Stash review 2025

Stash at a glance

Stash is a digital financial services company known for its beginner-friendly investing app. 

The company’s stated mission is to make investing more accessible and affordable for everyone. It was launched in 2015 and has 1.5 million active monthly users with around $4 billion in managed assets. 

Stash also offers online banking services with a debit card that earns “stock back” instead of cash back. 

With Stash, you can invest in stocks yourself, use their Smart Portfolio for automated investing, or a combination of the two. 

What does Stash do?

Stash is a platform that offers the ability to easily open and manage different types of investment and savings accounts. These are brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, and savings accounts. Stash+ also offers custodial accounts. 

Once these accounts are opened, users can then buy investments in the brokerage and retirement accounts, such as individual stocks and ETFs. Customers can also opt into the Smart Portfolio, which automatically makes investments based on their risk tolerance and goals. 

Investing decisions are usually made through the Stash app, which is the central key to accessing Stash’s features. 

There are some other noteworthy features, including: 

• Round-Up Investing: Stash allows customers to round up their transactions and invest the difference. Purchases must be made on the debit card, and the amount is automatically transferred to the individual investing account. 
• Stock-Back Debit Card: Stash’s banking accounts come with a debit card that earns stock instead of cash back. The concept sounds cool, but the reality is the cap is 1% up to $1,000 every month, which is only $10. If you pay for the Stash+ subscription, you can potentially earn more with certain merchants offering 5% back on purchases. 
• Set-Schedule Transfers: You can easily set up automatic transfers to a Stash account that automatically purchase investments you’ve pre-selected. 

Taking small steps into investing through Stash can help create solid wealth-building habits. That’s why it’s great for beginners. 

What are the pros and cons of Stash?

Stash has its strengths and weaknesses, like any other provider. As per our evaluation and customer reviews, some of the pros and cons are as follows: 

Pros

• Easy, sleek interface on the app: The app is organized into investing accounts, which makes it easy to save and invest. 
• Round-Ups: Stash offers the ability to round up transactions and invest the difference, much like Acorns. 
• Auto-Stash: Stash makes it easy to set up recurring deposits to your Stash accounts. You’ll get the benefit of regular contributions to your investment accounts.
• Low minimum account balance: Anyone can get started with $0 minimum account balance and $5 to begin investing. The low threshold helps beginners jump into investing without a lot of resources to begin with. 

Cons

• No tax strategy or advice: There are no tax strategies offered or services like tax-loss harvesting. Some competitors do offer these features. 
• Customer service: Customers have issues with canceling memberships and continuing to be billed for services. Customers also report not receiving their money in a timely manner.  
• Limited services: Some features are sacrificed in the name of simplicity. For example, the use of the Smart Portfolio is limited to your brokerage account and can’t be used in a retirement account. Users also report trouble reclassifying risk tolerance after the initial assessment. 
• No CFP or advisor access: When you’re managing money, you’ll often have questions you don’t know the answer to and need to ask an expert for help. Stash doesn’t provide personalized expertise as part of its services. 

Stash fees: How much does Stash cost?

There are two main plans you can select when investing with Stash: Stash Growth and Stash+. 

The major difference between Stash Growth and Stash+ is access to custodial accounts (accounts for kids or other dependents), a newsletter called Stash+ Market Insights, and banking access with up to 5% back in stock back on card purchases on accounts attached to a Stash+ subscription.  

At a glance, here’s what the differences look like:

What is Stash’s minimum account size?

Stash’s minimum account size is $0. 

You can start investing with $5, which is the whole point of investing with an app like Stash: easy with a low barrier to entry. 

Who should choose Stash?

Stash is best for younger investors or those new to investing. 

It offers an experience that is streamlined and simple, yet also tech-forward. Features and promotions like the “Round-Ups” and “Stock Parties” can help younger investors get excited about investing. 

Still, there are fewer resources when it comes to investment research and the breadth of service. 

Stash is not well-suited for investors who have more experience with traditional brokerages or who need extensive resources. 

These people may find Stash’s limited investing options frustrating. 

