Best Investment Apps: Grow Your Wealth (2022)

Robert_Stark · August 2022

What are the best investment apps? It's a question that's on many people's minds these days. With the stock market becoming increasingly volatile and the economy in a state of flux, it's crucial to have a good investment app to help you make the best decisions for your money.

The best investment market apps are simple to use, offer low or zero-cost stock and ETF trades, and deliver a full-featured online trading experience. They allow you to manage your portfolio and provide real-time data and alerts on specific investments, all on your smartphone. Plus, make it easier to understand what a particular stock is worth and whether it's an excellent place to start investing your money to build up your portfolio over time.

We've compiled a list of the six best investment apps for 2022. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned investor, these apps will help you reach your financial goals.

1) ROBINHOOD

Best Mobile Trading App for Beginners

Robinhood is a popular investing app that provides an extremely user-friendly interface and commission-free trades on stocks, options, ETFs, and crypto. That means you can buy and sell without paying any fees - a true discount brokerage. The app also has no account minimums and comes with a free stock on signup - so it is excellent for those starting to build their portfolio.

With fractional shares, you can invest in particular stocks or ETFs that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars for as little as $1 by buying a small piece. Robinhood gives you the flexibility to invest as much as you want in the companies you believe in without committing to an entire share.

Robinhood has a streamlined mobile app that makes it easy to invest on the go. You can trade stocks from your mobile device and get instant access to real-time quotes, news, trends, and data. The app's social aspect allows you to share trading ideas with friends through email alerts or activity feeds.

Robinhood is perfect for those new to investing who want to learn the basics. However, once you've mastered investing, Robinhood's barebones simplicity may no longer meet your needs as it has a limited range of trading tools, research, and features. Also, it offers only taxable brokerage accounts, so you'll miss the tax benefits of retirement accounts if you're looking to invest long-term.

Robinhood Pros:

Cryptocurrency trading
Simple mobile interface
No account minimum
100% commission-free trades
Fractional Shares

Robinhood Cons:

No retirement accounts
No bonds or mutual funds
Limited customer support

2) TD Ameritrade

Best Professional-level Trading App

TD Ameritrade is well-known in the financial world for its powerful trading platforms. Their thinkorswim mobile trading app is one of the most powerful for active traders with access to research, education, and support.

Your TD Ameritrade account has no minimum balance or recurring fees. You can manage your positions and have access to a broad spectrum of investments, including:

Stocks
Options
Futures
Forex
Crypto

TD Ameritrade also provides commission-free, online trading for stock, ETF, and options. Where TD Ameritrade shines is with free third-party research to highly reputable sources, including:

Federal Reserve Economic Database
Morningstar
Thomson Reuters
Center for Financial Research and Analysis

The app is intuitive to use with a user-friendly design and gives you access to charts, graphs, reports, and up-to-the-minute news that helps you interpret the market and makes investing a breeze. TD Ameritrade's comprehensive educational resources and excellent customer service help ensure its top online brokerage status.

TD Ameritrade Pros:

Free research
No account minimum
Commission-free trades on stock and ETF
Good customer support
Diverse investment choices

TD Ameritrade Cons:

No fractional shares

3) SoFi Active Investing

Best for Young Investors

SoFi is an online investment platform suited for active traders who invest in:

Stocks
Fractional shares in blue-chip companies
ETFs
Crypto
IPO

With free trading commissions and no account minimum, Sofi is attractive for those interested in active investing. With active investing, you can buy and sell on your own. You trade individual stocks or bonds to try to beat the market. You create a DIY strategy tailored to your own:

Goals
Preferences
Risk tolerance

You can also use a "hands-off" approach by automating your active investing with SoFi. Their robo advisor uses algorithms to invest in a diversified portfolio based on your goals and risk tolerance to help you grow your wealth over time. You can make a one-time investment or set up a recurring payment.

SoFi is a good option for those wanting to start investing without having to worry about investing in individual stocks with the help of a broker. You have free access to SoFi's financial advisors to help with long-term financial planning. The app has a lot of resources for supporting newbies – it's easy to find the information you need as it offers a customizable dashboard to track your investments, so you can always see how your portfolio is doing.

