11 Best Investment Apps For Beginners (2020)

Do you still think in 2020 that investing is a pain? Maybe you have not looked upon the best investment apps yet. Just as you go shop on the phone with few taps, investing in stock markets today is also a matter of seconds. You can obtain a personalized portfolio or sell your own securities, review the efficiency of your portfolio, and move money around. All that without even talking to a human being! (Cheers introverts?)

Also, if you are worried about security issues, rest assured that these applications are of high quality and not from conventional stockbrokers. It helps your finances to be organized and invested with the utmost security. So let’s get started without any delay.

Best Investment Apps

Below, we have mentioned the 11 best investing apps comparing them to help investment transparency globally.

Logo	App Name	Details	Download
	Acorns	Active installations: 5,000,000+ Rating:4.4/5 Unique features: Multipliers, Acorns Gift Cards, Acorns Early, Acorns Later, Alerts
	Robinhood	Active installations: 10,000,000+ Rating:4.3/5/5 Unique features: OTCBB/Pink Sheets, Live Seminars, Progress Tracking, Interactive Learning, Watchlists
	Ally	Active installations: 1,000,000+ Rating:4/5 Unique features: Multi-currency Support, Private Communication, Custom Offers
	SoFi	Active installations: 500,000+ Rating:4.3/5 Unique features: Certified Financial Planners, Cryptocurrency, Member Rate Discounts
	TD Ameritrade	Active installations: 1,000,000+ Rating:3.6/5 Unique features: Investors Education/Support, Virtual Trade Simulator, Screeners
	Stockpile	Active installations: 100,000+ Rating:4.4/5 Unique features: Access Control, Administrative Reporting, Catalog management, Content Filter, Cost Tracking
	Stash	Active installations: 5,000,000+ Rating:4.1/5 Unique features: SIPC Protection Third-Party Clearing Agency, Fractional Shares, Auto Stash
	Betterment	Active installations: 500,000+ Rating:4.1/5 Unique features: Custom Asset Allocation, Deposit, Tax-Coordinated Portfolio, Two-Factor Authentication
	Fidelity	Active installations: 1,000,000+ Rating:4.6/5 Unique features: Stock and ETF Screeners, Mutual Fund Evaluator, Trade Idea Generators
	Webull	Active installations: 5,000,000+ Rating:4.5/5 Unique features: Fractional Shares, Money Market Research Access, Technical Charting, Cryptocurrency Charting
	Merrill Edge	Active installations: 100,000+ Rating:3.9/5 Unique features: Customizable Dashboard, Interactive Charts, Heat Maps

What is an Investment App?

An investing application is a smartphone application designed to distribute money market knowledge that is publicly traded. With the investing app, both new investors and established investors will watch their investments in the stock market and manage it effectively.

Offering a variety of versatile tools at low app prices, these investing apps development help investors save cash and improve their portfolios. So let’s not waste time and dive straight into the best investing apps.

11 Best Investment Apps For Beginners

1. Acorns

   You want to invest but have no time and budget to spend more? Hang on. Acorns app is for you. Acorns plans to ease and demystify the entire investing process. The main aim of Acorns’ creation was to eliminate any mental roadblocks or uncertainty about being daily investors. It advises managed portfolios and holds them on board with automated rebalancing spare change and dividend reinvestment using modern portfolio theory.

   

   Source: Acorns

   While this makes it easy to invest, Acorns is an all-in-one active investing platform for financial well-being. Just connect a credit or debit card with a checking account, and you’re good to start. You can also save for retirement, and many other products and services, by only setting up a checking retirement account and a custodial saving account for your children. Although Acorns makes the whole process transparent, it has three membership stages.

