Best Micro-Investing Apps [2024]: Start Growing Wealth with Spare Change

Micro-investing is a popular way for anyone to enter the world of investing, even if you don’t have a large sum of money. With the help of user-friendly apps like Acorns, Robinhood, and Stash, you can set up automated contributions, invest spare change from round-ups, or buy fractional shares and other assets with just a few taps on your phone.¹²³

Since many micro-investing apps have little to no fees and zero commissions, you can use them without spending money that would cut into your returns. I’ve been using Robinhood and Acorns since 2020. While both are micro-investing apps, each functions a little differently. With Robinhood, I buy stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and fractional shares that interest me. With Acorns, I set up monthly recurring withdrawals from my bank account, which are invested in a portfolio that the platform automatically created for me based on my risk tolerance and financial goals.

Let’s look at six of the best micro-investing apps available and how they differ in terms of cost, features, asset options, and ease of use.

How we evaluate products

When selecting micro-investing apps to feature in this article, we focused on several key factors, such as ease of use, available investment options, required fees and account minimums, as well as financial tools and resources. Our goal was to highlight platforms that primarily cater to more novice investors. Therefore, we didn’t include all the options that are available on the market. Additionally, some of these products may be current or past FinanceBuzz partners.

Best micro-investing apps

• Stash
• Acorns
• Robinhood
• SoFi Active Invest
• Webull
• Interactive Brokers

Micro-investing app	Best for	Account minimum	Account fees
Stash	Earning stock	$1	$3 per month for Stash Growth $9 per month for Stash+
Acorns	Spare change rounups	$0 to open, $5 to invest	$3 per month for Acorns Bronze $6 per month for Acorns Silver $12 per month for Acorns Gold
Robinhood	Commission-free trading	$0	$0 for a standard Robinhood account $5 per month for Robinhood Gold
SoFi Active Invest4	IPO investing	$0 to open, $1 to invest 5	$0
Webull	Trading practice	$0	$0
Interactive Brokers	Access to global markets	$0	$0

Stash

Stash will build a portfolio for you based on your risk tolerance and financial goals, and you can invest money from roundup transactions. You can choose from over 4,000 stocks and ETFs rather than let the robo-advisor select and automatically balance your portfolio.⁷⁸

To use Stash, you must subscribe to one of two available plans. The Stash Growth plan is best suited for beginner investors, and it costs $3 per month ($32 per year). The upgraded Stash+ plan costs $9 per month ($97 per year) and is better if you’re looking for more market insights or want to open custodial portfolios for your kids.

Both plans come with the Stock-Back Debit Card, which acts like a cash back card that lets you earn stock on your transactions.⁹¹⁰ If you’re a Stash Growth subscriber, you can earn up to 1% in stock, while you can earn up to 3% in stock as a Stash+ member.¹¹¹²

Visit Stash | Learn more in our Stash review

Acorns

Acorns is a micro-investing platform that caters to beginner investors who want to grow their money without picking individual stocks.¹³ Once you sign up, you can set up automatic daily, weekly, or monthly transfers from a checking or savings account to Acorns. You can also have credit or debit card transactions automatically rounded up so the extra change goes into your Acorns account for investing.¹

For example, if you used your debit card to buy something for $3.50, the actual charge would be $4, with $0.50 going into your investment account. roundups are invested once they reach $5.

You choose your risk tolerance level when you first sign up with Acorns, and the platform recommends ETF portfolios that can help you meet your financial goals. Acorns also offers Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) portfolios if you want to put your money behind sustainable, environmentally friendly companies. Plus, the app offers automatic portfolio rebalancing and dividend reinvestment.

You can pick from three different monthly subscription options: Acorns Bronze for $3, Acorns Silver for $6, and Acorns Gold for $12. The Acorn Bronze level offers everything you need to get started investing. The benefits of upgrading to the Silver or Gold level include a 25% to 50% match for bonus investments, a 1% to 3% match on IRA contributions, and a high annual percentage yield (APY) on checking and emergency fund accounts.

Visit Acorns | Learn more in our Acorns review

Robinhood

Robinhood is a pioneer in providing access to investing and trading for all, regardless of their level of knowledge.² With no account minimums or commission fees, it's easy to open an account and start buying stocks, ETFs, fractional shares ($1 minimum), and more.¹⁴ Plus, the platform gives you a free stock just for signing up.

When I signed up in 2020, Robinhood gave me a free share of AMC stock, which was valued at $2.79 at the time. That was, of course, before it became a popular meme stock and the value skyrocketed. I sold that share about a year later for over $27.

With Robinhood, you can also invest in cryptocurrencies and initial public offerings (IPOs), which aren’t available with some other micro-investing apps. However, there are a number of assets that Robinhood doesn’t support, such as mutual funds, bonds, and foreign stocks.

As a micro-investor, you can get what you need to start investing with the platform’s free account. But if you want to get a 3% match on IRA contributions and earn a high APY on your uninvested cash, you can upgrade to Robinhood Gold for $5 per month.¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷

Visit Robinhood Visit Robinhood | Learn more in our Robinhood review

SoFi Active Invest

SoFi® provides a number of financial products, such as bank accounts, credit cards, and loans. It also offers investing through SoFi Active Invest, which lets you trade stocks and ETFs on your own or have the platform create a portfolio based on your risk tolerance and goals. There are no commissions, monthly fees, or account minimums, and you only need $1 to invest.

