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If you're new to investing, the best investment apps should offer low fees and access to the types of accounts and investment products you care about most.
As a beginner, your investing app should suit your investment style and offer the tools you need (such as educational guides and/or courses, human advisor access, and strong customer support) to achieve your financial goals.
Compare the Top Investment Apps for Beginners
The best investment apps for beginners are easy-to-use platforms with simple trading, helpful tools, personalized portfolios, and commission-free trades on assets like stocks or ETFs. Beginner-focused investment apps often take an education-forward approach, providing users with exclusive learning tools like webinars, online classes, and blog posts.
All the apps listed here are insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which guarantees up to $500,000 of securities and up to $250,000 of cash. Remember, though, that any investment may lose value, although a diversified investment portfolio should recover over time.
Here are the best investment apps for beginners as picked by Business Insider editors in 2024.
Best Overall Investment App for Beginners: SoFi Invest
Sofi® is a top investment app for beginners thanks to an easy-to-use interface paired with rock-bottom pricing. You can get started at SoFi Invest with just $1, and there are no commissions for trades and no recurring account fees. Even the managed portfolio product, SoFi automated investing, where your ETFs are all picked and managed for you, is free to use.
You can easily browse potential investment opportunities by sorting through categorized stocks and ETFs. Complimentary financial planning is available for all SoFi members outside of the app, alongside additional benefits. Work with certified financial planners (CFPs) who can help you reach your goals.
If you are a beginner and want help developing an investment strategy, SoFi investing is an ideal place to start.
Pros of SoFi:
- Financial planning help available
- Start investing with $1
- Commission-free trading
- No account fees
Cons of SoFi:
- Doesn't offer automatic tax-loss harvesting
Best Retirement-Focused Investment App for Beginners: Vanguard
Vanguard is an undeniable leader in investing and one of the top online brokerages. Its holistic approach to retirement planning considers your entire financial situation when mapping out a long-term plan for growing your wealth.
Vanguard offers SEP IRAs, 401(k) rollovers, individual 401(k)s, and SIMPLE IRAs. With a retirement account, you'll get access to numerous ETFs, such as Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF and Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF. You can also access Vanguard's All-in-One retirement funds.
In addition to multiple retirement account options, Vanguard provides investors with a handful of retirement tools and exclusive financial planning resources, including tax loss harvesting features and ESG investing options.
Pros of Vanguard:
- Access to robust Vanguard all-in-one retirement funds
- Low-cost holistic approach to retirement planning
- Automated investing available
Cons of Vanguard:
- Robo-advise is pricer
- Limited options for advanced trading
Best Beginner App for Tax-Optimized Investing: Ally Invest
Beginners often do well with straightforward investment platforms. Ally Invest offers just that through its mobile app. You get access to expert-built stock and bond ETFs with the ability to focus on tax-optimized investment opportunities, generating income, or gaining exposure to the ESG market.
If you prefer the robo-advisor route, Ally Invest Robo Portfolios creates a personalized portfolio of ETFs for you. The app offers two robo-portfolio options: the cash-enhanced portfolio or the market-focused portfolio. Ally Invest's app is easy to navigate with a handful of accessible investment features like market screeners, performance charts, stock analytics, and a Smart Score ranking.
For no advisory fee, cash-enhanced portfolios set aside 30% of your asset allocations as an interest-earning cash buffer. Market-focused portfolios only use about 2% of your portfolio as a cash buffer with a 0.30% advisory fee.
If you prefer a more hands-on approach to investing, beginners can open a self-directed trading account for no account minimum and 24/7 market access. Customize your portfolio with hand-picked stocks, ETFs, options, bonds, mutual funds, and low-priced securities.
Pros of Ally Invest:
- Commission-free trading
- Tax-optimized portfolio
- Two options for automated portfolios managed by robo-advisors
Cons of Ally Invest:
- Ally Invest offers wealth management services, but you'll need at least $100,000 to get started
Best Automated Investment App for Beginners: Betterment
Betterment Investing is one of the strongest robo-advisors for low-cost trading, account flexibility, access to CFPs, and goal-based investing. Investors receive a diversified portfolio of stock and bond ETFs based on their goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance.
