Stash Invest review: A more flexible micro-investing app

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By Kevin Mercadante

🗓️

Updated: February 15, 2026

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Getting started with investing can be tough when you don't have a lot of capital to devote to it. For many folks, one of the biggest psychological barriers keeping them from investing is that they don't believe they have enough money.

But that doesn't have to be the case. Stash is here to show how you can get started with just a few dollars. Here's our Stash review.

4.3

4.3

Commissions and fees4.4

Customer service3.9

Ease-of-use4.3

Education4

Saving options4.5

Compounding4.5

Stash is a personal finance app for newbie investors, with great educational tools and a low minimum required deposit. Unfortunately, its fees run a bit high, making it costly for smaller accounts.

Stash requires no minimum balance in your personal portfolio, and the minimum investment is just $5. Unlike other investment apps, Stash doesn't have add-on commission fees^‡—just a flat monthly subscription to access to all your money needs. So it can be a great place to start if you want to learn how to invest but don't have a lot of cash to do so.

We took Stash for a test drive, and this is what we found.

Stash features

• Invest in stocks and ETFs: Stash users can choose among thousands of stock and ETF investments, and its Diversification Analysis tool will keep track of how your investments compare and provide recommendations based on your risk level to help you diversify.
• SIPC protection: Your funds with Stash are held by the clearing agency Apex Clearing Corporation which is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) (see below).
• Third-party clearing agency: Investments with Stash are held through the Apex Clearing Corporation, a third-party SEC-registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC. Apex is the firm that handles the custody of assets, reporting, trade confirmation, settlement, and securities delivery in Stash.
• Fractional shares: Stash allows you to invest in fractional shares, meaning you can hold less than one complete share in your portfolio. This can come in handy with expensive stocks that can cost more than $100 per share.
• Educational resources: Stash provides in-app, on the web, and email education that can help investors learn the basics.
• Security: Stash is a Registered Investment Advisor and is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The app uses 256-bit bank-grade encryption to secure your information. It also uses a secure sockets layer (SSL) to protect information sent between Stash and its servers.
• Auto Stash: Users can invest on autopilot with scheduled times to make deposits into your Stash account.
• Retirement accounts: Stash offers access to Roth IRA and traditional IRA accounts with the Stash Growth and Stash+ plans. You can open an account and start investing in stocks or ETFs with as little as $5.
• Custodial accounts: You can open and maintain an investment account for kids on behalf of an individual under 18. This custodial account is offered in the Stash+ Plan. This could be a good opportunity to give a child or grandchild interested in investing a head start on generating compound interest.
• Stock-Back debit card: If you want to earn fractional shares while shopping, Stash offers a Visa debit card that rewards you with up to 5% back in publicly-traded companies like Google or Microsoft.
• Early direct deposits: Forget waiting for payday to see money in your Stash account. Stash will credit your account as soon as it receives news of a direct deposit, which could be up to two days early.
• StockParty bonuses: Stash subscribers know how to have a good time on social media. This company frequently hosts “StockParty” events where members can gather together and receive fractional shares in hot companies.

What is Stash?

Launched in 2015, Stash Invest was created to teach beginners how to start investing. Co-founders Brandon Krieg and Ed Robinson left their jobs on Wall Street to make investing easy, affordable and values-aligned for everyday Americans.

Once you get started on Stash, you could invest as much or as little into solo stocks and ETFs that best align with your goals. Currently, Stash lists over 3,000 stocks and ETFs you can choose in sectors ranging from finance and health care to commodities and tech. You also have the flexibility to pick up tiny percentages of a stock thanks to fractional share investing.

Stash automatically reinvests any dividends you earn from companies into more shares, and you can use extra features like the Stash Visa debit card and round-ups to automatically purchase stocks either with cash back rewards or a few extra cents from every purchase.

How does Stash Invest work?

Getting started with Stash is straightforward. Begin by completing a questionnaire to assess your financial goals and risk tolerance. This helps Stash determine your risk level and suggest investment options tailored to you. Once that’s done, link your bank account, choose your preferred subscription plan, and set up auto-deposits if you want to take advantage of the Auto-Stash feature. You can start investing with as little as $5, making it easy to build your portfolio in small increments.

Stash helps beginner investors ease into the investment journey with a combination of automated investing tools, financial education, access to advisors, and good old-fashioned budgeting fundamentals. While other investment apps require higher minimum deposits, Stash allows you to invest in smaller amounts while still gaining exposure to large, recognizable companies through fractional shares. You can explore individual stocks and ETFs on your own or use Smart Portfolio for a more hands-off investing approach.

Single stock investing

With Stash you can invest in select single stocks and ETFs. To read about a company's fundamentals and select an individual stock, select the “Companies” tab in the app.

