For most of the stock market’s history, you needed to a substantial sum of money to become invested in stocks and funds. I don’t mean fees—I mean the very dollar amount it requires to buy shares of stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other publicly traded investments.
Micro-investing apps changed all that.
Thanks primarily to the advent of fractional shares, which allow people to own just a portion of a single share, micro-investing apps allow people to spend as little as $1 to get exposure to publicly traded companies and diversified investment funds.
Let’s look at some of the best micro-investing apps you can find. While many of these apps specifically target Millennials and Gen-Zers, anyone with just a little cash can use these apps to start investing small and build their wealth over time.
Editor’s Note: All prices for products listed are as of Sept. 16, 2025.
1. Robinhood (Best Simple Stock Trading App for Beginners)
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: Zero-commission stock, ETF, and options trades. Robinhood Gold: Free 30-day trial, then $5/mo.
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (Apple iOS, Android)
Robinhood, one of the pioneers of low-cost trading, remains one of the best places to invest if you don’t have much money to work with.
It’s not just that Robinhood is fee-friendly fee-friendliest places to invest today—though it is, offering no-commission trading on stocks, ETFs, and options. Robinhood also keeps the nominal cost of investing low, with its fractional trading feature letting investors put as little as $1 to work.
And while Robinhood has remained light on fees, it has bulked up in offerings. Today, it provides not just brokerage accounts, but IRAs and Roth IRAs (with matching funds, no less) via Robinhood Retirement, as well as features such as advanced charts, options strategy builders, 24/7 commission-free cryptocurrency trading, extended-hours trading, and stock lending.
Want more out of your Robinhood account? The Robinhood Gold subscription tier opens up a whole suite of benefits, including a high APY on uninvested brokerage cash, a 3% match on eligible IRA contributions to your Robinhood IRA, free professional research from Morningstar, lower index options trading fees, lower commissions on futures trades, reduced fees on any accounts managed by Robinhood Strategies (fees only charged on the first $100,000 of assets under management), and more.
Use our exclusive links to sign up for either a Robinhood brokerage account or Robinhood Retirement account today.
Related: The Best Seeking Alpha Alternatives
2. SoFi Invest® (Best App With Banking Features)
- Available: iOS, Android, Web
- Price: Free; no commissions on stock and ETF trades. SoFi Robo-Investing: 0.25%/yr. AUM advisory fee. SoFi Plus: $10/mo.
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (iOS, Android)
SoFi is a multi-faceted financial company that offers everything from credit cards and insurance to student loans and mortgages … and they also allow you to trade and invest through its SoFi Invest app.
The SoFi Active Invest Brokerage Account has no required minimum balance, charges no commissions on stock, ETF, and options trades, and its options trading is free of contract fees, too. Want to put your portfolio on autopilot? SoFi’s robo-advisory services will create a portfolio for you for an annual 0.25% assets under management fee (that can be designed to address one or several goals) and auto-rebalance it for you as necessary over time.
SoFi ranks among the best micro-investing apps because it too allows fractional trading on more than 4,000 stocks and ETFs, though it’s a bit higher than other programs at a $5 minimum.
Unlike many brokerage companies that might have more limited offerings, SoFi’s app allows you to manage a much wider range of financial services and products, such as banking, student loans, insurance, and mortgages. And while SoFi Invest is free to use, you can also subscribe to SoFi Plus—a $10-per-month subscription tier that can unlock more than $1,000 per year in extra value with perks such as a match on recurring investment deposits, preferred access to initial public offerings, higher cash-back rewards on certain SoFi credit cards, and more.
SoFi also occasionally has sign-up bonuses attached to its brokerage accounts, which you can access using our exclusive sign-up links, whether that’s on the web, the iOS app, or the Android app.
3. Public.com (Stock App With Alternative Investments)
- Price: Public: Zero-commission U.S.-listed stock, ETF, and options trades. Premium: $10/mo.
Public.com, which is geared toward Millennials and Gen-Zers, is different from many other investing apps.
