Acorns Review
By Itai Varochik | Last updated February 1, 2026
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Our Verdict
Acorns is the best investing app for absolute beginners who need the simplest possible path to start investing. Once your balance grows past $5,000, evaluate other options.
GetASearch Score: 7/10
Rating: 3.8/5 (2340 reviews)
Pros
- Easiest way to start investing
- Round-ups create automatic investing habit
- Retirement accounts included
- Found Money bonuses from shopping
- No percentage-based fees
Cons
- Flat fee expensive for small balances
- No individual stock selection
- Limited customization
- Round-ups alone build wealth slowly
- No tax-loss harvesting
Score Breakdown
| Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Features | 6.5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 9.5/10 |
| Value for Money | 6.5/10 |
| Customer Support | 7.0/10 |
| Overall | 7.0/10 |
What is Acorns?
Acorns is a micro-investing application designed to make investing accessible and automatic for everyday users. It achieves this primarily through its 'Round-Ups' feature, which automatically invests the spare change from linked debit and credit card purchases, effectively turning small transactions into consistent savings. Beyond micro-investing, Acorns also offers traditional recurring investment options, dedicated retirement accounts (Acorns Later), and even a checking account with a debit card (Acorns Spend), aiming to foster comprehensive long-term financial habits and simplify money management.
How We Tested Acorns
We tested Acorns for three months across its core micro-investing, retirement accounts, and banking features. Our evaluation covered ease of use, investment performance, fee structure, and customer support. We assessed account setup time, round-up frequency, portfolio growth, and transparency of charges to provide an objective score.
How round-ups work
<p>Link your debit or credit cards, and Acorns rounds every transaction to the nearest dollar, accumulating spare change in a holding account. When the total reaches $5, it is invested in your chosen portfolio. You can enable multipliers (2x, 3x, 10x) to accelerate investing. In our testing, natural round-ups generated approximately $30-50/month.</p>
Investment portfolios
<p>Acorns offers 5 pre-built portfolios ranging from Conservative to Aggressive, built from diversified ETFs (Vanguard and iShares). You cannot customize holdings or buy individual stocks; it is fully automated. Performance tracks closely with benchmark indices.</p>
Acorns later (retirement)
<p>IRA accounts (Traditional, Roth, SEP) are available. The setup is simple: answer questions about your retirement goals and Acorns selects an appropriate portfolio. For people who would otherwise not open a retirement account, Acorns Later removes the intimidation factor.</p>
Acorns earn
<p>Found Money partnerships give you bonus investments when you shop at participating brands (Nike, Walmart, Chevron, and others). The bonuses range from 1-10% of your purchase, invested automatically. In six months, we earned approximately $45 in Found Money bonuses from normal shopping.</p>
Pricing
<p>Bronze: $3/month (investing + retirement). Silver: $6/month (adds checking + Earn bonuses). Gold: $12/month (adds family accounts, increased Earn bonuses, emergency fund). The flat fee structure means Acorns is expensive for small balances: $3/month on a $500 balance is an effective 7.2% annual fee. At $5,000 it is 0.72%.</p>
Our verdict
<p>Acorns is the best investing app for absolute beginners who need the simplest possible path to start investing. The round-up mechanism creates an investing habit without requiring discipline. Once your balance grows past $5,000, evaluate whether the flat fee makes sense compared to Betterment or Wealthfront's percentage-based pricing.</p>
Acorns Features
| Feature | Available | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Round-Ups | Yes | Automatically invests spare change from linked purchases into your investment portfolio. |
| Recurring Investments | Yes | Set up regular, automated deposits into your investment account. |
| Acorns Later | Yes | Offers IRA retirement accounts (Traditional, Roth, SEP) for long-term savings. |
| Acorns Earn | Yes | Earn bonus investments when shopping with partner merchants. |
| Acorns Spend | Yes | A checking account with a debit card that automatically invests spare change. |
| Found Money | Yes | Similar to Acorns Earn, but often involves one-time bonus investments from specific brands. |
| Diversified Portfolios | Yes | Invests in pre-built portfolios of ETFs based on your risk tolerance. |
| Educational Content | Yes | Provides articles and resources to help users understand basic financial concepts. |
Acorns Pricing
$3 – $12/mo
Best For
- Investing beginners seeking an easy entry point into the market with minimal effort.
- Individuals who struggle with traditional saving methods and benefit from automation.
- People looking to automate their investing process and build wealth passively.
- Students or young professionals with limited disposable income who want to start investing small amounts.
- Users interested in setting up a hands-off retirement account (IRA) with simplified management.
- Those who appreciate integrated financial tools, including a checking account with investing features.
Not Ideal For
- Serious investors with $10,000+ who require advanced features like tax-loss harvesting or direct stock trading.
- Fee-conscious investors with very small account balances, as the fixed monthly fee can be disproportionately high.
- Users who prefer to actively manage individual stocks, cryptocurrencies, or complex portfolios.
- Those seeking in-depth financial planning advice or highly customized investment strategies.
- Investors who prioritize the lowest possible fees, especially for larger portfolios where percentage-based fees might be cheaper.
Final Verdict
Acorns is the best investing app for absolute beginners who need the simplest possible path to start investing. Once your balance grows past $5,000, evaluate other options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Acorns worth $3/month?
On a $500 balance, $3/mo equates to a 7.2% annual fee, which is quite expensive and can significantly erode returns. However, on a $5,000 balance, it's a more reasonable 0.72%. Acorns generally becomes cost-effective and offers good value once your investment balance exceeds approximately $2,000-$3,000, as the fixed fee is spread across a larger asset base, making the percentage cost much lower.
How does Acorns make money?
Acorns primarily generates revenue through its monthly subscription fees, which vary based on the tier of services chosen by the user. They also earn a small amount from interchange fees on their Acorns Spend debit card and potentially from partnerships through the Acorns Earn program. Unlike traditional brokerages, they do not charge trading commissions on individual trades, simplifying their revenue model for users.
What kind of investments does Acorns offer?
Acorns invests your money into diversified portfolios consisting of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). These ETFs hold a mix of stocks and bonds, providing exposure to various asset classes across different industries and geographies. Users select a portfolio based on their risk tolerance, ranging from conservative to aggressive, and Acorns automatically manages the underlying asset allocation and rebalancing.
Is my money safe with Acorns?
Yes, your investments with Acorns are held at a brokerage firm that is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for cash claims) in case of brokerage failure. Additionally, cash in Acorns Spend accounts is FDIC-insured up to $250,000. Acorns also employs bank-level security, 256-bit encryption, and multi-factor authentication to protect your personal data and transactions.
What are the different portfolio options available?
Acorns offers five core portfolio options, ranging from Conservative to Aggressive. These portfolios are constructed using a mix of six different ETFs: large company stocks, small company stocks, international stocks, government bonds, corporate bonds, and real estate. The allocation of these ETFs varies depending on the chosen risk level, with more aggressive portfolios having a higher percentage of stocks.