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- >SoFi vs. Robinhood
As online investing becomes the norm, more people are seeking new tools that will allow them to grow their portfolios. When it comes down to it, finding a good online broker is the first step towards a successful investment journey. However, it can be daunting not just for beginners but even expert traders and investors looking for a platform that supports adequate trading with access to all the necessary tools and at reasonable costs.
SoFi Invest and Robinhood rank among the top platforms when it comes to Robo-advisors. These two come with a zero-commission model on all trades making them an ideal choice for both beginner and expert traders.
While they both offer a wide array of financial services and instruments to choose from, SoFi Invest stands out for its offer of student loan financing and insurance. SoFi Invest also comes with a feature for automatic investing not to mention more than 20 cryptocurrencies which is more than what Robinhood offers.
Even so, Robinhood has its perks with standout features such as its offer for taxable accounts as well as margin accounts that experts traders looking to maximize their returns will appreciate.
Here is a look at some of the pros and cons that come with these two Robo-advisors.
Robinhood Overview
Compared to SoFi Invest, Robinhood offers pretty much the same tools and features, however, a glance at Roinhood’s interface and one can quickly see that it is built with the sophisticated investor in mind. Founded in 2013 by experts in high-frequency trading platforms (Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhat), Robinhood is a U.S based financial services platform focused on offering investors a mobile-first platform for commission-free investing and trading.
Their application comes with a host of features such as margin investing with an instant account, commission-free crypto trades, options investing, and access to stocks, fractional shares, and ETFs. For expert traders, Robinhood offers multiple order types, especially when compared to what you will find on SoFi Invest. For instance, you can set up a stop-loss order, a trailing stop order an after-hours order, or a simple market order.
Beginners might find the Robinhood platform a bit intimidating when compared to SoFi as there are no automated trading and investment tools as is the case on SoFi Invest. Even then, Robinhood is designed to appeal to sophisticated investors and has a level of simplicity that gives beginners an intuitive user experience.
- A great one-stop shop for anyone looking to invest in cryptocurrency or stocks
- Easy onboarding procedure requires very little from user
- Fully regulated financial institution in the United States
- Support for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, DOGE, ETC, and BSV
Robinhood Pros & Cons
Pros
Commission-free trading with fractional shares
Supports crypto investing
Margin accounts are available
Offers market research at affordable rates
Offers multiple technical analysis tools and order types
Cons
There are no automated investment options
Doesn’t come with support for IRA investment accounts
Customer support could be better
SoFi Invest Overview
Founded in 2011 by four students who go by the names Mike Cagney, Dan Macklin, Ian Brady, and James Finnigan, SoFi Invest initially began as a platform that offered students loan refinancing. The platform originally used an alumni-funded lending model to connect recent grads with successful alumni in their community. This established SoFi Invest as the first company to ever offer to refinance federal and private student loans in the U.S.
Since then, SoFi has grown to offer additional financial services such as mortgages, personal loans, stocks, ETF, and cryptocurrencies. So far the platform has over 1 million members and boasts of being the first U.S based fintech company to receive $1 billion in the first round of funding.
For investors, the SoFi Invest platform features a capacity to trade stocks, options, and even make broker-assisted trades at zero fees. Some of the investment accounts on offer at SoFi include IRA accounts that come with automated investing, as well as a savings account that makes up part of SoFi’s finance products.
- Receive $10 when you start trading crypto assets
- Only available in the United States
- Completely custodial platform
- Supports BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH & ETC
SoFi Pros & Cons
Pros
Supports more than 20 cryptocurrencies
Offers automated investing with fractional dividend-paying shares
There are no management fees
Commission-free trading
Features Roth or Traditional IRA accounts
Cons
There is no options trading or bonds
Limited tactical trading tools
A large mark-up on crypto trades
The platform is only available in the U.S
Beginner Friendliness
Both SoFi Invest and Robinhood are designed with beginner-friendly user interfaces. SoFi Invest gives its users plenty of educational resources on stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and retirement. SoFi users benefit from the webinars and investor dictionaries that come with the platform. What’s more, their app is available on both Android and iOS devices making it easily accessible.
The same is true for Robinhood as it features an intuitive user interface.
Although it is a mobile-first company, Robinhood also comes with a web-based platform that has a pleasant user experience. Users get to customize the platform according to their specific needs which are great.
However, SoFi has the edge over Robinhood in terms of beginner friendliness as SoFi Invest comes with access to financial advisors who can walk new investors through best practices in the investment space. What’s more, SoFi does this at zero costs to the user.
Fees & Transaction Charges
When it comes to fees, both platforms are at par. SoFi and Robinhood both offer zero charges on trade execution. However, you can expect to pay a $20 IRA account closure fee on SoFi finance.
On both platforms, there is a $75 fee for partial and full account transfers. Robinhood doesn’t come with a minimum account balance requirement but SoFi requires a $5 minimum deposit. Robinhood also comes with a $1000 minimum account balance but on its margin trading accounts.
Trust and Security
Both Robinhood and SoFi offer top-notch security. With Robinhood, your funds are protected by an insurance cover of up to $500,000 should anything happen to the platform. Robinhood is a member of the SPIC (Securities Investors Protection Corporation) which protects its member brokerage firms from failure and failures are rare. What’s more, Robinhood uses industry-leading standards to protect accounts on its platform. These measures include password protection with industry-standard BCrypt hashing algorithms and an encryption system that keeps users’ social security numbers and other sensitive information secure.
SoFi Invest also takes security seriously with features such as two-factor authentication for all accounts as well as a function to freeze out a card from further spending from the SoFi app whenever fraud is detected. SoFi Finance, just like Robinhood is FDIC insured.
Supported Cryptocurrencies
These two platforms support the trading of various crypto assets. SoFi Invest however takes the lead with its offer of over 20 cryptocurrencies including popular options such as Bitcoin, Ethereum. Litecoon and Cardano.
Robinhood only supports about 7 cryptocurrencies on its platform which include Dogecoin, Bitcoin, and Ether to mention a few.
Outstanding Features
In comparing the two platforms, Robinhood stands out for its offer of powerful research and analysis tools aimed at helping sophisticated investors and traders get the best from the platform. While there is nothing much to write home about their mobile app, the Robinhood web platform offers several tools such as column customization, watch list management, and a view of the top gainers in the market making it worthwhile.
SoFi on the other hand, excels in terms of a variety of financial features and tools such as the ability to open an IRA account among other personal finance solutions that are hard to come by on a platform such as Robinhood. It is also worth noting that SoFi Invest supports a greater number of crypto coins to trade and invest.
CryptoVantage Verdict: SoFi Slightly Better for Crypto
Choosing the best Robo-advisor or brokerage app for your investment needs comes down to your preferences and taste.
Robinhood suits investors and traders who are interested in having more control over their investment activities and want a robust set of tools to help them do that.
SoFi Invest on the other hand, is geared more towards investors who want to set up their dollar-cost averaging strategy on some stocks, ETFs, and crypto investments they believe in. SoFi appeals more to hands-off investors who are either beginners or looking to set up automated investments.