Yes, Public has the basics: Users can trade individual stocks and ETFs with no commissions. It’s also a micro-investing app thanks to its fractional shares feature, which allows users to spend as little as $5 to invest. But Public has also been widening its investment lineup—while it still doesn’t offer mutual funds, it does provide access to options, individual bonds, 40 different cryptocurrencies, and even alternative assets, from art to sneakers.
That last point really sets Public apart. Alternative assets are a relative rarity among investing apps. They can be difficult to research (and thus difficult to properly invest in), but they can provide uncorrelated returns compared to the stock and bond markets, so many savvy investors like to diversify into these assets.
The “Public” part of the name nods to the platform’s social aspect. You can make your portfolio holdings open to other users, and conversely, you can look through other Public users’ portfolios. Investors can also connect with corporate founders and CEOs through live “Town Hall” meetings.
Users can also upgrade their experience with the $10/month Public Premium subscription.
Public Premium offers some features that are included in some free brokers’ services, but other features help to justify the cost. For instance, Premium offers extended-hours trading (8 to 9:30 a.m., and 4 to 8 p.m. EST) and stock price alerts—several competitors, such as TradeStation and E*Trade, offer these services at no charge. However, Premium also provides:
- Advanced data on companies—Public.com’s examples include Tesla quarterly deliveries by model or Apple’s annual sales by continent
- Institutional-grade research provided by Morningstar
- Members-only analysis about events including major economic report releases, earnings announcements, and more
- Up to four years’ worth of companies’ earnings calls, decks, and reports
- Exclusive audio programming by Public.com’s expert analysts
Sign up for Public.com today using our exclusive link.
Related: 7 Best Stock Advisor Websites & Services to Seize Alpha
4. Acorns (Micro-Investing App With Round-Ups)
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: Bronze: $3/mo. Silver: $6/mo. Gold: $12/mo.
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (Apple IOS, Android)
Acorns is a micro-investing app geared toward minors, young adults, and millennials that’s perhaps best-known for its “Round-Ups” program.
With Acorns Round-Ups, the app rounds up purchases made on linked debit and credit cards to the nearest dollar, investing the difference on your behalf. For example, if you purchase a coffee for $2.60 on a linked credit card, Acorns automatically rounds this charge up to $3.00 and puts the 40-cent difference aside. Once those Round-Ups reach at least $5, they can be transferred to your Acorns account to be invested.
The Acorns investment offering itself is a simple, automated platform that uses pre-built portfolios of ETFs to keep investors exposed to stocks and bonds. While it doesn’t have much to offer intermediate investors who want variety in their portfolios, Acorns’ basic approach makes it one of the best investment apps for beginners.
Here’s more about what you can expect from Acorns’ varying subscription options:
- Acorns Bronze ($3 per month): Includes an Acorns Invest investment account, as well as Acorns Later for tax-advantaged investment options such as Roth IRAs. Also includes Acorns Checking, a bank account that has no account fees, lets you withdraw fee-free from more than 55,000 ATMs nationwide, and Smart Deposit, which allows you to automatically invest a bit of each paycheck into your Acorns accounts.
- Acorns Silver ($6 per month): Everything in Bronze (Acorns Invest, Later, and Checking), plus Premium Education, which are live onboarding sessions covering account setup, Round-Ups, setting up recurring investments, and more; Emergency Fund; and a 25% bonus on Acorns Earn rewards (up to $200 per month).
- Acorns Gold ($12 per month): Everything in Silver plus Acorns Early, which allows you to open a custodial investment account for your child so you can begin investing for them while they’re a minor; custom portfolios that allow you to hold individual stocks; live Q&As with financial experts; a 50% match on Acorns Earn rewards (up to $200 per month); $10,000 in life insurance; even the ability to set up a will for free.
Silver and Gold subscribers also get access to a powerful way to accelerate their savings: Later Match. While most people are aware that employers will sometimes match funds you contribute to your 401(k), “matches” are rare in retirement accounts like IRAs, where there’s no employer to kick in extra cash. However, Acorns itself will match 1% or 3% on new contributions to IRAs for Silver and Gold subscribers, respectively.
Use our exclusive link to sign up with Acorns today.
