Robinhood Review

Robinhood provides free stock, options, ETF and cryptocurrency trades, a 1% match on IRAs, and its account minimum is $0. Mutual funds and bonds aren’t offered.

Robinhood was founded in 2014 by two former Stanford roommates, Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhaat. Robinhood started out as an innovative disruptor in the brokerage industry and its brand has since grown to be very popular with tech-savvy investors and new traders, thanks to a no-fee model and sleek, intuitive trading experience. It even offers a competitive rate on cash balances if you’re using its upgraded Gold plan.

How It’s Compared

Robinhood vs. SoFi Invest

Robinhood and SoFi Invest have similar investment offerings. Robinhood is the cheaper option when it comes to trading fees. If you like the sound of active trading, though, and don’t mind doing a bit of your own research on your investments, Robinhood’s low fees and commission-free securities could be a good fit for you.

Robinhood vs. Fidelity

Robinhood and Fidelity both offer commission-free trading on multiple investment types. But you’ll have a wider range of investment options at Fidelity than you will with Robinhood.

Fidelity offers automated investing and advisor-managed portfolios for hands-off investors. The brokerage also has a more extensive account and investment selection. However, Robinhood is the better choice for all-around commission-free stock, options and crypto trading.

Robinhood vs. Merrill Edge® Self-Directed

Merrill Edge® Self-Directed offers some of the most comprehensive investing and banking experiences among big brokers, including a high-quality trading platform, $0 commissions for stocks and ETFs, mutual fund access, and IRAs.

One downside, compared to Robinhood, is that Merrill Edge® Self-Directed doesn’t offer crypto trading.

Bottom Line

Robinhood is best for active traders, options traders, and margin traders who want to purchase and trade investments with no commission. The stock-trading brokerage may also be a good fit for you if you’re looking to invest in cryptocurrencies, but it isn’t a good choice for those in search of mutual funds or automated investing.

At $5/month ($60 per year), the Robinhood Gold account level is a good deal if you have more than $2,400 uninvested cash in your account, frequently place trades and consistently use margin.

Cryptocurrency

Robinhood allows users to invest in cryptocurrencies. The following coins are available:

• Avalanche (AVAX)
• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
• Bitcoin SV (BSV)
• Cardano (ADA)
• Chainlink (LINK)
• Compound (COMP)
• Dogecoin (DOGE)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Ethereum Classic (ETC)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Polygon (MATIC)
• Shiba Inu (SHIB)
• Solana (SOL)
• Stellar Lumens (XLM)
• Uniswap (UNI)
• USD Coin (USDC)

Users should note that not all coins are available in every state.