Compare Robinhood vs SoFi: IRA, commissions, fees, trading tools, pros and cons. Which online broker is better?

Robinhood vs. SoFi Invest Introduction

Robinhood is one of the most well-known brokerage firms in the world. But does that mean it is the best? Perhaps SoFi Invest would be a better place for Robinhood customers to be. Let’s have a look.

Cost

Services

Open Account

Robinhood: Up to $200 free stock + 3% IRA match + transfer fee refund at Robinhood.

Sofi Invest: Open a Sofi account and get $0 stock trades.

First, Let’s Look at Available Assets and Accounts

Robinhood offers self-directed individual and joint accounts only. In these accounts, the broker offers the following investment vehicles:

- Stocks
- Options
- Exchange-traded Funds
- Futures
- Cryptocurrencies

SoFi Invest subtracts cryptocurrencies and futures from the list but adds closed-end funds. SoFi Invest has more accounts types.

And then there’s SoFi’s automated service. A robo account costs nothing extra and one can be opened as an individual taxable account or one of the others just mentioned. Robinhood has 1% free match for IRAs.

Winner: Tie

Second, We Need to Inspect Their Websites

When it comes time to place some actual trades, both brokerage firms have simple but effective websites. During our probing on Robinhood’s site, we found charts with four (yes, just four) technical studies. There are two graph styles. A chart can be expanded full screen for a quasi-advanced experience.

The trade ticket on Robinhood’s site is integrated on every asset’s profile, so there’s nothing to pull up. There are six order types on the ticket and two duration choices.





Robinhood’s site has a watchlist, and several can be created. There are no alerts, though. The site can be customized with color themes. There are three choices: light, dark, and market hours.

SoFi Invest’s website has no color themes at all. It does have a watchlist, but a second one cannot be created. Alerts cannot be set up for assets, either.





For trading, there is a very simple order form. It only has three trade types, and there are no time-in-force choices at all.

Charting is basically pointless. There is only one plot style. There is no full-screen mode, and we found no graphing tools at all.

Winner: Robinhood

Third, It’s Mobile Trading

SoFi doesn’t do much better on its mobile app. The same order ticket is integrated into the app, and charting is even worse because a graph can’t be displayed horizontally. The one new feature is social networking. This feature doesn’t appear on the website. Traders can follow each other and see what everyone is trading.





Because SoFi Invest clients use the same app that other SoFi customers use, it’s possible to scroll through a lot of personal finance resources on the app. During our investigation, we found tools for mortgages, credit cards, personal loans, and more.

Robinhood’s app also has some personal finance tools, but not nearly as many. For instance, there’s a page for its debit card with details on benefits of using it. The app doesn’t have a community forum, which is another weakness compared to SoFi.





To place a trade, Robinhood’s app has the same trade ticket we saw on the website. Options can be traded with a dedicated derivative order ticket (up to 4 legs). The trade ticket now has integrated profit-loss diagrams (green represents a gain, and red represents a loss). Maximum profit and loss numbers are displayed above the chart.

Graphs on Robinhood’s app have two plot styles (line and candlestick), which is the only advantage over SoFi Invest’s charts.

Winner: Robinhood

Fourth, Let’s Have a Look at Margin Services

Both broker-dealers in this contest offer cash and margin accounts, albeit in different ways.

Robinhood's rate is 5.75% for debit balances under $50K.

SoFi Invest assesses a flat rate (currently 11%) against all loan levels.

Only SoFi Invest displays margin details (specifically, maintenance and initial requirements) for an entered ticker symbol.

Winner: Robinhood

Fifth Is Crypto Trading

SoFi Invest has discontinued crypto trading.

Robinhood charges no commissions on trades of cryptocurrencies. Trades don’t markups or markdowns, either. The minimum trade amount for cryptos at Robinhood is less than $1 for most coins. A separate account is not required.





The downside is that Robinhood only has 13 coins available for trading.

Winner: Robinhood

Sixth, We Need to Examine Research Tools

Neither brokerage firm has much in terms of crypto research. Crypto profiles on both websites show basic charts and news articles. SoFi’s site shows 1-day volume for coins. Robinhood’s software does not.

For securities, neither company has a screener. Both of them have collections of stocks and ETFs. These groups are categories that help searching somewhat. Examples include Daily Movers and 20 Most Popular ETFs. Robinhood’s lists can be sorted by more criteria. Examples include analyst ratings and market capitalization. While this is nice, what we would really like to see is a robust screener. Unfortunately, neither broker has one.

Asset profiles on Robinhood’s website and mobile app have helpful information. Stocks have analyst trade recommendations (for Visa, we found 37 ratings), news articles with thumbnails, key stats, and earnings histories with actual and estimated numbers. At the bottom of a stock’s profile, there is a section that shows what the company’s shareholders are also buying on Robinhood.

Asset profiles on SoFi Invest’s website and mobile app have only brief details. Numbers like daily high, 52-week low, and average volume can be found. There are also news articles with thumbnails

Winner: Robinhood

The Last Category Is Extra Services

Cash Management Features: Both investment firms have debit cards attached to deposit accounts that pay interest and offer long lists of special deals.

Individual Retirement Accounts: Robinhood has 1% free match for IRAs.

Extended Hours: Both brokerage houses offer pre-market and after-hours trading. Robinhood has two hours more than SoFi as well as a 24-hour trading.

Initial Public Offerings: IPOs are on tap on both firms.

Fractional Shares: Ditto.

DRIP Service: Same.

Winner: Robinhood

Recommendations

ETF & Stock Trading: Robinhood has better software, so we have to go with it.

Long-Term Investors and Retirement Savers: Robinhood has 1% free match, while Sofi does not.

Beginners: An automated account with SoFi Invest would be a good way to begin.

Small Accounts: Either firm will work.

Open Account

Robinhood: Up to $200 free stock + 3% IRA match + transfer fee refund at Robinhood.

Sofi Invest: Open a Sofi account and get $0 stock trades.

Sofi Invest vs Robinhood: Judgment

Robinhood won most cathegories. Sofi needs to improve in most areas.

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