If you’re a beginner, you might be wondering which stocks to buy. There are thousands of stocks out there, and it can be overwhelming to figure out which ones to focus on. To help you navigate your way through the world of stock investing, check out these three apps that will educate you about investing for beginners. Best Apps for Investing in Stocks for Beginners Blog Post 2-paragraph summary.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Investing In Stocks For Beginners
- Robinhood: Best Stock Trading App for Beginners
robinhood
Available via desktop, Apple iOS and Google Android.
Sign up here
Robinhood became the first commission-free stock trading app by slashing trading commissions to $0. Others in the industry had no choice but to follow if they wanted to remain relevant to retail investors.
Likewise, many new stock trading mobile app options like Robinhood have cropped up in recent years, many of which feature on this list.
The service offers commission-free stock trading, as well as the ability to make ETF trades, as well as options trading and penny stock investing, commission-free. Robinhood doesn’t support mutual funds on its mobile app or desktop trading platforms.
Robinhood’s stock trading app offers a simple and easy-to-use design. Many have found this useful for placing their trades by not overcomplicated it.
Robinhood brokerage accounts have no account minimum requirements.
Robinhood carries Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) coverage on all brokerage accounts.
Robinhood | Commission-Free Trades, No Minimums
Robinhood is an investing app famous for its commission-free trades on ETFs, options and cryptocurrency.
It has no account minimums and comes with a free stock upon signing up for the service.
Robinhood | Commission-Free Trades, No Minimums
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- Webull: Best Stock Trading App for Intermediate Traders
webull sign up
Available via desktop, Apple iOS and Google Android.
Sign up here
Webull came into the stock trading world in 2018 when it started challenging Robinhood for market share. This stock trading app offers commission-free stock trading as well as commission-free trades on ETFs, options and cryptocurrencies.
Like most investing apps available, the company provides access to trade on your smartphone, tablet or desktop.
As touched on above, it charges no commissions for the trades because Webull makes money on other actions you take, like Payment for Order Flow (PFOF), margin loans, interest on cash and service fees for their Nasdaq TotalView Level 2 Advances quotes subscription.
Webull also provides you access to several powerful tools you can use for in-depth trading analysis. These low-cost or free services easily make the stock trading app one of the best stock research and analysis apps for conducting technical analysis.
If these account features sound attractive, you’ll also be happy to learn your Webull stock trading app and brokerage account comes with no account minimum you must meet or maintain. Finally, to de-risk your sign up, Webull also runs frequent promotions that give free stocks.
Read more in our Webull review.
Our Self-Directed Investing App Pick
Webull | No Minimums, Free Trades
The Webull app offers free equity, crypto and option trading, advanced reporting and in-depth analysis.
LIMITED TIME OFFER ($27 – $9,605 value): Open an account and deposit at least $5 to receive 5 free stocks ($27-$9,600 value) and make 1 crypto trade to earn $5 of crypto.
Webull | No Minimums, Free Trades
Learn More
Our Review
- Betterment: Best Investment App for Automation & Tax-Loss Harvesting
betterment sign up
Available via desktop, Apple iOS and Google Android.
Sign up here
You can use the Betterment robo-advisor platform to buy fractional shares of ETF index funds like the S&P 500 in taxable accounts as well as individual retirement plans.
The service does not allow you to invest in individual stocks but will automatically place deposits into fractional bits of index fund ETFs aligned with your portfolio objectives.
The features of this platform make it one of the best investment apps for beginners, specifically being most suitable to investors looking to diversify instantly as they make contributions to their accounts.
The service charges an all-encompassing 0.25% assets under management fee but can justify this expense in taxable brokerage accounts through its tax-loss harvesting feature.
Lowering your taxable income through their tax-loss harvesting feature is one of the products that justifies the 0.25% AUM fee for holdings in a taxable account.
It works by selling losses to lock in short-term capital losses and lowers your taxable income while taking your proceeds and placing them into a similar investment.
This lowers your taxable income or other capital gains and quickly covers the 0.25% annual AUM fee.
Further, based on your intended financial goal, the company provides investment advice by tailoring your portfolios to accomplish these goals.
Betterment led the way for robo-advisor services and investing apps for beginners, growing from a small business to what now represents a significant book of business.
Using them has become a popular choice for people looking to invest toward specific goals without the need for any investing experience for a reasonable fee.
Our Robo-Advisor Pick
Betterment | Investing Made Better
This app gives you the tools, inspiration and support you need to become a better investor.
