When it comes time to invest, knowing what stocks to buy, when to buy them and at what price can be an overwhelming prospect. What might make it less intimidating is if you were able to get some stocks for free or in addition to money you were already going to invest. With less anxiety about out-of-pocket expenses, investing may be looking up.
See: 3 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000
10 Best Ways To Get Free Stocks
It may sound too good to be true, but many companies offer free stocks for signing up through their services or apps. With no or low cost and little effort, you could begin building your portfolio immediately. If you are looking to begin investing or just want to expand your investment portfolio, here are 10 options to get the best free stocks.
- Acorns: $5 bonus offer
- Firstrade: $3 to $200 range of bonus offers
- Fundrise: $10 bonus offer
- M1 Finance: $10 bonus offer
- Moomoo: $3 to $200 range of bonus offers
- Plynk Invest: $10 to $100 range of bonus offers
- Public: $10 bonus offer
- Robinhood: $5 to $200 range of bonus offers
- SoFi Invest: $5 to $1,000 range of bonus offers
- Webull: $52 to $30,600 range of bonus offers
1. Acorns
- Free stock value: $5
- Available via: App Store or Google Play
Acorns is an app designed to help people new to investing by micro-investing for them with every purchase through a linked debit or credit card. For example, if you bought an avocado toast and it cost $11.75, Acorns would employ its Round-Ups feature on your purchase to $12 and invest 25 cents on your behalf.
Unfortunately, Acorns does charge a monthly fee.
How To Get Free Bonuses
To get your first free investment, you just have to sign up for Acorns through a friend’s referral link and create an account. You’ll need to make an initial investment of at least $5 to receive the bonus investment of $5.
Once you’ve signed up for Acorns, you can also earn $5 bonuses by referring friends.
Pros and Cons of Acorns
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Robo-advisor functionality | Fewer investment selections than competitors |
| Fixed-fee model | Relatively high fixed fees for smaller balances |
Things To Know
- $3 monthly fee for the personal plan
- $5 monthly fee for the family plan
- Fixed fee model
- No self-directed investing options
2. Firstrade
- Free stock value: $3 to $200
- Available via: App Store or Google Play
Firstrade offers many trading education tools and specializes in trading stocks, ETFs and options. You can get free stocks just by opening an account and putting down the initial deposit of $100.
How To Get Free Bonuses
You can get free bonuses by following these steps:
- Log in to your account and click on “Customer Service.”
- Select “Free Stocks” to get your referral program link.
- Share your link with friends and invite them to open an account.
- If a referral is successful, you are rewarded with free shares in a varying amount — between $3 and $200.
Pros and Cons of Firstrade
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Large selection of available investments | Limited customer support |
| Commission-free mutual funds | High margin rates |
Things To Know
- $0 commission online trades
- $0 options contract fees
- No mutual fund trading fees
- Poorly reviewed customer support
- Must be a U.S. resident to get free shares
3. Fundrise
- Free stock value: $10
- Available via: App Store or Google Play
Fundrise is a real estate investment platform that offers multiple account options, as well as the Fundrise iPO. Investing on such a platform allows you to diversify your portfolio with real estate holdings.
How To Get Free Bonuses
To get the free bonus stock, simply create an account with Fundrise and you’ll earn $10 in free shares. You don’t have to be accredited to invest, which makes getting started easier.
Pros and Cons of Fundrise
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Don’t need to be accredited to invest | Low liquidity for investment |
| Low minimum deposit for investment | Complicated fee structure |
Things To Know
- IRA accounts available
- Low minimum investment
- High illiquid investment
4. M1 Finance
- Free stock value: $10
- Available via: App Store or Google Play
M1 Finance has a useful financial and investment app. On it, you can spend, borrow and save with your own customizable strategies.
How To Get Free Bonuses
Though it doesn’t always offer free shares, it offers several promotions throughout the year where you can get free stock in bonuses when signing up and depositing $100. You may even get offered higher bonuses ranging between $3,500 to $10,000 if you trade your brokerage account to an M1 Invest account. These are good bonuses to keep a look out for when starting to invest.
Pros and Cons of M1 Finance
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Low expense ratios | No tax-loss harvesting |
| Fractional share trading | No access to human advisors |
Things To Know
- No commissions
- Wealth-building financial tool options
- Fractional shares on stocks and ETFs
5. Moomoo
- Free stock value: 1 to 15 stocks, valued from $3 to $200
- Available via: App Store or Google Play
Moomoo is an investing platform with an intuitive app that allows you to trade with professional-grade tools. It offers a variety of tools, including powerful stock charting software.
How To Get Free Bonuses
You can get a free stock just for opening an account, but the more money you invest, the more stocks you get for free. With an initial investment of $1,000, you can get up to 15 free stocks as a bonus.
