Robinhood Review: Is It Safe & Worth Using in 2022?
Robinhood is a popular brokerage for active and mobile traders, notable for being the first major brokerage to offer commission-free stock trades. In addition to their commission-free stock trades, Robinhood also offers ETF, options, and cryptocurrency trades and account options with no recurring fees. But is the cheapest stock brokerage the best for your needs? Here’s a closer look in our detailed Robinhood review.
Commissions & Fees - 10
Customer Service - 7.5
Ease of Use - 8.5
Tools & Resources - 8
Investment Options - 8
Account Options - 7.5
8.5
Robinhood is still a commission-free platform and remains one of the few stock brokers that also supports crypto trading. Options traders may also be drawn to Robinhood as it doesn't charge per contract fees on options trades. However, Robinhood still doesn't support mutual funds trading nor does it have any retirement account options.
Robinhood Pros & Cons
pros
cons
Not long ago, the promise of free stock, ETF, options, and cryptocurrency trades were huge perks that set Robinhood apart, but now many other brokerages have raced to match Robinhood pricing. However, it remains popular for active traders and newer investors looking for a straightforward self-managed investment experience.
Who is Robinhood For?
Robinhood is best for beginner investors and active traders. With no recurring fees on basic accounts and no commissions on trades, investors can use this brokerage effectively fee-free if they choose. And thanks to support for fractional trading, investors can dip their toe in the investment pool with Robinhood without the cost of buying whole shares.
Dedicated active traders may want to upgrade to Robinhood Gold, a premium account with a $5 monthly cost. Gold members can access improved market data, larger instant deposits, and margin trading.
Robinhood is responsible for a considerable portion of active trading volume from individual investors. If you want to buy and sell at high volumes, you’re in good company at this brokerage.
Robinhood Features
| Minimum Investment | $0 |
| Stock/ETF Trades | $0 |
| Options Trades | $0 |
| Mutual Funds | N/A |
| Investment Types | Stocks, OTC/Penny Stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Options, Forex, Cryptocurrencies, Futures |
| Accounts Types |
|
| Broker Assisted Trade | N/A |
| Virtual Trades | |
| Customer Service |
What Makes Robinhood Great?
Robinhood offers three levels of accounts, each having varying levels of access to Robinhood’s core features. Here’s a rundown of the most important Robinhood features to know about:
Commission-Free Trading
The primary reason many users choose Robinhood is the cost. With standard accounts, there are no recurring fees. Additionally, there’s no charge for trades. You can buy and sell, and buy and sell without ever paying a penny in commissions to Robinhood.
The only trading fees are required by all brokerages, notably the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fee and the FINRA Trading Activity Fee. These are very, very small. Robinhood doesn’t require this of its customers for sale orders under $500 or transactions with less than 50 shares.
Plus>>Brokers Offering Commission-Free ETFs.
User-Friendly Platform
Once logged into Robinhood, the platform is easy to navigate and use. There are not a lot of extra bells and whistles. The main focus is on your investments, basic investment data, and easy access to the trade button.
Robinhood isn’t the most robust trading platform and doesn’t offer all of the advanced charts and trade types that expert, experienced traders may want. But the basics are covered, making it a good choice for beginner investors and casual investors.
Cryptocurrency Support
Unlike many competing brokerages, Robinhood supports cryptocurrency through a dedicated Robinhood Crypto account section. Robinhood doesn’t charge any commissions to buy or sell crypto, just like other products.
Serious crypto traders should be aware that Robinhood only supports a relatively short list of digital currencies, and users aren't yet able to withdraw to outside crypto wallets. The good news is that Robinhood recently added four new supported currencies (COMP, MATIC, SOL, and SHIB). Crypto Wallet support is also on the way and users won't charged any fees to send, receive, or withdraw crypto from their wallets.
If you’re looking to buy the most popular currencies and hold them at Robinhood, the price is right. But if you're looking for a crypto-specific broker or exchange, these platforms have some sweet sign-up bonuses on offer.
Robinhood Gold Features
Robinhood Gold is a premium account with additional features and improves upon other features with higher limits. The main reasons to sign up for Robinhood Gold are margin investing, Level 2 NASDAQ market data, and professional research reports from Morningstar. Gold customers also have higher instant deposit limits than customers with a basic account.
You can try Gold with a 30-day trial before paying the $5 monthly subscription fee. However, many large brokerage firms offer research reports, all available market data, and margin accounts without requiring payment for a subscription.
Further reading>>Why Are the Online Brokers Going Commission Free?
What Are Robinhood’s Drawbacks?
While fee-free trading seems great on the surface, Robinhood has downsides too. Here are some of the biggest to look out for:
Order Selling Process
If Robinhood offers free accounts with no commissions, you may be wondering how Robinhood makes money. The brokerage relies on a controversial practice called payment for order flow (PFOF). Robinhood makes hundreds of millions of dollars per year from selling customer orders.
The basic idea is that Robinhood gets a small payment from market makers who pay for the right to execute the transaction. This is bad for the customer because it means they may not get the best trade price when entering an order, effectively costing them money on every “free” transaction.
History of Outages and Regulatory Missteps
While the issue isn’t isolated only to Robinhood, the company has fallen victim to a series of newsworthy outages. Even worse, the outages took place during highly volatile trading days when losing access to the markets could be costly to customers.
In fact, the problem was so bad that the Securities and Exchange Commission fined Robinhood $70 million for misleading customers on the issue. The company also came under fire for announcing an SIPC-backed checking account without first telling the SIPC. The account never came to be, signaling poor planning and coordination with regulators.
Monthly Fee for Gold Accounts
Of course, you know when you’re signing up for a subscription with a fee, so it shouldn’t be a surprise if you see a $5 monthly charge once your trial is up. However, as noted above, some brokerages offer what Robinhood charges for without added fees.
Also, because Robinhood can earn further interest from margin-using customers (over $1,000), it’s like paying to access a product that then costs more money to use.
