In this Acorns Investing review, we look at the app, pricing tiers, debit card/spend account, round-ups, and whether Acorns is worth using.
Touted as the new millennial investing strategy, the Acorns investing app strives to simplify the process for upcoming investors.
Instead of throwing your loose change in a piggy bank, let Acorns invest some extra pennies for you. Note that this app is geared towards investing, so day traders need not apply (unless you want to invest, too!)
The Acorns Investing app encourages you to invest your spare change from debit and credit card purchases using a system they call “roundups. It sweeps excess change from every purchase using a linked account into an investment portfolio.
Acorns Investing Review Rating: 4.6/5
Plans range from $3 to $12 per month, with a $5 minimum to start investing
What Is Acorns? (2026 Review)
Jeff Cruttenden, 28, came up with the idea for the business in 2011 while he was a student in Portland, Oregon. “So many of my friends talked about investing all the time, [but] they had nothing,” he said.
Finally, his dream to make investing accessible to everyone came true, and the Acorns app was launched on August 26th, 2014. Ever since, people have been letting Acorns invest spare change in an automated way, set it, and forget it.
“People generally associate investing with lots of dollars,” said Jeff Cruttenden, co-founder and CEO of Acorns. “Once [people] find out that you can invest spare change, it’s a really attractive concept.”
There are three levels of service, which we will get into below:
- Core
- Later
- A checking account called Spend
Investing in a Core account lets you put a minimum of $5 to work by purchasing a set of diversified exchange-traded funds (ETFs). For $1 per month, Acorns Core automatically transfers money to your account based on your preferences. The app rounds up to the nearest $1 and allows you to transfer that change into an investment portfolio.
For example, suppose you buy a coffee for $4.75. In that case, the app rounds up to $5.00 and automatically invests $.25. Once the roundups reach $5, it withdraws the money and invests in a personalized stock portfolio. Moreover, you can attach a credit card or a PayPal account to your portfolio.
Who Is Acorns Best For?
- Hands off investors
- College students
- People who struggle to save
- Would-be investors with little money to invest
Key Takeaways
- $0 to open an account; $5 is required to start investing
- The core is free for college students
- No commission
- No overdraft or minimum account fees, unlimited free or fee-reimbursed ATMs nationwide
- Up to $250,000 fraud protection
- Phone, email, and in-app chat support
- ETFs from 7 asset classes are available
- Exchange-traded fund expense ratios average 0.10%
- You can now open IRA accounts
Pros & Cons
- Pros
- Easy micro investing
- Automated investing
- Portfolio diversity
- Trading education
- Fractional Shares
- User-friendly
- Cons
- Human, financial adviser not available
- Forced to choose from their five default portfolios
- It is not ideal if you have less than 50 transactions a month
- Only available to US citizens
Acorns Pricing (2026 Subscription Costs)
- Bronze: $3 monthly
- Silver: $$6 monthly
- Gold: $12 monthly
You can visit Acorns’ website for updated pricing here. (Updated 3/26).
Acorns Features and Investing Platform
By simply downloading their free app and linking it to your Acorns Spend debit card, you can spend, save, and invest simultaneously. Think long-term! Acorns offers an easy way to manage your money and investments.
The app rounds up your purchases on linked credit or debit cards and then sweeps the change into a computer-managed investment portfolio. That approach is a useful tool to save more, especially with the launch of Acorns Later retirement accounts.
Furthermore, Acorns Spend offers real-time roundups to your investment or retirement account, mobile check deposits, free ATMs (or reimbursed ATM fees), and requires no minimum balance.
Everything is automated: no minimums, no trade fees, only $1, $2, or $3 until you have $1 million invested. There’s support when you need it. Moreover, it’s free for college students with a valid .edu email address.
You can apply a multiplier to your roundups as well to save more. So, a $0.25 roundup turns into $2.50. This means the app invests about 30% of your income at the end of the month.
Using the Acorns investing app is a great way to save for the long term.
The mobile app gives you a complete view of your account and how to change your future by investing more. Acorns Later customers can allocate One-Time Contributions to the tax year you’re in! Just tap “Invest for your future,” then “Later,” and select the “One-Time” button at the top of your screen.
