Top Rated For

Best for Low Costs

Our Take

Founded in 2011, SoFi launched its no-fee Automated Investing platform in 2019 to make investing accessible and easy for anyone looking to get started. While SoFi Automated Investing lacks customization and tax-loss harvesting, it makes up for these shortfalls by taking a low- to no-cost approach that earned it our top choice as the best robo-advisor for low costs in 2024. New investors can open an account with as little as $1 and there is no investment management fee, so investors only pay underlying ETF expense ratios.

The goal of SoFi Automated Investing is to help members tailor a strategy specifically geared to their risk tolerance and goals. In addition to its low-cost investment options, SoFi Automated Investing users are also given access to free consultations with Certified Financial Planners (CFPs), extensive educational resources, events, discounts, and other perks. SoFi Automated Investing is also part of the wider SoFi financial ecosystem, which includes self-directed trading, loans, bank accounts, and more. One major change to the SoFi platform in 2024 is the Active Investing platform dropping cryptocurrency, although this was never made available through the Automated Investing robo-advisory. We'll take a deep dive into SoFi Automated Investing to find out if it is the right fit for your portfolio needs.

Pros & Cons

Account Overview

Account Minimum	$1 to open an account, $5 to begin investing
Fees	No investment management fee; ETF expense ratios range from 0.00% to 0.49%
Goal Planning	Categories include retirement, general investing, and large purchase
Available Assets	ETFs
Interest Paid on Cash Balances	No cash assets within portfolios
Customizable Portfolio	Not with Automated Investing (SoFi offers self-directed investing through Active Investing)
View Portfolio Before Funding	Yes, can view asset allocation and specific ETFs
Customer Service	Chat, email, and phone
Financial Advisor Available	Yes, available to all customers for free
Cash Management	Yes, SoFi Checking and Savings offers interest-bearing cash management, debit card, and more features
Tax-Loss Harvesting	No
External Account Sync/Consolidation	Yes, in SoFi Relay (outside Automated Investing)
Mobile App	Android and iOS

Account Setup

Investors who’d like to set up a SoFi Automated Investing account can do so completely online, and investing accounts can be seamlessly integrated with other SoFi accounts. You can set up an account with an email and a password. After that, you complete a quick survey to establish your risk level and financial goals. The minimum deposit required to start investing is $5. New clients can also see their portfolio options before opening an account. 

There are several account types available, including individual taxable accounts and the standard retirement accounts. To complete account setup, you will need to enter the rest of your personal information, including your Social Security number. Once you start an account, the only way you can change your portfolio is by altering your risk tolerance.

Goal Planning

When you invest using SoFi Automated Investing, you can do so in pursuit of a wide range of goals. SoFi has goal planning resources and calculators in the Learn section of its website, but the Automated Investing platform does not offer retirement planning tools in-platform, nor does it offer planning tools for large purchases like a home, vehicle, or college. Members do get complimentary access to credentialed financial planners who can discuss their goals. SoFi also offers tools for credit score monitoring, spending breakdowns, financial insights, and property tracking.

For shorter-term goals, users can also set up a SoFi checking and savings account, the latter of which offers zero account fees, a high APY (4.6% as of February 2024), and the ability to save for various goals through syncing funds called Vaults. Vaults can be created for various goals, such as a car, house, or emergency fund, and members can set up Autopilot to automate savings.

Account Services

SoFi Automated Investing currently supports six account types: individual (non-qualified) investment accounts; joint accounts that can be held by two people; and tax-advantaged retirement accounts, including traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and simplified employee pensions (SEP-IRAs). SoFi also accepts rollovers from previous employer 401(k)s into an IRA.

Clients investing through SoFi can combine self-driven trading and robo-investing with a wide array of cash management and portfolio tools. Investors can only use margin with a SoFi Active Investing account for a 10% fee (as of February 2024), and charitable giving options are not available for either account. SoFi Automated Investing clients do not get discounts on other products or services, like lower interest rates on loans, for example.

Cash Management

SoFi Automated Investing doesn’t offer automatic sweeps, and none of the Automated Investing portfolios have a cash allocation. The entire balance is invested in one of the suggested ETFs. However, Automated Investing users who need cash management can access checking and debit banking services and integrate automated accounts with banking or brokerage accounts for easy account transfers.  If you need to access your money, you can initiate a withdrawal at any time. Transactions will settle two business days after trades occur. Once trades settle, funds are automatically sent to your specified account, though it can take a few days for the funds to reach your bank account.

Portfolio Construction

When you set up a SoFi Automated Investing account, there are several different model portfolios you can choose from: Conservative, moderately conservative, moderate, moderately aggressive, and aggressive. Each portfolio involves a mix of asset classes, though the precise makeups are not disclosed. The rough outlines of the portfolios align with modern portfolio theory (MPT), with conservative portfolios potentially being 100% bond ETFs and aggressive portfolios potentially made up of 100% stock ETFs. All the other portfolios are mixed between those extremes. 