Currently, there are over 1,800 stocks and ETFs that you can invest in, so there's no shortage of choice.

Stash Smart Portfolio

If you need guidance with investing or want to invest completely passively, Stash's Smart Portfolio is for you.

This investing feature essentially turns Stash into a robo-advisor that invests in a mix of stocks and bonds to match your goals and risk tolerance. There's a $5 minimum investment requirement to start, so anyone can try it out.

You also get automatic rebalancing, which means that Stash can adjust your portfolio's composition to stay in-line with your goals.

Stash pricing and fees

Stash has two different plans to choose from that cost $3 or $12 per month:

• Starter Stash: This plan costs $3 per month and lets you invest in a personal account or with the automated Stash Smart Portfolio. You also get real-time guidance from Stash's advisors, a Stash Visa debit card, and the option for early direct deposits.
• Stash+: This plan costs $12 per month and includes everything in Stash Starter, but it also lets you open a custodial account to get your kids started with investing. You also get access to a retirement portfolio and extra rewards like a 3% match on retirement contributions, 1% stock-back on spending, and $10K life insurance offered by Avibra.

Stash pros and cons

Is Stash legit?

Yes. Stash is a legitimate app that can help individuals who are interested in investing. Not only is Stash a registered investment advisor with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it has high security standards such as 256-bit encryption and biometric login.

Stash is a great option if you want access to a managed portfolio and individual brokerage account when you can experiment with choosing your own investments. Stash also provides you access to fractional shares, allowing you to diversify your portfolio with little money.

However, you should also keep in mind that while Stash is totally safe to use, they don’t offer any built-in tax strategy. There are robo-advisors from competitors that offer automated tax-loss harvesting to reduce the amount of tax you owe or other forms of tax mitigation. All that Stash offers is guidance through its Tax Resource Center. If you're looking for an app that can provide more hands-off help with your taxes, you might want to look elsewhere.

Stash Invest alternatives

If you're new to investing, Stash is an easy way to begin investing in stocks and ETFs while learning the ropes.

That said, there are some notable Stash alternatives that might be superior depending on your goals and what you need the most help with.

Wealthfront and Betterment are two of the best alternatives if you’re most interested in Stash’s robo-advisory feature. Wealthfront’s minimum investment of $500 is a bit higher, but it has a straightforward 0.25% flat fee model for automated investing in stocks, ETFs, and bonds, as well as a high-yield savings account. 

With Betterment, there’s either a flat monthly fee or annual percentage depending on how much you invest, but you only need $5 to get started with one of its managed portfolios. Betterment also offers bonus features like high-yield savings, a checking account, and optional 1:1 advice (for accounts over $100K). 

As for Acorns, it’s more useful if you want help consistently investing small amounts and tools like round-ups for card purchases. As a bonus, Acorns has access to a debit card and Bitcoin ETF investing.

How do I open a Stash account?

The sign-up process for Stash is relatively easy and straightforward.

You can sign up on your desktop or through the mobile app. Once you sign up, you will be prompted to enter your basic information and answer a few questions to help them guide you through your investment decisions. So, make sure you are honest about your answers, as they will also help determine your risk tolerance.

Once your profile has been set up, it is time to choose an investment. You will be shown several investment options based on your answers to their previous questions, and you can click on each to learn more about them. There are thousands of investment options currently available on the platform.

Next, they’ll prompt you to link your bank account. Stash links to your bank account either directly through your bank login and password or through your account and routing numbers. If you choose to link with your account and routing numbers, your bank account will need to be verified using a micro deposit—basically a very small deposit into your bank account, which you’ll verify. This may take up to six business days to process. You can link only one external bank account to your Stash account.

Finally, you need to confirm your identity by creating a four-digit PIN.

Final thoughts on Stash

Stash could be the right investment app for a beginning investor. Its lack of minimum deposits makes it easy for investors who want to start small.

The fact you can diversify your holdings with such a small amount of money is an incredible advantage to newbie investors. And with Stash's professional investment advice, including specific investment recommendations, you can be involved in the investment process in a hands-on way while learning as you go and leaning on their knowledge, expertise and advice.

That being said, Stash could be a better investment app if it offered more competitive fees with smaller deposits. However, the service can be cost-effective for larger accounts.

Disclaimer: Investment advisory services offered by Stash Investments LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser. Investing involves risk and investments may lose value. Holdings and performance are hypothetical. Nothing in this material should be construed as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any security. All investments are subject to risk and may lose value. This information is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as tax, investment, or legal advice.

Kevin Mercadante Contributor

Kevin Mercadante Contributor

Kevin Mercadante is professional personal finance blogger, and the owner of his own personal finance blog, OutOfYourRut.com.

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