5 Best Investment Apps of 2021

Looking for the finest investing apps to help you reclaim control of your finances? An investment app can help you handle routine financial activities, transfer money into investment accounts, and track expenditure. However, the best investment apps can do much more. They can help you trade stocks fast, track your account in real-time, and learn about the markets, among other things.

But in a sea of options – and scams - it can be hard to know which investment app you should choose. Thus, this reading will offer you a list of the best investment apps of 2021, why they stand out, and what are the specifics of each one of them.

What Are Investment Apps?

Investment apps are phone applications that allow users to invest money in a diverse set of investments. Investment apps provide easy-to-use platforms for investing that serve as alternatives to more traditional services. They offer investment tools to put your money in many types of investments, from stocks to cryptocurrencies. Some of these apps go even further, offering investment education, financial advising, and expenditure tracking.

What makes investment apps a great alternative to traditional investment services is that they usually charge low to no fees. On top of that, these apps tend to offer an easier way to track your investments if compared to traditional brokers, hedge funds, and banks. This makes the whole process of investment more transparent. It allows the investor to understand where their gains and losses come from.

Best Investment Apps of 2021

There are many different types of investors. Some are more conservative; others don’t mind taking some risks. Some prefer to have more control over their investments, others rather trust professionals to do it for them. And so on. Thus, it is hard to say which one app is the best investment app available. Instead, it is possible to highlight a group of investment apps that stand out for their own specific characteristics. Each app of this group offers something that fits the need of a certain profile of investors. Thus, these are the best investment apps of 2021:

E*Trade

Account Minimum: $0 ($500 for Core Portfolios)

Fees: 0% trading; 0.30% automated accounts and 0.35% to 1.25% for managed accounts.

Types of Accounts: Individual, joint, and custodial brokerage accounts; traditional, Roth, custodial, SEP, and inherited IRAs (includes rollovers)

Types of Investment: Stocks, ETFs, bonds, options, mutual funds, futures, and CDs

E*TRADE is an app that manages to offer a great variety of investment services and options in only one place. With this app, novice or experienced investors will be able to find whatever they are looking for. On top of centralizing many investments in one app, E*TRADE has abolished all stock and ETF trading fees in 2019. Now, it provides over 4,400 no-load, no-transaction-fee mutual funds.

But E*Trade is not just for those investors that like to pick and choose. E*TRADE offers a service called Core Portfolios, which is a wonderful choice if you don't want to do your own investing. You'll obtain a recommended tax-sensitive portfolio of ETFs after filling out a risk profile that includes your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. To begin investing with the Core Portfolios tool, you will need at least $500.

This app also allows users to adapt their investments based on values and goals. For example, you can make your portfolio "socially responsible" by shifting your allocation to an ETF with businesses that have progressive social, environmental, and corporate policies. Or you can program your investments as "smart beta," which will favor growth equities to beat the market. You'll need at least $500 to begin investing.

SoFi Invest

Account Minimum: $0

Fees: 0% trading; 1.25% on cryptocurrency

Types of Accounts: Individual and joint brokerage; traditional, Roth, SEP IRAs (includes rollovers)

Types of Investment: Stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies

SoFi is an investing app that offers automation and affordability for its investors. One of the main aspects that makes this app stand out is the fact that you will not be charged any advisory fees, stock or ETF trade fees, or subscription fees to invest with SoFi.

If you have an issue keeping an eye on your investments, SoFi might be a good idea. It offers an automated investing tool that will propose an ETF-based portfolio depending on your risk tolerance. You will only need to decide which portfolio is the ideal one for you. Then, no more than $1 is required to start investing.

What is great about this automated tool is that you won't have to worry about rebalancing your portfolio - SoFi will do it for you at least once a quarter. If your objectives or general financial position change, you can alter your portfolio and even schedule a free consultation with a SoFi financial advisor. Just remember that you'll still be responsible for paying fees to the funds in your portfolio. When purchasing and selling fractional shares, stocks, or ETFs, active investors do not pay transaction fees. You may also invest in cryptocurrencies, although SoFi charges a 1.25% markup on those transactions.

SoFi Money (Member FDIC) is a checking/savings account hybrid that offers a competitive interest rate, a debit card, and limitless ATM charge reimbursements.

Fidelity Go

Account Minimum: $0

Fees: $0 to $3 a month; 0.35% to 0.50% AUM fee for higher balances; no fund fees

Types of Accounts: Individual and joint brokerage accounts; traditional and Roth IRAs (includes rollovers)

Types of Investment: Fidelity Flex mutual funds

If you are not in the mood of spending too much time planning and researching about investments and is also wanting to avoid fees, Fidelity Go might be the option for you. Fidelity Go is a simple investment app that allows you to invest without spending too much time in it.

The app works more or less like this: You will answer some questions about yourself, such as your age, goals, and risk tolerance. Then, a team of experts will create an appropriate portfolio for you based on your answers. The portfolio will be made up entirely of Fidelity Flex mutual funds. None of these funds charge additional management fees or fund expenses. Instead, you will only pay a fixed 0.35% advisory fee, regardless of what you invest in.

The minimum investment with Fidelity Go is only $10. With just that, you will have access to Fidelity Go's experts, not an algorithm, who will rebalance your portfolio on a regular basis. You may choose from seven alternative allocations, ranging from cautious to aggressive. You can modify your investing approach at any moment.

Robinhood

Account Minimum: $0

Fees: 0% trading

Types of Accounts: Individual brokerage accounts

Types of Investment: Stocks, ETFs, options, cryptocurrencies, and ADRs

There is not much that is complex about Robinhood. It is a simple and easy-to-navigate commission-free trading app. Without paying any fees, investors are able to trade US-exchange listed stocks and ETFs (including fractional shares of both), options, and cryptocurrencies. For stock, ETF, and options trades, there is no minimum account size restriction. But it is required to have at least $1 for fractional shares and a minimum of $25,000 in the account to day trade.

If you are considering using Robinhood, just consider that there is no advising service. You will have to figure out what you want to invest by yourself. But there is a search box at the top of the screen that can take you to a stock's website, where you can see charts and crucial statistics. A feed that collects content from news and investment sites is also handy for keeping up with what's going on. Swipe up once you've selected what you want to trade and entered the number of shares you want to purchase or sell, and your order will be sent.

Another fantastic feature of the app is that it instantly deposits the first $1,000 of any funds you deposit into your account, allowing you to begin trading right away. If you're a member of Robinhood Gold, the premium tier, you'll be able to make fast deposits of up to $50,000.

Acorns

Account Minimum: $0 ($5 to start investing)

Fees: $1 to $5 a month

Types of Accounts: Individual brokerage account; Traditional, Roth, SEP IRAs; individual checking account

Types of Investment: ETFs

Even though Acorns is one of the older finance apps, it is still one of the most popular. That is mostly due to how easy it is to use. Once you've set up the app, you won't have to do much. When you connect a debit or credit card to your account, Acorns will round up your transactions to the nearest dollar and invest the difference in one of many ETF portfolios.

Acorns Lite costs a meager $1 a month, but the app also provides other services. For $3 per month, you can upgrade to Acorns Personal, which is packaged with Lite. This category allows you to create an individual retirement account (IRA). Then, you can add Acorns Family for $5 a month. This higher plan includes all of the features of the previous two tiers as well as investment accounts for children.