We're doing more and more on our phones every day, and that includes investing. If mobile trading matters to you, two names worth comparing are Robinhood and Stash.
The main differences between Robinhood and Stash are that Robinhood is a free-trading app where you won't pay commissions on stock and ETF trades, designed for investors who want to actively trade stocks, options, exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrency. It also offers a matching program for IRA accounts.
Stash aims to make the process of finding and selecting investments — specifically exchange-traded funds and individual stocks — easy and approachable for beginners to build their portfolio. Stash also offers a managed portfolio for investors who want to be completely hands off.
Here's more on how they compare.
Robinhood is best for:
- Mobile-first investors.
- IRA investors.
- Margin traders.
Robinhood at a glance
Account minimum | $0 for brokerage accounts, Robinhood Gold accounts and IRAs. |
Stock trading costs | $0. |
Options trades | $0 for equity options. $0.50 for index options, or $0.35 for Gold accounts. |
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing, inactivity) | No annual or inactivity fees. $100 ACAT outgoing transfer fee. Robinhood Gold costs $5 a month or $50 per year. Matching funds in IRAs may be taken back if money is withdrawn in less than five years. Instant withdrawals cost 1.75% of the amount withdrawn, with a minimum fee of $1 and a maximum of $150. |
Interest rate on uninvested cash | 0.01% for free accounts, 3.35% for Gold accounts |
Tradable securities | Stocks, ETFs, Options, Cryptocurrency, American Depositary Receipts for over 650 global companies, Futures, Fractional shares. Bonds only available in the form of bond ETFs. |
Number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds | Not rated; no mutual funds. |
Trading platform | Robinhood's mobile and web platforms are known for their smooth sign-up, funding and trading processes. The broker now also offers a desktop platform, Robinhood Legend. |
Mobile app | Mobile trading platform includes customizable alerts, news feed, advanced charting and ability to listen live to earnings calls for some companies. Reviews are mostly positive, although the average star rating on both iOS and Android is below the 4.5 star line. |
Research and data | Access to professional research from Morningstar and Level II market data from the Nasdaq Stock Exchange (with Gold subscription). |
Customer support options (includes how easy it is to find key details on the website) | 24/7 chat support. Phone support available from 7:00 a.m. ET to 9:00 p.m. ET, Monday - Friday. Decent suite of educational articles and webinar events, and an easily-navigable website. |
Stash is best for:
- 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.
Stash at a glance
Reviewed: Oct. 2025
Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2025
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. |
Brokerage firms | |
|---|---|
» Curious about other options? View the best stock apps
Methodology
How do we review brokers and robo-advisors?
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