   • Lite Account: $1 per month
   • Personal Account: $3 per month
   • Family Account: $5 per month

   Core Features:

   • Multipliers
   • Acorns gift cards
   • Acorns early
   • Acorns later
   • Financial literacy content powered by CNBC
   • In-app payments via debit or credit cards
   • Live support
   • Alerts
   • Custodial accounts

   Pros & Cons:

   Pros	Cons
   Invest automatically the spare change Cashback options from retailers Educational support	Small investment portfolio High fee

   • Active installation: 5,000,000+
   • Rating: 4.4/5
   

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2. Robinhood

   When it comes to the no-commission brokerage model, nothing can beat Robinhood. It is a strong leader in the money market, especially for beginners as they can invest in stocks, ETFs, and options with zero commissions and fees. Also, all of which you can do in a sleek user interface that lets it run seamlessly. Its stripped-down UI design is easy to navigate when you e-trade the market as you’ll switch intuitively from screen to screen.

   

   Source: Robinhood

   You can easily browse a stock page at the top of the list from a search bar and bring up charts and vital statistics. What is really often useful – is a feed that aggregates reports from news and personal finance sites, so that you remain on top of what’s happening.

   To kick start your investment process, you just need to swipe up preferred service options. After you have decided whether you want to swap and enter the number of shares to purchase or sell, the order will be on its way. While it’s a free-trade service, for those who like advanced features, there’s even a premium option starting from a $5 monthly fee.

   Core Features:

   • Fractional share options
   • OTCBB/Pink sheets
   • Phone support
   • Email support
   • Live chat
   • Charting
   • Online stock alerts
   • Calculator
   • Live seminars
   • Progress tracking
   • Interactive learning – quizzes
   • Watchlists
   • In-app payments via debit & credit card

   Pros & Cons:

   Pros	Cons
   Commission-free trade and no minimum account balance Simple navigation options and quick set up Option for cryptocurrency trade	No option for retirement accounts Limited customer service

   • Active installation: 10,000,000+
   • Rating: 4.3/5
   
   

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3. Ally

   Another investing app on our list for your investment is Ally Invest. It is exceptional low-fee tradings with no commissions for stock, ETF, or option trades inside the Ally smartphone app. It provides a mobile investing user experience that is centred and effective.

   It may not have as many choices as some of the larger applications, but it has every main function. Ally Invest makes it easier to start for beginners as it has no minimum balance needed and is a straightforward investing tool that is easy to use.

   

   Source: Ally

   If you need a more robust experience, you can log onto the Ally website as it might have a variety of options. As the further aligned you are with the banking network, the more investment-side advantages you will reap. Also, while you will exchange securities and ETFs without commissions; a $9.95 brokerage charge would be paid on mutual fund transactions. But as there’s no annual payments or minimum account balance conditions, there’s nothing to worry about. So when are you planning to invest?

   Core Features:

   • Streaming charts
   • Watchlists
   • Probability calculator
   • ETFs screening tools (ETF trades)
   • Online chat
   • Secure payments
   • Push notifications

   Pros & Cons:

   Pros	Cons
   Low tradings and non-trading fees Simple to use and fully digital investment account opening Availability of educational content	Minor bugs for login

   • Active installation: 1,000,000+
   • Rating: 4.0/5
   

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4. SoFi

   Let’s welcome the newcomer on our list – SoFi, short of social finance. While this US-based startup is new to the Robo-adviser industry, it is already beating the top players being the best. SoFi Invest provides investment programs that are active and automatic. The former suggests a self-directed portfolio of individual stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies can be traded on their own. SoFi automatic investing, on the other hand, is a Robo-advisory service where personal finance insider is handled by SoFi Invest.

   

   Source: SoFi

   SoFi is also among the most competitively priced investment platforms on the money market as it charges no commissions for self-directed share trading and no management fees for automated investing. However, to get started with an investment budget, it takes a minimum of $1 to open, and it makes the SoFi tool accessible to everyone.

   When you sign up, all you need to do is select an investment option, then the SoFi mobile app will build your portfolio and track it over time, rebalancing at least once a quarter when needed. So are you ready for SoFi?

