Lincoln is an investor and content marketer. He has worked for financial advisors, institutional investors, and a publicly-traded fintech company. Lincoln holds degrees in Finance, Economics, and Accounting.
What’s the right investing platform for you?
Webull, Robinhood, eToro, Stash, and Acorns are all well-designed and capable investing apps, but each one of them is unique.
Once you know what makes each one unique it’s easy to pick the best one for you.
Remember, you’re not making a lifelong commitment – don’t hesitate to try 1 or 2 platforms and decide which one you like more. You may also “graduate” to different platforms as your portfolio grows and your financial goals change.
Let’s break them down: Webull vs Robinhood vs eToro vs Stash vs Acorns.
Summary: Webull vs Robinhood vs eToro vs Stash vs Acorns
Overview
Webull: The best platform for mobile-friendly day trading and some advanced investors. Get started!
Robinhood: The best platform for beginner investors to get started trading stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies. Get started!
eToro: The best platform for beginner/intermediate/advanced investors who want to lean on the wisdom of other investors (through eToro’s social investing features). Get started!
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
Stash: The best platform for beginner investors that want to rely mainly on automated investing but have the freedom to pick their own assets. Get started!
Acorns: The best platform for beginner investors with low funds who want to rely solely on automated investing for themselves or for family members. Get started!
Head-to-Head Matchups
Webull vs Robinhood: If you want the most detailed and highly-advanced tool designed for daytrading stocks then pick Webull. But, if you prefer an easy-to-use interface, are new to investing, and/or don’t need all the bells and whistles, pick Robinhood.
eToro vs Robinhood: Anyone beyond a complete beginner should choose eToro. It’s the best Robinhood alternative. If you’re completely overwhelmed with the functionality of eToro, Robinhood is the best “lite” investing platform and has a beautiful user interface.
eToro vs Webull: If you are only day trading stocks from a mobile device and aren’t interested in social investing, choose Webull over eToro. For everyone else, pick eToro. We selected eToro as the best stock trading app in 2024.
Stash vs Acorns: Stash and Acorns are the 2 most-friendly platforms because of their automations. Stash is for people more serious about building long-term wealth while Acorns is a good place to get started, especially if you’re living paycheck to paycheck.
How does Webull compare to the rest?
Webull is the best platform day trading platform with a mobile-friendly UI.
- Assets offered: Stocks, fractional shares, options, crypto, ETFs, OTC, IRAs, FOREX
-
Noteworthy Services:
- Advanced platform that provides maximum data
- Extended Trading Hours, a feature that lets you trade after the market has closed and before it opens
- Paper Trading, a service that lets you practice investing without putting your money at risk
- Short selling, a service that lets you profit from a stock’s decline
- Non-Investment Products: None
- Educational Materials: Webull provides powerful advanced charts, multiple technical indicators, and extensive news coverage
- Price: Free
- Fees: None (except for margin accounts)
- Minimum Deposit: None
- App or Desktop: Both
- Advanced Research: Yes (advanced analysis, technical indicators, and financial news)
- Margin: Yes
- What’s Missing from Webull? Mutual funds and bonds
My thoughts: Webull is one of the most impressive investing platforms out there. The amount of utility squeezed into one tool is simply incredible. But, if you don’t have a need for its extensive features, then the platform can be a little confusing and unintuitive.
If you’re not a mobile-first trader, I would choose eToro over Webull.
When it comes to Webull vs Robinhood, I (personally) prefer Robinhood since it’s easier to use.
Is Robinhood better than the rest?
Robinhood is the best platform for beginner investors to get started trading stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies.
- Assets offered: Stocks, ETF, crypto, fractional shares, options
-
Noteworthy Services:
- IPO access (invest in select private companies before they go public)
- 100% free investing for stocks, options, and crypto
- *Robinhood Gold, for $5/month, Robinhood Gold offers 3.75% on your cash, bigger instant deposits, advanced market data, professional research, and margin investing at 6.5%
- Non-Investment Products: Robinhood Snacks (a daily financial newsletter), Robinhood Cash Card (a debit card that rewards your spending with stocks and crypto)
- Educational Materials: Robinhood offers “Investing 101” that’s geared towards beginners
- Price: Free
- Fees: None (except for margin accounts through Robinhood Gold)
- Minimum Deposit: None
- App or Desktop: Both
- Advanced Research: Yes (available with Robinhood Gold)
- Margin: Yes (available with Robinhood Gold)
- What’s Missing from Robinhood? Mutual funds, bonds, and advanced trading metrics
My thoughts: I have used Robinhood for years but closed my account after their actions during the GameStop short squeeze. Like many investors, I felt betrayed. But, after a few months of trying out other services I ended up circling back to Robinhood. Its sleek design is just a perfect fit for my investing preferences.
It’s still currently my go-to platform because I don’t need a more powerful application like eToro.
How does eToro compare to the rest?
eToro is the best platform for beginner/intermediate/advanced investors who want to lean on the wisdom of other investors (through eToro’s social investing features).
- Assets offered: Stocks, crypto, fractional shares, ETFs, options
- Noteworthy Services:
- CopyTrader, a service that lets you copy the moves of eToro’s top investors
- Popular Investor, where Popular Investors can receive up to 1.5% payment based on average AUC (Assets Under Copy).