Betterment Investing offers cryptocurrency portfolios, socially responsible portfolios, tax-loss harvesting, personalized retirement plans, and options for charitable giving. You can use the investment app's goal-building strategies, such as retirement savings and income, creating a financial safety net, meeting cash goals, and building toward a major purchase.
Pros of Betterment:
- No minimum deposit requirement
- Goal-based investing and financial planning
Cons of Betterment:
- Ongoing CFP access requires a $100,000 minimum (or $299 per session)
Best Investment App for Micro-Investing: Acorns Invest
Acorns is an investment app for people who know they should be investing but don't have or want to spend the time to manage it themselves. For $3 per month, Acorns will take care of everything. That includes automatic spare change investing through transaction round-ups, automated transfers, retirement account savings, banking perks, and a fully automated investment plan.
Invest in a diversified portfolio of low-cost ETFs based on your risk tolerance, goals, and time horizon. You can choose to invest in Acorn's Core portfolios or ESG portfolios.
The big upside of Acorns is that it's so easy to use. The big downside is that there's a fee no matter what. This is arguably better than asset-based fee deductions, which fluctuate as your balance grows. With the monthly fee, you'll pay the same amount every year. For additional accounts and features, including investment accounts for children, you'll have to pay $9 per month.
Pros of Acorns:
- Automated investing for hands-off beginners
- Offers low-cost ETFs
Cons of Acorns:
- Fees for every service
- Unable to choose individual investments with Acorns without paying extra
Best Socially Responsible Investment App for Beginners: Public Investing
When you're a beginner in the stock market, researching and choosing stocks and other investments can feel intimidating. Public combines features from social networks like Facebook and Twitter with traditional brokerage features, making an investment app ideal for beginners learning their way around the markets.
You can learn from the portfolios of other experts by following their posts in the Public feed, creating group chats with other users, and participating in live investing events and conversations. You can also invest in over two dozen cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, dogecoin, and ether.
With fractional shares starting, you can buy into many supported companies without putting up enough cash for a full share. Alternative assets include art, NFTs, collectibles, and more for 2.5% per transaction.
Pros of Public:
- Allows crypto investments and alternative assets
- Provides community and social trading features
Cons of Public:
- Does not offer mutual funds
Best Kids Investment App for Beginners: Stockpile
Stockpile offers commission-free stock and ETF trades, providing unique features that complement its $o commission fee structure. It also offers crypto investing. Stockpile allows fractional share investing and supports the gift of stock through gift cards, which makes it perfect for the youngest investors.
If you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or relative who wants to help a child learn how the stock market works, Stockpile is perfect for your needs. It makes it easy to gift stock and keep tabs on the account of a minor. It also makes it fun to navigate through supported stocks while educating users through "mini-lessons" that teach how to invest.
A Stockpile membership gets you access to one adult account, five kids accounts, 4000+ stocks and ETFs, and more for $4.95 per month. You can opt-in for the 30-day free trial to see if Stockpile fits your family.
Pros of Stockpile:
- Trade stocks and ETFs with no commissions
- Kid-friendly mini-lessons on investment
Cons of Stockpile:
- Monthly membership fee
Introduction to Investment Apps for Beginners
Beginner-friendly investment apps make participating in the stock market more accessible and less intimidating than traditional trading platforms. Investment apps typically have user-friendly interfaces, low trading fees, and a library of educational content so consumers can learn while investing their money.
The Appeal of Investment Apps for New Investors
Investment apps appeal to new investors because they are simple and affordable. Beginner-friendly investment apps often offer features like easy portfolio diversification, commission-free trading, and straightforward investment strategies.
Many investment apps for new investors provide mobile and web platforms to enhance accessibility. This allows users to trade from anywhere and track their investments.
Certain beginner-friendly investment apps may also have a separate advanced platform consisting of personalized dashboards, riskier investment options, and other charting tools suitable for sophisticated investors. This is especially hand for investors looking to grow their trading skills with their investment platform.
