Acorns: invest spare change automatically, no free tier

Acorns automates the part of investing that stops most beginners before they start: deciding what to buy. Round-ups from everyday purchases go straight into a diversified portfolio without a single manual trade.

What it gives you

Invest Spare Change®. Purchases get rounded up and the difference is invested automatically into an expert-built portfolio — the core feature the whole app is organized around.

Built-in retirement and kids' accounts. Acorns Later handles retirement contributions with an IRA match on the higher tiers; Acorns Early sets up a dedicated investment account for children.

Everything bundled, not itemized. Investing, an emergency-savings account, and a checking account with its own round-ups all live under one subscription instead of separate products.

What it costs

A subscription, always. Bronze starts at $4/month for basic round-ups and a retirement account; Silver ($8/month) adds emergency savings and IRA matching; Gold ($12/month) adds the kids' debit card and full money management — there is no tier that costs nothing.

Less control than a self-directed app. The portfolio is expert-built, not something you assemble stock by stock the way Robinhood or Webull allow.

Who it's for

People who want investing to happen automatically in the background and are fine paying a flat monthly fee for that convenience — especially beginners who'd rather not pick individual stocks. Anyone who wants a genuinely free option should look at Fidelity instead.

The rest of the picks are in our best investing apps roundup.