Trade Pricing & Account Fees
If you have not caught on by now, the biggest draw of Robinhood is commission-free trading. Most accounts are fee-free with no trading commissions. You’ll only pay if you opt-in for Robinhood Gold or take advantage of less-common services like paper statements or outgoing account transfers.
Using the margin feature in Robinhood Gold requires paying an interest rate — 2.5% as of this writing — when borrowing more than $1,000. Margin trading is risky and not suitable for most investors.
How to Contact Robinhood
Robinhood offers 24/7 email and phone support to customers, but you have to be a logged-in customer and go through a few steps in the app or on the website to reach the email form. There’s no live chat support.
They also don’t freely provide a phone number for you to call for help. Instead, you must log in and click on a button to request a call from customer support.
So, while around-the-clock phone and email support availability is a great feature, the added requirements to use them are a hassle.
Is Robinhood a Scam?
The short answer is no. Robinhood is upfront about its fees and how it makes money. When it says it doesn't charge commissions, it means it. Plus, your money is protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) up to $500,000 for securities and up to $250,000 for cash. Any investments in cryptocurrency are not protected by the SIPC.
Robinhood is also regulated, just like other stockbrokers, by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It's also a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory organization. However, as noted above, the company has had a history of service outages. And it does rely on PFOF to make money, which some feel presents a potential conflict of interest.
Best Alternatives
Robinhood is an excellent choice for many investors, but it’s far from the only brokerage on the block. If you’re looking for a brokerage with more features, support for mutual funds, or high-end active trading tools, any of these could be worth a look:
| Highlights |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 9.5/10 | 9.5/10 | 7/10 |
| Min. Investment | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Stock Trades | $0/trade | $0/trade | $0/trade |
| Options Trades | $0/trade + $0.65/contract ($0.50/contract for 30+ trades/quarter) | $0.50/contract | N/A |
| Crypto Trades | |||
| Mutual Funds | |||
| Virtual Trading | |||
Bottom Line
Robinhood is a solid choice thanks to low costs and an easy-to-use active trading experience. However, it has some drawbacks that could have you looking for a brokerage with more features or different trade management practices.
If you want to cast a wider net, here’s a list of the top online stock brokers to consider for 2022 and beyond.
Advertiser Disclosure – This advertisement contains information and materials provided by Robinhood Financial LLC and its affiliates (“Robinhood”) and InvestorJunkie, a third party not affiliated with Robinhood. All investments involve risk and the past performance of a security, or financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. Securities offered through Robinhood Financial LLC and Robinhood Securities LLC, which are members of FINRA and SIPC. InvestorJunkie is not a member of FINRA or SIPC.”
I am new to RH, have deposited $100 into it and have to wait a week to start buying stocks (of course the money has already been taken out of my bank account). After reading all of these reviews I am having serious second thoughts about RH. It is now 6/3/2021 and hopefully most of these kinks have been worked out. Does anyone have any recent advice about investing on this site? Thanks.
I agree, they are dirty and messing around with your shares.
First my order got cancelled so I missed the bull ride then they also sold of my shares in the bear fall.
Their customers, the hedgefunds are more important than their users.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone to use Robinhood after what they did and got revealed in GME saga.
My shares were sold off without my knowledge for a lower rate than the market. I thought it was a bug first then more people step forward and told the same thing.
You’re not allowed to own shares in a stock that kan harm their customers, we are only products they can abuse as they like.
I’m new to investing. So my question is if I invest in Robinhood. Do they put a hold or a freeze on my bank account. I know investing can be risky but I just need to know before I start.
This exchange is a scam. They scam people out of money all the time. There are articles about this and them preventing buys and sells on stocks like AMC, which I was a victim to, is criminal. I am filing a lawsuit against them for costing me millions of dollars. I was not able to buy or sell my current position with AMC. The today I still was not able to sell and the order was pending until amc fell to the bottom. this was during trading hours at 9am central standard time. WARNING DO NOT USE THIS APP EVER!!! THEY WILL TAKE YOUR COST YOU MILLIONSJUST GOOGLE IT. I was one of many victims to their scam and if anyone wants proof just ask. I have screenshots that I am turning over to my lawyers to sue the every loving shit out of this POS company that was started by a hedge fund and ripped us all off. What they did was illegal and they should not only have to turn over all their money to the members affected, but go to jail. THEY NEED TO GO TO JAIL FOR WHAT THEY DID TO US! When that trial start I will be there eating popcorn watching them burn go bankrupt as they have done to so many other people across the US. We need a class action lawsuit to add to the 30 lawsuits pending. We need to fine them again too and make sure that the people running this scam never see the outside world again. Send them to jail for life. They ruined so many others and probably caused mental health issues. We lost investors because of what they did. Some will never tough another stock AGAIN! We cannot let them get away with this. We need to sue and they need to go to jail. That is all
Robinhood is the absolute worst!
1. Sent them an email eight days ago and still have not heard back. There is no live person to talk to. Super frustrating!
2. When you try and trade Bitcoin they give you a terrible Ask when you buy and a terrible Bid when you sell. This is not free!
3. Cannot close my account. They aren’t allowing me to transfer out the few bucks to my linked bank account: therefore, I can’t use the deactivation button!
4. Their website is total unintuitive trash!
I have no idea why these clowns are still in business. Pretty much every other broker on the planet is better.
Great review. The article should be updated though to reflect that Robinhood now charges interest on margin above $1,000 and that in order to trade on margin a “Gold” account is required which carries a minimum $5/month charge. Still super competitive compared to the large brokerage houses (TD, Schwab, etc.) but worth noting.
Stock loan programs : Stock loan programs generate revenue for brokers when the stock held in your account is loaned to another trader or hedge fund, usually for the purposes of selling that stock short. Robinhood retains all the income it generates from loaning out customer stock and does not share it with the client.
