Quick answer
What is micro investing?
Micro investing means putting small amounts, often $1 to $50 at a time, into stocks or ETFs through an app. Some apps invest your spare change from card purchases. Others let you buy a slice of a share for $1.
Watch the monthly price. $4 a month is $48 a year, almost half of a $100 balance. A free broker costs $0.
Compare all the appsMicro investing isn’t a different kind of investing. It’s the same stocks and funds everyone buys, just in smaller bites, so you can start before you have a few hundred bucks sitting around.
Two things make it work. Fractional shares let you buy $1 of a stock that trades at $500. And automation, either round-ups or a recurring buy, keeps the money moving without you thinking about it.
So which app? On a small balance, the price decides it. Here’s how they stack up.
Best micro investing apps for low fees
Sorted from cheapest to most expensive to hold $100 for a year. The $0 rows still have small catches, like transfer-out charges, and those are in each app’s section below.
| App | Smallest start | What it costs | Cost on $100, per year | Setup and support | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Fidelity | $1. No minimum to open | $0 commissions on online US stock and ETF trades | $0 | Phone support 24/7 | Lowest cost overall |
 Webull | $1. No deposit minimum | $0 commissions on US stocks, ETFs and options | $0 | Phone and email. Hours not stated | $1 buys, charts |
 SoFi Invest | $5 | Commission-free stocks and ETFs | $0 | Help center articles | $5 buys |
 Fundrise | $10 | 0.15% advisory plus 0.85% fund management a year | $11% of the balance | Help center and contact form. Hours not stated | Real estate |
 Acorns | No minimum stated | $4, $8 or $12 a month | $4848% of the balance | Sign up in minutes. Help center, hours not stated | Round-ups |
 Qapital | Not stated | $3, $8 or $12 a month. Investing starts at $8 | $9696% of the balance | In the app, 30-day free trial. Help center and email | Savings goals first |
 Greenlight | Not stated | $5.99 to $19.98 a month. Kids investing starts on Max at $10.98 | $131.76For the family plan, not per kid | Phone number and ID check to sign up | Kids and teens |
Checked on each company’s own site. Prices and minimums change, so confirm before you sign up. Every broker asks for your Social Security number and a bank link when you open an account.
What a monthly price really costs on a small balance
A flat price doesn’t care how much you’ve got. Acorns’ Bronze plan is $4 a month, so you pay $48 a year whether the account holds $50 or $5,000. A percentage price like Fundrise’s grows with the balance instead.
| Your balance | Fidelity or Webull ($0) | Fundrise (1% a year) | Acorns Bronze ($4 a month) | Qapital Complete ($8 a month) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50 | $0 | $0.50 | $48 (96%) | $96 (192%) |
| $100 | $0 | $1 | $48 (48%) | $96 (96%) |
| $500 | $0 | $5 | $48 (9.6%) | $96 (19.2%) |
| $1,000 | $0 | $10 | $48 (4.8%) | $96 (9.6%) |
Yearly cost, with the share of your balance in brackets.
On $100, a $4 plan means your account has to grow 48 percent in a year just to break even. Why does that matter so much? Because you can’t count on a return, but the bill shows up every month.
Acorns’ $48 a year only drops to 1 percent of your balance once you have $4,800 in it. Below that, a free broker plus a recurring buy does the same job for less.
Bottom line: pay for a plan only if the automation is what keeps you investing. If you’d stick with it anyway, buy small pieces on a free app and set a recurring buy.
The apps, one by one
Fidelity: the lowest-cost pick from $1
$0 per trade, buys from $1Fidelity is for beginners who want to pay nothing.
There’s no charge per trade on US stocks and ETFs and no minimum to open an account, and you can buy a slice of a share for as little as $1. How to start investing walks through a simple first portfolio.
- $0 per trade on US stocks
- No minimum to open an account
- Recurring buys from $1
The catch: An account under $100 left uninvested and unused for over a year can be charged up to $5 a quarter.
Webull: $1 buys and better charts
$0 per trade, buys from $1Webull is for people who want small buys plus better charts, and who’ll pick their own stocks.
There’s no charge per trade on US stocks, ETFs and options, no deposit minimum, and slices of a share start at $1. Small regulatory charges still apply on some trades.
- $0 per trade, options included
- No deposit minimum
- Select stocks trade overnight too
The catch: There are no round-ups, so you build the habit yourself, and moving your stocks out later costs $75 per transfer.
SoFi Invest: no trade charges, from $5
$0 per trade, buys from $5SoFi Invest is for people who’d rather start with $5 and buy by the dollar. It makes the most sense if you already bank with SoFi.
There’s no charge per trade on stocks and ETFs, and slices of a share start at $5, according to SoFi. Not every stock offers slices, so look for the Dollars option when you buy.
- $0 per trade on stocks and ETFs
- Buy by the dollar from $5
- Easy fit if you bank with SoFi
The catch: $5 is a bigger first step than the $1 at Fidelity or Webull, and slices can’t move to another firm.
Fundrise: real estate from $10
Real estate from $10Fundrise is for people who want some real estate in the mix and can leave the money alone.
You can start with $10. Its real estate funds cost 0.15% a year for advice plus 0.85% for running the fund, which comes to $1 a year on $100. Our Fundrise review breaks down the costs.
- Start with just $10
- About $1 a year on $100
- Real estate, not just stocks
The catch: You can only cash out quarterly, some funds may charge a penalty when you do, and the value can drop to zero.
Acorns: round-ups on every purchase
From $4 a month, round-ups includedAcorns is for people who’ll only invest if it happens on its own. Every plan rounds up your purchases, so a $7.25 purchase invests the $0.75 change.
