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15 Best Investment Apps for Beginners Right Now

By Kevin Ballard

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Updated on

Getting into stocks has instantly become one of the most exciting hobbies you could ever pick up on and that’s a fact. No matter who you are, or what your current financial disposition is, if you play your cards right in the industry, you might walk out a much wealthier man.

With that being said though, there are definitely more than a handful of apps out there that were made to specifically make investing easier for every single one of us.

They make the process so much smoother, faster and safer, while also making it just as easy to understand. The only real issue with these apps is that there are so many of them to choose from.

A lot of them appear to follow the same blueprints, making them pretty much just carbon copies of one another. Couple that with the fact that there are a lot of scams out there that wish to take advantage of you and you can instantly see why this is a predicament to say the least.

Luckily, there are more than a handful of apps that are also delivering on their promises too, and in today’s article we decided to cover the 15 absolute best investment ones for beginners right now.

While in reality, there is no real way to say that one is better than the other, since they are all tailored to meet every individual’s personal needs all the same, there is definitely a series of requirements that each and every app must follow to be considered one of the best out there.

So, for now let us stop wasting any more time and instead hop right onto our first pick of the day:

15. Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab is a very popular investment app for users of all experience levels out there. It is perfect for anyone that wants to make a good passive profit, especially so for beginners though due to how user-friendly the mobile version is and how educational it can really be.

Users will also be happy to hear that the app doesn’t have any fees or commissions while trading and yet it does feature quite a handful of research tools that you can use to see what your options are like out there.

14. Ally Invest

Ally Invest

Ally Invest is a very good investing app that thrives due to its competitive pricing which attracted a lot of beginner investors over the years.

Not only that, but it has also managed to attract the attention of a lot of advanced stock trades due to its commission-free trades and the plethora of investing tools that it has at its disposal.

Thanks to its real-time data and its large suite of tools you can take full advantage of the app and make a huge profit as long as you know what you’re doing.

If you’re a beginner investor you can still enjoy your time on the platform due to how easy it is to use and how much of a crutch it can be to teach you everything there is to know about investing.

13. Fidelity

Fidelity

Fidelity is a great all-around app that you need to consider if you want to learn how to get into investing. It features a 5 out of 5-star rating and for good reason too.

Fidelity has real-time quotes, advanced trading strategies and a ton of information that you can use to end up with a profit by the end of the day.

Thanks to its Youth Account feature, you can also customize the app so that it better suits all of your needs, and not only that but you can also specifically opt for its educational resources while using it so you can learn everything there is to learn about the industry as you make a decent profit.

12. E-Trade

E-Trade

E-Trade is yet another great option that you need to look into simply because of how many great options it has for its userbase.

It features a massive list of thousands of stocks, options, mutual funds and ETFs that you can always survey to see how they would do in your portfolio.

On top of that, if you don’t have the most knowledge of the field, you are sure to enjoy your time using E-Trade because it pretty much covers all of your bases to make sure that you don’t need to actually be active in the investments to make a profit.

Besides all of that, E-Trade also features no commissions for trading stocks, personalized notifications based on whichever stocks you decided to invest in and of course, a robo-advisor that is more than capable of taking the reigns and teaching you what you need to do in order to come out on top.

11. Merrill Edge

Merrill Edge

Any investor out there will be happy to hear that an app like Merrill Edge exists. This is largely due to it featuring no trading fees alongside a lot of added security since it is owned by the Bank of America so you can safely integrate your account into the platform without any worries.

It is quite educational, offering you a large list of courses, articles and webinars that are meant to help you better understand how the industry works and on top of that, you can invest into practically any type of stocks, bonds or ETFs you could ever want to.

10. Ellevest

Ellevest

Ellevest is a perfect example of a good investment simulation app that was specifically constructed in order to help beginners understand the basics of stock investment.

It can be used for practically any type of investment out there, including stock trades and even exchanging cryptos, but what it really excels in is its vast and helpful community which helps one another so that everyone can make a profit by the end of the day.

The social aspect of it is what really makes it stand out, but even if you’re not interested in that you will still find the app to be very useful due to how easy it is to learn and take full advantage of.

9. Vanguard

Vanguard

Vanguard has been a dream come true for any retail investor out there, and for multiple reasons too. First of all, the company has always strived to lower investing costs by simply offering its userbase market index investments for increasingly affordable rates.

Thanks to these low-cost investments, some investors have managed to pretty much dig themselves out of whatever financial hole they were in, allowing their very own brokerage account returns to compound and increase exponentially.

You can practically invest in the stock market for almost no costs whatsoever while using Vanguard, and not only that but the app also manages to excel as a free stock trading platform for any ETFs or mutual funds all the same.

As time moves on, the app is also steadily striving for better and less costly payments, turning it into one of the best options you may have right now on the market.

8. Stash

Stash

If you are a beginner and you want to get into the wondrous world of stock investing you will need to get yourself an app like Stash that is specifically tailored for you.

What we mean by this is the fact that Stash is an all-purpose low-cost financial platform that specifically targets newcomers by automating their investments. On top of that, you can also actively select stocks which you want to trade and you can do so all through the app itself.

You do have to go through a recurring monthly fee though, but to be fair it is one of the more affordable options out there, and this is mostly due to the fact that again, the app is specifically made for beginners and young investors that are just now getting started.

7. M1 Finance

M1 Finance

M1 Finance makes for another great app to use, especially so due to its commission-free stock and ETF trades that also feature automated stock trading which is all based around the site’s top robo-advisor pick.