Pros and Cons of Moomoo
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Powerful stock charting software | Fewer features than other leading competitors |
| Free Level 2 market data | Does not have a robo-advisor feature |
Things To Know
- Can get up to 15 free stocks
- $0 commission fees
- Free paper trading
- Low margin rates
6. Plynk
- Free stock value: $10 to $100
- Available via: App Store or Google Play
The Plynk app is user-friendly and designed to help beginning investors. It has many tools to help you learn about investing, and it offers options to invest in stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrency.
How To Get Free Bonuses
When you sign up, you get a $10 bonus to start investing. Plynk will also match deposits for up to $100 when you begin your investing journey.
Pros and Cons of Plynk
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great for beginning investors | $2 monthly fee for some features |
| Extensive educational resources | No demo account |
Things To Know
- Can redeem unused gift cards to invest
- Minimum of $1 to get started
- $2 monthly fee for some features
7. Public
- Free stock value: $10
- Available via: App Store or Google Play
Public.com started with the intention of opening the market to everyone publicly. Through it, you can invest in stocks, crypto, ETFs and alternative assets. There is even a social feed aspect for users to exchange information about companies.
How To Get Free Bonuses
When you get started, Public offers a free $10 sign-up bonus for making an initial deposit, as well as the ability to gift free stock or fractional shares to referrals you make.
Pros and Cons of Public
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Can trade alternative assets | Fewer investment tools than leading competitors |
| Social investing features | Doesn’t support mutual funds |
Things To Know
- Commission-free trading
- Investment opportunities for curated lists of stocks and ETFs
- No payment for order flow
8. Robinhood
- Free stock value: $5 to $200
- Available via: App Store or Google Play
The investment app Robinhood offers commission-free trading on stocks, ETFs and crypto. It has an intuitive interface available for desktop and mobile access.
How To Get Free Bonuses
You get a free stock when you sign up for its service. Once signed up, you play a pick-a-card game and get a free share of stock, which will range in value.
Pros and Cons of Robinhood
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Commission-free trading | Fewer analysis tools than leading competitors |
| Desktop and mobile access | Limited investment opportunities |
Things To Know
- Intuitive interface
- Limited investment offerings and tools
- No account minimums
9. SoFi Invest
- Free stock value: $5 to $1,000
- Available via: App Store or Google Play
SoFi Invest has you covered for a litany of investment strategies. Whether it is buying crypto or trading stocks or ETFs, SoFi is a good central launching point from which you can manage your finances. This offers you more control with automated investing options you can do yourself.
How To Get Free Bonuses
SoFi offers a Wealth account, and when you open one and deposit $50, you get a sign-up bonus of a free stock valued anywhere between $5 and $1,000.
Pros and Cons of SoFi Invest
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Automated investing options | No tax-loss harvesting |
| No options contract fees | High crypto trading fees |
Things To Know
- Robo-advisory services
- Commission-free trading
- Fractional shares
- No account minimums
10. Webull
- Free stock value: $52 to $36,000
- Available via: App Store or Google Play
Webull is a comprehensive trading app that offers professional-grade analysis tools as well as real-time stock alerts.
How To Get Free Bonuses
When you join Webull, you automatically get up to 12 free fractional shares — two just for opening an account. Once you deposit at least $100, you will receive up to 10 more free fractional shares valued between $3 and $3,000 each.
Pros and Cons of Webull
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Can buy fractional shares of stocks | Doesn’t support mutual funds |
| Voice command option | No robo-advisor service |
Things To Know
- No minimums
- Commission-free trades
- $100 deposit for free shares
Final Take
If you are new to investing and want to get a jump-start, researching what companies and platforms offer bonuses or free stocks is a good first step. If you are going to be investing anyway, get more bang for your buck.
FAQ
Here are the answers to some common questions about platforms that offer free stocks.- How can you get stocks for free?
- Robinhood, Moomoo and Fundrise all offer free stocks for creating an account, even if you don't invest money right away. Many companies offer free shares, stocks or bonuses when you create an account with them, but most have a minimum initial deposit to earn your free stocks.
- Who is giving free stocks out?
- Many investment companies and apps, like Acorns, Firstrade and Webull, offer free stocks in return for signing up with their platform and making an initial investment.
- Are any stocks free?
- It's unlikely that you'll find a company giving away its own stock for free, but you can find free stocks from investing apps as part of an incentive to get you to sign up for an account with their company.
- What is the best way to get free stocks?
- Many companies offer free stocks or bonuses when you sign up and make an initial investment. Some of the best free stock options come from platforms such as:
- — Acorns
- — Firstrade
- — Fundrise
- — M1 Finance
- — Moomoo
- — Plynk
- — Public
- — Robinhood
- — SoFi Invest
- — Webull
- Many companies offer free stocks or bonuses when you sign up and make an initial investment. Some of the best free stock options come from platforms such as:
- Can you start investing in stocks with no money?
- Yes, you can invest in stocks with no money. Though many investment platforms offer free stocks in exchange for a deposit or new account creation, a few companies, such as Moomoo, offer one free stock for just signing up and do not require a deposit for initial investment.