Acorns vs. Stash – Which Micro-Investing Platform Is Better?

Micro-investing is a modern phenomenon that makes investing in the stock market accessible to anyone with an internet connection and a bank account. New financial technology companies continue to surface in this space, each putting forward a unique spin on everyday investing.

Acorns launched a micro-investing app in 2014 that puts your digital “spare change” to work. It became known for its flagship Round Ups feature, which helps users invest a few cents anytime they spend money.

Stash emerged in 2015 with features focused on setting a schedule of small, automated investments into portfolios that support causes and industries you care about.

Both investment apps have grown since and developed additional features to keep up with the continually creeping competition in fintech. These financial companies offer products to help you invest, save, bank, manage money, and prepare for retirement.

The product offerings in each app look similar, but the features vary, and you have to look into the details to determine which is the best place for your money.

Key Features

Acorns and Stash both started as simple micro-investing apps, so the core product of each is a personal investment account. Both have expanded, however, to include options for retirement and banking, as well.

The apps’ offerings are similar, but each has subtly different features, pricing, and capabilities that could make one or the other a better fit for your financial goals and lifestyle.

Account Options

Acorns and Stash each offer three types of accounts in a single app: investment, retirement, and banking. The capabilities of each account vary slightly between the brands.

Acorns Account Options

• Acorns Invest. Acorns’ core product is an investment account that uses your “spare change” to invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) made up of stocks and bonds. You can choose how conservative or aggressive a portfolio you want among six options, but you can’t choose which ETFs make up your portfolio.
• Acorns Later. This individual retirement account (IRA) lets you manage retirement savings in the same place as your other Acorns investing and checking accounts. It automatically sets you up with a Roth IRA, traditional IRA, or SEP IRA (for self-employed business owners) when you sign up, depending on your lifestyle and goals. It also automatically rebalances the account as you age or your lifestyle changes to help you meet retirement goals.
• Acorns Checking. Anyone with an Acorns account can open this FDIC-protected checking account backed by Lincoln Savings Bank and receive an Acorns debit card.
• Acorns Early. Open a custodial investment account (UGMA/UTMA) for as many kids as you’d like, without any added cost per kid.

Stash Account Options

• Stash Invest. Stash’s flagship product, a personal investment account, lets you purchase fractional shares of stocks, bonds, and ETFs for as little as $0.01. Choose individual stocks or bonds to purchase or invest in ETFs based on the issues or types of companies you want to back.
• Stash Retire. Open a traditional or Roth IRA to save for retirement through the same micro-investing methods as Stash Invest uses.
• Banking¹. A Stash banking account is an online banking account through Stride Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. The banking account includes Direct Deposit, ATM Access, and a Stash Stock-Back^® Card¹. Plus, it works with your Invest account to allow you to earn Stock-Back^® Rewards²..
• Custodial Accounts. Open custodial accounts for up to two children — you don’t have to be the parent. Investments work the same as a personal investment account. When the child turns 18, they can take over the account and continue to invest or withdraw and use the funds.

Contribution Methods

Both Acorns and Stash let you make manual contributions to your investment accounts anytime, plus each offers multiple ways to automate contributions based on your lifestyle, goals, and spending habits.

Acorns Contribution Methods

• Round Ups. When you make a purchase with a linked card, Acorns rounds up to the next dollar and invests the change. It invests Real-Time Round Ups from your Acorns debit card immediately from your Checking account. It also invests Round Ups from linked cards once they total $5, and the money comes from the single account you set up as a funding source. Set Acorns to invest Round Ups automatically, or review them manually whenever you want. Use Round Ups Multiplier to invest double, triple, or 10 times each Round Up amount.
• Found Money. Similar to a cash-back program, Acorns Found Money lets you earn up to 10% back for shopping at partner brands with your connected credit or debit card. Acorns automatically invests Found Money funds into your Invest account.
• One-Time Contribution. You can make a one-time contribution to your Acorns Invest or Later account anytime through the app.
• Recurring Contribution. Set up a daily, weekly, or monthly contribution of any amount from your funding source to your Acorns Invest or Later account.

You can fund an Acorns Checking account through paycheck direct deposit, or manual transfer from an external bank account or PayPal.

Stash Contribution Methods

Stash offers two automated ways, collectively dubbed Auto-Stash, to contribute to your investment accounts, including:

• Set Schedule (Auto-Stash). Select an amount to contribute daily, weekly, or monthly to 1) your personal, retirement, or custodial investment account or 2) your cash balance, a reserve of money ready for you to allocate to investments.
• Stock Round-Ups³.  Users can earn fractional shares of stock of certain publicly-traded companies and/or exchange-traded funds upon making certain qualifying purchases using their Stock-Back® Card¹ .

