Robinhood vs Vanguard

Robinhood is a free way to trade stocks with limited bells and whistles. How does it compare to Vanguard? Read our comparison chart below.

Robinhood offers $0 stock trades by cutting out physical offices and manual account management. Only basic stock trading can be performed on the mobile app. There is no minimum deposit or maintenance fee, though there is an optional paid premier customer tier starting at $6/month.

While Vanguard offers low stock trade prices (starting at just $2) for investors with account balances over $500k. For those with smaller balances, it's best for less active traders, as trade prices go up after 25 trades/year. Vanguard offers 125+ no-transaction-fee mutual fees and 55+ commission-free ETFs. There is no minimum deposit and service fees can be waived by signing up for electronic statements.

Compare Robinhood with Vanguard, side-by-side. Read on for an in-depth look, including ratings, reviews, pros and cons.

	Robinhood	Vanguard
	OFFER Get a Free Stock (worth between $2.50 and $200) - Learn More Read Robinhood Review	Norton Internet Security 60-day free subscription - Learn More Read Vanguard Review
	Benefits and Features
Stock Trading	$0	Less than $50,000: $7 per trade for the first 25 trades per year, then $20. $50k - $500k: All trades $7. $500k - $1M: All trades $2. $1M - $5M: First 25 trades per year free, then $2. $5M+: First 100 trades per year free, then $2
Options Trading		Less than $500,000: $7 + $1 per contract. $500,000+: $2 + $1 per contract
Annual Fee	All trades are commission-free. No platform fees.
Minimum Deposit	$0	$0
Mutual Fund Trading		$0 for no-transaction-fee funds. For transaction-fee funds: $20 for account balances less than $500,000; $8 for account balances $500,000+
Commission Free ETFs	All U.S. listed ETFs	Around 1,800 ETFs from about 100 other companies
Phone Support	No
Broker Assisted Trades	$10	$25.00
Customer Service	Monday-Friday 9am - 6pm ET	Monday-Friday 8am -10pm ET
Good For	Beginners; Active traders
Inactivity Fee	$0	$0
Maintenance Fee	$0	$20/year. Waived if account owner signs up for e-delivery service OR have at least $10,000 in Vanguard ETFs and mutual funds
Banking	Coming soon	No
Mobile App	Yes	Yes
Desktop App	Yes	Yes
Forex Trading		Yes
Futures Trading		No
Locations	No	No
Online Community	No	No
Seminars	No	Yes
Virtual Trading	No	No
Fractional Shares	Yes
Taxable Accounts	Yes
IRA Accounts	No
	CreditDonkey® Reviews
Stock Trading
Options Trading
Mobile App
Commissions and Fees
Ease of Use
Research
Mutual Fund Trading
Pros & Cons	Pros: Commission-free trades No minimum Extended trading hours Cons: No IRAs Limited research No mutual funds & bonds	Pros: Large selection of mutual funds and commission-free ETFs Broker assistance is available at no additional cost Easy to use Cons: Commission structure penalizes frequent traders Customer service wait times Commission costs on non-Vanguard investment options
Bottom Line	Free way to trade stocks with limited bells and whistles... Read full review	Good choice for ETF and mutual fund investors interested in Vanguard-sponsored investments... Read full review
	Get a Free Stock (worth between $2.50 and $200) Commission-Free Trades Free Cryptocurrency Investing
Blank fields may indicate the information is not available, not applicable, or not known to CreditDonkey. Please visit the product website for details. Robinhood: Pricing information from published websites as of 04/18/2020. Vanguard: Pricing information from published websites as of 09/15/2019.

Which is Better: Robinhood or Vanguard?

Still need help deciding which investing is better? Read the in-depth reviews below. You may also be interested in comparing Robinhood or Ally Invest.

In short: Robinhood's stock trading, mobile app, and commissions and fees are noteworthy. In particular, the stock trading and commissions and fees are impressive. Vanguard's research is worth mentioning.

Articles on Robinhood

Robinhood Review
Robinhood lets you trade stocks commission-free and has no account minimums. Is it safe? Are there hidden fees? Read on for the pros and cons.
• Robinhood vs E*TRADE
• Robinhood vs Acorns
• Robinhood vs Stash

Articles on Vanguard

Vanguard Reviews
Vanguard Brokerage may be a full-service broker, but typically long-term investors preferring ETFs and mutual funds see the greatest return on their investment with them.
• Vanguard vs Fidelity
• Vanguard vs Charles Schwab
• Vanguard vs Betterment

Which Do You Think is Best?

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