If you want to start investing as a college student, it’s important to find a platform that’s easy to use and comes with few (or no) fees. Investing apps are often the way to go because they’re convenient and don't require much money to get started. Many of them also keep transaction fees low, which is a major plus for cash-strapped college students.The best investing apps should also come with educational guides and strong customer support to help when you get stuck. Based on this criteria, we’ve rounded up some of the best investing apps for college students to try.

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Should I invest while in college?

The short answer is yes — college is a great time to start investing. Even if you invest a little bit here and there, your money has the potential to grow significantly by the time you retire. That’s because of the power of compounding, where you earn money both on the money you invest and on the interest that builds in your account. Here’s an example. Let’s say you open an brokerage account at age 18 and invest $150 a month throughout your four years in college. You’ll wind up with about $9,020 in your account at graduation, assuming a 10% return. Your earnings can keep growing if you keep that amount invested. Because of compounding, your $9,020 may increase to $543,365 by the time you retire at age 65. That’s assuming you earn a return rate of 10% and add nothing else to the account—though, of course, it’s a good idea to keep contributing. Your financial goals may change, too, so you may open different types of investment accounts, buy different types of assets and adjust your risk tolerance over time. But generally, investing at a young age gives you more time to ride the highs and lows of the stock market and retire with a solid nest egg.

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Best investing apps for college students

When you’re researching investing apps, consider your financial goals and which platform suits your needs.

Acorns Invest

Acorns is a saving and investing app that comes with a fun hook: It monitors your linked bank and credit card accounts, then automatically rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar. You can also set up recurring contributions, such as $5 a week. The platform sweeps your spare change into a brokerage account and invests the money into a portfolio of ETFs. The service charges a flat monthly subscription fee, which cuts into your earnings—especially if you have a very small balance. But the fee might be easier to track compared to some other brokerage firms with a confusing trading-fee menu.

‍Subscription fees: $3, $5 or $9 per month (no transactional fees, commissions or asset-based fees on accounts under $1 million)

‍Account minimum: $0 for savings account ($5 minimum to start investing)‍

Good for: Getting into the habit of investing regularly

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab is an investment brokerage that’s been around for more than 50 years, earning a reputation for stability and strong customer service. Its investing app includes $0 online trade commissions on listed stocks, ETFs and a wide selection of mutual funds. Investing newcomers will also appreciate the educational resources, including research reports, real-time news, a quarterly magazine and more.

‍Trading fees: $0 on listed stocks, ETFs and a selection of mutual funds

‍Account minimum: None

‍Good for: Educational resources

Betterment

Betterment is a platform that makes investing easy: It automatically invests your contributions into diversified portfolios of stocks and bonds or crypto, and handles some of the more advanced stuff like reinvesting dividends and minimizing the tax impact on your account.You also earn a fantastic annual percentage yield (APY) on any cash balance, which is money that’s in your account but isn’t invested yet. Betterment pays a 4.75% APY on that balance and provides up to $2 million in FDIC insurance on it.

‍Fees: $4 per month or 0.25% per year

‍Account minimum: $0

‍Good for: High APY on cash balance

Fidelity Investments

If you’re interested in a service that organizes your finances on a broader level, Fidelity Investments offers just about every type of product you need. There’s a brokerage account, several IRA options, health savings account and crypto trading, plus a bill-paying service. You can also open a cash management account, which blends features of checking, saving and investing accounts all in one.  

‍Trading fees: $0 per online trade for online U.S. stocks and ETFs

‍Account minimum: $0

‍Good for: All-in-one money management

Ellevest

Ellevest is an automated platform that focuses on socially responsible investing, so it’s worth a look if you want to align your investment choices with your personal values. Anyone can use the platform, but it’s optimized for female investors because it uses “women-centric data points” when calculating risk tolerance and investment horizons. Ellevest’s portfolios contain a diversified mix of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds. But the Impact portfolio promises to invest up to 53% in socially responsible funds. That includes companies that advance women in leadership roles, support affordable housing and community services, and maintain higher sustainability standards.

‍Subscription fee: $12/month

‍Account minimum: $0

‍Good for: Socially responsible investing