SoFi Pros:

Cryptocurrency trading
Commission-free trades
Fractional shares
No account minimum
Free access to financial advisors

SoFi Cons:

No mutual, index, or bond funds
No tax-loss harvesting options to minimize capital gains

**4) E*TRADE Best Stock App for Traders**

Whether you're a beginner investor or a seasoned pro, E*TRADE has the tools and resources you need to succeed. With over 30 years of experience, E*TRADE provides two easy-to-use platforms and mobile apps for traders of all levels to suit your investment style:

E*TRADE Mobile:

For beginners or less active traders, this simple and intuitive interface includes:

Real-time quotes
Market commentary and research
Portfolio Management
ETF and stock screeners to help you find the right product

Power E*TRADE:

For power users and active traders comes packed with over 100 interactive charts and analyses, including:

Technical studies
Drawing tools
Customizable options
Chain views
Trading ladders
Complex strategies

E*TRADE is fantastic for those who are just starting to get involved in the stock market. The app includes education on investing and trading strategies and helpful articles on the market. E*TRADE is intuitive and offers a wide range of investment options, from stocks to mutual funds to options to futures.

With zero-fee commissions and no minimum deposits, E*TRADE's robust trading platforms will appeal to active traders, plus novice investors benefit from the excellent 24/7 support. E*TRADE has been a pioneer and will continue to be a popular online brokerage.

E*TRADE Pro

Commission-free stock, options, and ETF trades.
No minimum deposit
Large investment range
24/7 support and live chat
Access to extensive research
Advanced mobile app

E*TRADE Cons

Limited foreign market trading
Website can be hard to navigate

5) Acorns Best for Passive Investing

Acorns simplify investing with an all-in-one investment, retirement, and checking service. With more than 9 million customers, it takes a different approach to the traditional brokerage as it rounds up your everyday purchases. That spare change gets automatically invested into diversified low-fee index funds. Forced savings help people who might not invest.

The best way to invest is not to wait and start right now, so you can also set up automatic recurring investments to help make financial planning more manageable. And because Acorns invests automatically, you won't have to worry about following complex trading strategies.

The app's flat-fee structure is more expensive than percentage-based fees for those just starting. So, Acorns is best for those who need a nudge to save more, rather than those with low deposits looking for the cheapest option. It's an excellent choice for those new to stock investing, and its automatic investment feature makes it an affordable way to start investing.

Acorn Pros

Helps build good financial habits
Automatically invests your spare change
Cash back at select retailers
Educational content available

Acorn Cons

Expensive fees
Narrow portfolio options

6) Fidelity Investments

Best Stock App for Investors

Formed in 1946, Fidelity Investments is one of the world's largest asset managers, with over $4.5 trillion actively managed. Their online brokerage platform offers a wide range of features, research opportunities, and investable assets. So, an excellent choice for experienced investors or those new to the market.

Fidelity offers no account fees and commission-free trades on US stocks, ETFs, and options. With a strong background in mutual funds, Fidelity offers over 3700 no-transaction-fee mutual funds and zero-fee index funds. 87.36% of Fidelity's share orders are executed at a better price than the national best bid or offer (NBBO). So, these investor-friendly practices will save you a lot of cash.

Fidelity excels at education with substantial resources and industry-led research for all levels of investors, from beginners to active stock traders. Their live, interactive Trading Strategy Desk® coaching sessions allow you to ask questions to a coach with real trading experience. Plus, reliable customer service with 24/7 phone, chat, and email support and over 200 branches for in-person advice

Fidelity Investments Pros:

Commission-free stock, ETF, and options trades
Reliable customer service
Expense-ratio-free index funds
Robust research and asset screeners

Fidelity Investments Cons:

No futures, commodities, or crypto trading
Relatively high broker-assisted trade fee ($32.95).

How to Choose an Investment App

When choosing an investment app, you should consider whether the investment products they offer match your investing profile and financial goals:

Do you need a simple, intuitive platform for a few long-term investments?
Do you need tools for the fast-paced world of active trading?
Do you need retirement focused options?
Do you want automatic investing?

Carefully consider the platform and technology provided, and ensure the tools fit your investment profile. Pay special attention to their fees and commission, especially on the investment products you'll use the most, as these can eat into your profits.

A good investment app can execute trades and assist your decision-making and development as an investor through quality research and education. Finally, consider how much customer support you're comfortable with. Some apps have 24/7 live agents by chat or phone, but others offer more limited email-only support.

Investing in stocks can be a complex and time-consuming process, but with the help of these six top stock apps, it becomes much easier. Which one you choose is ultimately up to you, but we hope this blog post has helped narrow down your options.

*The opinions reflected in this article are the sole opinions of the author and do not reflect any official positions or claims by Acer Inc.

Disclaimer: Information provided on Acer is for educational purposes only. We do not offer financial advice nor recommend any specific apps.

About Robert Stark: Robert is a Taiwan-based writer and digital marketer at iamrobert design. He has a passion for helping people simplify their lives through tech.