   Core Features:

   • Certified financial planners
   • Cryptocurrency
   • In-app payments via credit cards & debit cards
   • Member rate discounts
   • Push notifications
   • Fractional share option
   • Calculators
   • Educational content section

   Pros & Cons:

   Pros	Cons
   Easy to use No investment management fee A complete advertiser disclosure Access to live financial advisors Convenient for member events	Less investing options No tax-loss harvesting

   • Active installation: 500,000+
   • Rating: 4.3/5
   

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5. TD Ameritrade

   New to the money market and want to get into active trading? TD Ameritrade is one of the best ways to start. It charges no stock or ETF trading commissions and has multiple account channels that fit with different investing types and objectives. In the TD Ameritrade app, you’ll actually be most relaxed when you start out. It provides excellent features, portfolio-building advice, $0 stock commissions, options, exchange-traded fund trades, and almost 300 in-person customer service divisions. Investors also have an option of four sites for trading.

   

   Source: TD Ameritrade

   When you start your investment process, the Portfolio Planner of TD Ameritrade on the website discloses the actual asset allocation and helps you to compare it to a model of goal allocation. If you’d like, you can get a comprehensive list of proposed improvements to get your portfolio in order. You can also configure the desired asset allocation model and then load pre-screened possibilities. In short, TD Ameritrade is a rare broker that covers and does all.

   Core Features:

   • Stock screeners
   • ETF screeners
   • Options screeners
   • Mutual fund screeners
   • Fixed income screeners
   • Tools and calculators
   • Trading idea generators
   • News
   • Third-party investment research
   • Charting
   • Investors education/support
   • Virtual trading simulator

   Pros & Cons:

   Pros	Cons
   Capable of extensive research Educational offerings Additional support channels Great customer support	Overwhelming Difficult to find a particular item as too many options are there

   • Active installations: 1,000,000+
   • Rating: 3.6/5
   

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6. Stockpile

   Love to gift something essential and helpful? Buy stock for your loved one and gift it with Stockpile gift card options. Stockpile is basically a brokerage focused on an app that aims to make stock investments more open and less daunting, especially for younger people. A convenient and streamlined interface makes it fast and easy to buy and sell stocks and ETFs. While options for gift cards allow consumers to make stock shares the gift of choice for birthdays, holidays, and graduations.

   

   Source: Stockpile

   To make an order, you can go to the website at the top of the page and press ‘Buy’. That will take you to the stock collection page where you can pick the product with which you want to purchase gift cards. You’ll press ‘Next’ after you have made your pick, and you’ll be led to the ‘Choose Amount’ tab. $2,000 is the highest value you can buy a gift card with. Also, gift cards from Stockpile never expire, so relax and purchase the stock without hesitation. For fractional share trading, Stockpile’s trading fees are among the lowest in the industry at just $0.99. So what are you waiting for?

   Core Features:

   • Access control
   • Administrative reporting
   • Automatic notifications
   • Built-in database
   • Catalog management
   • Categorization
   • Content filter
   • Cost tracking
   • Inventory management
   • Risk alerts
   • Performance reports

   Pros & Cons:

   Pros	Cons
   Simple & user-friendly interface Low commissions on trading Gift card options Custodial accounts	Limited investment options Limited research and analysis tools

   • Active installation: 100,000+
   • Rating: 4.4/5
   

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7. Stash

   Need hand-holding while building a portfolio of stocks? Stash is the best fit for your new beginning. Stash app aims to make it fast and simple for beginners to pick assets, particularly stocks and exchange-traded funds. You just need $1 per month for a trading plan, plus access to Stash’s online bank account and debit card, which offers a loyalty package. The account minimum balance requirement is $0, and you can buy or sell parts of the shares of a company or a fund share for pennies while Stash offers fractional investment as well.

