Stash Review

Stash is a subscription first and an investing account second. You pay one fixed fee for the app, then a percentage only on the managed accounts. That split drives the whole review.

The fixed fee is the part a small balance cannot dilute, and the card reward is the main way to earn it back.

Toolradar data: of the nine investment apps in our investment apps ranking, three have a free plan, a 33% share.

Stash is not one of the nine, so the fee analysis here relies on Stash's own pricing page and advisory agreement.

Methodology: every price was read on the vendor's own page on October 10, 2026. That covers Stash's pricing page, its Stock-Back page and its advisory agreement, plus the pricing pages of Acorns, Betterment, Wealthfront and Fidelity Go.

We compare the annual cost in US dollars at four balances, from $3,000 to $100,000, and leave out investment returns, which this page does not measure.

Stash is a personal finance app. According to its pricing page, Stash is a registered investment adviser with the SEC.

The company sells one plan, The Stash Plan, which bundles a personal brokerage account, a Roth or traditional IRA, custodial accounts for kids, an automated Smart Portfolio, personalized advice, a monthly market insights report and budgeting tools.

The plan also includes the Stock-Back debit card and $10,000 of life insurance through Avibra.

The bank side sits in the same app. Stash says its banking runs through Stride Bank N.A., an FDIC-insured bank, with no overdraft, minimum balance, monthly maintenance or set-up fees.

If budgeting comes first, our budgeting apps ranking covers tools built for that job alone. If the spare-change side interests you, our Acorns review sets out the flat-fee alternative.

The fee has two parts, and only one of them moves with your balance. The subscription applies whatever the account holds. The 0.25% asset fee sits on top. It applies to Smart Portfolio assets once they reach $1,000, and to every dollar in a managed retirement account, which carries no balance threshold.

The advisory agreement calculates the asset fee daily, so a balance that drops under the threshold stops paying it that day.

A small Smart Portfolio therefore pays almost only the subscription. The plan fee alone is 21.6% of a $500 account.

Above the threshold the asset fee grows with the account, while the subscription stays the same.

The card decides the answer more than the fee does. Stock-Back pays 1% back in stock on purchases up to $1,000 a month, then 0.125% on every swipe after that, with up to 3% at certain merchants.

ATM withdrawals, gift or prepaid cards and money orders do not earn. Stash includes the card in the subscription, so the reward is the only offset on the card side.

The annual cost at four balances. At $3,000 in a Smart Portfolio, the annual plan fee plus the asset fee of $7.50 comes to $115.50, or 3.85%. At $10,000 it is $133, or 1.33%. At $25,000 it is $170.50, or 0.68%.

At $100,000 it is $358, or 0.36%. A $1,000 account costs $110.50, or 11.05%. These totals assume the whole balance sits in a Smart Portfolio and nothing is added or withdrawn.

Monthly billing costs $36 more a year. Twelve monthly payments come to $144.

The annual option brings that down by 25%, so commit to a year only if you expect to keep the plan that long.

Against the rivals, the gap is the plan fee. On $100,000, Wealthfront's 0.25% comes to $250, so Stash costs the plan fee more on the same money.

Betterment Digital also charges $250 once it passes the switch, and Fidelity Go charges $350 at its 0.35% rate. Stash only beats Fidelity Go above $108,000, where both come to $378. Under $25,000, Fidelity Go charges nothing at all.

Acorns' Bronze tier costs $48 a year at any balance, the lowest flat fee of any product here that charges one.

Our Wealthfront review and Betterment review set out those rates in full.

The card needs about $900 a month to cover the annual plan fee. At the 1% base rate, $900 of monthly spending earns $9 in stock, and twelve of those months add up to the annual plan fee. That is the break-even. It assumes the stock keeps its value, which it may not.

Stash fits a saver who will use the card or the retirement account. Those are the only parts of the plan that can offset the fixed fee. A household that wants a bank account, an IRA, a children's account and a Smart Portfolio in one subscription is the buyer the bundle is built for.

It fits poorly in two cases.

A pure investor with a large taxable balance pays the plan fee more than Wealthfront on the same money. A small balance with no card spending pays the subscription and gets little back. If your balance stays under $25,000, Fidelity Go charges nothing and wins on fees alone.

Our Acorns review covers the flat-fee alternative for smaller amounts.

If you want to choose your own holdings, Stash is a poor fit. Its trades run in four windows each weekday, which suits long-term investing.

For a self-directed brokerage, compare the profiles of Fidelity and Webull on Toolradar, and see our Robinhood review for a self-directed trading app.