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.
By Caitlyn Moorhead
- Acorns
- Firstrade
- Fundrise
- M1 Finance
- Moomoo
- Plynk
- Public
- Robinhood
- SoFi Invest
- Webull
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 free stocks.
1. Acorns
- Free stock value: $5
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.
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
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.
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.
$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
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.
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 easy.
- IRA accounts available
- Low minimum investment
- High illiquid investment
4. M1 Finance
M1 Finance has a useful financial and investment app. On it, you can spend, borrow and save with your own customizable strategies.
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 event 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.
- 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
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.
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.
- Can get up to 15 free stocks
- $0 commission fees
- Free paper trading
- Low margin rates
6. Plynk
- Free stock value: $10 to $100
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.
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.
- Can redeem unused gift cards to invest
- Minimum of $1 to get started
- $2 monthly fee for some features
7. Public
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.
- 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
The investment app Robinhood offers commission-free trading on stocks, ETFs and crypto. It has an intuitive interface available for desktop and mobile access.
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.
- No commission fees
- Limited investment offerings and tools
- No account minimums
9. SoFi Invest
- Free stock value: $5 to $1,000
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.
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.
- Robo-advisory services
- Commission-free trading
- Fractional shares
- No account minimums
10. Webull
- Free stock value: $52 to $36,000
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.
- 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.
How can I 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
— Acorns
— Firstrade
— Fundrise
— M1 Finance
— Moomoo
— Plynk
— Public
— Robinhood
— SoFi Invest
— Webull
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.