   

   Source: Stash

   Stash, being the best among others, also provides savings, bank accounts, plus a pension scheme only for $3 per month. For $9 per month, Stash offers all the aforementioned, plus two custodial accounts for minors, a metal debit card, a turbocharged reward program, and a monthly investment analysis summary. Often, in order to open an account icon, you must be at least 18 years old. And though there are expectations of taking it abroad, the service is currently available in the U.S.

   Core Features:

   • ETFs and stocks used section
   • SIPC protection
   • Third-party clearing agency
   • Fractional shares
   • Education support
   • Security login
   • Auto stash
   • Stash retire
   • Custodial accounts
   • Stash coach
   • Marijuana investing
   • Stash debit
   • Stash DRIP
   • Partitions option

   Pros & Cons:

   Pros	Cons
   Number of stock options Educational content No requirement of account minimum	High fees for small investment accounts Lack of proper management

   • Active installations: 5,000,000+
   • Rating: 4.1/5
   
   

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8. Betterment

   Betterment is one of the Robo-advisory industry leaders and is one of the first to propose a portfolio and simplify the investing process by leveraging technology. For the newbie, computer algorithms are used by Robo-advisers to handle the portfolios. In line with financial best practices, Betterment offers a quick, well-supported, low-cost approach to spend your money.

   

   Source: Betterment

   This investing app provides two subscription options. One is Betterment Streaming. Its legacy offering has no account minimum, and annually costs 0.25% of the funds under control. Another is Betterment Premium that offers direct calls to accredited financial advisors for a 0.40% charge and a $100,000 account cap. At any risk level, the Betterment platform aims to optimize investment returns. That means the Betterment Robo-advisor will help you expand your investments if you are a cautious investor while assuming just the amount of risk you’re comfortable with.

   Core Features:

   • Custom asset allocation
   • Tax-coordinated portfolio
   • Two-factor authentication
   • Robo advisor
   • Fractional investment option
   • Customer services
   • Smart-beta
   • Push notifications
   • Retirement planning calculator

   Pros & Cons:

   Pros	Cons
   Interactive UI Diverse investments Cash management Transparent portfolio	No individual stocks No real estate funds Cannot asset-allocation with external accounts

   • Active installations: 500,000+
   • Rating: 4.1/5
   

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9. Fidelity

   Need one of the trusted and reputed investment apps? Fidelity can’t go wrong in terms of customer services and reputation. Does it mean its brokerage services are to be ignored? No. It provides $0 trading fees, a variety of analysis services, and an easy-to-use interface for more experienced traders that can also be personalized.

   

   Source: Fidelity

   For long-term and retirement-focused buyers, Fidelity is a top brokerage firm with substantial capital. You will leverage some of the best education and analysis services accessible from brokerages with a Fidelity account. For its emphasis on retirement education, including retirement calculators and other instruments, the company differs from its rivals. The Fidelity mobile application development has also integrated both Apple Watch and Google Assistant. In short, the broker offers excellent value and high-quality order executions.

   Core Features:

   • Stock and ETF screeners
   • Mutual fund evaluator
   • Options screeners
   • Fixed income screeners
   • Tools and calculators
   • Trade idea generators
   • News and research
   • Technical analysis and charting
   • 24/7 phone-line
   • Online chat with a human agent
   • FAQs

   Pros & Cons:

   Pros	Cons
   Effective e-trade executions Great research and asset screeners Flexible and customizable news feed Strong customer service	Only for US citizens No commodities or options on futures

   • Active installations: 1,000,000+
   • Rating: 4.6/5
   

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10. Webull

    Webull is a Fintech company based in the US that provides zero-fee or discount brokerage account services. This best broker in the money market was founded in 2017 and is an iPhone and Android phone customized, mobile-first trade site. It also operates a web trading site. For Windows and Linux, it provides native desktop platforms. By far, the brokerage has more than 9 million users around the world.

