Acorns.com Review 2025: How This Spare Change Investing App Really Works

Automated Micro-Investing: Acorns' signature "Round-Ups" feature automatically invests your spare change by rounding up everyday purchases to the nearest dollar and investing the difference, making investing accessible for those with limited funds.

Simple, Beginner-Friendly Interface: The platform is designed with beginners in mind, featuring an intuitive, easy-to-navigate interface that simplifies the investment process without overwhelming users with complex financial terminology.

Pre-Built Diversified Portfolios: Acorns offers professionally managed, diversified portfolios of low-cost ETFs tailored to different risk tolerances (conservative to aggressive), eliminating the need for users to select individual investments.

Additional Financial Services: Beyond investing, Acorns has expanded to offer a comprehensive financial toolkit including Acorns Later (retirement accounts), Acorns Spend (checking account with debit card), and Acorns Earn (cashback rewards).

Educational Resources: The platform provides robust financial education through its "Money Basics" articles, investment guides, and educational content designed to help beginners understand investing concepts and develop better financial habits.

Relatively High Fees for Small Accounts: Acorns charges a flat monthly subscription fee ($3-$5 depending on the plan) rather than a percentage of assets, which can represent a high percentage of assets for users with small account balances.

Limited Investment Customization: Until recently, Acorns offered very limited customization of investment portfolios, restricting users to pre-built portfolios.

No Tax-Loss Harvesting: Unlike some competing robo-advisors such as Wealthfront and Betterment, Acorns doesn't offer tax-loss harvesting—a strategy that can help reduce tax liability by selling investments at a loss to offset capital gains.