Stash Review
A subscription robo-advisor at a flat $12 a month, which is the whole story: the fee is fixed, so the smaller your balance the worse it is.
About Stash
A subscription robo-advisor at a flat $12 a month, which is the whole story: the fee is fixed, so the smaller your balance the worse it is. Stash is offered by Stash Investments LLC (SEC RIA, CRD #226550) and currently holds an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 across 311,000 user reviews. It falls into the Robo-Advisor category and tends to be the strongest fit for investors past roughly $15,000 who want one flat price rather than a percentage.
Editorial grade: C+ (composite score 61/100).
Highlights
- Single $12/month subscription since 1 August 2026, or $108 billed annually
- Additional 0.25% annual fee on Smart Portfolios and Managed Retirement Accounts over $1,000
- Assets custodied at Apex Clearing Corporation, SIPC covered to $500,000 including $250,000 cash
- Banking through Stride Bank, N.A., FDIC insured to $250,000
What we like
- One price with no percentage fee until $1,000, which is simple to understand
- Stock-Back debit card returns fractional shares rather than cash
- Registered investment adviser with a real Form ADV and a FINRA member broker-dealer behind it
Where it falls short
- The flat fee is punishing on a small balance: $144 a year is 14.4% of $1,000 and 28.8% of $500. You need roughly $57,600 invested before it equals the 0.25% Stash charges on its own managed portfolios
- Its advertising still says start with $5 and a $3 a month plan, both of which the current disclosures contradict
- Idle cash earns up to 0.10% while Stash and its clearing firm keep the spread, which Stash discloses in its Form ADV
Fees, minimums, and rates
Monthly fee: $12/month, plus 0.25% a year on managed balances over $1,000. Minimum to open: $5 to open, though the subscription makes small balances uneconomic. Rates and promotional offers change often, so we re-verify every listed number on a rolling schedule and stamp the review with the date of the most recent check.
How we reviewed it
Our brokerage and robo-advisor reviews weight costs and fees (25%), platform and tools (20%), asset selection (15%), account types (10%), education and research (10%), customer support (10%), and trust and safety (10%). We place real trades, fund retirement accounts, and test research features before publishing a score. For this review of Stash, our editors funded an account, walked through the full onboarding flow, and compared the experience to the other products in the Robo-Advisor shortlist. Scores are not influenced by affiliate relationships — partners cannot pay for better rankings, and our rubric is the same for every brand.
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Read our full editorial methodology and advertiser disclosure for more on how we fund our testing and why that matters for the reviews you read here.