Most BTC mining is scams, saying from my personal experience. I was once a victim of 5BTC mining, luckily for me, I met a recovery company called the International Recovery Agency. They were able to help me recover my 5BTC. The only option you are left with is to contact the third party in recovering your bitcoin I will advise you to file a complaint with International Recovery Agency (IRA) and provide them with all the necessary information that will aid in your recovery process.
Here is how you can get your Money Back Through the International Recovery Agency ( IRA )
With issuing a charge back you do not have to deal with the binary options company directly, instead, you simply deal with your card issuer or bank & they handle the communications with the specific company that scammed you on your behalf.
The good thing about the charge back is that the customer is generally favored to win the case right from the very start. As a customer issuing a charge back your card-issuer/bank basically takes your side & then it is up to the merchant (the company that scammed you) to prove that they delivered a quality service to you.
By the way, you can initiate a charge back yourself:
1. The Exact Details About The Payment
To be able to handle your charge back claim your bank or card issuer will need all the information about the payments that you made. If you don’t provide this the first time around then you’ll be asked for more information which will increase the length of time your charge back request takes so it’s best to provide everything in one go right from the very start.
You will need the following information:
Details of what you thought you were purchasing.
The date of each payment that you made.
The company that you made the payment to.
Proof of the payment such as a receipt, invoice or any emails received.
The total amount of each payment that you made.
2. Compose Your Letter & Request a Refund
Once you’ve gathered all the information about the transaction that you made your next step is to write to one of their agent directly scopeters2 at g mail dot com or go to “IRA office . org” you will see a file where you have to fill in your name and email then compose a letter & send. Your complaints will go directly to the IRA office where your charge back will be processed and your recovery will be made. They will inform you when your recovery has been made and also give you instructions.
When it comes to binary options scams you were more than likely promised $XX and they didn’t deliver, which is a clear breach of contract and that gives the IRA the right to seek a refund and also compensation for breaching their agreement.
Last please indicate the name of the testimonial who made the publication where you got the recommendations because IRA are compensation every testimonies posted on site so as to encourage the eradication of Binary and online trading scam in the world.
It might sound crazy to people but it really is possible because of the way Bitcoin online trading works. When I started out, I had just £250 in my account, so when the prices rose I earned off of the £250. However, once I had £35,000 I withdrew £30,000 and left £5000 in. This enabled me to earn a much larger profit on the way down. Although I wish I had invested more. Thanks to Nation-crypto and Google Nation-crypto let your money make money for you.
: I invested 8,350 US dollars with scam broker FXG trade and I have never gotten my money back, i was so desperately in need of help to recover all the money back to me, fortunately I came across a colleague that introduced me to a binary options trade funds recovery expert who goes by the name MrJames Luscious when i met them i did not believe that they could get back my money because i have been scammed a lot already and didn’t know what to do, but my spirit told me to give it a try and i did, feel free to contact them via their email address:Jamesluscious1@gmail and they will help you to recover all your lost investment that was denied from you by your scam broker.
Robinhood is a shady company they make it hard to withdraw your funds. This company has not been in business for 10 years and already almost 200 complaints with the BBB alone. That is not including other regulatory agencies. To top it off they have no customer service contact and they will never allow you to call them to resolve issues. I have been trying to withdraw my funds for 4 months and then told that since I refused to start the process of supplying information that I already provided for months again that they were just going to keep my money and there is nothing that I can do. Hey, I see this company like I see whores on corners on the corner. If they are willing to lose all dignity and self-respect for a dollar they need it more than me. I let them keep it shit the devil already beat them up out their soul. I am good. Just take your money to another company to save yourself some time and headache. They are not worth it.
Customer service is so frustrating. There is no way to contact anyone, and the help and support links on the site never worked. I have been trying since October 2018 to get an error on their part corrected. It is impossible to speak to a human, and there is no phone number to call. After no response to my last email in October in which I requested a contact phone number, I received an email today stating that my account was terminated, followed by one stating that I owed them fees. I have no idea if I will be able to resolve this…..it has now been 5 months!
I use this to learn about stocks and investing well everything is great if you are not withdrawing money. i have not found many people that have been to close the account and walk away with their money. I have been attempting this for 2 months and still, I am being told they need something further. Wow at first you just needed my ID and SSN card. Then you need a current bank statement. Then they wanted the statement on the account that I removed because I closed the bank account. Not that any funds went to or from that account they just need the statement. Do not waste your money go to TD or Stash they have actual customer service and they don’t steal so that’s a plus.
Robinhoods customer support is virtually nonexistent. They don’t respond to emails, and many people online report the same issue. They’re the only trading app that doesn’t have phone support. Do not use them, use literally any other trading app. They closed my account with no explanation or email while I still have $500 in my balance. I don’t care if they close my account, I have no intention of ever using them again, I just want my money at this point. It’s been over 30 days and they’re still ignoring my emails on how I can withdraw my money. Like most people $500 isn’t a small amount to me. They should have explained how I can withdraw my money along with why they closed my account. Instead it’s been over 30 days and have went completely silent on me. Avoid this, use any other trading app, literally any other one, just don’t use robinhood.
there is a catch. Anyone trading options will find that you’re paying MORE in slippage and RH not crossing spreads than you’re saving in fees.
example: market bid/ask is .50, .56, >100 lots available on both sides
normal broker: limit buy .53 = execute immediately
robinhood: limit buy .59 IF YOU’RE LUCKY, otherwise they ONLY execute at the ask
net cost vs real brokers: 20x calls * (.06 min difference) – (5+.75*20 commissions saved) = 120-20 = $100 EXTRA than you would’ve paid at a decent broker.
and this is a small example. do this in the hundreds and you will see you’re actually paying THOUSANDS of dollars MORE than with good brokers.
Nothing is free. Snake oil advertising.