Start with as little as $10 and use the top-rated mobile app to optimize your investment portfolio through automated investing and diversification
Customize your risk tolerance and investment goals with guidance available at any time
Nearly 750,000 customers use Betterment to invest
Betterment | Investing Made Better
Learn More
- Public.com: Best Investing App for Beginners
public.com sign up
Available via desktop, Apple iOS and Android App on Google Play.
Sign up here
Public.com is a commission-free investment app for beginners that allows stock and ETF trades. The stock market app targets Millennials and Gen-Zers who have attuned their senses to social media and have interest investing in the stock market.
While the company previously followed the lead of apps like Robinhood with monetizing Payment for Order Flow (PFOF), or receiving kickbacks from clearinghouses for routing trades to them, they’ve recently abandoned this practice.
Instead, they now rely on other revenue streams as well as a “tipping” system.
This places this beginner investing app firmly on the side of retail investors and not pledging allegiance to Wall Street clearinghouses.
Why is Public.com the Best Investing App for Beginners?
What Public.com is really about is making investing like an investing social network, where members can own fractional shares of stocks and ETFs, follow popular creators, and share ideas within a community of investors.
What Public.com aims to do above all else is make the stock market an inclusive and educational place, with social features that make it easy to collaborate as you build your confidence as an investor—for free.
For younger investors who want to align their investing with their social preferences, as well as keep good company to socialize and learn from others, Public.com might be the app for you.
For those interested in starting to trade on Public.com, the online broker platform for beginners offers a free $10 signup bonus if you make an initial deposit. Further, you can share your special link with others and gift them free stocks (fractional shares) as well.
If this sounds like an interesting investing app, open an account and make an initial deposit (no account minimum needed to meet, so any amount will do) to see if the app meets your social and investing needs.
Read more in our Public.com investing app review.
Public.com | Commission-Free Themed Investing
Public.com offers zero-commission trading on thousands of stocks and ETFs, available as fractional shares
Uses a social feed where members can share why they believe in certain companies (or don’t) and can post comments on others’ trades
Can invest in curated lists of stocks and ETFs for people to aggregate investments by interest area or values
Public.com | Commission-Free Themed Investing
Learn More
Offer valid for U.S. residents 18+ and subject to account approval. There may be other fees associated with trading. See public.com/disclosures/.
- SoFi Invest: Best Investment App for Beginners
sofi invest free stocks
Available via desktop, Apple iOS and Android App on Google Play.
Sign up here: (iOS), Android, Desktop
SoFi Invest is a stock market app that allows you to place stock and ETF trades alongside investing in cryptocurrency.
The well-known brand in the personal finance space recently entered into the investing world by offering free trades on stocks, ETFs, cryptos and more. SoFi doesn’t offer options trading nor mutual funds.
The service provides you the ability to trade actively or stand back and let its automated investing tools takeover as a robo-advisor.
Therefore, this stock market app might make a good place to hold your investment accounts because you’ll have options of how to invest money.
The company wants to serve all customers who have an interest in improving their financial situation alongside participating in their other personal finance products like refinanced student loans, money management, credit cards and more.
SoFi Invest | Free Investing
No trading fees or commissions
No account minimums
Invest in Stock Bits (fractional shares)
Trade select cryptos
Automated investing options for a hands-off approach
SoFi Invest | Free Investing
iOS Sign Up
Android Sign Up
Related: 10 Best Stock Tracking Apps [Investment Portfolio Management]
- Acorns: Best Investment App to Learn
acorns
Available via Apple iOS and Google Android.
Sign up here
Acorns is an investing app for minors and young adults who wish to start with a small amount of money in their investments.
With more time, these recurring contributions and rounded up deposits from your purchases will grow into a larger portfolio. Hence the company’s name, Acorns: start small like an acorn but grow strong into a mighty oak tree.
Because portfolios start with small balances most often through Acorns, the service has no account minimum.
The robo-advisor micro investing app charges a monthly fee for users for providing investment advice through its robo-advisor functionality. Though, it doesn’t charge trading commissions when your gets invested on your behalf.
Instead, it charges an account fee depending on the subscription plan you select for your account.
Currently, the service has two offerings including Acorns Personal for $3/mo and Acorns Family for $5/mo.
These subscriptions provide various products which fit well for goals of young adults like investing young and managing your money prudently.
The service easily acts as one of the best money apps for kids with its all-in-one platform (Acorns Family).
Their plans come as follows:
Acorns Personal ($3/mo):
Acorns Invest: Invests spare change through the popular “Round-Ups” feature, earns bonus investments and provides access to financial literacy articles.