M1 Finance is a singular performance finance app that is meant to help you gain a lot of profits through the use of a series of diversified portfolios.

In simple terms, M1 Finance is meant to work as your very own personal robo-advisor that helps you decide on which stocks you should be depositing your money in, while also setting up your index fund selections to make sure that you’re always at the top of your game.

Automating your investments is a great way to make a profit, and while many shun at the idea of trusting an app to do the heavy pulling for you, this is definitely the best way to make a profit as the app pretty much allocates your assets and automatically rebalances everything to make sure you’re building up your wealth with ease.

6. Acorns

Acorns

Acorns is one of the best apps on the market for those of us that have just now gotten started on our journey. It is yet another app that specifically targets minors and young adults that want to make a lot of money from a very minimal budget pool.

On top of being very easy to use, this app also doubles as a robo-advisor micro investing app which helps users find the best possible choices for them and it even helps teach you the ropes around the industry at the same time.

It does charge its users with a monthly fee, although it should be mentioned here that it doesn’t actually charge trading commissions which is definitely a plus in our book.

You can use Acorns’ Personal package for about $3/mo., or you can go with the Acorns Family package which costs you about $5/mo. Overall this is a great option for minors and beginners alike.

5. SoFi Invest

SoFi Invest

SoFi Invest is yet another great app to invest through, especially so if you want to give the crypto market a try for once.

SoFi allows you to invest into stocks and ETF trades too, although it does put a lot of emphasis on the crypto market for the most part.

No matter which avenue you wish to put your hard-earned money into though, you will definitely see a profit if you play your cards right on this app. It offers free trades on stocks, cryptos, ETFs and practically everything you could ever ask for too.

Its robo-advisor is also quite handy, and let’s not forget about the fact that it strives to improve the financial disposition of its userbase which is always nice to see.

4. Public.com

Public com

Public.com is a really good commission-free investment app that is perfect for beginners and veterans alike, due to the fact that it specifically targets both stock and ETF trades, with a heavy emphasis on social media.

The reason for that special emphasis is the fact that the app is made for Millennials and Gen-Zers, so it is always on the lookout for whatever is popular at the time that its userbase could make a profit off of.

Public.com advertises itself as an investing social network where its userbase can own fractional shares of stocks and ETFs. The app also works similarly to other social medias where popular creators can attract an audience and help guide them towards making a profit on their own.

The online broker platform also offers a decent $10 signup bonus as soon as you make your first deposit, making this a great app to get started on if you don’t have the biggest budget pool out there.

3. Betterment

Betterment

Betterment is an actual treat for tax-loss and harvesting investors that are looking to use a good robo-advisor platform that they can then use to buy fractional shares of ETFs.

While the app doesn’t actually allow you to invest into any individual stocks, you will be able to put your money directly into fractional bits of the index fund ETFs that your portfolio is currently focused on.

It essentially makes for a great beginner app while also targeting a more niche demographic by charging an all-encompassing 0.25% assets under management fee while also factoring in a unique tax-loss harvesting feature.

In simple terms, Betterment lowers your taxable income by selling your losses and using the money there to invest into similar assets.

Couple all of this with the fact that the app features some really advanced robo-advisor services and you’ve got yourself a winner for one of the best investment apps of this year.

2. Webull

Webull

Webull first made its way on the stock market back in 2018 when it took a very direct stance against Robinhood, trying its hardest to become a worthwhile competitor for that platform. It made a lot of big promises right off the bat, including commission-free stock trading alongside commission-free trades on ETFs and cryptos.

And right now we can safely say that it definitely achieved most of its goals, becoming one of the top investment apps on the market in just a few years. 

Thanks to the fact that it charges no commissions whatsoever for the trades that you’re doing, it is already one step above most other apps. It can do this thanks to its Payment for Order Flow feature, alongside its margin loans, interest on cash and service fees and whatnot.

Overall, it is one of the best analysis apps on the market and definitely worth your time and money if you wish to try your luck on the stock market.

Lastly, we should also mention the fact that Webull runs frequent promotions which are great for any users on the platform because they give out free stocks with every update.

1. Robinhood

Robinhood

Robinhood set the bar up extremely high, pretty much becoming the standard for anyone looking for a good commission-free platform to invest into.

It was actually the first one of its kind, slashing its trading commissions to $0 within the same year that it released, forcing all its competitors to follow its example within the next couple of years or so.

Many other platforms have tried their hardest to mimic the success of Robinhood, but to no avail. It really is the number one free investment app on the market due to its non-existent trade commissions alongside the fact that it offers plenty of options for you to invest into.

While it doesn’t support mutual funds on its mobile app or desktop trading platforms, Robinhood still deserves the number one stop due to its consistency and overall quality.

Conclusion

Each and every one of these apps is great on its own, so definitely check them out for yourself when looking to invest into a good platform.

No matter which of them you choose, you are sure to come out on top with a hefty profit if you play your cards right, so good luck ahead and remember to always learn from your mistakes. This way you can turn today’s losses into tomorrow’s profits in no time.

About Kevin Ballard

I’ve worked in corporate finance for almost fifteen years. I have a bachelor’s in Finance and an MBA. I am also a Certified Management Accountant. At one time I had my securities license (Series 7) and Health and Life insurance licenses. What’s more important is that I like to learn and always seek to truly understand the subject I am studying. Learn more about Invest Some Money's Editorial Process.