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Betterment VS Robinhood

Betterment VS Robinhood

How to invest your money is enough of a head-scratcher, but picking who to invest with can pose quite a conundrum as well. Betterment and Robinhood are two heavy hitters in the digital investment sector, each offering its share of benefits. What works for one person may not work for you, but with a detailed comparison, you can make the best choice for your needs.

Let’s check out Betterment VS Robinhood and see who comes out on top.

The Features

The two platforms are often pitted against each other as they provide users with straightforward tools to access the financial market. In all honesty, both apps are great for investors of any experience level with some similar and differing features.

Betterment uses robo-advisors, which means you don’t have a real person handling your money but an A.I. that follows algorithms to make the most use of your money. You have some control over its decisions as you can set parameters such as your risk tolerance, and the robo-advisor picks a profile that best suits your characteristics.

Betterment is great for investors who aren’t very hands-on and want to “set it and forget it”. Betterment offers various portfolios that consist of ETFs and mutual funds.

On the other hand, you have Robinhood, which is a platform that caters to more active investors. The tools they provide and streamlined operation makes the app very easy to understand – even if it’s your first time.

You also have a more hands-on experience with Robinhood as they do not focus on automating the process with robo-advisors. Instead, users can have more control over their own portfolios. It should be noted that Robinhood allows investors to dabble in stocks and ETFs, but not mutual funds or bonds.

With cryptocurrency on the rise, Robinhood has kept up with the times and features Robinhood Crypto, which gives you the chance to enter the cryptocurrency trade.

Are There Any Fees?

With most online transactions nowadays, we all take a hit when it comes to the fees. The fees alone are something that can deter any user. There are plenty of online financial apps and institutions that boast about zero fees, so are Robinhood and Betterment included, or are there better online trading platforms out there?

Banks and digital platforms can slap you with various types of fees and there are 4 big ones to pay attention to when vetting investment platforms and services – trading fees, inactivity fees, trading commissions and other fees.

Betterment offers a choice of 2 packages – Betterment Digital, which is their basic package, and Betterment Premium. For the basic plan, you would need to pay a fee of 0.25% of all your assets held in the app but there is no minimum balance required. Financial advisors would add to the cost of that by around $300 per consultation.

For Betterment Premium, the annual percentage increases to 0.40%. However, financial advisors are available to Betterment Premium users at no additional cost.

The fees are what tip us a little more in favor of Robinhood in this round because they offer many of their services for free. They do not take a commission or a fee per trade you make, and there are no trading or inactivity fees!

If you want to take part in margin trading, then that’s when the platform will take a small fee of $5 a month.

Betterment VS Robinhood – Pros and Cons

Both platforms are great, they provide excellent and simplified services that contribute to a pleasant investment experience, but here is an overview to give you a better idea of which to choose.

Betterment

Who should choose Betterment? Betterment is recommended for users who aren’t very active and involved. Just set your parameters and let the robo-advisor do the rest. The app is better for those who have long-term goals and don’t spend too much time researching the market. Learn more about Betterment here.

Pros

  • Great for those with a more hands-off approach
  • Automatic rebalancing
  • 2 plans available
  • Easy to understand interface
  • No minimums

Cons

  • Person-to-person advisors are expensive

Robinhood

Robinhood is the platform to choose for investors who are more involved and want more control over their investment choices. They don’t offer advisors but the zero fees on most of their transactions are very attractive. You can give Robinhood a try here.

Pros

  • Robinhood Crypto
  • Hardly any fees
  • No account minimum
  • Streamlined mobile and desktop interfaces

Cons

  • More limited profiles

Final Thoughts

As said, there is no right or wrong choice, just one that suits your needs. Overall, we would recommend Betterment due to the laid-back approach investors can take for their investments and rely on robo-advisors. The platform also offers more variety in terms of investment profiles. Yes, there are higher fees and the in-person advisors don’t come cheap, but the no minimum balance and the very accessible customer service catapults Betterment ahead of Robinhood.

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