Best Stock Trading App To Make Money

Broker/Advisor	Best For	Commissions	Next Steps
Robinhood Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.	Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.	Best For: No-frills stock and options trading	Commission: $0 for stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies	Open Account
SoFi Active Investing Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.	Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.	Best For: Diverse investing needs	Commission: $0 for stocks, 1.25% for cryptocurrencies	Open Account
Webull Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.	Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.	Best For: User-friendly trading platform	Commission: $0 per trade	Open Account
Fidelity Rating image, 5.0 out of 5 stars.	Rating image, 5.0 out of 5 stars.	Best For: Full-featured broker	Commission: $0 stock trades	Read Review
Cash App Investing Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.	Rating image, 4.0 out of 5 stars.	Best For: Stocks and cash management in one	Commission: $0 for stocks, fees vary for cryptocurrencies	Read Review
Ally Invest Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.	Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.	Best For: Investing and banking in one	Commission: $0 stock and ETF trades	Read Review
Charles Schwab Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.	Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.	Best For: Full-featured broker	Commission: $0 stock and ETF trades	Read Review

The Ascent's best free stock trading apps:

No-frills stock and options trading: Robinhood
Diverse investing needs: SoFi Active Investing
User-friendly trading platform: Webull
Full-featured broker: Fidelity
Stocks and cash management in one: Cash App Investing
Investing and banking in one: Ally Invest
Full-featured broker: Charles Schwab

Ratings Methodology

Bottom Line

Robinhood offers a user-friendly mobile app that allows trading in stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies.

Read Full Review

Fees:

$0 for stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies

Bottom Line

SoFi invest is a platform designed for investors who want a full-service financial institution in an app.

Read Full Review

Fees:

$0 for stocks, 1.25% for cryptocurrencies

Bottom Line

Webull offers a user-friendly stock investing platform with more features than some of its app-based rivals.

Read Full Review

Bottom Line

A highly customizable and user-friendly mobile app offered by one of the most full-featured brokers in the U.S.

Bottom Line

Cash App is a finance app, allowing p2p payments, direct deposits, and debit card withdrawals, in addition to stock trading.

Fees:

$0 for stocks, fees vary for cryptocurrencies

Bottom Line

Ally's app offers an easy-to-use trading platform and several other financial products.

Fees:

$0 stock and ETF trades

Bottom Line

A full-featured broker with an excellent app to complement its desktop platform.

Fees:

$0 stock and ETF trades

1. Robinhood

Best for: No-frills stock and options trading.

Robinhood is a user-friendly trading app that allows for trading in stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin). Robinhood users have access to a cash management feature that allows interest to be earned on cash balances, and the $5 per month Robinhood Gold premium version of the platform allows for $1,000 of interest-free margin and access to Morningstar stock research reports. One of the standout features is $0 options commissions and no fee per contract. Even many of the best options brokers charge a fee per contract, but Robinhood doesn't.

There are some downsides, however. Specifically, there are few educational tools or advanced trading tools. There are also no mutual funds or IRAs. All this suggests Robinhood is designed more for traders, not long-term investors.

iOS rating: 4.1/5 stars

Android rating: 3.8/5 stars

2. SoFi Invest

Best for: Investors who want access to other financial products as well.

SoFi Invest offers both active investing (stock trading) and automated investing (robo-advisory) services. It also allows investors to trade cryptocurrencies. And unlike several other tech-focused investment apps, SoFi offers traditional and Roth IRAs. The best part -- all of these features (lending, saving, investing, and more) are available through a single, highly-rated app.

One big differentiator is that SoFi, which is short for Social Finance, is designed to be an all-in-one financial community. In addition to its investment platform, the SoFi app also offers personal loans, mortgages, private student loans, credit cards, and high-yield savings accounts.

iOS rating: 4.8/5 stars

Android rating: 4.4/5 stars

3. Webull

4. Fidelity

5. Cash App

6. Ally Invest

Best for: Investors who want their bank and investment accounts in the same place.

In addition to being able to buy and sell stocks, ETFs, options, and mutual funds, Ally Invest also offers the Managed Portfolios robo-advisory service, a high-yield savings account, checking accounts, CDs, mortgages, auto loans, personal loans, and more.

Ally Invest is more than just a trading app. In a nutshell, Ally is a great financial app that also has impressive investing functionality, making it an excellent choice for people who want to trade stocks in the same place where their checking and savings accounts are maintained.

iOS rating: 4.7/5 stars

Android rating: 4.1/5 stars

7. Charles Schwab

How much does it cost to start trading stocks?

There's no official minimum amount of money you need to start buying stocks.

Some brokerages have minimum required deposits, but many online brokerages have none. Those let you buy in with as little as a few dollars, purchasing fractional shares of stocks instead of full shares.

If you want to buy a full share of a specific stock, the minimum amount you'll need to get started is the cost of that stock -- which varies widely across companies. To ensure a diversified portfolio, we often suggest buying a minimum of 10 stocks, so that would put your minimum investment at the cost of those 10 stocks plus any commissions and fees paid to your brokerage.

What investments can you buy with free trading apps?

The free trading apps listed here will let you buy stocks, but the actual investment universe available depends on the particular app. For example, some of the apps allow trading in over-the-counter (OTC) stocks, while others don't. Some allow you to buy stocks directly on foreign stock markets in addition to U.S. exchanges. And some offer the ability to buy and sell options and mutual funds, while others are limited to only stock trading.

In addition, some of these apps offer automated investing or robo-advisory services, which essentially create and maintain an investment portfolio for you. The bottom line is that investment selection varies from one trading app to another and should certainly be a factor when deciding which to use.

How to choose a stock trading app as a beginner

No broker is perfect for everyone, but some brokers are better aimed at beginners.

Here are some of the factors to consider when you pick an online stock broker:

Cost structure: Do they charge monthly fees or commissions on trades?
Account minimums: Note the minimum deposit needed to open your account. For some brokerages, there's no minimum, but some might be as high as $500.
Variety of funds: As a beginner, you might not want to choose individual stocks. Look for brokerages that invest in no-fee mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) so you can invest without being a stock market expert.
Features and support: If you want to grow your investing knowledge and skills over time, look for an app that includes educational resources and strong customer support.

How to invest in stocks as a beginner

Follow these steps to get started investing in stocks:

Determine your investing approach. You could be hands-on, selecting individual stocks, or hands-off, letting a robo-advisor manage your portfolio. You could fall somewhere in between, working with a broker to choose low-effort index funds for your portfolio.
Choose how much to invest. Don't invest money you'll need within five years -- your investments aren't liquid funds, and short-term investments are too vulnerable to volatility. Before deciding how much to invest, make sure you've set aside an emergency fund, any vacation savings, short-term education costs, and other short-term savings like a down payment for a home or car.
Open an investment account with a brokerage. Choose a brokerage like the ones we've listed above to manage your investments. Open your account with at least the minimum investment.
Diversify your stocks. If you're investing in a self-directed account -- where you pick individual stocks -- choose stocks from businesses you understand across an array of industries. Avoid high-volatility stocks for now, or choose an ETF or index fund to skip having to choose altogether.
Continue investing. Continue to contribute to your investment accounts and hold on to the investments long term in order to get the best and most stable returns on your investments.