Subscribe

Best Gold IRAs & Where to Buy Gold in 2026

Seven gold IRA companies and dealers ranked, with each one's fees and main catch, the markup over spot to get in writing, and the cheaper ETF route.

By Michael Hewitt, Founder & Editor-in-Chief. Updated September 29, 2026.

Gold IRAs are among the most aggressively marketed retirement products there are, and the cost that decides the deal is the part the ads leave out: the dealer's markup over spot, plus custodian and storage fees every year. The fees are the easy half: Allegiance Gold lists $225 a year, Priority Gold about $225 plus $50 to set up. The markup is the hard half, because it changes with the coin and the order, and no fee schedule here puts a number on it. The seven below are ranked, and each comes with what it charges and its main catch. Whichever you call, get the markup over spot in writing before you wire anything.

What the seven cost, and the catch with each

Fees are as each company publishes them (Augusta's last checked September 29, 2026; American Hartford's and Sanctuary's September 7). None of the seven publishes a markup figure, so each number here is the fixed part of the cost and never the whole of it.

Augusta Precious Metals (#1) leads on service and disclosure: a dedicated agent for the life of the account, no management fee, and custodian fees of $75 to $150 a year plus storage of $100 to $150. The catch is the $50,000 minimum and a phone-first process with little self-service. Decide the amount and the coins before the call.

American Hartford Gold (#2) suits buyers who also want metal delivered to the door, from $10,000, with a price-match guarantee and up to $15,000 in free silver on qualifying orders. The catch is that it lists fees only as variable (storage may be free), and IRA setup takes 2 to 3 weeks. Get the storage fee and the price-match terms in writing.

Birch Gold Group (#3) covers all four IRA-eligible metals, with yearly storage and admin fees. The catch is premium pricing on some coins, which is the markup under another name, and fees that are not fully disclosed online. Birch bills its info kit as no-pressure; ask for prices, the minimum and the fee schedule by email and hold it to that.

APMEX (#4) is a dealer, not an IRA company: no minimum order, and the cost is the premium over spot, priced against live spot on its site. The catch is that it has no custodian service (it refers IRA buyers to partners) and premiums slightly above discount dealers'. Use it as a benchmark: price the same coin on APMEX before you accept anyone's quote.

Allegiance Gold (#5) posts one flat number: $225 a year, $125 for account maintenance and $100 for commingled storage. The catch is limited self-service online, so the purchase runs by phone, and no published minimum. Confirm the minimum, any setup fee and the markup in the same email.

Priority Gold (#6) charges $50 setup and about $225 a year for custodian and storage, from $20,000, with a no-fee buyback and up to $20,000 in free silver on qualifying accounts. The catch is the first-year fee waiver, which applies only to accounts over $50,000; below that, budget for the full fee from year one.

Sanctuary Metals (#7) handles gold IRA rollovers and self-directed precious metals IRAs and says it explains setup, storage and metal costs before you invest. The catch is age: about two years in business, with limited reviews. It lists its costs only as disclosed before purchase, so ask for the setup fee, the storage fee and the markup before you commit.

Before you roll over: the cheaper way to own gold

Most people who want gold exposure can hold a gold ETF inside the IRA they already have. GLD and IAU trade like any stock and charge 0.25% to 0.40% a year, with no new custodian, no storage bill and no dealer markup.

On $10,000 the fund costs $25 to $40 a year, against Allegiance Gold's $225 before any coin's premium. At Augusta's $50,000 minimum the gap narrows ($125 to $200 a year for the fund, against Augusta's $75 to $150 custodian fee plus $100 to $150 storage), which leaves the markup as the cost that separates them.

The physical route makes sense only if you want metal a ticker cannot give you: specific coins and bars in an approved depository, segregated if you choose, that you can take in kind at retirement. Augusta and Allegiance Gold both sell through a phone-guided process; if a call comes with a deadline, end it and ask for the quote by email.

Before you wire any money, get four things in writing:

The rules that come with a gold IRA

A gold IRA is a self-directed IRA that holds metal instead of stocks or bonds, under the same tax rules as a traditional or Roth IRA. The IRS requires the gold to be at least 99.5% pure (the American Eagle is the statutory exception) and held in an approved depository, so IRA gold cannot be stored at home.

Buying coins or bars outright, from a dealer such as APMEX or American Hartford Gold, puts the metal in your hands with no custodian fee and no tax advantage. Pick the route by where you want the metal to sit, then compare markups on the same coin.

Key Takeaways