Not financial advice. This is general information for comparing platforms, not a recommendation to buy anything. All investing carries risk, returns are never guaranteed, and you can lose money — including money managed by a robo advisor. Fees and features change often, so confirm current pricing on the provider’s own site before you open an account.
Quick verdict
If you want one answer: Betterment. No account minimum, a straightforward fee, goal-based planning that genuinely shapes the portfolio, and an upgrade path to human advisors later.
Two exceptions. For a larger taxable balance, Wealthfront has deeper tax machinery. If you refuse to pay an advisory fee, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios charges none — but read the cash-allocation warning below before calling that free.
Robo advisors compared
| Platform | Account minimum | Fee model | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Betterment | $0 | 0.25%/yr (Premium 0.65%) | Most beginners; goal-based investing |
| Wealthfront | $500 | 0.25%/yr | Taxable accounts; tax-loss harvesting |
| Schwab Intelligent Portfolios | $5,000 | $0 advisory fee | Fee-averse investors who accept cash drag |
| Vanguard Digital Advisor | $100 | ~0.15% net/yr | Long-term index investors; lowest cost |
| Fidelity Go | $0 | Free under $25k, then 0.35%/yr | Small starting balances |
| SoFi Automated Investing | $50 | 0.25%/yr | People who want banking and investing together |
| Acorns | $0 | Flat monthly subscription | Round-ups; people who can’t start saving |
| Empower Personal Wealth | $100,000 | From ~0.89%/yr | Larger portfolios wanting human advisors |
How we evaluated these
This is a desk comparison built from published pricing and disclosure documents plus mainstream financial press coverage. It is not a live test of funded accounts and not performance testing. We did not measure returns, and you should distrust any roundup that claims to.
What we weighed instead: total cost including fund expense ratios, account minimums, whether tax-loss harvesting is included, supported account types, access to human advisors, and how much of your money actually gets invested.
The 8 best robo advisors of 2026
1. Betterment — the sensible default
Betterment is the one to beat, and most competitors are measured against it. It’s been running since 2010, it’s the largest independent robo advisor in the US, and its goal-based structure means a house deposit and a retirement pot get different portfolios rather than the same generic allocation.
- No account minimum on the Digital plan
- Automatic rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting on taxable accounts
- Premium tier adds unlimited access to certified financial planners
Pricing: 0.25% a year on the Digital plan; Premium is 0.65% and requires a $100,000 balance. Verify current rates with Betterment.
Best for: anyone who wants a competent portfolio without thinking about it.
Not ideal for: people who want to pick individual stocks — that’s not what this is.
2. Wealthfront — best tax features
Wealthfront competes on automation depth rather than price. Its tax-loss harvesting, direct indexing at higher balances, and automated bond and treasury options make it the stronger pick once you have a meaningful taxable account rather than just an IRA.
- Daily tax-loss harvesting on taxable accounts
- Path planning tool that models retirement, home buying and college
- Automated portfolio-to-portfolio transfers and self-driving money features
Pricing: 0.25% a year, $500 minimum, plus underlying fund expenses. Check Wealthfront’s current pricing page.
Best for: taxable accounts above roughly $20,000 where tax savings outweigh the fee.
Not ideal for: tiny balances in tax-sheltered accounts, where the tax features do nothing for you.
3. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios — no advisory fee, with a catch
Schwab charges zero advisory fee, which sounds unbeatable. The trade-off is real though: portfolios hold a mandatory cash allocation, typically in the mid-to-high single digits, parked at Schwab Bank. That cash earns deposit rates instead of market returns, and Schwab earns the spread. It’s not free — the cost just isn’t itemised.
- No advisory fee on the standard tier
- Automatic rebalancing; tax-loss harvesting available above a balance threshold
- Premium tier adds unlimited CFP planning for a setup fee plus a flat monthly charge
Pricing: $0 advisory fee, $5,000 minimum. Premium requires $25,000 and carries a one-time setup fee plus a monthly fee. Confirm with Schwab.
Best for: larger balances where a percentage fee would sting more than the cash drag.
Not ideal for: aggressive investors who want every dollar working in the market.
4. Vanguard Digital Advisor — cheapest for the long haul
If cost compounding is your main concern, this is the strongest option on the list. Vanguard’s net advisory fee undercuts the 0.25% industry standard, and portfolios are built from Vanguard’s own low-expense index funds, so the all-in number stays genuinely low.
- Net advisory fee around 0.15% a year, among the lowest available
- Low $100 entry point to start investing
- Built on Vanguard index funds with minimal expense ratios
Pricing: approximately 0.15% net annually, with an introductory fee-waiver period. Confirm current terms with Vanguard.
Best for: buy-and-hold retirement investors with a 20-year horizon.
Not ideal for: people who want slick apps and frequent feature releases — Vanguard’s software is functional, not delightful.
5. Fidelity Go — best for starting small
Fidelity Go removes the two things that stop beginners: minimums and fees. There’s no minimum to open, and no advisory fee at all until your balance crosses $25,000. For someone starting with a few hundred dollars, nothing else on this list is cheaper.
- No advisory fee below $25,000, then 0.35% a year
- No account minimum to open
- Portfolios use Fidelity Flex funds with no separate expense ratios
Pricing: free under $25,000, 0.35% annually above it. Verify with Fidelity.
Best for: first-time investors testing the water with small amounts.
Not ideal for: larger balances — above $25,000 the 0.35% fee is higher than most rivals.
6. SoFi Automated Investing — best all-in-one app
SoFi’s pitch isn’t that its portfolios are special. It’s that borrowing, spending, saving and investing live in one place, which cuts real friction if you already bank with SoFi. Worth noting: automated investing was free at launch and now carries a fee — a useful reminder that pricing changes.