Webull app check it out. way more features
The biggest problem I’ve seen with Robinhood (although order entry, graphs to see what’s going on, customer service are also terrible) is that I trade exclusively options and if I sell one or ten options on a stock I have to wait till the next day to use the money to buy more options or stock. I trade an Ameritrade Acct, two Interactive Broker Accts, and recently opened a Robinhood Acct. On the IB system I have lower commisssions than Ameritrade and their minimum for trading one option or stock is $1.50 total with the per option price lower on larger trades. But on every acccount I’ve ever had be it Ameritrade, IB, Etrade, TradeKing, Optiions Express, etc. if I sell five option calls I can immediately use the money to buy puts, calls , whatever. Their rule reminds me of a cash account rules, not a margin acct. The other thing I see as a disadvantage is that if you want to withdraw money you have to sell your position and leave it in cash in their account for five days before you can get it out. I guess they are trying to make up for free trades by getting the interest. Not saying its impossible to trade and make money but you have to have a reserve of a thousand in cash at all times in case the market reverses on you and you need to sell calls and buy puts. So I’d rather pay a few dollars to sell five calls and be able to immediately use the money as I feel I can easily offset the zero commission fees or even avoid disaster. My opinion.
In 2017, i spent almost 6k in trading fees, now that RH offers options trading, all that money stays in my pocket.
HUGE.
I trade options only, they’re an incredibly flexible trading vehicle, you can adjust a single trade endlessly… to hedge, as a response to a change in market sentiment, etc. BUT you can’t do that, particularly in a smaller account, when every trade costs $9.
BUT, you can do that on RH due to trading costs.
HUGE.
Sure, options chains aren’t streamlined if you need to see greeks, volume/OI. So what..? I’m on Optionshouse, just use their site for that. 6K in my pocket, i’ll learn to get around this…
HUGE.
I’ve shared suggestions as to how to speed up navigation and the general clunkiness of the site, i’m sure it’ll improve…
6K in trading fees in my pocket. THAT’s how you grow small accounts.
A tip. Keep half your money in RH, the other half with another broker. That gives you 6 day trades, and you’re still going to save $$.
Use RH for options trading, you’re other broker for equity trades. Even better…
Some don’t seem to understand that you get what you pay for. It’s a free broker. I have an account at Fidelity, Vanguard and Robinhood.
I love the simplicity of Robinhood. My Fidelity app freezes up a lot and sometimes I have to restart the app just to be able to see my portfolio. It’s terrible and they don’t seem to we want to fix it. I opened a 2nd IRA at Vanguard because Fidelity can’t seem to link my account to my bank account so I can add funds. No explanation or resolution yet from them.
To follow up on someone else’s comment. I always do limit orders because market orders are hit and miss regarding actual price. I think it’s because they are a lower priority APEX client. Fidelity seems better on this subject….assuming you can access or put money in your account.
Robinhood is great for lower income people. You can make smaller trades and average in better without the transaction fees that kill people with smaller investments at other brokers.
As other commenters have pointed out, Robinhood will get you with hidden fees, and the customer service is awful. Be very careful with this app! Couple of examples below
1. I asked Robinhood to donate my shares to a charity. Unlike other brokerages, they could not. To transfer my shares to a brokerage that would, they charged me a $75 fee. They refused to waive it despite the charitable cause and despite my pointing out that a $75 fee for a donation is egregious. They also refused to expedite the process (takes 5-7 business days, vs. 1-3 days for most brokerages).
2. It took me 24 minutes before I got a customer service representative on the phone. This followed two unanswered emails to support over 4 days. I asked a Supervisor if he was embarrassed by any of this – at least the wait time to talk to an agent – to which he responded “Not at all sir! That’s just the process here and how we do business.”
2 weeks ago, I joined Robinhood. I deposit $100.00 in it. I’m still researching stocks. I plan to buy stocks the day after New Year’s Day. Last week, I transferred stock account from Fidelity to Robinhood and will be in on Monday. But when I read your review and the comments then I’m worry now! Is it too late to cancel it. If yes then what should I do? Transfer all to other brokerage like Capital One Investing? Or leave it there in Robinhood?
Well, now, ~4mos after your post, this comes indeed too late for you to revert your move. But I’d first add a suggestion NOT to close your account with any brokerage with stocks in it. Just stop investing there, sell each stock and move it into cash. Then move the cash out and ask them to close your account. Opening a brokerage account at firms with account minimums is usually not advisable. That way, Robinhood is great. BUT, their greatness ends just about there! Their customer service is not only NONEXISTENT but BLATANTLY CARELESS and OUTRIGHT DANGEROUS. I say DANGEROUS because the teeny tiny bit of STOCK INFO they post about a stock could be PLAIN WRONG, like PEs, Div. Yields, MktCaps, etc – so investors who don’t crosscheck it against cnbc.com or marketwatch.com or other credible sites are just plain SUCKERS! And complaining about it to customer disservice only WASTES MORE OF YOUR TIME! You can keep a trial account with them BUT BE prepared that they may close the moment their funding runs out.
I just opened an account with Robinhood 2 weeks ago. I deposited $100.00 in it. So far, I haven’t buy stock yet. I’m still researching the stocks before I buy them. I plan to buy stocks the day after New Year’s Day. So far, I have no problem with it. But last week, I transferred stocks from Fidelity to Robinhood because I don’t like to pay trading fees. Transfer is on the way and will get in on Monday. Since I read your review and their comments. Now I’m worry!!! Is it too late to cancel the transfer?
I agree with Peter. I loved Robinhood when I started it since I had spent a lot of money on commissions at Fidelity. However, I am getting frustrated with Robinhood now due to various errors that now forces me to check every stock to make sure I am getting what I am owed. e.g. one of my stocks split and declared a 50% stock dividend that I never got with Robinhod. I noticed this during my regular portfolio checkup. I only got it after I emailed Robinhood about it. Also, I did not get dividends on certain cefs (HQH) and for my SNY stock they posted the dividend twice but in-fact paid me only once. Another problem is that stocks and etfs become temporarily untradeable in Robinhood (e.g. ACWV). I don’t this is very fair on their users that you can’t buy or sell a stock you want.
