Is it worthwhile to use Robinhood for your stock and crypto investments instead of one of the many other investing apps out there? Given that Robinhood has over 23,000,000 users, it must be doing something right.
At HowTheMarketWorks, we provide our members with unbiased reviews of investing apps and tools. We do that by using the tools in question to make sure you’re getting the full picture before you try them for yourself.
Robinhood isn’t a stock recommendation service. It also isn’t a research tool although it does provide some useful educational resources to users.
What Robinhood is, is an excellent brokerage app for beginning investors to start buying stocks (and cryptos). Unlike other brokerage apps, you can open an account and deposit as little as $10 to get started. In this article, we’ll explain what it is, how it works, and give you our honest take on whether using Robinhood to invest is worth your while.
And most importantly…
…We’ll also tell you about the Robinhood free stock promotion and how to get up to $1,700 in free stock when you open a Robinhood account!
What Is Robinhood?
Robinhood is a mobile and online trading platform. Their mission is to “democratize finance for all.”
The company was founded by Baiju and Vlad, who met while they were undergraduates at Stanford. They moved to New York City and founded two finance companies, but before long, they realized something important:
Wall Street firms were trading stocks for almost nothing, while most Americans were paying commission for everything.
Their realization led them to move back to California to build the product that would become Robinhood: a financial tool that would give everyone affordable access to financial markets.
Robinhood is a commission-free platform, which means that users can make trades for free. There’s a premium service called Gold, and we’ll get into the details of what that provides later in this article.
How do I access my free stock?
Robinhood will award you a free stock (value of $5-$200) when you sign up for an account and deposit at least $10 into your account. Then, for every friend you refer, you get another FREE SHARE of a random stock worth between $5 and $200. You can earn up to $1,500 a year in free stock. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FIRST SHARE OF FREE STOCK!
How Robinhood Works
Robinhood is a free app that you can use to buy and sell stocks and other investments and build your portfolio. It’s simple to use even if you know nothing about investing and we’ll walk you through the steps.
#1: Set Up Your Account
The first step is to set up your account. You can do that by entering your first and last name and a valid email address.
You’ll need to choose a secure password with at least 10 characters, and we suggest using a random string of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters for maximum protection. After all, you don’t want anybody stealing your free stock!
#2: Link Your Bank Account
The next step is to link your bank account to your Robinhood account. You’ll need to do this to buy and sell stocks and to claim your Robinhood free stock.
To add your account, you’ll need both your account number and your bank’s routing number, which you should be able to find on their website.
#3: Find Investments to Buy
Robinhood will provide you with a default stock watchlist when you create your account. You can create your own lists by adding stock symbols.
There aren’t a lot of research options on Robinhood, but you can view stock prices and market caps. Clicking on any one stock will give you a chart of historical prices.
You may want to use Robinhood in conjunction with a separate stock research service or do your own research using Google. You’ll want to do at least a little bit of investigating before you commit to buying a stock.
#4: Buy Investments
When you look at the chart for an individual investment, whether it’s a stock, a cryptocurrency, or something else, you’ll see a box at the right-hand side of the screen where you can place your order.
You can choose from a Buy Order, a Limit Order, a Stop Loss Order, a Stop Limit Order, a Trailing Stop Order, or a Recurring Investment.
At the bottom, you’ll see your total estimated cost and click the green button to review your order and finalize your purchase.
#5: Manage Your Portfolio
Every time you purchase an investment, you should add it to a watchlist that you create for your portfolio. You can have as many watchlists as you want.
When you click on Investing at the top of the page, you’ll be able to see cards that summarize your investments. These include:
Your pending deposits and deposit history
Your dividend earnings and payments
Completed and pending orders and transfers
These cards are updated automatically and you can see them whenever you log in.
#6: Claim Rewards
After you link your bank account and buy your first investment, you’ll receive your Robinhood free stock. You’ll get a notification when your reward is ready or you can click the Rewards tab at the top of your Robinhood screen to claim your reward.
You’ll have the option to earn additional rewards as you do more with Robinhood. There’s even an option to get rewards if you refer your friends to Robinhood.
Keep in mind that Robinhood allows for the purchase of fractional shares, so you’re not limited to stocks under a certain amount when you claim your rewards.
How do I access my free stock?
Robinhood will award you free stock when you sign up for an account and refer your friends. For every friend you refer, you get a FREE SHARE of a random stock worth between $5 and $200. You can earn up to $1,500 a year in free stock. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FIRST SHARE OF FREE STOCK!
Robinhood Mobile App
As we mentioned already, Robinhood may be used on the web or with their free mobile app. The function of the website and mobile app are the same, with most of the differences related to how information is displayed.
Here’s a look at how the app displays the list of stocks that achieved a 52-week high.
This is a watchlist for the performance of crypto commodity ETFs.
You can also open Roth or Traditional IRAs through Robinhood and, if you have Robinhood Gold, you may be able to qualify for matching funds from Robinhood.
What we like most about the Robinhood app is that you can buy and sell stocks from wherever you are.
