M1 Finance vs Robinhood Comparison: Fees, Features, and More (2026)

M1 Finance and Robinhood are two leading discount brokerages offering commission-free stock and ETF trading. Use this head-to-head comparison table to evaluate fees, features, trading tools, and account options to help you decide which broker is right for you in 2026.

Head-to-Head Comparison: M1 Finance vs Robinhood (2026)
Feature M1 Finance Robinhood
Website https://www.m1finance.com/ https://robinhood.com/
Broker Type Self-directed discount brokerage Online discount brokerage (mobile app, web, Legend)
Trading: Stock & ETF? Yes Yes
ETF & Stock commission $0 commission; $3/mo platform fee if assets <$10k (waived at $10k+ or with loan) $0 commissions (SEC/FINRA sell fees may apply)
Fractional Shares? Yes (to 1/100,000th of a share) Yes ($1 min; most NMS stocks/ETFs)
Percent Allocations? Yes (M1 Pies with custom target % allocations) No
Crypto Trading? Yes (Bakkt Crypto Account; BTC, ETH, LTC; US 18+) Yes (US-wide via Robinhood Crypto, LLC; all states, DC, PR, USVI)
Crypto Fees Bakkt 1% (100 bps) on buys/sells (in exec. price); M1 $0 commission MM routing: $0 commissions (RH rebate in spread); exchange routing: 0.00-0.95% volume-tiered maker/taker; transfers $0 + network fees
Options Trading? No Yes
Options Fee N/A $0 commissions for stock/ETF options; $0.35 Gold/$0.50 non-Gold per index contract plus regulatory/exchange fees
Bond Trading Available? No No (individual bonds/fixed-income not supported; bond ETFs/CEFs available)
Receives payment for order flow (PFOF)? Yes (receives PFOF ~$0.002/share) Yes (receives PFOF/rebates from market makers for equities, options, and crypto)
Interface: Web trading? Yes (web m1.com and iOS/Android apps) Yes (web including Legend browser platform; iOS/Android mobile apps)
Desktop trading? No No; Robinhood Legend is a free browser-based (web) platform, not downloadable.
API Trading? No Yes for crypto (official US Crypto Trading API); no official stocks/equities trading API.
Mutual Funds: Offered? No No
Total Mutual Funds None 0
NTF Mutual Funds None 0
Non-NTF Fund Fee N/A N/A
Early Redemption Fee? N/A N/A
Redemption Hold (Days) N/A N/A
Early Redemption Fee N/A N/A
Accounts: Margin Accounts? Yes; Individual/Joint brokerage accounts include M1 Margin Loan by default ($2,000 min equity). Not for IRAs. Yes
IRAs Offered? Yes; Traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs available ($500 minimum). Yes (Traditional and Roth; no SEP)
HSAs Offered? No No
Money Market Sweep? Yes; High-Yield Cash Account has FDIC bank sweep. Invest-account cash does not auto-sweep (transfer required). Yes
CDs Offered? No No
Robo-Advisor: Offered No (self-directed Pies/auto-invest; optional non-discretionary M1 Advisory) Yes (Robinhood Strategies hybrid managed portfolios)
Robo-Advisor Service M1 Pies (self-directed); M1 Advisory / M1 Advisor (AI, non-discretionary) Robinhood Strategies
Robo-Advisor Fees $3/mo platform fee if <$10k assets (waived at $10k+ or Personal Loan); advisory currently 0% (up to 0.20%) 0.25% AUM/yr; Gold ($5/mo): 0% over $100k ($250/yr cap). $50 min. ETF expenses extra.
Basics: Headquarters Chicago, IL Menlo Park, CA
Year Founded 2015 2013
Clearing Firm M1 Finance LLC (self-clearing Individual/Joint); Apex Clearing (IRA/Trust/Custodial) Robinhood Securities, LLC
Local Branches? No No
New Account Minimum $100 (individual/joint taxable); $500 (IRAs) $0

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