SoFi Active Invest has several assets for you to choose from, including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, alternative funds, and fractional shares ($5 minimum).¹⁹ However, it differs from many other micro-investing apps because it lets you invest in IPOs and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) before they start trading on the market exchanges.²⁰

Another unique SoFi Active Invest feature is advice from certified financial planners who can help you create a budget, build an emergency fund, learn how to invest, and reach your financial goals. These planners are fiduciaries and legally obligated to put your needs first.

Visit SoFi | Learn more in our SoFi Active Invest review

Webull

Webull is a trading platform that you can use for micro-investing without commissions or account fees.²¹ It’s a bit more complex than some of the other apps available and is designed more for investors with some level of experience. However, if you’re interested in practicing stock trading, you can use Webull’s paper trading feature without spending a penny.

You won’t need to make a minimum investment to open a basic Webull account. You can trade stocks, options, ETFs, futures, fractional shares ($5 minimum), and more within the app. Plus, when you deposit at least $500 into your account and maintain it for 30 days, you can earn free fractional shares.²²

Visit Webull | Learn more in our Webull review

Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers is an advanced trading platform for global markets. It offers two account levels without account minimums or monthly maintenance fees: IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro.

If you’re a micro-investor with limited experience in trading and investing, IBKR Lite may be the better option because it offers unlimited commission-free trading on U.S. stocks and ETFs. However, if you’re interested in investing in global markets, you’ll have to upgrade to the IBKR Pro plan, which involves fixed or tiered commissions. Also, commission-free trading with the Lite plan is limited, so you'll have to pay to trade options, futures, bonds, or mutual funds.

Interactive Brokers’ most significant advantage is its wealth of market information and research, but this is also a disadvantage if you’re a novice who may have difficulty navigating all the information. Therefore, this platform is better suited for advanced investors.

Visit Interactive Brokers

What is micro-investing?

Micro-investing is a way to invest small amounts of money in stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and other financial products. This type of investing is typically done using a mobile app that enables you to buy stock or fractional shares, automatically invest monthly contributions, or invest the spare change rounded up from your everyday purchases.

Micro-investing is best suited for beginner or novice investors who may have a limited amount of capital to invest upfront. It enables you to build a portfolio slowly that can add up over time. While you may not have enough money to invest in high-value stocks, you could buy fractional shares of those stocks with micro-investing.

For example, a large online retailer’s share price of about $212 may be out of your price range. However, for just $1, you can buy a 0.00471 fractional share in that company.

While I have a traditional IRA, I’ve also been micro-investing using Acorns and Robinhood for the past couple of years. I use Acorns to round up the spare change from my purchases and add it to a portfolio of four ETFs I have on the platform. With Robinhood, I’ve bought shares and fractional shares in several stocks, as well as cryptocurrency, without having to pay the commissions that traditional investing platforms often charge.

How to get started with micro-investing apps

To get started, you should research the different micro-investing apps available and choose one that fits your financial goals and means. Factors to consider when selecting a micro-investing app include the fees, required account minimums, investment options (stocks, ETFs, bonds, crypto, etc.), ease of use, level of guidance, and other features.

Because the cost of many micro-investing apps is usually minimal, you may want to play around with a couple of them to see which best meets your needs. For example, if you want more of a set-it-and-forget-it app, you may want to use Acorns to set up automatic weekly or monthly contributions or roundups from your purchases. But if you want to play around with picking stocks, an app like Robinhood may be a better choice.

You’ll need to connect your checking or savings account to whichever micro-investing app you use, especially if it involves automated deposits or roundups.

Most apps let you start micro-investing with as little as $1, so you can start with whatever is comfortable for your financial resources and budget. For example, consider canceling one of your streaming services and allocating that $15 per month to automatically go into your investment account. Or, maybe take the extra cash you get at Christmas and invest it. With micro-investing, every little amount helps grow your investments over time.

However, micro-investing has some drawbacks and risks you should be aware of before starting. If your micro-investing app charges fees, they could cut into your returns. Also, like with any investing, micro-investing can be risky, especially in a volatile market. You must be ready to navigate the ups and downs in the market without pulling money out at the first dip in value.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, travel stocks tanked because most people weren’t traveling, so I bought a few shares in Norwegian Cruise Lines, thinking they could only increase in value. However, with the volatility in the market over the past couple of years, I saw those shares dip even below the low price I bought them for. Thankfully, I held onto them with some confidence they would eventually bounce back, which they did.

One way to reduce the risk of losing a significant amount of money is diversifying your portfolio with a mix of different assets. For example, rather than putting all your money into a single stock or investment, you might spread your investments across assets like stocks, bonds, and ETFs. That way, if one of your assets performs poorly, it doesn’t destroy your whole portfolio.

FAQs

Bottom line

Using a micro-investing app can be a smart money move and an excellent way to start building wealth, especially if you are a beginner or have limited funds. Platforms like Acorns, Robinhood, and SoFi Invest make it easy to invest consistently without having to pay commissions or management fees. However, some do charge monthly fees and offer limited asset options.

While micro-investing is a useful tool for growing your money over time, it’s not a shortcut to instant wealth. To maximize your returns, you have to focus on consistency, diversification, and long-term planning. With the low point of entry for most micro-investing apps, you may want to try out different ones and see which aligns best with your financial goals and investing style.