Stash banking¹ customers can also earn Stock-Back^® rewards on virtually every purchase.³  For example, if you shop at Starbucks, you can earn Starbucks stock. If you shop at a mom and pop shop, you’ll earn investments in a stock or ETF of your choosing.You can fund a Stash banking account¹ through direct deposit or manual bank transfer within the app.

Fees and Costs

Acorns and Stash, as well as other micro-investing apps, aim to make investing accessible with low-cost products for people who can’t pay a financial adviser or spare thousands of dollars to invest.

To that end, they both limit fees — but do your math. Even $1 per month could be a substantial percentage of your assets under management if you only invest spare change, so ensure you invest and earn enough to make the fees worth it.

Acorns Fees

Acorns offers two subscription levels. You’ll pay a single monthly fee based on the products you want to use:

• Personal, Including Invest, Later, and Checking. $3 per month until you have $1 million invested
• Family, Including Invest, Later, and Checking, and Early. $5 per month

You can’t mix and match products any other way. In other words, if you want a Checking account, you have to pay $3 per month and have access to a Checking , Later, and Invest account, whether you contribute to the investment accounts or not.

There is no minimum deposit to open an account. The minimum investment amount for any account is $5.

Acorns Checking charges few fees other than the monthly subscription. There are no fees for bank transfers, overdrafts, minimum balance requirements, or foreign transactions, and it reimburses ATM fees each month.

You may also pay fees associated with investments.

Stash Fees

Stash offers two subscription levels with varying access to its financial products. Every Stash user starts with access to a personal investing account, an IRA account, and a banking account. You can upgrade for Custodial accounts.

• Growth. For $3 per month, get Stash Invest, banking, and retirement accounts earn Stock-Back^® rewards², and get a $1,000 life insurance policy through Avibra⁴.
• Stash+. For $9 per month, get personal investment, banking, and retirement accounts, and Stock-Back^® rewards², plus custodial investment accounts for two kids and a metal debit card for your banking account, and get a $10,000 life insurance policy through Avibra⁴.

Stash doesn’t set a minimum deposit to open a banking or investment account. You must deposit at least $1 to open a custodial or retirement account.

A Stash banking account¹ doesn’t charge fees for overdrafts or have monthly balance fees⁵. Purchases outside the U.S. are subject to foreign currency conversion charges. You can get access to thousands of fee-free ATMs⁶. You’ll pay a $2.50 withdrawal fee for out-of-network ATMs, plus any fee the ATM operator may charge.⁵

Checking Account Features

Acorns and Stash each offer a checking account through partner banks. The accounts seem similar, but a look under the hood reveals significant differences in functionality.

Acorns Checking Account Features

The Acorns Checking account is made to support your investment activity, so you don’t benefit much if you don’t also want to invest with Acorns.

Like any checking account, you can fund Acorns Checking through paycheck direct deposit or transfer from another account, such as a bank or PayPal account.

• Acorns Visa Debit Card. Acorns Checking customers get a high-design debit card made of tungsten metal, which you can use for everyday purchases and ATM transactions.
• Real-Time Round Ups. Round Ups from your Acorns debit card come from Checking and happen in real time.
• Compatible With PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. The Acorns debit card automatically works with Apple Pay or Google Pay (formerly known as Android Pay), and you can transfer money between a PayPal account and your Checking account. Checking is not compatible with other mobile payment apps, such as Zelle.
• Bill Pay. The account doesn’t include a bill payment feature, but you can use your account and routing numbers to set up bill pay with servicers.
• Withdrawing Funds. Withdraw money through an ATM (maximum $500 per day) or by transferring to an external account (maximum $7,000 per day).
• Check and Cash Deposit. You can’t deposit checks or cash into a Checking account via ATM, but you have access to mobile check deposit through the Acorns app (maximum $5,000 or three transactions per day).
• Checks. Acorns doesn’t provide checkbooks or checks, and third-party check services won’t work, but you can use the Send Check feature to mail a physical check.

The Acorns Checking account is designed primarily to support Acorns investing, so you need to have an additional account to cover all your financial needs. It does not support joint checking accounts.

Stash Banking Features

Stash’s banking account services are provided by Stride Bank, N.A., Member FDIC.

• Stash Stock-Back^® Card¹. A Stash banking account comes with a Stash Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard®, and you can earn Stock-Back® rewards on every purchase. You’ll receive the card in the mail after depositing at least $1 into a Stash banking account.
• Early Direct Deposit. Set up direct deposit to Stash, and you can get your paycheck in your Stash banking account up to two days early⁷.
• Digital Wallet Integration. Stash Stock-Back^® Card¹ works with Samsung Pay™, Google Pay, and Apple Pay®.
• Compatible With Mobile Payment Apps. Make and receive payments by connecting your Stash banking account to Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Square Cash.
• Withdrawing Funds. Withdraw money at an ATM or transfer it into a linked external bank account.
• Check and Cash Deposit. Deposit cash (up to $2,997 per day) at participating retailers, including CVS, Walmart, Walgreens, and Rite Aid.

