How To Get Free Stocks: 10 Best Ways
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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 expense, 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 ten options to get free stocks.
- Acorns
- Firstrade
- Fundrise
- M1 Finance
- Moomoo
- Plynk Invest
- Public
- Robinhood
- SoFi Invest
- Webull
1. Acorns
Acorns is an app designed to help people new to investing by micro-investing for them with every purchase through a linked credit card. For example, if you bought an avocado toast and it cost $11.75, Acorns would employ its Round-Up feature on your purchase to $12 and invest 25 cents on your behalf.
To get your first free investment, you just have to sign up for Acorns and create an account. The initial investment is $5, and the bonus investment of $5 boosts your account to $10, essentially doubling your investment. You can also earn free stocks by referring friends. Unfortunately, it does charge a monthly fee.
Things To Know
- $3 monthly fee for the personal plan
- $5 monthly fee for the family plan
- Free stock boost for signing up comes through the Fond platform
- 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. Besides signing up, you can get free stocks 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.
Things To Know
- $0 commission online trades
- $0 option contract fees
- No mutual fund trading fees
- Poorly reviewed customer support
- Must be a U.S. resident to get free shares
3. Fundrise
Fundrise is a real estate investment platform, and by simply opening an account with them, you’ll earn $10 in free shares. Fundrise offers multiple account options, as well as the Fundrise iPO.
Things To Know
- Allows you to diversify your portfolio with real estate
- IRA accounts available
- Don’t have to be accredited to invest
- 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 — so keep a look out if looking to start investing.
Things To Know
- May offer higher bonuses — upwards of $3,500 to $10,000 if you trade your brokerage account to an M1 Invest account
- No commissions
- Wealth-building financial tool options
- Fractional shares on stocks and ETFs
5. Moomoo
- Free stock value: 1-15 stocks, valued from $3 to $200
Moomoo is an investing platform with an intuitive app that allows you to trade with professional-grade tools. You still get a free stock just for opening an account, but the more money you invest, the more stocks you get for free — up to 15 stocks for a $1,000 initial investment.
Things To Know
- Can get up to 15 free stocks
- $0 commission fees
- Powerful stock charting software
- 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 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.
Things To Know
- Can redeem unused gift cards to invest
- Minimum $1 to get started
- Has options to invest in stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrency
- $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. 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.
Things To Know
- Commission-free trading
- Social feed aspect for users to exchange information about companies
- 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, and 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.
Things To Know
- No commission fees
- Desktop and mobile access
- 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. 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.
Things To Know
- Robo-advisory services
- Commission-free trading
- Fractional shares
- No account minimums
- Automated investing options you can do yourself
10. Webull
- Free stock value: $52 to $36,000
When you join Webull, a comprehensive trading app, 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.
Things To Know
- No minimums
- Commission-free trades
- Real-time stock alerts
- Professional-grade analysis tools
- $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.
- Where 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 company 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.
- 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.
