Stockpile Review: A Top Brokerage for Beginners or Teaching Kids About Trading

Stockpile offers fractional share trading and easy access to over 4,000 stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). You can link your bank account to make immediate trades and purchase fractional shares with as little as $1. Stockpile also makes gifting stock easy and offers options to help children develop investing skills.

While the brokerage firm has plenty to offer, as this Stockpile review explains, there are both upsides and downsides. Read on to find out more and decide if Stockpile is right for you.

Stockpile gives new investors basic investment options. The app tailors its offerings to young investors with little investing experience (and their parents/guardians), so expect fewer options than a full-service brokerage. The app allows fractional share trading -- you can buy small pieces of expensive stocks for as little as $1.

Investments

• Stocks
• ETFs
• Crypto

Brokerage accounts

• Traditional brokerage
• Custodial

Stockpile has upped its fees. As of March 2024, it charges a monthly subscription fee that includes access for one adult and five investing accounts for kids. Fees are expensive compared to other custodial account brokers, which typically charge smaller fees or offer more features.

Stockpile offers a little bit of educational content to users. It's enough to get someone started, but for in-depth research and advanced trading strategy, consider a full-service brokerage.

As of March 2024, the Stockpile app offers a total of 23 "how to" articles under the Learn tab. Articles are split into a Quickstart Guide, Stock market basics, and Beyond the basics. They're short and sweet. Parents may need to help their kids understand some content.

You can tap specific stocks or cryptocurrencies to learn more about them. Stockpile tells you what they are and gives a handful of statistics, including market capitalization, volume, and P/E ratio. This is standard across most online brokers. You can also access related new articles.

Stockpile only offers a mobile app. There is no desktop trading interface. Generally, stock trading apps offer limited desktop access, but that's not the case here.

However, Stockpile does give users access to frequently-asked questions on the Support page of its website. It's worth checking out for answers to questions you'd rather not email a representative over.

You can also buy gift cards and access chat through the Stockpile website. You can buy gift memberships or credit toward buying a specific stock, like Amazon.

App

The Stockpile app is simple. It's divided into four sections: Portfolio, Explore, Learn, and Activity. The Portfolio section shows current holdings. The Explore section lets you browse and search for specific investments. The Learn tab offers bite-sized lessons, and the Activity tab logs your notifications history. It's all fairly straightforward.

It's easy to buy stock, even for kids who need parental supervision. Stockpile's app is designed so kids can feel like they're investing with parents, rather than asking their parents to invest for them. Basically, kids can request to buy a stock or cryptocurrency. Parents choose whether they want to approve the request.

The app is great for investors who prefer simplicity over customization. Though you can create a watchlist, there's not much in the way of fancy features. Even compared to discount brokers like Robinhood, it's light on features. But it's easy to get started with Stockpile.

You can contact Stockpile customer service via email or chat:

• Email Stockpile at [email protected] for general support questions.
• Chat with the Stockpile bot 24/7 on the desktop website. You can also request access to a representative. Stockpile claims to respond to messages within four hours on average.

Securities are protected by APEX, a member of the FDIC and SIPC. What that means is cash, stocks, and ETFs held on Stockpile are insured up to $500,000. Crypto holdings are protected by Bakkt Crypto Solutions LLC (Bakkt) and not insured by the FDIC or SIPC.

To protect your account from hackers, you can turn on two-factor authentication in the app. Do so by going to Portfolio, then Account, and then Security and turning it on. It may already be enabled. As long as it's turned on, Stockpile will email or text you before letting anyone log into your account.

Founders Avi Lele and Sanj Kulkarni created Stockpile in 2010 to make investing easy for families. In 2015, the company made a splash by offering gift cards that can be used to purchase stock in specific companies. In 2022, the company swapped a commission-fee model for a monthly membership fee.

There's a fair bit of negative press around the monthly fee, on account of users opening their account to find they've been charged $4.95 per month since the fee went into effect. But the app boasts good reviews on the App Store, and it's a legitimate place to invest.

The app is mobile-only, and it's designed to make it easier for parents to invest with their kids.

At The Motley Fool Ascent, brokerages are rated on a scale of one to five stars. We primarily focus on fees, available assets, and account types; however, we also take into account features like research, education, tax-loss harvesting, and highly rated mobile apps. Our highest-rated brokerages generally include low fees, a diverse range of assets and account types, and useful platform features.

See our full methodology here: Ratings Methodology