Is Robinhood Gold Worth the Money?
Robinhood Gold is Robinhood’s premium account option. Let’s run through what you’ll get and then we’ll give you our take on whether you should spend your money on it.
Robinhood Gold comes with a free 30-day trial. That means you can try it out without paying anything, and explore these features.
Earn 5.25% APY on your cash deposits
Get FDIC protection to insure your deposits with Robinhood’s partner banks
Earn up to 3% IRA matching funds. (You’ll need to stay with Gold for a year and hold your IRA assets for five years or more to qualify.)
Get between $5,000 and $50,000 of your brokerage deposits instantly
Access to professional research from financial analysts at Morningstar
Access to real-time market data
See bids and asks on securities with Level 2 market data from NASDAQ
Robinhood Gold costs just $5 per month and you can cancel at any time.
Our take is that if you want access to additional features and don’t want to pay separately for stock research, Robinhood Gold is worth $5 per month.
How to Claim Your Free Stock with Robinhood
One of the best things about choosing Robinhood as your stock trading platform is the rewards you can earn.
How Does Robinhood’s Free Stock Promotion Work?
There are two ways to earn free stock after you sign up for your free Robinhood account.
Your first stock will be awarded after you sign up, get approved, and link your bank account. You’ll need to choose your stock or you can have Robinhood pick for you.
You’ll also get additional rewards of free stock worth between $5 and $200 if you refer your friends to Robinhood. Robinhood says that 99% of rewards are worth $5 but some customers get stock worth $100 to $200.
Keep in mind that Robinhood allows for the purchase of fractional shares, so you’re not limited to stocks under a certain amount when you claim your rewards.
How to Claim Your First Free Stock
After you open your Robinhood account and link to your bank account, you’ll be able to claim your free stock. You’ll be given a choice of 20 companies and you’ll have 7 days to choose your stock. If you don’t choose within that window, Robinhood will assign a stock for you.
You’ll get a notification when your reward is ready or you can click the Rewards tab at the top of your Robinhood screen to claim your reward.
According to Robinhood, “The selection of stock is random and is not individually tailored to the customer’s circumstances.” If you want a choice, you’ll need to act within the first week of your approval.
If you want to sell your free stock, you’ll need to wait three trading days after the reward is granted and after that, you’ll wait 30 days to withdraw the cash value after you’ve claimed the reward.
How to Maximize Your Free Stock from Robinhood
The amount of each Robinhood stock reward is randomly assigned. Most people will earn a reward of $5, which they can use to purchase stock, including fractional shares.
The trick to maximizing your free stock rewards from Robinhood is to give yourself as many chances as possible to earn rewards.
After you receive your first share of stock for free, you’ll be given a unique referral link. You can share the link via email, text, or on social media.
For every friend who clicks your referral link and signs up for a Robinhood account, you’ll receive another reward. The range of values is the same as it is for your first free stock, so for each referral, you can earn between $5 and $200 of free stock.
The maximum amount of rewards you can earn in a year is $1,500. You’ll have the best chance of reaching that maximum if you share your link with as many friends and family members as possible.
Pros and Cons of Robinhood
As a trading platform, Robinhood has its upsides and downsides.
Pros:
Buying and trading stocks and cryptocurrency is easy, even for beginners
Robinhood is free and there are no fees for trades
You can trade 24 hours a day
You can choose from the mobile app or a web-based version
If you open an IRA with Robinhood, you may qualify for matching contributions
You’ll get a free stock when you link your bank account and can earn additional rewards going forward
Robinhood sells fractional shares, making it easy to invest in companies you like even if you can’t afford a full share
You can earn up to 5.85% APY on your deposits with Robinhood
Cons:
Investment options are limited in some cases; e.g. not every cryptocurrency is available on Robinhood
Stock research features are not available with the free version, although you can get them with the Gold version
The free version doesn’t come with up-to-the-minute market results
The watchlist features are limited when compared to some other trading platforms
You can’t buy mutual funds or individual bonds with Robinhood
Customer support is limited
If you’re looking for a good trading platform and aren’t in need of in-depth research features, then Robinhood could be the right choice for you.
How do I access my free stock?
Robinhood will award you free stock (up to $200 in value) when you sign up for an account and refer your friends. Then, for every friend you refer, you get a FREE SHARE of a random stock worth between $5 and $200. You can earn up to an additional $1,500 a year in free stock. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FIRST SHARE OF FREE STOCK!
Our Take
Robinhood was one of the first digital trading apps and it offers a solid option for beginner traders and people who prefer a simple and straightforward interface.
Robinhood isn’t ideal for people who want access to a full array of investment options. Its research features are lacking and its screeners are limited, so it’s probably not the best choice if you’re someone who wants to get in depth with stock research.
We love that there are rewards to earn. The option to buy fractional shares is also nice and something that’s not standard among trading apps.
If you’re looking for a bit more information, Robinhood Gold is an affordable option when compared to other premium stock research and trading platforms.
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