Stash does not support joint checking accounts.

Financial Education

Neither Acorns nor Stash gives customers access to live human advisers for personalized investment advice.

Instead, both have technology and finance professionals working in the background to keep your investments on track. They each also provide resources to help you learn about investing and money management in general.

Acorns Financial Education

Through Grow Magazine, Acorns, in partnership with CNBC, shares articles on personal finance topics ranging from borrowing and repaying debt to strategies for making and saving money.

Stash Financial Education

Through Stash Learn articles on its blog and in the app, Stash provides personal finance information and guidance, money news, and lifestyle content.

Mobile and Web Apps

Both Acorns and Stash are designed primarily with mobile users in mind, so their apps for smartphones and tablets offer the products’ full range of features.

Acorns Mobile and Web Access

You can access your account through the Acorns website, but the mobile app is the best experience.

Access all Acorns features through the mobile app, including:

• Open, manage, and see the balance on Invest, Later, Checking, and Early accounts
• Connect your bank account to fund Acorns accounts
• View and manage Round Ups
• Set up recurring and one-time contributions
• Transfer, deposit, and withdraw money from Checking
• Deposit paper checks into your Checking account
• See Found Money opportunities

Stash Mobile and Web Access

You can access your Stash accounts through its website or mobile apps, available for iOS and Android.

All Stash features are available through the mobile app, including:

• Open, manage, and see balances for your investment and banking accounts
• Connect an external bank account for Stock Rounds Ups³ and funding
• Manage Auto-Stash settings
• Transfer, deposit, and withdraw money from your banking account
• Deposit paper checks into your banking account

You can download Stash in the App Store for iOS and on Google Play for Android.

Account Security Features

Acorns and Stash use nearly identical security measures to protect your money and digital data. They’re similar to those you’d find with any financial institution.

Acorns Security Features

Acorns investment accounts are SIPC-protected up to $500,000, and the checking account is FDIC-insured up to $250,000 through Stride Bank, N.A. Both coverage amounts are typical for financial institutions.

Acorns protects your data with bank-level security, using 256k-bit encryption and never storing information on your device. Your accounts also get continuous fraud monitoring and protection.

You can immediately lock and unlock your debit card in the Acorns app through Checking settings in case it’s lost or stolen.

Stash Security Features

Stash investments are SIPC-protected up to $500,000 total (including $250,000 for claims for cash).

Investments are held by Apex Clearing Corporation, a third-party SEC-registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC, via the clearing agency Apex Clearing Corp., member SIPC. See www.spic.org for details.

Stash banking accounts are FDIC-insured up to $250,000. For uninvested funds, a Stash account is enrolled in the Apex FDIC-insured Sweep Program.

Deposits to the Sweep Program are covered by FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per customer at each FDIC-insured bank that participates in the Sweep Program. Cash deposited under the Sweep Program is no longer covered by SIPC.

These registrations do not imply a certain level of skill, but they do require Stash to follow federal regulations that protect the investor.

The Verdict: Is Acorns or Stash Right for You?

Acorns and Stash each lead with unique features, but they’ve developed similar offerings since inception to stay competitive.

A novice investor could get a good start investing using either app, but one or the other could give you a slight edge, depending on your financial goals.

Use Acorns If…

• You Want to Make the Most of Your Spending Habits. Acorns offers rewards for purchases with any linked debit and credit cards and your Acorns debit card, while Stash only offers Stock-Back for purchases with a Stash debit card.
• You’re a Hands-Off Investor. You can only select from among six portfolios, based on your risk tolerance. Acorns professionals choose your asset allocation and which ETFs make up your investment portfolio, so you don’t have to know which companies make the best investments. Unlike Stash, Acorns also lets you set Round Ups for automatic investment, so you don’t have to move money around manually.
• You’re Self-Employed. Acorns offers a SEP IRA for small-business owners, which Stash does not.

Use Stash If…

• You Want All Financial Services in One Place. Stash’s banking account is more robust than Acorns’ and could act as your primary checking account. The app’s features let you manage expenses, savings, personal investing, retirement, and kids’ investing in one place.
• You Want to Control Your Investments. Stash lets you choose individual stocks, bonds, and ETFs to purchase if you want to, which Acorns does not. That makes it a better fit if you want to manage your investments more actively.