Don’t sell anything at ‘Market’ price, you never get the market price on this app. I’m an experienced trader and feel there is something very off going on, but I suspect there is a bit of a fiddle going on among the brokers.
Horrible customer service from my experience. Zero accountability with no clear explanation on what’s going on with my money. I would warn others to stay away, but you’ll likely learn once the same thing that happened to me happens to you where money is debited from your account, rushing around trying to get answers, and all you get is a automated response via email
YES! Their customer service is totally absent… my friend said they are very rude on the phone and when she asked to speak to a supervisor wass told they don’t put calls throught to supervisors.. (maybe because they are so rude?)
I purchased a few shares of a stock that happened to do very well, I’m talking 700% well. The app still says I have these shares but the value of those shares does not show the actual value as reported by everyone else.
it actually shows a loss and since this app doesn’t have any human customer support that I have found maybe strangers on the web ‘o’ sphere can shed more light on my issue.
There customer service is less then zero so it great if you don’t need them for anything cause if something goes wrong you will not get ahold of anyone try it if you don’t believe me it’s a joke this customer service
David is correct. I have the same experience. My tax documents were not correct and I sent them 10 email about it and there is only automatic response which is not helpful at all. Also I tried to call the customer service and I was on call for 2 hrs waiting for a rep to answer. Horrible Customer Service.
Absolutely horrible customer service. I have sent several messages via the phone app. I called and was put on hold for 15 minutes and I finally hung up. I sent an email and still have not received a response. Hold off on using this company. It is obviously understaffed and lacks customer service.
That looks like my account LOL .. Robinhood is a great application but I would like to use my account on a better trading software.. Please upgrade.
Can you purchase “penny stocks” with this app?
Hi No you cannot.
Yes you can, I traded IMNP for a bit when I first got Robinhood. I’ve since learned that was a terrible idea and have bought more blue chip and tech companies.
Does this app allow you to invest in penny stocks?
Short answer: No.
Long Answer: OTC (Over The Counter) cannot be traded on Robinhood. Robinhood only has access to the NYSE and NASDAQ exchanges. These exchanges have minimum stock price, and market cap in order for a stock to exist on these exchanges and therefore excludes penny stocks.
Tried to sell stocks and got message that stocks temporarily unavailable for training. Very bad, numerous emails sent no response. Unsatisfactorily!!!!
Robinhood is the worst. I still do not have account it been 2 weeks and nothing. I contact them and hear nothing back.
I have been using robinhood for about 4 months. I learn how to use it and never had any issues until today. I had purchased about 14,000 of a stock, that was bought partially and then later on that day it completed. The system had an error and made me a pattern day trader, even with their protection. So I called and waited for about 40 mins, later I was transferred to a RH broker, that didn’t listen just spoke. He just said you traded more, about the system error, its not perfect, the protection doesn’t protect you every time. Wow, so now I can’t day trade, because their platform is not perfect or accurate. Thanks Robinhood.
Tyler, ever heard of limit orders? Pretty basic… Might want to look into them 🙂
Be leery about this app they won’t let you withdraw your money I’m having that problem right now and the call center doesn’t answer most of the time and when they do they just put you on hold
Did you ever get your money?
More Cons
– No margin account, no short selling
– No pre market, after hours trade
If I wanted to withdraw money that I had invested in RobinHood, how is that done, and how long would it take to get into my account?
Garbage. I had 3 deposits over 3 days for a total of $170. I had sold stock so it was settling up for that. They said they did the deposits. Didn’t add it to total. 14 emails layer I still don’t have it. They also skim off the top too. So if you want to sell at say 1.50 a share you will only get 1.48 per share. Ya Robinhood working for the king.
I went to Ustocktrade and it costs me $1 per month membership and $1 a trade but instant settlement and they answer my emails. Makes it worth it to me. Deposits take 2 days. RH advertising 3 and taking 6.
I been on RH Gold margin for 3 months and it’s great except for the glitches. Customer service sucks completely takes 30 to 40 min if you call them emails take 4 to 5 days to get response to.
How is a 1099 or tax forms sent to you?
You will have your deposit immediately when you are new then they all of a sudden make you wait 5 days or more. When you penny trade this really screws you over. You cannot trade with any unsettled funds from sales either. Stay away it’s junk. Go to a cheap broker.
Hi Larry- another great article!
Any thoughts on how Ustocktrade compares to Robinhood for a beginning Investor?
We’ll add Ustocktrade to our list to review.
Thank’s Larry! Would I get notified of the review if I am signed up for the newsletter?
But of course.
Personally, I love robinhood. I always dreamed about becoming a day trader and with this app I can. No trade fees besides the ~.02 they charge per trade, that’s insane. I’ve been trading with RH since November making only a $50 deposit, and of course adding more when I could. I’ve invested $1000 of my own money and I’m currently 20%+ on my trades. I have my own trading method, as should all. I will not disclose the way I trade because I believe everyone should find their own. But I will say this: Take full advantage of the limit buys and stop loss/limit. Also, damn, only one share of FB since post at $75. I know you wish you had bought more, lol. But honestly, this is the greatest thing for us that cannot afford a broker and want to learn to invest. 5 star rating on my behalf.
Anyone using Robinhood is being ripped off!! They are actually very expensive. What you don’t understand is they are trading against you. They are supplying wide bid/ask quotes.. not REAL market quotes. When you buy – you pay too much.. they take the other side – and immediately close the trade at a risk free profit against you. Same thing on the sell side. They are principal traders – not agency traders. You are paying MORE than a commissioned brokerage!!
Hey millennials – there is no free lunch.. in your quest for free – you’re being screwed!
