10 Best Robo-Advisors of January 2022
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Looking for low-cost financial advice and investment management? Robo-advisors can be a good fit. These services build and manage an investment portfolio for you for a fraction of what the typical financial advisor might charge, allowing you to be hands-off with your investments.
The number of robo-advisor services has swelled in recent years, as has the range of services. Many robo-advisors now offer socially responsible investment portfolios, access to human financial advisors for basic investment and financial planning questions, and comprehensive digital financial planning tools.
Bottom line: There’s now a low-cost robo-advisor option for every type of investor. We’ve covered the best choices below.
Looking for low-cost financial advice and investment management? Robo-advisors can be a good fit. These services build and manage an investment portfolio for you for a fraction of what the typical financial advisor might charge, allowing you to be hands-off with your investments.
The number of robo-advisor services has swelled in recent years, as has the range of services. Many robo-advisors now offer socially responsible investment portfolios, access to human financial advisors for basic investment and financial planning questions, and comprehensive digital financial planning tools.
Bottom line: There’s now a low-cost robo-advisor option for every type of investor. We’ve covered the best choices below.
Best Robo-Advisors
| Broker | NerdWallet Rating | Fees | Account Minimum | Promotion | Learn More |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 SoFi Automated Investing Learn more on SoFi Invest's website | Best for Overall | 0% management fee | $0 | Free career counseling plus loan discounts with qualifying deposit | Learn more on SoFi Invest's website |
 Wealthfront Learn more on Wealthfront's website | Best for Overall | 0.25% management fee | $500 | $5,000 amount of assets managed for free | Learn more on Wealthfront's website |
 Betterment Learn more on Betterment's website | Best for Overall | 0.25% management fee | $0 | Up to 1 year of free management with a qualifying deposit | Learn more on Betterment's website |
 Axos Self-Directed Trading Learn more on Axos Invest's website | Best for Overall | $0 per trade | $0 | Get $150 when you open and fund an Axos Self-Directed Trading account | Learn more on Axos Invest's website |
 Blooom Learn more on Blooom's website | Best for Overall | $45 - $250 per year | $0 | $10 off with code REEETIRE10 | Learn more on Blooom's website |
Our picks for
Overall
on SoFi Invest's website
SoFi Automated Investing
Fees
0%management fee
Account Minimum
$0Promotion
Freecareer counseling plus loan discounts with qualifying deposit
on SoFi Invest's website
on Wealthfront's website
Wealthfront
Fees
0.25%management fee
Account Minimum
$500Promotion
$5,000amount of assets managed for free
on Wealthfront's website
on Betterment's website
Betterment
Fees
0.25%management fee
Account Minimum
$0Promotion
Up to 1 yearof free management with a qualifying deposit
on Betterment's website
on Axos Invest's website
Axos Self-Directed Trading
Fees
$0per trade
Account Minimum
$0Promotion
Get $150when you open and fund an Axos Self-Directed Trading account
on Axos Invest's website
on Blooom's website
Blooom
Fees
$45 - $250per year
Account Minimum
$0Promotion
$10 offwith code REEETIRE10
on Blooom's website
on Ellevest's website
Ellevest
Fees
$1 - $9per month
Account Minimum
$0Promotion
2 months freewith promo code "nerdwallet"
on Ellevest's website
Want to compare more options? Here are our other top picks:
Disclosure: The author held no positions in the aforementioned securities at the time of publication.
Last updated on January 6, 2022
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Methodology
NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. brokers and robo-advisors. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across more than 20 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star.
For more details about the categories considered when rating providers and our processes, read our full broker ratings methodology and our full robo-advisor ratings methodology.
To recap our selections...
NerdWallet's Best Robo-Advisors of January 2022
- SoFi Automated Investing: Best for Overall
- Wealthfront: Best for Overall
- Betterment: Best for Overall
- Axos Self-Directed Trading: Best for Overall
- Blooom: Best for Overall
- Acorns: Best for Overall
- Ellevest: Best for Overall
- Ally Invest Robo Portfolios: Best for Overall
- Schwab Intelligent Portfolios®: Best for Overall
- E*TRADE: Best for Overall
Frequently asked questions
Robo-advisors automate investment management by using computer algorithms to build you a portfolio and manage your assets based on your goals and your tolerance for risk. Since portfolio management is handled by software rather than a human financial advisor, robo-advisors charge lower fees, which can translate to higher long-term returns for investors.
Robo-advisors use advanced software to handle many of the tasks that used to require expensive experts to manage. Services range from automatic rebalancing to tax optimization, and require little to no human interaction. A robo-advisor might be a good fit if you prefer to be largely hands-off with your investments and you don’t have the kind of complex financial situation that requires a direct relationship with a human financial advisor.
That said, many providers offer access to human advisors available for questions related to account management or long-term investment planning — though these services may cost more.
Here’s what you should consider:
Management fees. This is what you’ll pay annually to have an account at a robo-advisor.
Expense ratios. These are like management fees, only they’re paid not to the robo-advisor, but to the investments the robo-advisor uses. Mutual funds, index funds and exchange-traded funds all charge this annual fee to cover the costs of running the fund.
Account types. Investment accounts fall into two general categories: Retirement accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, that offer tax advantages while adhering to certain rules; and taxable accounts, where there are no specific tax advantages but also no limits on contributions or distributions.
Investments. Most robo-advisors use low-cost index funds and ETFs.
Rebalancing. Portfolios are fluid, and market fluctuations can cause the mix of investments you hold to get out of sync with your goals. Rebalancing brings that allocation back to its original mix.
Access to human advisors. Many robo-advisors have merged computer-driven portfolio management with access to human financial advisors. Some services offer a dedicated advisor to individual clients; others offer only email or online chat with a team of advisors.
