Acorns vs Stash Pricing 2026: Which Micro-Investing App Is Worth the Monthly Fee?

Acorns and Stash both charge a monthly subscription — neither is free. That alone sets them apart from commission-free brokerages like Robinhood or Webull. Both start at $3/month, both target people new to investing, and both bundle extra features into higher-priced tiers. But what you actually get for that $3 differs in ways that matter.

Acorns is a hands-off platform that invests your spare change automatically into diversified ETF portfolios. Stash gives you more control, letting you pick individual stocks and ETFs while also offering automated options. Same price tag, different philosophies — and as you move up the plan tiers, the gap widens.

This is a pricing comparison, not investment advice. We are not recommending either platform or suggesting specific investments.

Pricing at a Glance

Acorns BronzeAcorns SilverAcorns GoldStash GrowthStash+
Monthly fee$3$6$12$3$9
Investing account✅✅✅✅✅
Retirement account (IRA)❌✅✅❌✅
Checking account❌✅✅✅✅
Round-ups✅✅✅❌❌
Stock-Back rewards❌❌✅✅ (select)✅ (2x)
Custodial accounts (kids)❌❌✅❌✅
Bonus match / perks——1% IRA match, 5% bonus match—Metal card, 2x Stock-Back
Annual cost$36$72$144$36$108

Both platforms charge flat monthly fees regardless of your account balance. That pricing model has a significant implication: the smaller your balance, the higher the effective fee percentage.

Acorns Pricing Breakdown

Acorns restructured its plans in late 2025, moving from the older Personal/Personal Plus/Premium naming to Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The feature set at each tier shifted too.

Bronze — $3/month

Bronze is Acorns at its simplest. You get one taxable investing account and automatic round-ups from linked debit and credit cards. Acorns invests your rounded-up spare change into one of several pre-built ETF portfolios based on your risk tolerance — Conservative, Moderate, Aggressive, and variations in between.

What you do not get: no IRA, no checking account, no custodial accounts for kids. Bronze is purely “invest my spare change” with nothing else attached.

Silver — $6/month

Silver adds a retirement account (Traditional, Roth, or SEP IRA) and the Acorns checking account with a debit card. The checking account earns no interest but gives you access to direct deposit and fee-free ATM withdrawals at 55,000+ locations.

For someone who wants both spare-change investing and a basic retirement account, Silver covers both without needing a separate IRA provider.

Gold — $12/month

Gold is the full suite. Everything in Silver, plus custodial investment accounts for children, a 1% IRA match from Acorns on new contributions, a 5% bonus investment match from select brands through Acorns Earn, and priority support.

At $144/year, Gold only makes financial sense if you actively use the IRA match and custodial accounts. The 1% IRA match on a $6,500 contribution is $65 — which alone nearly covers the cost difference between Silver and Gold. For a deeper look at what each Acorns tier charges and where the hidden costs sit, see our Acorns fees breakdown.

Stash Pricing Breakdown

Stash keeps it simpler with two plans. Both include self-directed investing — meaning you choose your own stocks and ETFs rather than relying entirely on automated portfolios.

Growth — $3/month

Growth gives you a personal investment account and a banking account (through Green Dot Bank) with a Stock-Back debit card. The Stock-Back card is Stash’s signature feature: every purchase earns you fractional shares of stock instead of cash back. Buy coffee at Starbucks, get a fraction of Starbucks stock. The earning rate on Growth is the base rate.

Stash also offers curated “Smart Portfolios” — diversified automated portfolios similar to what a robo-advisor builds — but these are available alongside manual stock and ETF picking, not instead of it.

What Growth lacks: no retirement account and no custodial accounts.

Stash+ — $9/month

Stash+ adds a retirement account (Traditional or Roth IRA), custodial accounts for kids under the UGMA/UTMA framework, a metal debit card, and double Stock-Back rewards (2x).

At $108/year, Stash+ is priced between Acorns Silver and Gold. You get the IRA and kids’ accounts that Acorns splits across two separate tiers. For a complete fee walkthrough, our Stash fees guide covers everything including potential ancillary charges.

The Hidden Cost: Flat Fees on Small Balances

This is the most important pricing consideration for both apps, and it gets overlooked constantly.

A $3/month fee on a $100 balance is a 36% annual fee. On a $500 balance, it is 7.2%. On $5,000, it drops to 0.72% — which is still higher than most robo-advisors that charge percentage-based fees (typically 0.25% to 0.50%).

The breakeven point where a flat $3/month fee becomes competitive with a 0.25% AUM fee is around $14,400. Below that balance, you are paying more than you would at a percentage-based robo-advisor like Betterment or Wealthfront.

This does not mean Acorns or Stash are bad deals — the automation, round-ups, and simplicity have real value for people who would not invest otherwise. But it is worth understanding the math. If your balance is under $1,000, the subscription fee is eating a meaningful chunk of your potential returns.

Feature-by-Feature Value Comparison

Round-Ups vs Stock-Back

Acorns’ round-up feature is its defining mechanic. Link your cards, and every purchase gets rounded up to the nearest dollar — the difference goes into your investment account. Spend $4.30, invest $0.70 automatically. It is passive and accumulates without you thinking about it. For more on how round-up investing works across apps, see our guide to automating savings with round-up apps.

Stash does not offer round-ups. Instead, the Stock-Back debit card gives you fractional shares as purchase rewards. This is a different model — you earn by spending through Stash’s card specifically, not by rounding up purchases on any linked card.

