Acorns review: Automated investing and banking with minimal fees, made easy for beginners

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Overall rating

Is Acorns right for you?

Acorns Invest is best for investors who want a hands-off investing experience, from start to finish. With Acorns Invest, you don't have to think about setting money aside every month to invest — the app can handle all of that for you through round-ups, "found money," and recurring investments.

You don't have to choose your own investments, either. Acorns uses a series of questions to determine how to allocate your assets, then assigns your funds to a specific portfolio of ETFs. Acorns uses these same six funds for every investor but adjusts the asset allocation depending on your goals and risk tolerance. The funds represent a mix of companies, markets, real estate assets, and bonds. 

The platform a competitive choice compared to other robo-advisors like Betterment and Wealthfront (both of which charge asset-based fees). This is because Acorns charges flat monthly fees. You'll pay more for higher balances if your investment platform charges percentage-based fees.

One thing to look out for, however, is that Acorns' investment selection is limited to ETFs, and it doesn't offer tax-loss harvesting. 

Acorns vs. Stash

Acorns Invest and Stash both offer automated investing, round-ups, banking perks, and more. The two diverge, however, when it comes to investment choices, fees, and features. 

Stash offers both stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies, while Acorns only offers ETFs. But you'll pay less to use a custodial account at Acorns. The family plan — which costs $5 per month — includes a custodial account option. You'll only get access to custodial accounts at Stash if you pay $9 per month.

Another huge difference to consider is that Stash also lets you trade on your own. If you're looking to pick and choose the investments in your portfolio, Acorns isn't the best option. Stash best suits those who want access to both automated investing and DIY trading, while Acorns better serves hands-off investors who primarily want automated accounts.

Acorns vs. Robinhood

Acorns Invest and Robinhood differ in several ways. While Acorns is the best option for hands-off investors in search of automated ETF portfolios, Robinhood strictly caters to DIY traders who want to exchange assets like stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies.

Robinhood is also cheaper on the advisory fee end. It doesn't charge commissions for its investments, but you'll need to pay $3 or $5 per month at Acorns.

Ways to invest with Acorns

Acorns Invest

Acorns Invest offers two plans: Acorns Personal and Acorns Family.  Acorns Personal is its core service and costs $3 per month. Acorns Family, on the other hand, costs $5 per month. Both offer automated ETF portfolios, IRAs through Acorns Later, and multiple banking and checking perks.

Plus, you can gain some exposure to crypto, thanks to Acorns' bitcoin ETFs. The platform will allocate up to 5% of your portfolio in the fund, but the exact amount it allocates varies based on your age, personal finances, and investing goals. Compared to robo-advisor Wealthfront's 10% allocation limit, Acorns' crypto options are very limited.

Another downside is that you won't get direct exposure to cryptocurrencies. You're mainly investing in funds that invest in cryptocurrencies. 

Round-Ups

After you've created your Acorns account, you'll have the opportunity to link your bank account, debit card, or credit card. Once your card or account has been linked, Acorns will monitor all the purchases that you make and round up each transaction to the nearest dollar.

For example, if you bought a cup of coffee for $2.25, Acorns would set aside $0.75. Once you've reached a $5 threshold in your Acorns Invest account, it will be automatically invested in your Invest account portfolio. Acorns says that the typical person invests over $30 per month with Round-Ups alone.

You can set Round-Ups to work with every transaction or you can manually select the transactions that you'd like to round up. Also, you can tell Acorns how much you'd like to invest when your transactions equal exactly one dollar.

Finally, you can supercharge your Round-Ups by adding a multiplier of 2x, 3x, or 10x. That means a Round-Up of $0.25 would actually add $0.50 to your Invest account with a 2x multiplier, for example.

Investing with 'Found Money'

Acorns partners with over 300 companies, including Airbnb, Nike, Walmart, Barnes & Noble. When you make a purchase with one of these retailers through the Found Money portal, the company will invest a percentage of your sale amounts into your Acorns Invest account. It's like a shopping portal, but instead of getting cash back, you get a small amount added to your Acorns Invest account.

Each brand is free to set its own investment amount. You can search for Found Money deals on the Found Money section of the Acorns app and website or by using the Google Chrome extension. Found Money rewards are credited to your account 90 to 120 days after your purchase.

Set up recurring investments

If you'd like to invest more than just your Round-Ups and Found Money rewards, you can do that with Acorns, too. 

When you Acorns Invest, you can set up a weekly recurring investment (e.g., some of the amounts you can set are $5, $10, or $20). You can also transfer one-time amounts to Acorns from your linked bank account at any time.

Acorns Later

Acorns Later is a solution for investors who are looking to use Acorns to save for retirement. With Acorns Later, you can open an IRA in just a few taps. Acorns will help you pick the right IRA for your situation and, as with Acorns Invest, you can get started investing with as little as $5.

For most users, Acorns Later will only cost two dollars more than Acorns Invest. You'll pay $3 per month for Acorns Later.

Acorns Early

The only difference between the Acorns Personal and Acorns Family plans is that Acorns Family also offers custodial accounts. This is why it costs a bit extra. With the Family plan, you can set up automated investment accounts for multiple children and take advantage of resources like family financial education.

Acorns: Is it trustworthy?

The Better Business Bureau gives Acorns Invest an F rating. BBB ratings reflect the bureau's opinion of how well a company interacts with its customers, and they range from A+ to F. Therefore, Acorns' rating is the lowest a company can receive.

Note, however, that the bureau considers several factors when evaluating companies. These include licensing and government actions, bankruptcy, advertising issues, and more. As for its customer complaints, Acorns' BBB profile shows it closed 600 complaints in the past 12 months. 

While Acorns' slate is fairly clear of lawsuits and scandals, its affiliation with Plaid, a financial service that allows investment platforms and other apps to connect to your bank account, linked it to a class-action lawsuit earlier in 2022. The lawsuit claimed that Plaid collected more financial data than necessary from its users. Plaid agreed to pay $58 million to users affected.

Acorns — Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What is Acorns?

Acorns Invest is a micro-investing app that offers automated investing accounts, retirement accounts, investment accounts for kids, and checking accounts. On the investment side, the company mainly invests your money in ETFs, and it offers five portfolios with risk tolerances ranging from conservative to aggressive.

The robo-advisor offers two different investment plans: Acorns Personal and Acorns Family. Plus, both plans offer retirement savings options through Acorns Later. Acorns Spend grants you access to a checking account and debit card, and Acorns Early lets you invest for your kids. 

Can Acorns make you money?

Yes. The Acorns automated investing platform offers several perks — including recurring investments, Round-Ups, and "found money" — that make it simple to build wealth. Prospective investors should note that it only offers ETFs.

Is Acorns worth investing in?

This depends on your preferences. Acorns is best for hands-off investors who are okay with not making the day-to-day trading decisions in their portfolio. The platform, also known as a robo-advisor, does that for you. Keep in mind that you'll need at least $5 to start investing, and you'll pay $3 or $5 per month, depending on the plan you choose.