Betterment Review

The fee depends on your balance and your deposits, not on the brand.

Betterment's price changes at two points, so the fair comparison starts with the balance you actually plan to hold.

Toolradar data: our investment apps ranking covers nine tools and lists no robo-advisor, so the fee comparison here comes from each firm's own pricing page, not from our list.

Our robo-advisor ranking covers the robo field, and the investing apps ranking covers the wider market.

Methodology: every price on this page was read on the vendor's own pricing page on October 10, 2026.

We compare the advisory or platform fee in US dollars at four account sizes, from a small account to a large one, and leave out returns, which this page does not measure. The comparison covers Wealthfront, Fidelity Go, Acorns and M1 Finance. Vanguard and Schwab are left out of this comparison.

Betterment is an automated investing service. You fund an account, and it builds and manages a portfolio for you in exchange for an advisory fee on the balance.

Its pricing page describes that fee as paying for automated portfolios, ongoing advice and tax-saving technology, so you pay for the service rather than for a single product.

The firm runs two tiers. Digital is the automated service.

Premium adds access to an advisor when you want one, at a higher fee and with a larger minimum. Cash Reserve is the cash product on the same account. It pays a variable 3.50% APY as of September 21, 2026, with a $10 minimum deposit for the base rate.

If you are choosing between a robo-advisor and a cheaper app for small amounts, our Acorns review covers the flat-fee side of that choice.

The fee switches on your balance and your deposits. On the Digital plan the base price is a flat monthly charge on investing accounts, with no minimum balance.

The account moves to 0.25% a year once you set up recurring monthly deposits or transfers totaling $200 or more, or once the balance reaches $24,000 across your Betterment investing accounts, including Cash Reserve.

That rule matters more than the headline.

A $10,000 account with no monthly deposits pays $60 a year, or 0.60% of its value. Set up the recurring deposits and the same account pays 0.25%, or $25 a year.

Premium is an added fee, not a discount. The page describes the 0.65% Premium fee as a 0.25% Digital base fee plus a 0.40% Premium fee.

You get advisor access for that gap.

Cash earns on its own line. The 3.50% Cash Reserve APY is variable and dated September 21, 2026. A 0.75% boost on balances up to $1M applies to new clients with a qualifying deposit. Read the live rate in the app before you rely on it for a large balance.

What the fee costs at four account sizes. At $5,000 the flat charge is $60 a year, or 1.20%, with no deposits. With a monthly deposit it is 0.25%, or $12.50. At $10,000 the flat charge is 0.60%, or $60, and 0.25%, or $25, with a deposit.

At $25,000 the account is past the switch, so the fee is 0.25%, or $62.50. At $100,000 Digital and Wealthfront each cost $250 a year, Premium costs $650, and Fidelity Go costs $350 at its 0.35% rate.

The crossover is $24,000. At 0.25% a year the account pays $60 on $24,000, the same as the flat charge.

Above that balance the percentage fee grows with the account, so Digital costs more in dollars as the balance rises. Fidelity Go charges nothing on smaller balances, so on those it costs less than Betterment or Wealthfront, whatever the deposits.

Our robo-advisor ranking puts the same fee logic across more firms.

Premium costs $400 more a year at the minimum. The 0.65% fee on the same balance is $650 a year, against $250 on Digital.

The pricing page does not list what the advisor covers beyond access, so the gap has to be weighed against how often you would use one.

Leaving costs a flat $75 per account, however small the balance. The fee is paid once for each account you move out, so it is a one-time cost on top of the yearly fee.

Betterment Digital fits a saver who will reach the switch balance or keep a monthly deposit going, because the fee then falls to 0.25% a year.

Below that, the flat monthly charge costs more than 0.25% of the balance, so the switch rules matter more than the brand.

Premium fits a household that meets the eligibility minimum and wants an advisor on call.

At 0.65% a year it costs $400 more than Digital on the same balance, so the advisor access has to be worth that gap to you.

Skip Betterment if your balance stays small with no regular deposits. Fidelity Go charges nothing on smaller balances, so on fees alone it wins that comparison.

If you would start with a smaller amount, the Acorns review sets out the flat-fee side.

If you want to pick your own holdings rather than have them picked for you, a brokerage fits better than a robo-advisor.

The investing apps ranking covers that side. On Toolradar, compare the brokerage profiles of Fidelity and Webull.