First of all, I can care less if they take the risk of selling higher than my sale limit…a sale is a sale. And on my limit buys, it has executed where I placed it. If I don’t use my money to make a trade fearing the market and they profit, then they deserve it. RH has always followed through on their promise, and yes there was one time they were behind on the T+3, but my money was available immediately after I emailed them, at 9:00a.m before the markets opened. RH is will succeed and I only wish they can go public, I would definitely invest in them. P.s, I day trade, and since I’m all cash I’m not a day trader. As soon as I hit 30k I’ll go margin. This app is the best thing that happened to all new comers, me included.
@Tyler, Help me understand your statement. I fully understand that you are saying that they are front running my trades, and I lose on getting the best price as a result. However, can’t I mitigate that by using limit orders and stoplimit orders?
That would be massively fraudulent. Like “everyone goes to jail” kind of fraudulent. This is one of those extraordinary claims which requires extraordinary evidence.
well that’s totally incorrect
All you have to do is change the setting to limit buy/sell. Since Robinhood doesn’t have the fastest execution speed (which is understandable considering they don’t charge fees), when you trade using “Market Price” by the time the trade completes it’s going to be slightly off the real time stock price. I made that mistake my first trade, but then switched to only limit, stop, and stop limit trades. And HONESTLY I feel like you should always be using a limit trade to trade safely.
I disagree regarding the allegation that they are supplying wide bid/ask quotes because they do not supply any bid/ask quotes. Perhaps it appears that way when Market Orders are placed, but I always place limit orders and they appear to be executed in an accurate manner. I use the OptionsHouse Mobile App concurrently and rely on their quotes to know what the bid/ask quotes are. I started with exactly $100 and am trading only stocks under $1.00. The stock price quotes I get are to the ten thousandth of a cent, e.g., $0.5294, and the numbers have proven accurate so far. I have been keenly observing the account grow and shrink and feel that there is no skimming of funds. However, it would be an improvement if the bid/ask quotes were supplied.
using limit orders and a separate l2 is a way around this
One should NEVER USE market orders with such pint sized brokerages. Their Limit and Stop limit, Stop loss orders work fine. That said, one MUST BE very attentive to check back on the executed orders and acc balances.
The big question. Should robin hood fail close or bankrupt. Do I lose my money
Robinhood is SIPC insured.
What if it were to close business if the business model failed. Would people with a share or two of a number of stocks that eventually wanted to sell have to pay typical commissions on each sale through a traditional brokerage firm. I could see someone thinking they had made a few dollars taking a huge loss. not due to price decline, but because they had not anticipated broker fees.
Very good review. Just to add a couple comments. It might take awhile before everyone can take advantage of Robinhood Instant. I’m on the waitlist for it but I keep moving back in the list since I’m unable to get friend and family referrals to move up the list. To add insult to injury now my deposit take 5 days to clear instead of 3 days. Other than this recent change I’ve really enjoyed using Robinhood.
Who is the custodian of the stocks that are purchased through Robinhood? How are dividends handled.
Apex Clearing is the custodian/clearer of the transactions. Currently dividends are not automatically reinvested.
I’m calling BS on the 3 day wait for settling trades. Try up to 8 days, including weekends- at least that’s how long my last settlement took. Cash availability- or the general lack thereof- before and after trading has been the only cost so far. That alone can be infuriating when you want to buy a stock that is climbing to a new high the day you plan to buy while RH sleeps with your cash. Robinhood Instant should eliminate the waiting period, however. Despite the current setback I will never pay a commission for trading equities again if I can help it.
Overall, a great product.
Ok seems good will try ,but concern of time it takes to executive Brion
Im new to investing in the market, robinhood would be the first trading account Im considering opening since they are fairly new and others have failed with this style of free trades, what would happen if I sign up/buy stocks and the site goes under. Would it be a pain to transfer my holdings to a long term legit site?
All brokerage firms have SIPC insurance which covers for this type of issue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securities_Investor_Protection_Corporation
If the firm did go under it is unlike FDIC insurance where it make take some time to get the money back, but you will get it back.
I have traded with several other sites over the past 17 years. Some have mediocre service, some have slighly better. I’ve never found one which was perfect. Robinhood’s service is not the best, but, there are several reasons why I would not want to trade anywhere else. A lot of people fear that they’ll “go under”, or that this type of trading site will cause people to do stupid things. First, they are insured, as Larry L. has stated and, second, stupid investors abound all around the world who will make stupid trades without provocation. Robinhood allows you to trade “safer”, in my opinion. Consider this:
Let’s say you have a beginner’s portfolio with $10,000.00.
1) Diversification… If you want to diversify as you really should, typically, you would have to pay possibly $5-20 (or more), depending upon a firm’s commission rates, for each stock’s “round-trip” (one purchase and eventually, one sale). This means that it would cost you $50-200, just to split your investment into 10 separate sectors. You are starting with a one half to two-percent loss, in commissions alone, before you even begin. With Robinhood, it is essentially free to split it up even more, if you like. Hence, diversification is encouraged.
2) Less penalty for human error. If you make a mistake with a stock purchase, it will cost you relatively little (pennies) to sell and start over, to correct your mistake. I’ve been there and done that (embarrassingly) many times.
3) Invest as little as you like. Experiment. Learn without losing your shirt. It won’t cost you an arm and a leg for the education, if you’re careful and start out slow. You are much more likely to sell at a gain or at a smaller loss when you haven’t got a brokerage firm taking a chunk whether you win or lose.
I’m a fairly active trader with a small portfolio, and I’ve been trading with Robinhood for over a year, now. During that time, I have “swiped up to submit” my orders, literally thousands of times. I’ve made deposits and withdrawals and had no problems. I can tell you that, though not everyone will have the same experience, I was up nearly 20% during the past year. That’s right, 2015, the year everyone else went sideways. If I had been trading with ANY other firm, I’d have spent most of my earnings on commissions, and I would have been wasting my time making someone else tens of thousands of dollars that I would rather keep for my family.