Stash isn’t the right choice if you’re looking for a provider that doesn’t charge a monthly fee. You may want to look at Fidelity, Charles Schwab, or Vanguard.

Stash: Is it secure?

Stash is a registered investment advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and follows federal regulations to protect investors. It employs a number of safety features to keep your money and communication secure. 

To protect your money:

• Invested funds are held by Apex Clearing Corporation, which is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which protects up to $500,000 of the investments in your account.
• Uninvested funds are enrolled in the APEX FDIC-insured Sweep Program, which protects up to $250,000.
• Funds in a Stash bank account are protected by FDIC insurance to the regulatory limits.

To protect your Stash debit card:

• You’ll be able to lock and unlock the card in the app. 
• Mastercard’s Zero Liability policy protects you from unauthorized charges. 
• Mastercard provides continuous fraud monitoring. 
• You’ll have an EMV chip on your debit card with a three-digit security code. 

To protect your information:

• Mobile and web applications use 256-bit encryption to protect and secure sensitive information. 
• Mobile and web applications use Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols to protect your information.
• You can set up biometric security (fingerprint or eye scan) to help protect account access.

Stash is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant, which means the company has technical controls in place to protect card data and critical systems. 

Stash: Customer service

From the Stash app, you’ll find built-in customer service support. You can search the FAQ section, submit your question, or call the number listed. 

Online, it’s not easy to find. It’s not featured prominently on its site; instead, you’ll find it tucked away in an FAQ section. We’ve included information here for ease of use:

Phone support: 800-205-5164

Email support: [email protected]

Customer hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. According to online reviews, Stash isn’t known for its great customer service. Stash earned 1.08 out of 5 stars for 78 complaints on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website. Trustpilot reviews, however, give Stash 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Stash reviews: What are real customers saying?

Stash users report positive sentiments about the platform, particularly regarding its ease of use and simplicity. Users also like automated investing, round-up features, and the ability to exercise some agency over investment choices. 

Multiple users report loving the option to combine individual stock investing with an automated portfolio. They say it’s great for people who don’t want to spend a lot of time doing research or managing trades. While users appreciate the platform's streamlined nature, they also wonder if another platform might be better suited for long-term investing. 

Some users question the fees. $3 to $9 isn’t a large amount of money, but they note there are platforms out there that don’t charge for similar services. Some users dislike the Smart Portfolio robo-advisor, citing poor performance. One user also noted that he wasn’t able to change his risk profile from his initial assessment. 

Stash is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau. Despite the lack of accreditation, the agency awards Stash with an A+ rating. Customer complaints typically revolve around monthly charges, account closures, and delayed fund transfers. Stash responses to customer complaints follow procedure, but it seems cumbersome to get money withdrawn from a Stash account. For customers with low account balances who need the money out quickly, these delays can create issues. 

Stash: Mobile app

Stash’s mobile app is the star of the show. Stash has 300,000 reviews averaging 4.7 out of 5 stars in the App Store. Users report high satisfaction with the returns they can get and the investing options. 

What makes the app so compelling – and Stash as a whole – is how easy it is to invest. That speaks to the user-friendly nature of the app. 

Some of the main features you can use in the app include:

• Setting up brokerage, retirement, and other types of accounts
• Seeing different investments at a glance
• Tracking portfolio and investment performance
• Accessing customer service 
• Integrating banking and investing accounts
• Buying stocks, ETFs, crypto, and other investments
• Participating in automated investing, where investments are selected for you based on your profile
• Setting up automatic deposits
• Getting recommendations and read educational materials  

The features are available with a swipe and touch of a button on the screen. 

The bottom line

Stash offers an easy way for beginners to get excited about investing. You can invest in fractional shares, see how automated portfolio management works, and round up transactions to get in the habit of continually investing. However, the costs are often higher than those of most other investment platforms, especially for beginners.  

If you need help choosing a platform to hold your investments, your best bet is to consult with an unbiased financial advisor. Financial advisors work with each type of platform, and can help you find one to meet your needs and goals.