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5. Webull (Best Stock Trading App for Beginners)
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: Standard: Zero-commission stock, ETF, and options trades. Webull Premium: $3.99/mo. or $40/yr.
- Platforms: Desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux), web, mobile app (Apple iOS, Android)
Webull is a wallet-friendly brokerage account that offers no-commission stocks, ETFs, and options, $0 contract fees on many options, and requires no deposit minimums.
It also offers fractional-share investing, which allows investors to start buying for as little as $1. In other words: Beginners working with small dollar amounts can still easily diversify their portfolio across numerous investments. Newer investors can also learn trading skills through the courses in Webull’s education center, and even practice their skills via Webull’s paper trading service.
Webull is available across just about every platform, allowing you to research, trade, and track your stocks on your smartphone, tablet, or desktop. Other features include charting tools, customizable screeners, free real-time stock quotes and stock alerts, preset lists, voice commands, and more. It also offers extended trading hours (pre- and after-market trading) and 24/7 online help.
You can also subscribe to the paid Webull Premium tier, which provides a higher APY on uninvested cash, IRA rollover and transfer matches, higher IRA contribution matches, better margin rates, and more.
Why choose Webull to trade stocks?
Webull provides investors with several useful features and tools, including:
- Charting tools
- Free real-time stock quotes and stock alerts
- Customizable screeners for both stocks and ETFs
- Preset lists—including Top Gainers, Top Losers, Most Active, and Best-Performing Industries—investors can use to identify opportunities
- Voice commands: Simply speak to buy, sell, or look up information about a ticker
- “Big Button Mode”: Populates giant buttons on your screen that allow you to quickly make trades with just a push
Use our exclusive link to sign up with Webull to get a special promotion. Currently, if you sign up and deposit at least $2,000, you’ll receive a $100 cash bonus and a 2% match (capped at $20,000, which would be awarded if you made a $1 million deposit).
Related: Best Motley Fool Alternatives
7. M1 (Micro-Investing Robo-Advisor App)
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: $3/mo. for accounts with less than $10,000 in assets*
- Platforms: Web, mobile app (Apple iOS, Android)
M1 Finance is an investing app that acts like a hybrid between self-directed investing (you manually choose what to invest in, and determine when to buy and sell) and automated investing (AI helps make decisions for you and manages your account). The result is effectively a highly customizable robo-advisory service that functions like a 401(k).
M1’s investing platform is based around Pies. Your portfolio is represented as a Pie (a pie chart); every stock and ETF you decide to buy becomes a slice of that pie. Like a 401(k), M1 uses fractional shares; unlike a 401(k), it uses stocks and ETFs. Each investment is a “Slice,” and you choose what percent of your Pie each Slice should account for—so, you might set Stock X at 5% of your portfolio, and ETF Y at 25%. After that, whenever you fund your M1 account, it will automatically invest your money based on these targets.
From there, M1 can automatically rebalance your portfolio for you, or you can go in and manually change how small and large each Pie slice is. If you really want to put it on autopilot, you can invest in M1’s model portfolios—professionally pre-built portfolios designed for different investment goals. (And if you want something in the middle, you can even combine Expert Pies with your own custom choices.)
One major callout before going any further, however, is that while M1 Finance offers pre-made portfolios aligned to several investing goals, the company is not an advisory service.
Unlike traditional online brokers, you cannot trade stocks and ETFs throughout the trading day. M1 has two trading windows—at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. every day the New York Stock Exchange is open—during which it processes all of the orders it has received before then.
On the one hand, if you wanted to jettison a position immediately during the trading day, you couldn’t do that with M1, and you certainly can’t trade stocks like you can with a traditional brokerage. On the other hand, this trading window system won’t stop you from achieving your goals—and it could actually stay your hand from panic-selling in the middle of the day.
Use our exclusive link to open an M1 account today.
Related: Best Swing Trade Alerts Services
7. Greenlight (Micro-Investing App for Minors)
- Available: Sign up here
- Price: Greenlight Max: $9.98/mo. Greenlight Infinity: $14.98/mo.