Many of the issues stated by other posters above appear to have been corrected. I have spoken with phone support on quite a few occasions. They are helpful, and seem to be improving the service, all the time.
I believe that Robinhood still has some issues for full-time traders (I am not a full-time trader at present):
1) Their execution and trade notifications can occasionally be painfully slow.
2) There is no way to “short” a stock.
3) “Options” trading is not available.
4) Margin trading is still only available for margin-beta customers.
5) You must have an IOS or Android capable device to trade. (I desire a browser-based solution, myself, but this may not bother other traders as much as it bothers me).
But… Robinhood’s price is second to none. That, alone, changes just about everything for the small investor. For most people, there is simply no reason to trade anywhere else. As far as I am concerned, other firms are behind the times, and they are the ones who will change or “go under”.
By the way, your comment about a “…long term legit site”? Right here, Stephen, right here.
Long live Robinhood.
Good luck & smart trading!
I’m thinking of opening an account with robinhood. My intent is to buy shares in increments until I reach 100 shares of paticular securities. Eventually I would like to transfer each security that reaches a 100 shares to Ameritrade. Is this possible?
Hi Jane,
Currently Robinhood does not support ACATS. In plain English this means you cannot transfer in, or out, to perform a like/kind exchange. Whatever you invest in Robinhood you must for now keep at Robinhood until they offer this service.
Hello Mr. Ludwig, is there any truth to what Tyler said? (the top comment about them making wide bids/asks to make money off of it)
Based upon their FAQ they say no.
They do no sell market data, or widen their bid/ask spread. Keep in mind they are using the same clearing house as many other stock brokers.
If they were doing it I would have no direct way of proving it. Do they have the better pricing compared to say a Fidelity or Interactive Brokers? Doubtfull.
I am new to using RH and decided to look for feedback from other sources.
I noticed a statement when I tried to place an order using newly deposited funds:
“Market orders on Robinhood are placed as limit orders at 5% above the market price in order to protect customers from volatility”
This was displayed on a page promoting the Robinhood Gold program.
How exactly does offering to buy a share at 5% above market protect me?
I do consider myself a new investor, so maybe I am simply misunderstanding some more advanced concept here…
If I buy the stock at a 5% markup, doesnt that mean I need to share price to increase 5% before I can make any profit?
Noticed, in your example above, that a market order is placed. Are limit orders also possible? Can advanced sell orders be placed?
Yep. Currently, market, limit, stop loss and stop limit orders can be placed.
i hate it! i use TD ameritrade and decided to try Robinhood so i transferred 1000 bucks to see if it really works. the platform is way too simple but when you want to get our cash out of this app all hell breaks lose, failed transactions for some reason that does no make sense, a lot of emails with no responses since they don’t have phones at their office. it feels like they are doing it on purpose so that you give up and keep the money there.
I had the same exact issue’s you mentioned..
I have never had a problem with calling them, I have the phone number if you need it, someone answers, they seem to have several department now, and it sometimes is a long wait for a human, but just hang in there, for someone to answer the call. sf
When Robinhood made the app available for Android, I grabbed it immediately. I’ve had a traditional online broker for years, but free trades? Sign me up! The updates to the app since its launch have been intuitive and useful. It displays plenty of information on your current holdings giving you the basic tools to make decisions on when to sell or hold. Because you are not gouged by trading fees, a stock price doesn’t have to move that much to make some money. I have seen comments from some that because of the free trade platform and the no min balance that this forms risk for the uninformed market trader. I don’t believe that for a second. I don’t consider myself an expert trader, but in a down market, I am up over 3% in just a month and a half of trades with no losses. I like the app so much that I have exited all my holdings at my traditional broker and now just hold cash there so I can use their tools. If Robinhood wants to make money off my un invested cash, let them. It doesn’t amount to much each month anyways and when it comes down to it, it’s a bargain for free trades. I’m making much more on the trades and saving a lot more without the trading fees than I would be missing from the interest paid on cash held in the account.
The only concern I have is, can they keep it up? I’ll stick with them as long as they can. I have read comments from others where they don’t like the fact that it takes time to transfer money in and out of the account and after a trade, your money is tied up for 3 days afterwards. News flash: All brokerages have the T+3 rule. You might be able to invest money you just freed up from another trade on a traditional broker account, but you wouldn’t be able to sell the holding for 3 days afterwards anyways due to SEC rules. In the case of moving money in and out of the account, I don’t have an account with a well known bank, so my initial setup took a bit longer, but once it is set up, the transfers take no longer than any other online broker. In fact, Robinhood will make deposits right to my account while my other broker sends a paper check. The wait times are the same.
I recommend the app to anyone wanting to play the market. Having a source of trading tools elsewhere does help.
D,
“News flash: All brokerages have the T+3 rule.”
News flash: That is incorrect.
I have accounts with Scottrade and Fidelity. If I ACH money to either account (no wire, no fee), the money is available right then, right there. As in immediately. I can transfer money from my bank account to my brokerage account and buy stock one second later. No waiting three days like you have here with Robinhood.
You still have the settlement to contend with, which is true of all brokerages, but the deposit availability concern is brokerage-specific.
Cheers!
Just three weeks ago, my transferred funds from my bank are instantly available as buying power on Robinhood, Great Improvement. Hope the proceeds from the stocks sales will soon be available as buying power too!!!
Jason,
You are right. My husband transfers money all the time to his brokerage and it is there immediately and he trades the same day.
I think Robinhood is still great for people who are just starting out and want a feel for the market.
News flash, you’re trading on margin.
D is actually correct. the bigger firms just loan you money til yours gets there.
