Stock trading apps, stock trading education, stock trading education, stock trading education, Investing in mutual funds or stocks can be a great way to invest. There is a lot of information about online trading for beginners, about online trading for beginners and many other things competing for your attention so it may be quite difficult to plainly tell you the facts on the subject of stock trading platforms.
This post will do exactly that while informing you on facts like types of trading apps, and which is suitable for you.
E*TRADE (BEST INVESTMENT APP FOR BEGINNERS)
Available on Apple iOS and Android
Why We Picked It
While Fidelity Spire stands out as a solid choice for those of all experience levels and investing interests, beginners particularly interested in trading should look to E*TRADE. The original online-first brokerage boasts an average Apple App Store rating of 4.6 (with 139,000 reviews) and nabbed the top spot in the usability category of our ranking of Best Online Brokerages for Beginners, in no small part because of its investment app.
E*Trade has no trading minimums or fees. There’s also a surfeit of investing information available for users, from basic definitions of common terms like diversification to the ability to live stream Bloomberg TV. You’ll also be able to sign up for a wide range of account types, including IRAs and custodial accounts for children, in addition to more typical taxable accounts.
Unlike Fidelity Spire, though, you can’t open a 529 to save for children’s college educations. Moreover, the lack of fractional trading may make it harder for those with less available cash to buy the security they want, especially when certain individual stocks like Tesla (TSLA) or Apple (AAPL) have shares that cost at least $100.
You can also access a robo-like service through E*Trade’s Prebuilt Portfolios, though you’ll need $500 to get started with mutual funds and $2,500 to open an account with exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Like with Fidelity Spire, you can’t trade commodities or cryptocurrency, though newbies might benefit from that restriction given the volatility of those assets.Pros & Cons
- Low costs and fees
- Excellent news and educational resources
- No cryptocurrency trading
- No 529 accounts
Fidelity Spire
Available on Apple iOS and Android
Why We Picked It
No app we reviewed scored as highly across the board as Fidelity’s relatively new product, Spire. Designed for inexperienced traders, Spire combines savings graphics and nudges with the ability to buy and sell stocks.
Spire has no account or investment minimums, and it features fractional share investing, allowing you to buy less than one share of a particular security. There are no account fees, and your orders aren’t sold to high-frequency trading shops. This practice, called selling order flow, is thought by some to result in customers getting worse prices when they buy or sell investments.
Plus, you needn’t commit yourself to short-term buying and selling; Spire offers a range of account types outside of normal taxable investment accounts, like you find at Robinhood. Its retirement and 529 accounts allow you to invest for your and your children’s futures.
From a usability standpoint, Spire is first-rate. Not only is it easy to navigate, but it’s also chock-full of useful investing definitions and educational material that will help fledgling Warren Buffets find their way. Another perk is the ability to coordinate with Fidelity Go, the Boston-based investment firm’s robo-advisor service, which tied for third in our ranking of best robo-advisors. As with most leading robos, you’ll be presented with a suite of pre-made portfolios that match your risk tolerance and are stuffed with low-cost funds.
While Spire provides indirect access to the full capabilities of investing behemoth Fidelity, Forbes Advisor’s top choice for best brokerage overall, traders desiring more esoteric options, such as commodities or cryptocurrency, will be disappointed.Pros & Cons
- Low costs
- Strong educational material
- Access to wide range of account types and investments
- No cryptocurrency trading
- No market news function
Unifimoney: All Financial Products in One Place [iOS Only]
- Available: Sign up here
- Best For: High earners looking for multiple financial products on one platform
- Price: Commission-free stock/ETF trades
Unifimoney is a digital money management app allowing users to invest in stocks, ETFs, precious metals and cryptos as well as bank, purchase insurance, sign up for credit cards, loans, mortgages, and even more!
The service combines robo-advisor with self-directed investing capability, allowing you to customize your portfolio on the fly or automate your portfolio in the background. Depending on your lifestyle and financial goals, Unifimoney offers the capability to invest how you want.
Further, you can even dive into cryptocurrency trading if that attracts your interest.
The company’s integrated banking and investment platforms help higher earning individuals make the most of their money in one location.
To qualify for the company’s competitive high-yield checking account’s top tier rates, you’ll need to deposit at least $2,000 per month or maintain a minimum balance of $20,000.
What Makes Unifimoney Different?