Our Acorns Investing review found that while automated spare change investing is convenient, the flat monthly fees can eat into returns on small balances.
Accounts & Portfolios
Acorns is a good investment app if you’re starting. It’s a great way to invest your spare change from debit or credit card purchases.
Like other robo-advisors, they take the investing decisions out of the hands of the user. Like any investing company/service, you must answer a series of questions to determine which portfolio is best for you.
They let users choose between five different portfolios on a scale of conservative to aggressive. Users answer basic questions about investment goals and risk preferences, which determine what portfolio their change goes into.
On the other hand, the portfolios are smaller than the average robo-advisor ones. They’re made up of low-cost iShares and Vanguard exchange-traded funds that cover just five to seven asset classes. They include real estate, large-cap stocks (domestic and international), small-cap stocks, emerging markets, and corporate and government bonds.
If that feels too restrictive, you can build your portfolio without the help of a service like Acorns.
Spend (Debit Card & Checking)
If you spend more, you invest more, and the % Acorn takes goes down. At 100 transactions per month with an average of $.25 per transaction, you’ll invest $25 the first month and give 4% to Acorns. At 150 transactions, you’re investing $37.50 and giving almost 2.7% to Acorns. On the other hand, if you only make 50 transactions a month with an average of $.025 rounded up, you’re only investing $12.50 a month. This means they take away 8% of your investment portfolio in your first month.
Robo-Advisory Services
Typically, other robo-advisors charge a percentage of the assets they manage. For example, competitors like Wealthfront and Betterment charge a 0.25% management fee. Furthermore, Wealthfront has a $500 account minimum, effectively excluding those with little money to invest.
Canadian robo-advisor Wealthsimple has relatively higher fees of up to .50% but also offers a human touch. Wealthsimple charges a .40 – .50% account management fee. In contrast, they charge a flat fee of $1, $2, or $3, which is rare.
Really, what’s better than cashback? You are missing an opportunity if you aren’t earning cashback for what you buy. When you shop with Found Money partners, they’ll automatically invest in your Acorns Core account! Cash forward is the new cash back.
This app has been linked with over 200 companies, including Airbnb, Barnes & Noble, Groupon, Lyft, Macy’s, Nike, Sephora, and Walmart.
You shop with the Acorns credit or debit card linked to your Acorns Core account.
Found Money will appear in your account within 60-120 days of your purchase. You can see your Found Money status in your app’s history screen.
Acorns Alternatives
- Stash
- SoFi
- Wealthfront
- M1 Finance
- Vanguard
- Charles Schwab
Acorns Investing Customer Reviews
Acorns Investing has approximately 3,052 customer reviews on Trustpilot with a 3.8 TrustScore (Great as of March 2026).
Bottom Line: Is Acorns Worth It?
I’m 100% behind any tool that automates savings. Their approach is particularly advantageous for college students who don’t have much spare time.
The downside? The app’s fees can cut into or completely wipe away investment returns at small balances. So be aware of this. Compounding is the world’s 8th wonder, and in 4 years of collecting spare change, it can add up! If you want to make the most of your spare change and get the occasional retailer kickback, there’s no better place to do that.
The bottom line is that this app is a great way to build a nest egg, and you should let Acorns invest spare change to simplify it.
Our Acorns Investing review concludes that for beginners and hands-off investors, Acorns offers a clean entry point—but serious investors should evaluate fee impact as their balances grow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Acorns is a good choice for those looking to invest money without prior knowledge. The user-friendly platform offers a micro-investment feature that automatically invests a small amount every time you purchase. Furthermore, your investments are secure in low-cost and diversified funds. Ultimately, Acorns is an accessible platform for beginners to start investing.
Acorns manages $3 billion in assets and has more than 8 million customers. Acorns is a great choice for new investors who want a simple, low-cost way to begin investing. They offer micro-investing and robo-advice.
The platform encourages long-term investing to help users earn money and grow their wealth. If you use the platform correctly, you can eventually make money; you can thank compound interest for that.
If you withdraw funds from your account before you have $1,000, there will be a $2 fee for each transaction. It's important to note that early transfers or withdrawals from any IRA (Individual Retirement Account) frequently result in tax penalties, some as high as 10% or even more.
You can make money using the Acorns app. The more spare change that you invest, the more you will make.