Robinhood is a fabulous way to trade on the go, and, though I had to purchase an IPad to use their service from the local Best Buy, it paid for itself several times. I trade small trades, very frequently, and if I had been charged a commission during this time, I would have several thousands of dollars for the trades I made during the last few months, and it would have been a losing battle. As it is, I’m beating the major indexes with my investments, and very happy. If I paid a commission, I would only be beating my head against the wall. Can’t wait for margin trading and a web interface.
It’s a great way to invest for the little guy who won’t get his profit skimmed off the top by the brokerage firm in the process (not to mention what’s left, by the IRS).
I hope they last a long, long time, and encourage others to join in the revolution!
Michael
Actually consumers do get skimmed from the top! It’s called having wide spreads. Cheap brokers such as Robinhood make money using this strategy while advertising cheap (in this case “free”) commission rates. Further, Robinhood charges regulatory fees.
Love the idea of this app but there are some more draw backs. When the market first opens, it usually takes about 30 or so minutes for my portfolio to sync up. Not everything resets immediately so when you open the app, you actually are still looking at the previous days performance. I have to use an external website (barchart) to monitor the prices when the markets first open. Also, I’ve noticed that the market price might not be as accurate as it should be when purchasing so I tend to use a limit order to avoid overpaying on something. All in all, it’s a good product but would like to see a web interface with more tools and the phone app to refresh a little more accurately.
This must be an old problem. Looks like it has been fixed.
I’ve been using Robinhood for 6 months, and I find the email support team responsive and the app intuitive. I’m a “buy-and-hold” investor, so their policies meant to limit day trading don’t really concern me. I was concerned about the lag for order execution, and I just place limit orders as a hedge against volatility in the prices of thinly traded stocks. Altogether, I’ve found Robinhood to be an excellent substitute for most of my investment activities with Scottrade.
The email support time is so bad I’m convinced they are robots
I agree. It want even let me get my money out. Looks like I’m going to have to get an attorney just to get what’s mine.
To get your money out of Robinhood, open an account with another brokerage like TD Ameritrade etc and they will do the brokerage to brokerage request to fund your new account. I hope this helps.
One significant downside of Robinhood is the time it takes to transfer money into it (for me it’s been 2-3 days) and then the time it takes to settle trades when you sell (again, 3 days). This means if you want to be able to day trade you need to keep a rotating balance that is available at all times to invest since you can’t sell a stock and use the proceeds immediately…or even close to immediately!
I agree with what Tempo36 says. Robinhood should be able to speed up the process of transfering money from our bank account to Robinhood account and also to settle trades so that we can do daily trades with our funds.
It does take 2-3 busines days since it uses ACH deposits (automatic clearing house). This is industry standard. ALL financial companies use this and it’s the exact same number of clearing time for deposits and transfers.; 2-3 business days. Only way to avoid this delay is if you do wire transfers, which is not free.
3 days to settle trades (buy or sell) is also standard and ALL brokers are bound by this. Robinhood can’t do anything about it unless the industry regulators speed up the process
I have had Robinhood for 2 yrs now and I enjoy using it. I don’t experience the same 2-3 day delay when transferring money it is always available immediately. It may take up to two days to leave my account. However, the web-based platform can use a makeover. I guess this is how they are able to offer FREE trading for everything. But now that I have gotten my feet wet in the market I will be moving on to a bigger company that has more trading available. I will keep Robinhood just to play around with.
This is the case with ANY cash based brokerage account. I’m guessing in your other accounts you have “margin approval”. This is what allows you to make trades with transfers immediately and to buy/sell same day with the same cash. In the background, your brokerage is actually “lending” you the money in between settlement dates.
Once Robinhood adds Margin trading you should be able to do what you’re looking to do.
I’ve not had the issue with waiting for funds from my account. Once I request the transfer from my bank, it shows up automatically as money available to trade. You are basically trading on Margin, if I understand that correctly. I love the app and have used it regularly, I’ve lost a little, and made a lot. That is the way it goes with trading stocks. So far I’ve only invested $300 and that is money I would lose at the casino. This is much more fun than watching cherries fly by on a screen.
Waited less than two weeks to get invitation after having six friends respond to my “get on the list” link. Without those signups, I’m thinking the wait would have been months based on my place in line before/after those additions. Easy to transfer $ from Citi checking account. 24 hours & Robinhood account still in “application” review. I’ve heard it may take a few days for $ to transfer from Citi & get approval to trade. I’m primarily a buy/hold long term investor with primary account at CapitalOne Sharebuilder, $6.95 a trade. Plan on using Robinhood for “trading” some MAD $ penny stocks. As a retired guy, I’m not in the millennial target group but I do luv me all things Apple, especially my iPhone 6+. And free is FREE!
Another insightful review of an online broker from you Larry. What I worry about is the incredible proliferation of firms that are offering cheaper and cheaper options with very little access points if things go wrong. Trading stocks is great if you’ve got the talent and cool to do it well. But are some of the cheaper options going to attract investors who could easily get pounded by extreme market volatility, when an email question is barely more useful than mailing a letter.
Thanks Tracey.
I downloaded this app a few weeks ago. I’m not going to play around on it until my Roth IRA is fully funded, but thanks for the review!
I was robbed using the Robinhood app. All my stocks were sold off and three separate transactions were made. Online purchases to a company I cannot even look up. 1300 dollars gone. The only means of communication with Robinhood is through email. When you’ve just had your entire saving stolen, you would like to speak with someone. The transactions were all still pending and up until this point I’d never used the card. If I did sell any stocks I would wait for the money to turn liquid and transfer it to my account. The fact that every stock was sold and immediately all that money spent should have raised some red flags. I’m now 3 days into the process and in that time the transactions have processed. I’m hoping this will he handled within a week or so. The best I’ve read thus far is this process could take up to a few weeks
Cetrainly looks like Robinhood participated in an attempt to manipulate the market place today by preventing Free market trades of BB AMC and GME. Certainly leaves an impression of helping out their shorting buddies, losing their bank accounts on their short positions.