apps regularly because Acorns and Robinhood have some fantastic investing options with very low fees.

If you want to put your investing on autopilot and rely on ETFs for returns then go with Acorns. You can use the round-up feature to grow your portfolio and earn cashback from Acorns Earn rewards program.

If you prefer 100% control over your investments then Robinhood is the preferred choice. You can trade thousands of different stocks & ETFs plus invest in cryptocurrencies as well. I personally use Robinhood to buy YOLO stocks that could soar to the moon.

When comparing Acorns and Robinhood, remember that you can sign up for both platforms to diversify your risk and protect your initial investment capital.

It’s far easier to blow up your trading account on Robinhood so consider opening both accounts to benefit from diversification.