- A social media newsfeed where users discuss investing
- Virtual Portfolio, a service that lets you practice investing without putting your money at risk
- Non-Investment Products: None
- Educational Materials: The eToro Academy, which provides resources to become a successful trader. eToro also encourages its users to share and spread financial info.
- Price: Free
- Fees: It may charge 1% on crypto trades
- Minimum Deposit: $100 USD
- App or Desktop: Both
- Advanced Research: Moderate
- Margin: Yes
- What’s Missing from eToro? Bonds, IRAs, and banking tools
My thoughts: eToro is a great platform and allows you to tap into the wisdom of the crowd. Its social investing features allow you to trade and invest alongside, learn from, and share ideas with experienced investors all around the world.
That said, remember that all investors have different risk tolerances and financial goals. At the end of the day, you should still make your investment decisions and never rely 100% on someone else’s advice.
Is Stash better than the rest?
Stash is the best platform for beginner investors that want to rely mainly on automated investing but have the freedom to pick their own assets.
- Assets offered: Stocks, ETFs, crypto, fractional shares, IRAs, custodial accounts
-
Noteworthy Services:
- Stock Parties (a weekly stock giveaway to users)
- “Smart Portfolio”, a Robo-advisor that automatically invests your cash in a diversified fund based on your finances
- Recurring investments
- Round Ups, a service that rounds each debit card use up to the nearest dollar
- Non-Investment Products: Mobile banking and a debit card with no overdraft fees or minimum balance that lets you earn returns in stock
- Educational Materials: Stash offers Registered Investment Advice. Many services lean away from offering registered advice to avoid a potential lawsuit. However, Stash leans into it as a value-add for users. It also offers Stash Learn, a blog with content that skews towards beginners.
- Price: Stash offers two different plans: Stash Growth for $3/month and Stash+ for $9/month
- Minimum Deposit: None
- App or Desktop: Both
- Advanced Research: None
- Margin: None
- What’s Missing from Stash? Advanced trading features, options, advanced research, margin
My thoughts: Stash competes most directly with Acorns. They both started as automated investment tools that leaned on Round-Ups to encourage people to invest.
Since then, Stash has expanded to offer a little bit more functionality than Acorns. If you want super simple, go with Acorns. If you want a little more functionality and are more serious about building wealth through investing, go with Stash.
How does Acorns compare to the rest?
Acorns is the best platform for beginner investors with low funds who want to rely solely on automated investing for themselves or for family members.
- Assets offered: Diversified stock portfolios, IRAs, Bitcoin ETF
-
Noteworthy Services:
- Round Ups that round up each debit card purchase to the nearest dollar and invest the spare change
- You can also get paid up to 2 days early through direct deposit and have a portion of your deposit automatically invested
- A portfolio that specializes in ESG investing
- Non-Investment Products: Online banking with a debit card that has no hidden fees, minimum balance fees, or overdraft fees. With their debit card, you can access over 55,000+ ATMs for free. You can also earn rewards on Acorns when you shop with their partner brands.
- Educational Materials: An extensive educational blog
- Price: $3/month (personal) or $5/month (family)
- Fees: None
- Minimum Deposit: None
- App or Desktop: Both
- Advanced Research: None
- Margin: None
- What’s Missing from Acorns? The freedom to invest your own money beyond putting it into Acorns pre-built diversified funds.
My thoughts: Acorns is a perfect app for beginner investors without much money who want to automate their investments with pre-built portfolios and automatic round ups. We’ve even rated it as one of the best investment firms for beginners.
If you want to get started investing but have no idea where to start then Acorns is the perfect app for you.
Head-to-Head Comparisons:
Webull vs Robinhood – Is Webull better than Robinhood?
If you want the most detailed and highly-advanced tool designed for daytrading stocks then pick Webull. But, if you prefer an easy-to-use interface, are new to investing, and/or don’t need all the bells and whistles, pick Robinhood.
eToro vs Webull – Is eToro better than Webull?
If you are only day trading stocks from a mobile device and aren’t interested in social investing, choose Webull over eToro. For everyone else, pick eToro.
eToro vs Robinhood – Is eToro better than Robinhood?
Anyone beyond a complete beginner should choose eToro. If you’re completely overwhelmed with the functionality of eToro, Robinhood is the best “lite” investing platform and has a beautiful user interface.
Stash vs Acorns – Is Stash better than Acorns?
Stash and Acorns are the 2 most-friendly platforms because of their automations. Stash is for people more serious about building long-term wealth while Acorns is a good place to get started, especially if you’re living paycheck to paycheck.
Final Word: Webull vs Robinhood vs eToro vs Stash vs Acorns
Like I said above, choosing between these 5 investment platforms becomes obvious once you know what makes each one unique.
If you’re a total beginner, I would choose Acorns, Stash, or Robinhood.
For intermediates, I would choose Robinhood, eToro, or Webull.
For experts, I would choose eToro or Webull.
FAQs:
Which is better: eToro or Webull?
If you are only day trading stocks from a mobile device and aren’t interested in social investing, choose Webull over eToro. For everyone else, pick eToro.
Which to use for trading: Webull or Robinhood?
If you want the most detailed and highly-advanced tool designed for daytrading stocks then pick Webull. But, if you prefer an easy-to-use interface, are new to investing, and/or don’t need all the bells and whistles, pick Robinhood.
What are some Webull and Robinhood competitors?
Acorns, Stash, and eToro are all competitors of Webull and Robinhood.
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