Both mechanics encourage investing through everyday spending, but Acorns works with your existing cards while Stash requires you to use its own debit card.

Investment Approach

Acorns is primarily automated. You answer a few questions, get assigned a portfolio, and the app handles rebalancing and allocation. You can adjust your risk level, but you are not picking individual stocks.

Stash gives you both options. You can pick from thousands of individual stocks and ETFs, or use the Smart Portfolio feature for a hands-off approach. For someone who wants to learn about individual investing while also having a managed fallback, Stash offers more flexibility.

Banking

Both have banking accounts with debit cards. Neither pays meaningful interest on checking balances. Acorns banking is available starting at Silver ($6/month); Stash includes it at the base Growth tier ($3/month).

Retirement Accounts

Acorns IRA starts at Silver ($6/month). Stash IRA requires Stash+ ($9/month). Acorns Gold adds a 1% IRA match, which Stash does not offer at any tier.

If an IRA is important to you and you want to keep costs down, Acorns Silver at $6/month is cheaper than Stash+ at $9/month for that specific feature.

Kids’ Accounts

Both offer custodial accounts only on their highest tier — Acorns Gold ($12/month) and Stash+ ($9/month). Stash wins on price here. Stash+ gives you everything including kids’ accounts for $9, while Acorns charges $12 for the equivalent set.

Is $3/Month Worth It?

For someone with under $500 invested, the honest answer is: probably not from a pure cost-efficiency standpoint. A free app like a commission-free brokerage would save you $36/year in fees on a small balance.

But cost efficiency is not the only factor. If the automation of Acorns’ round-ups or the gamification of Stash’s Stock-Back is what actually gets you investing — when you otherwise would not — then $3/month is buying a behavioral nudge, not just a brokerage account. That nudge has value. Just know that as your balance grows past a few thousand dollars, you should evaluate whether a percentage-based platform offers a better deal.

The subscription becomes clearly worthwhile once your balance exceeds roughly $5,000, where the effective fee rate drops below 1% annually and the convenience features (automation, banking, round-ups) come at a reasonable cost.

Is the Premium Tier Worth Upgrading?

Acorns Gold at $12/month

The 1% IRA match is the main draw. If you max out a Roth IRA at $7,000 in 2026, that match adds $70 to your account — nearly offsetting the $72 annual cost difference between Silver and Gold. Add custodial accounts and the 5% Earn match, and Gold can pay for itself if you use every feature. If you do not have kids and do not max your IRA, Silver is the better value.

Stash+ at $9/month

The 2x Stock-Back and metal card are nice, but the real reason to upgrade is the IRA and custodial accounts. If you need either, Stash+ is your only option on the platform. At $108/year, it bundles more features at a lower price than Acorns Gold, but without the IRA match.

FAQ

Can I use Acorns or Stash completely free?

No. Both require a paid subscription. Acorns starts at $3/month and Stash starts at $3/month. There is no free tier on either platform. If you want free investing, platforms like Robinhood, SoFi Invest, or Fidelity offer commission-free trading with no monthly fees.

Which app is cheaper for an IRA?

Acorns Silver at $6/month ($72/year) includes an IRA. Stash+ at $9/month ($108/year) is the cheapest Stash plan with an IRA. Acorns is $36/year cheaper for basic retirement account access.

Do Acorns or Stash charge any fees beyond the subscription?

Neither charges trade commissions. However, the underlying ETFs in both platforms carry expense ratios (typically 0.03% to 0.20%), which are standard across all brokerages. Acorns does not charge withdrawal fees. Stash does not charge inactivity fees. Both may charge fees for paper statements or outgoing account transfers — check current terms.

Which is better for a college student?

Both charge the same $3/month at the entry level, but they work differently. Acorns’ round-ups are more passive — link a card and forget about it. Stash requires more active decision-making since you pick your own investments. For a student who wants zero effort, Acorns is simpler. For one who wants to learn stock picking, Stash offers more. See our best micro-investing app for college students for a broader comparison.

Can I switch from Acorns to Stash or vice versa?

You would need to sell your holdings in one app, withdraw the funds, and reinvest in the other — neither supports direct ACATS transfers the way traditional brokerages do. This means potential tax implications on any gains. Plan accordingly.

How do Acorns and Stash compare to free alternatives?

Both charge monthly fees that free platforms do not. The tradeoff is automation and simplicity. If you are comfortable managing your own investments, a free brokerage saves $36-$144/year. If you need the behavioral push of automated round-ups or Stock-Back rewards, the subscription fee buys convenience. For a general comparison of these two beyond just pricing, see our Stash vs Acorns overview.

Final Verdict

Acorns and Stash charge similar base prices but deliver fundamentally different experiences.

Choose Acorns if you want purely automated, hands-off investing. Round-ups work with your existing cards, the robo-advisor handles portfolio management, and the IRA is available at a lower tier ($6/month vs $9/month). The Gold tier’s 1% IRA match can offset its higher cost if you contribute consistently.

Choose Stash if you want to pick your own stocks and ETFs while still having automated options available. Stock-Back rewards are a unique perk, and Stash+ bundles IRA and custodial accounts at a lower price ($9/month) than Acorns Gold ($12/month). The tradeoff is no round-ups and no IRA match.

For balances under $1,000, both subscriptions take a disproportionate bite out of returns. For balances over $5,000, the flat fee becomes reasonable and the convenience features justify the cost. Either way, the best app is the one that actually gets you investing consistently — the subscription fee matters far less than the habit it builds.