Available Assets

Individual Stocks	No
Mutual Funds	No
Fixed Income	ETFs
REITs	No
Socially Responsible or ESG Options	No
ETFs	Yes
Non-Proprietary ETFs	Yes, some non-proprietary ETFs and a few SoFi ETFs
Mutual Funds	No
Crypto, Forex	No

Portfolio Customization

As far as customization is concerned, Sofi Automated Investing’s offering is limited. Portfolios lack exposure to real estate or REIT funds and cash, which are often found in competitors’ holdings. In addition, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) options are noticeably absent. For better customization options, users will instead need to invest through the SoFi Active Investing platform. Both SoFi Active and Automated platforms lack direct access to cryptocurrency.

In addition, Sofi Automated Investing customers cannot place trades for individual stocks, mutual funds, fixed-income products, or other asset classes like crypto and forex. However, they can open a SoFi Active Investing account to gain access to the range of products and services available under the SoFi umbrella, including self-directed brokerage accounts for crypto, IPOs, approximately 4,000 individual stocks, and a wide range of ETFs. If you are looking for customization and margin, you can read our full review of the self-directed SoFi Active Investing.

Portfolio Management

SoFi Automated Investing portfolios are rebalanced automatically as needed, triggered by a portfolio drifting beyond a target allocation. Outside of Automated Investing, SoFi Relay is an account consolidation program that pulls SoFi accounts and external accounts into a single financial picture. This data is not used to adjust how SoFi Automated Investing rebalances your portfolio, but it is a worthwhile tool within the larger SoFi platform. Real-time reporting on progress toward goals is not available, nor is tax-loss harvesting.

Key Portfolio Management Features
Automatic Rebalancing	When asset allocation veers 5% from target
Reporting Features	All statements can be found in the Document Center, accessed from your profile
Tax-Loss Harvesting	No
External Account Syncing/Consolidation	Not in Automated Investing; SoFi Relay enables account syncing and financial analysis

User Experience 

SoFi makes Automated Investing a part of users’ overall financial experience. In addition to setting up a robo-investing account, users can also gain access to banking, lending, and other SoFi products, all in one place. This ease of use has led SoFi to grow in popularity among young investors in recent years.

Desktop

Users can access their SoFi accounts online anywhere they have an internet connection. The online experience is relatively clear and seamless and allows users to access everything at once, including automated investments, bank accounts, loans, and other products.

Mobile 

SoFi has both iOS and Android apps that allow investors to control all of their SoFi accounts remotely. This one app to rule all accounts causes some extra clutter for investors just using SoFi Automated Investing, but it is probably appreciated by customers using SoFi for banking and investing. The Apple app has a higher rating of 4.8 compared to the Google Play store app rating of 4.0.

Customer Service

SoFi customer service is available via phone and live chat 12 hours per day, five days per week. Users can also get support by email, and online chat is available for both prospective clients and existing customers. Existing clients can also get support from SoFi’s licensed financial advisors. All advisors hold Series 7 and 66 licenses, and nearly all are CFP professionals.

Security 

SoFi Automated Investing is operated through SoFi Wealth LLC, but it uses the SoFi Securities platform. SoFi Securities is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). This protects accounts up to $500,000 including $250,000 for cash. This is protection against losses related to the firm, not regular market losses. The SoFi platform is SSL-encrypted and two-factor authentication is available. 

Education 

SoFi offers an array of educational articles and videos that help educate investors about a range of topics. There are tools and other resources to support goal planning throughout the larger SoFi website. There is also a comprehensive FAQ page on the company’s website for more pointed questions.

Commissions and Fees

SoFi Automated Investing does not charge an investment management fee. The advisory agreement with SoFi Automated Investing comes with a secondary agreement with SoFi Securities, which acts as your brokerage, while SoFi Wealth LLC is the Automated Investing advisor. This means that, while there is no account management fee, you may still have some miscellaneous fees for certain actions, like an IRA closing fee of $20 and an automated customer account transfer (ACAT) fee of $75. 

In addition to no-fee management of your money, however, there is no extra fee for talking to an advisor. This is a huge benefit to those looking for more of a human touch to go along with digital investment management.  There are the usual underlying fees on the ETFs in your portfolio. While these expenses vary based on the portfolio, the average operating expense ratio for non-qualified accounts is 0.04%; it’s 0.03% for qualified accounts. The approximate operating expense ratios for each SoFi Automated Investing portfolio are: 

• Conservative: 0.07% for non-qualified; 0.06% for qualified 
• Moderately conservative: 0.06% for non-qualified; 0.04% for qualified
• Moderate: 0.04% for non-qualified; 0.03% for qualified
• Moderately aggressive: 0.03% for non-qualified; 0.03% for qualified
• Aggressive: 0.02% for non-qualified; 0.02% for qualified

The Bottom Line

If you’re new to automated investing or want to consider a robo-advisor as a part of your overall finances, SoFi Automated Investing is a great way to get started. This platform offers a fee-free investing option that lets you get started with as little as $1 and provides access to a broad range of other financial products and services. There is also the option to speak with a human advisor, which is a premium feature that comes with this otherwise simple, fee-free robo-advisor.

