Stash vs Acorns: Which Investing App is the Best

Stash vs Acorns

If you are a beginner at investing, you might have surely given a thought to using either Stash or Acorns. Both of these apps are excellent investment apps. But you still need to decide which one will suit you the best. This is why in this article, we are doing a stash vs acorns comparison. Let’s get started.

Both Acorns and Stash happens to use a mix of education and automation to help their users understand what they are doing and how can they reach their investment goals. That being said, it should be kept in mind that neither of them happens to be a full-powered Robo-advisor. So if you are looking for a service that deploys algorithms and advanced software to manage a portfolio of investments. Then consider services such as Wealthfront or Betterment.

Acorns and Stash are more like a mix between Robo-advisor and an automated saving tool. These apps are primarily focused on the ease of use. Now amid these two, if asked which one stands out as the clear winner – it is undoubtedly Acorns. This is because it is a much stronger advisor component that creates a portfolio based on the preferences of a user and funds of lower-cost.

Functionality

Acorns will put the user in investments that happen to match his or her individual situation. It takes into account various factors such as age, time horizon, goals, income, and risk tolerance. Then it allocates the funds accordingly. Apart from this, should one investment grow beyond its allocation, the Acorns app also helps rebalance your portfolio. This shows that the app clearly provides some much-sought-after valuable direction for beginners.

Stash happens to give its users a set of investment funds along with some basic information and a lot less guidance than Acorns. For investors, Stash’s biggest appeal is the fact that it has a helpful and creative feature of the thematic renaming of funds. This is based on what the investors happen to invest in. For instance, Clean & Green’s main focus is on clean-energy firms wherein the Defending America fund always invests in aerospace and defense-related companies. Additionally, Stash also offers access to more or less 150 individual stocks. However, it doesn’t offer portfolio management. Stash can’t let its users know how much they should buy each fund beyond the occasional suggestions and warning.

Therefore, the clear winner here is Acorns. It offers so much more functionality than its rival Stash. Portfolio management which is a very important element to the success of an investor in the long-run, Stash sadly doesn’t offer. Also, with a little effort and a small amount of research, you will be able to find the ETFs that Stash offers through many online brokers commission-free.

Bottom Line :

This brings us to the end of our discussion on Stash vs Acorns. Lastly, always remember that both these apps are in no way going to make you a pro-investor. These apps are meant to get you started as a beginner after which you need to find your own way of becoming better day by day. Now, do let us know some of your personal thoughts on the same.