- Platforms: Mobile app (Apple iOS, Android)
Greenlight, through its Max and Infinity tiers, is an investment account for kids that comes paired with a debit card and bank account.
It’s easy to use and can double as a savings account and banking apps for teens. The app will teach the basics of investing, how to invest in stocks and ETFs, etc. Parents and guardians will need to approve trades made in the investment account.
The all-in-one plan teaches them important financial skills like money management and investing fundamentals — with real money, real stocks and real-life lessons.
You can use the investing feature to:
- Start investing with as little as $1 in your account
- Buy fractional shares of companies your kids admire
- No trading commissions beyond the monthly subscription fee
- Teens can only invest in stocks and ETFs with a market capitalization over $1 billion.
- Parents must approve every trade directly in the app.
An app like Greenlight is one of the best investments for kids. Consider using our exclusive link to open a Greenlight Max or Infinity account to start investing in a brokerage account for your kids today.
Related: Best Debit Cards for Kids
What Is Micro-Investing?
It’s hard to fight the math behind investing in small amounts consistently over time. If you can start investing as little as $100 per week (or 10% of your paycheck) by your early 30s and grow these contributions over time, you’re very likely to hit the millionaire mark by retirement. Yet, not enough people do.
Over 100 million adults in the United States don’t have an investment account, leading them toward an uncertain financial future. Many choose to deposit money into a savings account instead.
The interest earned in these accounts will not make a significant dent in your retirement preparation like investing can. Investing is more powerful than leaving cash in a savings account.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be in that number. With a simple approach you can easily get started by following these investing principles:
- Keep it simple
- Keep investing
- Diversify your portfolio(s)
- Commit to your financial health
What Are Micro-Investing Apps?
Micro-investing apps let you invest with a small minimum amount of money per investment, usually anywhere between $1 and $10. It typically requires the use of “fractional shares,” which are pieces of stock; so even if a stock is priced at $1,000, you can still spend $1, $5, $10, or whatever the fractional minimum is to buy a slice of that stock.
Related: Buy ‘The Future’: 5 Tech Stock ETFs You Should Own
What Are the Best Micro-Investing Apps?
In truth, no one app serves every individual person’s needs the same. Some investors choose to follow a more active approach while others would rather a set-it-and-forget style.
While I espouse the latter more so on this site, I don’t necessarily think investing in individual stocks is a bad approach when using stock analysis and research to guide your decision-making.
Stock picking services like the Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor and Epic have shown tremendous outperformance over the last two decades and really represent a significant value for investors looking to rely on others for making stock picks. Some stock newsletters practice a more active form of trading and get vetted stock alerts sent directly to their phones to take advantage of market movements.
As long as you account for your risk preferences and level of commitment to following the market, your investment choices will depend on you.
No matter your investing style, when you want to get started investing, you want to look for micro-investing apps that provide the functionality you want without feeling overwhelmed. Therefore, the best stock trading app for you depends on your experience, investing goals, and desired level of educational support.
Beginners, for instance, benefit from micro-investing platforms that have low fees, low-cost investment options, educational resources, and the ability to build a diversified portfolio in alignment with your financial goals. More advanced investors benefit from apps with a wider array of investible asset types, research tools, and trading features.
Related:
- How to Pass an IRA to Heirs [Without Leaving a Tax Mess]
- How Can I Lower My Taxes in Retirement? 8 Proven Strategies
- How Is Retirement Income Taxed?
Disclosures
Public.com
This does not constitute investment advice. Investing involves the risk of loss, including the potential loss of principal. Brokerage services for US-listed, registered securities available on Public are offered by Open to the Public Investing, Inc. (OTTP), a member of FINRA & SIPC, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Public Holdings, Inc. Brokerage services for alternative investments are offered by the Dalmore Group, LLC, a member of FINRA & SIPC. Alternative investments are over-the-counter equity securities that have been issued pursuant to Regulation A of the Securities Act of 1933. Cryptocurrency trading is provided by Apex Crypto LLC (NMLS ID 1828849). Apex Crypto is licensed to engage in the virtual currency business by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