- Low $50 starting deposit
- Automatic rebalancing across diversified ETF portfolios
- Traditional, Roth and SEP IRAs supported
Pricing: 0.25% annual management fee plus underlying ETF expenses. Check SoFi’s current rates.
Best for: existing SoFi customers consolidating their finances.
Not ideal for: anyone shopping purely on tax features or portfolio sophistication.
7. Acorns — best for people who never start
Acorns solves a behavioural problem, not an investing one. It rounds up card transactions and invests the change, which gets money moving for people who would otherwise save nothing. Judge it on that, not on returns.
- Round-up investing from linked debit and credit cards
- Recurring contributions and Acorns Later retirement accounts
- No balance minimum; investing starts once the account hits $5
Pricing: a flat monthly subscription across several tiers. Because it’s flat, the effective percentage is brutal on small balances — a few dollars a month on a $200 account is an enormous annual drag. Check Acorns’ current tiers.
Best for: building the habit when willpower alone hasn’t worked.
Not ideal for: anyone past a few thousand dollars — move to a percentage-fee platform.
8. Empower Personal Wealth — hybrid advice for bigger balances
Formerly Personal Capital, Empower sits at the top end. Its free net-worth and portfolio-analysis dashboard is genuinely useful to anyone, but the managed service is a separate product with a six-figure minimum and human advisors attached.
- Free financial dashboard tracking all linked accounts
- Dedicated human advisors on the managed service
- Tax optimisation and individual securities at higher asset levels
Pricing: management fees start around 0.89% annually on the first $1 million and step down above that — substantially more than a pure robo. Confirm with Empower.
Best for: portfolios above $100,000 where you want a person to call.
Not ideal for: cost-conscious investors paying roughly three times a standard robo fee.
What to check before you sign up
Add up total cost, not the headline fee. Underlying ETF expense ratios stack on top of the advisory fee, and cash allocations impose a cost that never appears on a statement. A 0.25% advisor holding cheap index funds can easily beat a 0% advisor parking 8% of your money in cash.
Match the account type to the feature. Tax-loss harvesting does nothing inside an IRA or 401(k); it only helps in taxable accounts. Paying a premium for tax features you can’t use is a common and expensive mistake.
Check what happens when you leave. Ask whether the platform transfers holdings in kind or liquidates them. A forced liquidation in a taxable account can trigger a capital gains bill that dwarfs any fee you saved.
Which ones we cut, and why
Earlier versions of this roundup listed platforms that no longer belong. Swell Investing shut down in 2019, and Ellevest sold its automated investing arm to Betterment in 2025. Chime is a neobank, Robinhood a self-directed brokerage, Qapital a savings app, and M1 Finance automates a portfolio you pick yourself rather than advising you on one — useful products, but not robo advisors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are robo advisors worth it, or should I just buy index funds myself?
If you are disciplined enough to pick a low-cost index fund, rebalance yearly and never panic sell, doing it yourself is cheaper. A robo advisor charges roughly 0.25% a year for automation, rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting and, most importantly, keeping you from making emotional decisions. For most people that fee buys consistency they would not otherwise have.
How much money do I need to start with a robo advisor?
Less than most people assume. Betterment and Fidelity Go have no account minimum, Vanguard Digital Advisor starts at $100 and SoFi at $50. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios requires $5,000, and hybrid services with human advisors such as Empower start at $100,000. Confirm the current minimum on the provider site.
Is a free robo advisor really free?
Rarely. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios charges no advisory fee but requires a mandatory cash allocation earning deposit rates rather than market returns, and the firm earns the spread. Fidelity Go is genuinely free below $25,000. In every case you still pay the expense ratios of the underlying funds, so compare total cost rather than the headline fee.
Betterment vs Wealthfront: which should I pick?
Their advisory fees are similar, so it comes down to account type. Betterment has no minimum, stronger goal-based planning and an upgrade path to human advisors, which suits beginners and retirement accounts. Wealthfront requires $500 and leans harder into tax-loss harvesting and direct indexing, which pays off in a larger taxable account.
What returns can I expect from a robo advisor?
Nobody can tell you, and treat any specific figure as a warning sign. Robo advisors buy diversified funds, so your outcome tracks the markets your portfolio holds, minus fees. Returns are not guaranteed and you can lose money.
Can I withdraw my money or cancel at any time?
Yes. These are ordinary brokerage and retirement accounts, not locked products, and there are generally no exit penalties. The real cost is tax, not fees: closing a taxable account may mean selling holdings and realising capital gains. Ask whether the platform can transfer holdings in kind to another broker instead, which usually avoids that. Retirement withdrawals follow normal IRS rules.
Is my money safe with a robo advisor?
Reputable US robo advisors are registered investment advisers and hold client assets at brokerages covered by SIPC, which guards against failure of the firm up to published limits. That is different from investment risk: SIPC does not cover losses when your investments fall in value.
The bottom line
Pick by situation, not by ranking. Starting with under a few thousand dollars: Fidelity Go, because you pay nothing until $25,000. Building a long-term retirement pot: Vanguard Digital Advisor for the lowest ongoing cost. A growing taxable account: Wealthfront for the tax machinery. Want one solid all-rounder and no further thought: Betterment. Six figures and you want a human on the phone: Empower.
One warning worth more than the platform choice. A robo advisor automates the mechanics, not the outcome. Markets fall, portfolios drop, and the most expensive mistake is selling during a downturn — no algorithm prevents that.
Next step: open the pricing pages of your top two picks, add the advisory fee to the underlying fund expenses, and check the minimum against what you can deposit this month. Fund the cheaper one and set up an automatic monthly contribution.