Acorns Later: Offers tax-advantaged investment options like individual retirement accounts (IRAs)
Acorns Spend: This service acts as your bank account, offering free withdrawals at over 55,000 ATMs nationwide and no account fees and the ability to earn up to 10% bonus investments
Acorns Family ($5/mo):
Everything in Acorns Personal (Acorns Invest, Later and Spend)
Acorns Early: This allows you to take advantage of the best way to invest $1,000 for your child’s future and can teach you how to invest as a teenager or minor through opening a custodial account.
Learn more in our Acorns review.
Our Micro-Investing App Pick
Acorns | Invest, Earn, Grow, Spend, Later
From acorns, mighty oaks do grow. Grow your oak!
In under 5 minutes, get investment accounts for you and your family, plus retirement, checking, ways to earn more money, and grow your knowledge.
Famous for investing spare change automatically through Round-Ups, this all-in-one financial app helps younger generations start investing earlier.
Just $3 or $5/mo.
Bonus: Get $10 to start
Acorns | Invest, Earn, Grow, Spend, Later
Learn More
Related: Best Acorns Alternatives: Micro-Investing Apps to Use
- M1 Finance: Best Robo-Advisor Investment App for Beginners
m1 finance
Available via desktop, Apple iOS and Google Android.
Sign up here
M1 Finance offers commission-free stock and ETF trades but also provides automated stock trading according to your predetermined investment decisions as this site’s top robo-advisor pick.
What we like most about this app is the ability to make recurring deposits that automatically get invested into your portfolio.
M1 Finance acts as a singular personal finance app to assist with building wealth through automating your investments into diversified portfolios, having a bank account and linked debit card that provide market-beating interest rates and have access to valuable personal finance literature.
Most importantly, investing with M1 Finance can be as simple as depositing money, setting your stock and index fund selections and having the platform automate your investments on your behalf.
I’ve said it before, but this truly automates your investments if you set up recurring deposits, allowing your wealth to build.
From there, M1 Finance automatically rebalances your portfolio in line with your stated asset allocation targets. Doing this at regular intervals has been shown to improve overall portfolio performance.
It does so by moving outperforming funds into underperforming ones, capturing a value effect over time as returns revert to the mean.
Consider opening an investment account with M1 Finance. If you deposit $1,000, you can even earn a free sign up bonus. The app has no account minimum unless you choose to open an IRA, for which you’ll need to deposit at least $500.
Read more in our M1 Finance review.
Our Self-Directed Robo-Advisor Pick
M1 Finance | Smart Money Mgmt
M1 Finance’s Smart Money Management gives you choice and control of how you want to invest automatically, borrow, and spend your money—with available high-yield checking and low borrowing rates.
Special Promotions: Open an account and make a $1,000 deposit within 14 days to receive a $30 bonus and get 1-year free of M1 Plus ($125 value).
M1 Finance | Smart Money Mgmt
Learn More
Our Review
- Stash: Stock Market Investment App
stash sign up
Available via desktop, Apple iOS and Android App on Google Play
Sign up here
Stash is a mobile-friendly personal finance app that comes paired with investing options and a checking account. Stash acts as a low-cost, all-in-one financial platform and gets included in this list as a result.
While the app primarily caters to hands-off investors looking to automate their investing, you can also actively select stocks to trade. You can do all of this as you spend money and make recurring deposits into your account.
Stash offers custodial accounts for real beginners (young investors), or those under the age of 18. Getting started early on your investing journey can build real long-term wealth over time as your returns compound.
Stash comes with a recurring monthly fee but justifies this with a full-service personal finance platform.
Of note, while it does charge a monthly account service fee for its full-suite of products, it does not charge trading commissions for your investment holdings nor does it have an account minimum.
Stash | Investing Made Easy
Stash is a personal finance app that simplifies investing, making it easy and affordable for everyday Americans to build wealth and achieve their financial goals.
By signing up and making a $5 deposit, Stash will also provide a $5 sign up bonus.
Stash | Investing Made Easy
Get Your $5 Bonus
- Vanguard: Free Stock and ETF Trades Stock Market App
vanguard sign up
Available via desktop, Apple iOS and Android App on Google Play.
Sign up here
This list wouldn’t be complete without the aptly-named company at the vanguard of fighting for the retail investor: Vanguard. The company has long sought to lower investing costs for retail investors by offering market index investments for increasingly affordable rates.
In fact, John Bogle originated the idea of index fund investing and first offered them to retail investors as mutual funds and eventually exchange traded funds (ETFs).
These low-cost investments have saved retail investors billions of dollars over the years, allowing their brokerage account returns to compound further.
While apps like Robinhood have slashed trading commissions to $0, Vanguard has led index fund investors to virtually $0 fund expenses as well. When combined, you invest in the stock market for almost nothing.