Features to Look for in an Investment App for Beginners
When comparing different investment apps as a newbie, there are certain features you should consider to find the best app for you. The best beginner investment app for you depends on your preferred investment style, investment options, and risk tolerance.
That said, educational resources, tools, and user accessibility are typically the most sought-after investment app features for beginners.
Educational Resources and Tools
As a new investor, access to a library of educational content, such as guides and explainers, is key to growing your trading skills. Many investment apps offer information blog posts on an array of subjects. But the best investment platform for beginners provides users with expertly-crafted content and tutorials specially designed for people using their platform.
In tandem with helpful trading tools, these educational resources are crucial for helping beginners understand the basics of investing and develop long-term money-building strategies.
User-friendly interface
A user-friendly trading platform is crucial for beginner investors. The investment platform should be intuitive and easy to navigate to avoid confusing investors still learning the trade. A clean and cohesive platform is not only accessible, but it also allows new investors to make informed investment decisions without feeling overwhelmed by the complexities of the market.
Getting Started with Your First Investment App
Get started with your first investment app by considering the type of account, investment options, and features you're looking for. Once you know what you want, compare different platforms that fit the bill and find the one that best fits your needs. You can then begin the application process to open an online brokerage account, fund your new account, and invest.
Tips for a Successful Investment Journey
- Set investing goals: Establish clear investment goals to focus on how you allocate the funds in your account. When starting, think of long-term investment goals to strive for. These include saving for college, retirement, or a housing fund.
- Diversify your investment portfolio: Diversification is one of the most important investment strategies. By diversifying your holdings, you get exposure to multiple market sectors while mitigating unnecessary risk and volatility.
- Understand risks: All investments, even those considered safe, carry some risk. There is never a guarantee that your investments will turn profitable. Certain volatile assets like individual stocks or real estate pose a much higher level of risk and reward. Your portfolio's exposure to risk depends on your personal preferences and goals.
- Avoid high fees: Certain investments and brokerage accounts charge high fees that may eat away at your potential gains over time. Avoid these high fees by seeking low-cost alternatives or different investment strategies.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
The stock market's short-term volatility can be unsettling, but reacting emotionally to market fluctuations is usually counterproductive. Panic-selling assets during downturns may hinder your portfolio's long-term growth potential. Additionally, overtrading based on market speculation is time-consuming and risky. You may also incur additional transaction fees, diminishing your returns.
Instead of chasing fleeting short-term gains, focus on research and analysis to find investment opportunities with promising long-term returns. A buy-and-hold strategy, where you purchase and hold assets for several years, is a time-proven method for capitalizing on steady market growth. This minimizes the impact of short-term volatility and allows your investments to compound over time, leading to greater gains.
Beginner Investment Apps FAQs
You can open an investing app account by heading to the app's website or mobile app and signing up to create an account. This part should be free, but to start investing, you'll need to fund your account using a source such as your checking account.
You can use an investment app to open a brokerage account, access the market, and get access to human advisors and other educational resources. The best investing apps offer account flexibility, multiple investment options, commission-free trades, and goal-building tools.
The best investment apps for safe investing include SoFi Invest, Charles Schwab, and Betterment. Secure investment platforms protect users' personal information with security features like two-factor authentication, data encryption, account alerts, and SIPC protection insurance.
Why You Should Trust Us: Our Methodology
Beginner-friendly investment apps combine low costs with the features most sought out by inexperienced traders. Whether you're looking to build a passive portfolio of funds, an active portfolio of stocks, or any other investment strategy, a brokerage and investment app is designed to meet your needs. Beginner investment platforms are given a rating between 1 and 5.
To make our selections, we used Business Insider's methodology for rating investing platforms to focus on costs and fees, app features, types of accounts available, investment products available, and beginner-friendly features to manage your investment account on the go.
Sofi Active Invest: Investments are not FDIC-insured - Are not bank-guaranteed - May lose value - Brokerage and Active investing products offered through SoFi Securities LLC, member FINRA(www.finra.org)/SIPC(www.sipc.org).