Both Apps Are Great If…

• You’re a New Investor. Micro-investing apps, on the whole, are great for novice investors because they let you dip your toe in the stock market without risking much money. Acorns and Stash each offer tons of guidance and support to help users understand their investments and the basics of investing in general.
• You Want Automated Investing. Each app offers unique options for automating contributions to your investment accounts, including through scheduled contributions, transaction round ups, auto-saving, and debit card rewards. They let you invest in the background without thinking about it.
• You Want to Invest With Small Amounts of Money. Both apps let you invest less than $1 at a time, so anyone can invest in the stock market. That’s useful if you want to try investing without risking much, and if you want to continuously grow your account but have a low cash flow.
• You Want More Retirement Savings Options. A 401(k) is a smart place to start your retirement planning if it’s available, but an IRA is a smart way to diversify your investments and maximize your possible tax benefits. Both apps let you contribute to an IRA with tiny contributions, which could grow significantly over the long term before you retire.
• You Like Mobile Banking. Each app gives you access to a digital banking platform, so you can manage your checking account from your smartphone, including depositing checks anytime. Housing your checking account within the same app as your investment and retirement accounts lets you get a big-picture look at your finances in one place and could simplify your money management.
• You Want to Invest for Kids. Stash lets you open custodial investment accounts for up to two kids, and Acorns offers Acorns Early custodial accounts for any number of kids. That makes either app a good fit to teach your kids about investing and contribute to their future financial success with the same small contributions and automatic options you get for your own investment accounts.

Final Word

Either Acorns or Stash could be a great fit for any novice investor who wants to dip their toes in the market with a little bit of cash at a time. They offer the convenience of a robo-advisor like Betterment or Wealthfront, but with lower barriers to entry.

Both open investment options to more people by letting you invest in ETFs and fractional shares of stocks, so you can support lucrative stocks with just a few spare cents.

Both also provide ongoing financial education to get you up to speed on investing best practices, learn more about where your money is going, and improve your financial habits.

Each offers similar methods for automating your investments through manual, recurring, and round-up contributions. Stash uniquely offers Smart-Stash to determine how much you can afford to set aside, which is useful if your income varies.

The greatest variance between the apps is in the checking account features.

Acorns’ stripped-down Checking account can support your investment activity, but bill pay is inconvenient, you can’t send money with digital payment apps, and you have no way to order checks or deposit cash.

Stash’s full-service banking account through Stride Bank, N.A., Member FDIC supports mobile payments, and cash deposits, so it’s a smarter option for a primary banking account.

Both apps let you get started investing now, rather than waiting until you can afford traditional investing routes, so your money has more time to grow. Just keep an eye on your return to make sure you don’t lose all your interest earnings to fees.

Paid non-client endorsement. See Apple App Store and Google Play reviews. View important disclosures.

Nothing in this material should be construed as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any security. All investments are subject to risk and may lose value.

¹ Stash Banking services provided by Stride Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. The Stash Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard® is issued by Stride Bank pursuant to license from Mastercard International. Mastercard and the circles design are registered trademarks of Mastercard International Incorporated. Any earned stock rewards will be held in your Stash Invest account. Investment products and services provided by Stash Investments LLC and are Not FDIC Insured, Not Bank Guaranteed, and May Lose Value.

² All rewards earned through use of the Stash Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard® will be fulfilled by Stash Investments LLC and are subject to Terms and Conditions. You will bear the standard fees and expenses reflected in the pricing of the investments that you earn, plus fees for various ancillary services charged by Stash. In order to earn stock in the program, the Stash Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard must be used to make a qualifying purchase. Stock rewards that are paid to participating customers via the Stash Stock Back program, are Not FDIC Insured, Not Bank Guaranteed, and May Lose Value. What doesn’t count: Cash withdrawals, money orders, prepaid cards, and P2P payment. If you make a qualifying purchase at a merchant that is not publicly traded or otherwise available on Stash, you will receive a stock reward in an ETF or other investment of your choice from a list of companies available on Stash. See Terms and Conditions for more details.

³ This Program is subject to terms and conditions. In order to participate, a user must comply with all eligibility requirements and make a qualifying purchase with their Stock-Back® Card. All funds used for this Program will be taken from your Stash Banking account.

⁴ Group life insurance coverage provided through Avibra, Inc. Stash is a paid partner of Avibra. Only individuals who opened Stash accounts after 11/6/20, aged 18-54 and who are residents of one of the 50 U.S. states or DC are eligible for group life insurance coverage, subject to availability. Individuals with certain pre-existing medical conditions may not be eligible for the full coverage above, but may instead receive less coverage. All insurance products are subject to state availability, issue limitations and contractual terms and conditions, any of which may change at any time and without notice. Please see Terms and Conditions for full details. Stash may receive compensation from business partners in connection with certain promotions in which Stash refers clients to such partners for the purchase of non-investment consumer products or services. Clients are, however, not required to purchase the products and services Stash promotes.

⁵ For a complete list of fees please see the Deposit Account Agreement for details.