Acorns Review

Acorns is an app that invests your spare change and charges a flat monthly fee for doing it. Round-Ups rounds each card purchase up to the next dollar and invests the difference. The cost is a fixed subscription, not a percentage of what you hold, so the fee weighs most on the small accounts that beginners open.

This review is for finance-literate readers who want the cost in real terms: what the fee is at a small balance, at $100,000, and where it crosses the percentage fees of the robo-advisors.

Toolradar data: of the 9 investment apps we evaluate in our investment apps ranking, 3 have a free plan, and Acorns' own pricing page lists none. Acorns is not a budgeting tool either.

If budgeting comes first, compare budgeting apps before you pay a subscription that invests what is left over.

We compare Acorns with Betterment, Wealthfront, Fidelity Go and Stash on the same balances. Every price below was read on the vendor's own pricing page.

Investment products and services are offered by Acorns Advisers, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser, and brokerage is provided by Acorns Securities, LLC, a member of FINRA and SIPC. Acorns says it has over 16 million all-time customers and more than $33 billion invested since inception, as of August 26, 2026. It also states plainly that it is not a bank.

The product has three parts. The first is an investing account with an expert-built, diversified portfolio that Acorns recommends from the goals you choose. The second is Round-Ups, which invests spare change from card purchases. The third is Acorns Later, a retirement account with an IRA match on the Silver and Gold plans.

Checking, Emergency Savings and a debit card sit alongside. What sets Acorns apart is the spare-change habit and the subscription pricing. Our robo-advisor ranking covers the percentage-fee alternatives.

Webull, a self-directed trading app, is a different product, so it is not in the price comparison; see its Toolradar profile.

Sign-up takes a few minutes in the app. You pick one of three monthly plans, and Acorns builds a portfolio around the goal you select, whether that is investing, retirement, a child's account or saving. Round-Ups then sends the spare change from each card purchase into that portfolio.

Acorns says the monthly subscription is its only charge, with no hidden costs and no transaction fees. The pricing page links an Acorns Wrap Fee Brochure for the full fee terms, so read that document before you sign up. If you later want to track the account beside other holdings, see our portfolio trackers.

Acorns publishes three monthly prices, $4 for Bronze, $8 for Silver and $12 for Gold, and no annual price. Because the fee is fixed, its share of the balance falls as the balance grows. At $3,000, Bronze costs $48 a year (1.6%), Silver $96 (3.2%) and Gold $144 (4.8%).

The same balance costs $7.50 a year at Wealthfront's 0.25%, and nothing at Fidelity Go, which charges no advisory fee below $25,000. Betterment charges $5 a month, or $60 a year, until recurring deposits of $200 or more a month, or a $24,000 balance, switch it to 0.25%.

Stash charges $108 a year billed annually, plus 0.25% on Smart Portfolios of $1,000 or more, which comes to about $115.50 on the same balance.

At $100,000 the order reverses. Bronze still costs $48 (0.05%). Wealthfront and Betterment's 0.25% cost $250, Fidelity Go's 0.35% advisory fee costs $350, and Stash costs about $358 if the whole balance sits in a Smart Portfolio. Bronze matches a 0.25% fee at $19,200, Silver at $38,400 and Gold at $57,600. Betterment's flat $5 a month matches 0.25% at $24,000.

Methodology: each price is read from the vendor's own pricing page in October 2026. The examples use one balance with no further deposits, except where Betterment's deposit rule is noted, and exclude taxes and the fund expenses inside each portfolio, because those vary by product.

The pages are Acorns pricing, Wealthfront pricing, Betterment pricing, Stash pricing and Fidelity Go.

For more providers, see our robo-advisor ranking.

Acorns fits two kinds of reader. The first is a beginner who would not invest without a nudge, for whom Round-Ups and a managed portfolio are worth more than a free account that sits empty. The second is a saver who will max out a Later IRA in year one.

Acorns' own example puts Gold's 3% match at $225, which is more than a full year of Gold at $144, so the first year can pay for itself.

It fits poorly in two cases. Below $25,000, Fidelity Go charges no advisory fee, so it beats Acorns on fees at every balance under that line. Fidelity's Toolradar profile is the place to start for the wider account.

And if you already run a brokerage account, a recurring transfer can build a similar saving habit without a monthly subscription. Readers who want budgeting first can compare YNAB vs Monarch and Monarch vs Copilot Money, which pit the budgeting tools against each other.

If you want to pick individual stocks, see our stock screeners.