Where the app differentiates itself from other investing apps on this list is that it also offers access to other financial products like insurance, credit cards, mortgages, high-yield checking accounts with debit cards and more. They offer perks for buying financial products through their platform.
Of note, Unifimoney only offers services to iOS users right now. Further, it does not offer a retirement account (IRA) at this time.
If you’d like to sign up for an account with Unifimoney, you’ll need to pony up at least $100, one of the higher minimums on this list, though certainly not a major barrier.
To get you started, Unifimoney offers to deposit BTC into your account if you meet certain deposit minimums. The lowest deposit amount you can make within 30 days of account opening to get free BTC is $1,000.Unifimoney | Impacting the Financial World
- Automated investing through a robo-advisor with commission-free individual security trading
- Passively fund your portfolio as well as invest in alternatives like crypto or precious metals
- Sign up bonus: Get $25 – $1,000 in Bitcoin when you make a qualifying deposit
Axos Self-Directed Trading
- Available via desktop, Apple iOS and Android App on Google Play
- Best For: Self-directed investors currently banking with Axos
- Sign up here
Axos Self-Directed Trading (SDT) offers no commission trading on US-listed equities—providing you with an easy-to-use platform and the tools you need to succeed.
Axos SDT also works to save you time with an intuitive interface and mobile access so you can trade anytime or anywhere.
So, just how will Axos help your self-directed investing experience?
For starters, Axos SDT offers commission-free equity and exchange-traded funds as well as access to 10,000+ mutual funds.
Where Axos SDT differs from its competitors is its unified financial dashboard with its other Axos Banking products, allowing you to sync all of your accounts in one convenient place.
If you’d like to upgrade to a higher level of service, you might consider Axos Elite. This service provides:
- Instant fund access
- Lower fees
- Increased buying power with leverage
- Enhanced market knowledge through real-time market data expert insights and premium TipRanks market research
You can open individual taxable accounts, joint accounts and IRAs.Axos Self-Directed Trading (SDT)
- Axos SDT offers no commission trading on US-listed equities—providing you with an easy-to-use platform and the tools you need to succeed.
- Axos SDT also works to save you time with an intuitive interface and mobile access so you can trade anytime or anywhere.
- Serious investors can upgrade to a higher level of service with Axos Elite, providing instant fund access, lower fees, premium market research from TipRanks and added leverage
BEST ROBO-ADVISOR INVESTMENT APP
Bettermen
Available on Apple iOS and Android
Learn MoreOn Betterment’s Secure WebsiteWhy We Picked It
Many of the top online brokerages offer robo-advisor services. These automated portfolio management platforms have evolved a lot over the past decade, but if you’re looking for a dedicated robo-advisor investment app that will manage a low-cost diversified portfolio of ETFs, you may be best served by Betterment. It’s one of the original robos, and is the number-one pick in Forbes Advisor’s ranking of the best robo-advisors available.
Betterment has no account minimum, making it easy to get started, and it offers a strong platform that will help you automate your investments in a way that best suits your long-term goals and risk tolerance. The pricing structure, however, may be unfamiliar t0 those new to the world of investing.
For its basic service, it charges 0.25% of all of the money you invest with it each year. That works out to be $25 per $10,000 you invest.
This is important because other leading robos, like Acorns and Ellevest, charge subscription fees of at least $1 a month (or $12 a year). These flat rates effectively penalize small balances: You’d have to have almost $5,000 invested before fees at Betterment exceeded those of the most bare bones plans of those other services. That minimum cutoff rises dramatically when you include retirement accounts into the equation.
Instead of starting with one of these platforms just because they seem easier or cheaper, then, you’d probably be better off starting with Betterment’s app to take advantage of its leading platform and low-fee access to all investment account and goal types.Pros & Cons
- Relatively low annual advisory fee
- Ability to construct multiple goal-based portfolios
- Tax-loss harvesting available
- High costs to chat with a financial advisor ad hoc for Betterment Digital
- Emergency fund portfolio may contain too many equities for conservative investors.
Conclusion
The world of stock trading can be a bit confusing for newbies. You have to pick your stocks, buy them, sell them, keep an eye on the trends etc. This can be quite time consuming. There are some online trading apps that can help make things easier for you though. This article will show you three of the best stock trading apps around. Some will even allow you to test them out for free!