For most people, Betterment is the best all-around robo-advisor — a 0.25%/year fee, no account minimum, and automatic tax-loss harvesting from dollar one. If you have at least $500 and want the same low fee with no human-advisor upsell, Wealthfront is the strongest alternative.
Fees and minimums verified July 24, 2026 against each provider's own pricing page, cross-checked against NerdWallet, Bankrate, and CNBC Select. A robo-advisor picks and automatically rebalances a diversified portfolio for you — the meaningful differences are fee structure, account minimum, and at what balance features like tax-loss harvesting actually kick in.
How the top robo-advisors compare
| Provider | Rating | Fee | Account minimum | Tax-loss harvesting | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betterment PartnerBest for: no minimum, all-around | ★★★★★4.8 | 0.25%/yr (or $5/mo flat) | $0 ($10 to invest) | Yes, all balances | Open account |
| Wealthfront PartnerBest for: automation purists | ★★★★★4.7 | 0.25%/yr flat | $500 | Yes, all balances | Open account |
| Fidelity GoBest for: small balances, $0 fee | ★★★★☆4.4 | $0 under $25,000; ~0.35%/yr above | $0 | Not offered | Visit site |
| Schwab Intelligent PortfoliosBest for: existing Schwab customers | ★★★★☆4.1 | $0 management fee | $5,000 | Only above $50,000 balance | Visit site |
Schwab holds a notably larger cash allocation in its portfolios than the other three, which can act as a drag on returns — a tradeoff for its $0 management fee. Ratings are Wealthward's own — see methodology below.
What actually matters more than the fee
- When tax-loss harvesting actually activates. Betterment and Wealthfront offer it on every taxable account from day one; Schwab requires a $50,000 balance. For a taxable (non-retirement) account, this can matter more than a fractional fee difference.
- Account minimum vs. your actual starting balance. A "cheaper" provider is irrelevant if its $5,000 minimum is more than you're starting with — Betterment's $0 minimum removes that constraint entirely.
Our pick for most people
If you want one simple answer: Betterment's combination of no account minimum, a straightforward 0.25% fee, and tax-loss harvesting from the first dollar covers what most people actually need from a robo-advisor. Wealthfront is functionally very similar if you already have $500 to start with.
Open a Betterment accountPrefer picking your own funds instead of a managed portfolio? See our investing apps and brokers comparison.
How we chose these providers
We compared fee structure, account minimum, and at what balance tax-loss harvesting activates, using each provider's own pricing and disclosure pages, cross-checked against NerdWallet, Bankrate, and CNBC Select as of July 24, 2026. We did not rank by commission size.
Frequently asked questions
Neither is objectively better — a robo-advisor trades a small fee for automatic rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting you'd otherwise have to do yourself. If you're comfortable picking and periodically rebalancing a couple of index funds on your own, you can replicate most of the value for free.
The invested securities in a robo-advisor account are typically SIPC-insured (protecting against brokerage failure, not market losses), the same as a regular brokerage account. Any uninvested cash sweep portion may separately carry FDIC coverage through a partner bank — check each provider's specific disclosures.
Yes — a robo-advisor still invests in the market (typically diversified ETFs), so your balance moves with the market and can decline in value. The automation manages the portfolio construction and rebalancing; it doesn't eliminate investment risk.