Talk about a great accomplishment for the small investor looking to invest steadily over time.
Vanguard excels as a free stock trading platform when you wish to buy and sell Vanguard securities like index fund ETFs or mutual funds. You pay no commissions on their ETF products like VTI, or mutual funds like VTSAX and VFIAX.
Further, the company also recently announced it will no longer charge trading fees on competitors’ ETF trades as well. This marks a departure from the company’s long-standing position of charging commissions on other investment firm’s ETF trades.
My only complaint about the stock market app comes from its clunky nature. In particular, I don’t see the app as some paragon of investing app functionality. I use the app for managing my work’s 401k plan and my son’s 529 brokerage account.
I will admit firsthand to its bloat and lack of clarity for calculating my investment returns. I’d never pick stocks individually and invest in them through the Vanguard stock trading app.
While the app shows raw dollar returns, it fails to do so on a percentage basis, complicating my understanding of how well they perform on an apples-to-apples basis with my investment vehicles I hold elsewhere.
As a counterpoint to this, by offering stripped down reporting and functionality, the stock trading app may encourage you to visit it less.
By touching your diversified investments less often, you won’t run the risk of fiddling with what usually works: holding diversified investments for long periods of time and seeing compounding returns.
Best investment apps for beginners 2022
- Acorns
Acorns is a great investment app for beginners. This app is especially useful if you want to bolster your savings and invest without even thinking about it. The app integrates with your credit or debit card and rounds up purchases to automatically add funds to an investment account. Acorns allows you to invest in ETFs and a few fractional shares in stocks. Three tiers (lite, personal, and family) allow users to add additional accounts for a premium rate. Other key features of the app include:
No investment minimums
Five portfolio types
Automatic rebalancing
Option for family spending account
24 hour customer support by phone or live chat
Costs $1 to $5 a month depending on account type
- Stash
Stash is one of the best apps for beginners hoping to learn the ropes of investing fast. The app mixes educational content and games to make financial topics easier to learn. Users can customize goals based on what they want to focus on and actively track their progress. Stash lets you work with value-based investment offerings and provides suggestions for building your portfolio. Stash is also known for:
$5 Investment minimum
Fees ranging from $1 to $9 a month
Educational support
Option to invest in stocks and ETFs
No inactivity fees
Visualization tools for investment decisions
- Ally
Ally invest is a great option for beginners interested in stocks and bonds. This app integrates real-time data to allow users to trade anytime, anywhere. Ally invest also gives users access to bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs. There is no minimum investment, and the app doesn’t require additional downloads to access the trading platform (making it very user friendly). Additional features include:
Nonexistent fees on eligible stock and options trades
Options pricing calculator
Some transaction fees depending on investment type
Chat, email, and phone support
Additional web browser based access
- Invstr
Invstr is one of the best investment apps for beginners. This investing app is best known for its fantasy game-play, allowing users to play with $1 million in fake cash to learn more about stocks. Invstr is a great option for anyone who wants experience managing a portfolio before actually getting started. The app has an active community of investors and an updated news feed to help users learn more about managing a portfolio. Invstr also offers:
Real cash prizes for successful game play
Fractional shares in stocks
Portfolio management simulation
Access to specialized education material
Interactive game play
- Robinhood
Robinhood gained popularity as one of the first apps to offer stock trading without fees or commissions, which made starting a stock portfolio a lot more attractive for first-time investors. Today, several apps have this same offering, but Robinhood still stands out for a few reasons. First, the app allows users to trade cryptocurrency without fees. Robinhood also has no minimum account balance and no inactivity fees. Its user-friendly interface also makes it stand out among other web-based trading platforms. There are a few drawbacks to keep in mind, for example, Robinhood doesn’t sync with retirement accounts and has limited customer support. But given its user-friendly interface and nonexistent fee structure, Robinhood remains one of the best stock market apps. - Wealthbase
Wealthbase is an investment simulation app, perfect for beginners hoping to learn the ropes alongside friends. Users can make stock trades and exchange cryptocurrency — and keep an eye on their friends’ feeds to see how well they’re doing. The app’s purpose is to get more comfortable with trading and selecting stocks. The added social component makes the process more enjoyable, and allows you to discuss your options with others. Many beginners find Wealthbase to be a great app for learning without actually worrying about the risks of making an initial investment without experience. - Ellevest
Investors interested in selecting a socially-minded portfolio may want to consider Ellevest. The app is known for its highly rated robo-advisors and its focus on investments that positively impact women. Ellevest offers portfolios that are focused on impact funds, or companies with female leadership, sustainable business practices, and community services. Investors can review the various options and put their money in companies with similar visions.
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