If you are looking for a sophisticated robo-advisor with additional customization and asset exposure, however, SoFi Automated Investing begins to show its limitations. While SoFi doesn’t offer many portfolio customization options or advanced features like ESG investing or tax-loss harvesting, it offers an easy, cost-effective way to get started investing in one of a number of portfolios based on your specific risk tolerance. This makes it a great fit for investors already within the SoFi ecosystem and a compelling choice for newer investors looking for a cheap and simple way to get going.

How Does SoFi Automated Investing Help You Save Money on Taxes?

SoFi Automated Investing doesn't offer much in the way of tax savings. It will consider tax efficiency when analyzing assets in taxable accounts, which may mean adding tax-advantaged exposure to municipal bonds rather than a different bond fund. SoFi Automated Investing does not offer any tax-loss harvesting.

What Is the Difference Between Active and Automated Investing at SoFi?

SoFi Automated Investing is a robo-advisor where the system uses your responses to questions to suggest and algorithmically manage an investment portfolio for you. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are the main asset used by SoFi Automated Investing to create and maintain your portfolio. SoFi Active Investing is a self-directed brokerage account where you can choose your own stocks, bonds, and ETFs to make up a portfolio that you manage on your own.

Does SoFi Automated Investing Have Any Fees?

SoFi Automated Investing is generally marketed as a fee-free investing option. The company does not charge a management fee, nor does it charge trading commissions on a host of other investments through its Active Investing account. The primary cost to automated investors is the expense ratio built into funds used within SoFi’s portfolios, which ranges from 0.02% to 0.07% per year.

How Much Do You Need to Start Investing With SoFi?

One of SoFi’s primary aims is to make investing simple and accessible to all. The process of setting up and funding an account is relatively easy, and you can get started with as little as $1.

Is SoFi FDIC Insured?

Banking products from SoFi are FDIC insured. This means SoFi cash accounts are insured up to $250,000 per depositor, per ownership category, in the event of a bank failure. Additionally, some investment accounts held at SoFi also have Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) insurance. It’s important to note that neither FDIC nor SIPC insurance protects investors against market losses.

Is SoFi Automated Investing Safe? 

SoFi Automated Investing is generally considered safe to use, though the value of investor accounts can rise or fall based on market conditions. Automated Investing users invest through the same platform used by SoFi’s banking customers, meaning it is encrypted and up to bank standards in terms of security.

Who Is the CEO of SoFi?

The CEO of SoFi is Anthony Noto. Noto has been CEO of SoFi since 2018 and has an impressive background in technology and finance. Before joining SoFi, he worked as the chief operating officer of Twitter and as a managing director at Goldman Sachs.

How We Review Robo-Advisors

Providing readers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of digital wealth management companies, more commonly known as robo-advisors, is a top priority of Investopedia. We used our 2023 consumer survey to guide the research and weightings for our 2024 robo-advisor awards. To collect the data, we sent a digital survey with 64 questions to each of the 21 companies we included in our rubric. Additionally, our team of researchers verified the survey responses and collected any missing data points through online research and conversations with each company directly. The data collection process spanned from Jan. 8 to Feb. 9, 2024.

We then developed a quantitative model that scored each company to rate its performance across nine major categories and 59 criteria to find the best robo-advisors. The score for each company’s overall star rating is a weighted average of the criteria:

• Goal Planning - 21.00%
• Portfolio Contents - 17.00%
• Portfolio Management - 17.00%
• Fees - 15.00%
• Account Services - 10.00%
• Account Setup - 5.00%
• Customer Service - 5.00%
  
• Security & Education - 5.00%
• User Experience - 5.00%

Additionally, during our 2023 research, many of the companies we reviewed granted our team of expert writers and editors access to live accounts so they could perform hands-on testing. Through this all-encompassing data collection and review process, Investopedia has provided you with an unbiased and thorough review of the top robo-advisors.

Read more about how we research and review robo-advisors.

Separately, our research team conducted a survey of 205 U.S. adults aged 18 to 72 who are current clients of one of 18 robo-advisors. While the information collected did not influence the development of our ratings model, it was instrumental in gathering the valuable insights published in Investopedia's 2023 Robo-Advisor Consumer Survey.

Participants in our 2023 Robo-Advisor Survey opted in to an online, self-administered questionnaire from a market research vendor. Data collection took place between Aug. 30 and Sept. 15, 2023, with 11 video interviews conducted with volunteer respondents from Sept. 7 to Sept. 17, 2023. Multiple quality checks, including screeners, attention gauges, comprehension evaluations, and logic metrics, among others, were used to ensure only the highest quality responses were included.