    

    Source: Webull

    The app is perfect for futures, ETFs, and derivatives trading. Cryptocurrencies are a newer network commodity, but no shares, mutual funds, or other securities are available at the moment. Webull adds features better than nearly any competition out there. You will also use four separate sites as a customer to do your own analysis-stocks, news, an individual stock page, and a page for screeners. As part of the SIPC (securities investor protection corporation) security program, Webull is deemed as secure as it offers a maximum of $500,000 investor protection, including a $250,000 cash cap.

    Core Features:

    • Fractional share investing option
    • Money market research access
    • Technical charting
    • Cryptocurrency charting
    • Built-in stock trade simulator
    • Dedicated learning center
    • Multi-platform support
    • Level 2 options trade
    • Advanced quotes
    • Paper trade

    Pros & Cons:

    Pros	Cons
    No account minimum deposit for trade Simple and easy to use No-commission on short-selling Technical analysis tools Real-time news & evaluations	No cryptocurrencies, mutual funds, and bonds No portfolio guidance No custodial accounts or retirement accounts

    • Active installations: 5,000,000+
    • Rating: 4.5/5
    

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11. Merrill Edge

    Fan of integration across accounts? Merrill Edge investment app won’t disappoint you for sure. Merrill Edge is a Bank of America discount brokerage. You will open a self-directed brokerage account with this broker with no annual costs and no equity or exchange-traded fund (ETF) trading commissions. It also has regulated investments and access to a licensed financial adviser. For novice buyers and active traders alike, the redesigned service is a perfect option.

    

    Source: Merrill Edge

    Merrill Edge is also one of the largest online brokerages and can satisfy virtually every investor’s needs. Surely, it appeals to novice traders, but also provides a great balance of robust analysis and competitive pricing, including unrestricted stock and ETF trades. It provides Merrill Edge Guided Investing (MEGI), also known as Robo-advisors at the rate of 0.45% annual management fee and $5,000 minimum. For Merrill Edge Select Portfolios, they charge the rate of 0.85% annual fee and a $20,000 minimum cap. In short, Merrill Edge is a good choice for long-term investors depending on risk tolerance, especially those who already have a relationship with Bank of America.

    Core Features:

    • Preferred rewards program
    • E-trade stocks
    • Mutual funds, ETFs, and options
    • Brokerage accounts
    • Money market data and news
    • Real-time streaming quotes
    • Watchlists
    • Deposit checks
    • RA Selector calculator
    • Fingerprint login
    • Send messages

    Pros & Cons:

    Pros	Cons
    Provides a comprehensive look into your assets Integration of accounts Excellent third-party research Great customer experience	High option fees Limited automated investing options for the investor

    • Active installations: 100,000+
    • Rating: 3.9/5
    
    

    Want to develop an investment app that gives users more ways to invest in stocks and ETFs?

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Conclusion

So, did you like our best-investing apps list? For institutional investors who need a painless way to invest in stocks, these trading apps may be a godsend. Not all applications are equal, but these 11 offer a strong starting point. Aren’t they? Do let us know your views in the comment box.

Furthermore, these investment options are good, it can give you a good amount of returns, let’s say thousands? Or maybe lakhs? But how about building an investment application that can give you millions of returns? Do you have a goal or an app idea? Let’s validate your idea with our industry experts. Just as soon as you fill out our contact us form, our expert team as part of the a finance app development agency will reach out to you shortly.

This page was last edited on November 18th, 2020, at 10:39 AM.

Author Bio

Rakesh Patel

Designation: Co-founder and CEO of Space-O Technologies

Mr. Rakesh Patel is a Founder and CEO of Space-O Canada. He has 28 years of IT experience in business strategies, operations & information technology. He has expertise in various aspects of business like project planning, sales, and marketing, and has successfully defined flawless business models for the clients. A techie by mind and a writer at heart, he has authored two books - Enterprise Mobility: Strategy & Solutions and A Guide To Open311.