Bronze is $4 a month, Silver is $8 and Gold is $12, and each one includes a retirement account. Silver adds a 1% IRA match on new contributions in your first year, and Gold makes it 3%.
- Round-ups invest your spare change
- Retirement account on every plan
- Up to a 3% IRA match on Gold
The catch: At $48 a year, a balance under a few hundred dollars is mostly paying for the plan.
Qapital: savings goals first
Investing from $8 a monthQapital is for people building a savings habit first, with investing second.
Basic is $3 a month, Complete is $8 and Premier is $12, and investing starts on Complete, which is $96 a year. Qapital is a fintech company, not a bank, and its checking comes from Lincoln Savings Bank, Member FDIC. The Qapital review has the details.
- Savings goals come first
- 30-day free trial
- Visa debit card on Complete
The catch: As a way to start investing with $50, $8 a month is the expensive route.
Greenlight: for kids who want to invest
Investing from $10.98 a monthGreenlight is for parents who want their kid learning with small trades that you approve.
Core is $5.99 a month but only lets kids browse stocks and ETFs, so investing starts on Max at $10.98 a month, then Infinity at $15.98 and Family Shield at $19.98. Signing up takes a mobile number and an identity check. Read our full Greenlight review.
- Kids pick, you approve each trade
- Kids can browse stocks on Core
- Learning with small, real trades
The catch: Max works out to $131.76 a year, which is a lot against a $20 starter, so compare it with Acorns Early on the $12 Gold plan.
How to pick a micro investing app
- Price against your balance. Divide the yearly price by what you’ll have in the account. Anything over a few percent is too much.
- Smallest buy. $1 at Fidelity, Webull and Robinhood. $5 at SoFi. $10 at Fundrise.
- Round-ups or recurring buys. Round-ups mean a paid plan. A recurring buy on a free broker does nearly the same thing.
- Help when you need it. Fidelity answers the phone 24/7. Most apps here rely on a help center and email.
- Getting out. Fractional shares usually can’t be transferred, and Webull charges $75 per outgoing stock transfer. Pick a home you’ll keep.
How to start micro investing with $5
- Pick the account. Under $100? Start with a free broker like Fidelity or Webull, or SoFi at $5. If you want round-ups, count the Acorns plan price first.
- Open it. Brokers ask for your Social Security or tax ID number, may check a driver’s license or passport, and ask about your work and finances. FINRA explains what a brokerage account asks for.
- Link your bank and add $5 to $50.
- Make the first buy. Enter a dollar amount of $1 or more at Fidelity or Webull, or $5 at SoFi. Many beginners pick a broad-market ETF so one buy spreads across many companies.
- Automate it. Turn on a recurring investment, or round-ups at Acorns, so it doesn’t depend on you remembering.
- Check the price in a month. If a plan is eating a big share of your balance, move to a free account. Fractional shares can’t be transferred, so you’d sell them first.
Got exactly $5 to play with? Ways to invest $5 covers the options. Once you’re at $100, how to start investing with $100 shows how to build on it month after month.
Other apps you will see recommended
Robinhood has commission-free stocks and ETFs and takes fractional orders of at least $1. Its optional Gold plan is $5 a month, and you can’t transfer fractional shares.
Cash App Investing lets you buy stocks and ETFs from $1 with no commission.
Public charges $0 on US-listed stocks and ETFs. Watch the $3.99 monthly inactivity charge on accounts under $70 with no activity for 6 months.
Betterment is $5 a month until your balance reaches $24,000 or you set up $200 or more in monthly recurring deposits, then 0.25% a year. That’s $60 a year on $100.
M1 has no commissions and a $3 monthly platform fee that’s waived over $10,000, so about $36 a year on a small account.
Want ideas beyond apps? These small investment ideas go past stocks.
Micro investing FAQ
Micro investing is investing small amounts, often $1 to $50 at a time, into stocks, ETFs or a ready-made portfolio through an app. Some apps invest the spare change from your card purchases, and others let you buy fractional shares from $1.
Fidelity, for most people. It charges $0 commissions on online US stock and ETF trades, takes fractional orders from $1 and has no minimum to open. Webull is also $0 with $1 buys, and SoFi Invest is commission-free from $5.
Not much. Fidelity has no minimum to open an account and takes fractional orders from $1. Webull has no deposit minimums and fractional shares from $1. SoFi Invest starts at $5 and Fundrise at $10. Acorns doesn’t state a minimum for its regular investing account.
A free app usually is, and a paid plan usually isn’t. Acorns‘ $4 a month plan costs $48 a year, which is 96 percent of $50. Fidelity and Webull charge $0 commissions on stocks and ETFs, so the whole $50 goes to work.
Round-ups invest the spare change from your purchases, so a $7.25 purchase invests $0.75. A recurring buy invests a set dollar amount on a schedule you pick. Acorns does round-ups on paid plans, and Fidelity lets you set recurring investments in fractional shares for free.
Your money goes into the same stocks and funds anyone else buys, so it can lose value. Brokerage accounts at member firms are covered by SIPC if the firm fails, which protects against a failed broker, not against the market going down.
The bottom line
Micro investing works when the price doesn’t outrun the balance. With $5 to $50, start in a free account that takes $1 orders, set a recurring buy, and add a paid plan later if you want the automation.
Fidelity is the low-fee pick. Acorns is the pick when round-ups are what get you investing. Fundrise is the pick if you want real estate. For a kid, put Greenlight Max and Acorns Early side by side.
