Robinhood App Review 2021: Best for BEGINNER Investors (TUTORIAL) - YouTube

Hello, everyone! I’m Shannon, a  staff writer for Finder. And today,  

we’re going to talk about Robinhood. Is it  legit? Is it worth it? Should you try it?  

We’re going to break down the top  three pros and cons of this platform  

to help you decide whether Robinhood  is right for you. Let’s get started.

Robinhood is one of the most  popular trading platforms on  

the market. And it’s got quite a few  things going for it. Here are three  

reasons you may want to consider a  brokerage account with Robinhood.

This one’s a biggie, and it’s one of  the primary reasons Robinhood became  

so popular. Robinhood doesn’t charge  any commission fees for stocks,  

options or ETFs — and it’s been  like that since its launch in 2015.

Back then, no commissions were a huge deal,  

since so many of Robinhood’s competitors charged  commission fees. Today, most trading platforms  

have dropped their commissions — primarily  to compete with the likes of Robinhood.

While commission-free stocks have become more  commonplace than they once were, Robinhood still  

manages to stand out from its competition with commission-free options trades. Most other  

platforms, including Ally Invest, Tastyworks and  Vanguard still charge $0.50 to $1 per options contract.

Robinhood may not be kitted out with complex  research tools, but what it does offer is a clean,  

intuitive, easy-to-learn interface. And its mobile  app reviews reflect this. In fact, as of December  

2020, the app maintains a competitive 4.3 out  of 5 stars on Google Play after 171,000 reviews.  

Its Apple App rating is even better — it  scores 4.8 out of 5 after 2.2 million ratings.

A huge portion of Robinhood’s positive feedback  

can be attributed to its sleek,  easy-to-use interface. And I know  

this because I read through a lot  of Robinhood reviews. Like — a lot.

Deposits of up to $1,000 are approved  almost instantly. This essentially  

means you can hit the ground running and  start trading the day you open an account.

Any deposits over $1,000 may take  up to five business days to settle.

So, Robinhood’s starting to  sound pretty good, right? Well,  

before you rush off to open an account, you  may want to hear the other half of the story.

No platform is perfect,  

and Robinhood is no exception. Here are three major drawbacks to consider before using Robinhood.

Robinhood’s tradable securities are limited  to stocks, ETFs, options and cryptocurrency.  

It’s not unheard of for a platform to have a  limited asset lineup — Tastyworks, for example,  

specializes in derivatives trading. But it does mean investors interested in mutual funds,  

bonds, futures or forex will need  to opt for a different platform.

Robinhood’s basic user interface may be a point in  its favor, but its basic research tools are not.

Now, when I say basic research tools,  what I’m primarily referring to  

are Robinhood’s charting tools. Charting  tools are essential for any trader looking  

to run their own technical analysis on a  stock. Robinhood only offers five technical  

indicators — and when you compare  this to TradingView’s 100 indicators,  

or Zack’s Trade’s 120 indicators, you begin to  see just how limited Robinhood’s charts are.

Robinhood is also missing a couple  of other important research tools,  

including a comprehensive stock  screener and interactive heatmaps.

For those just getting started, the  lack of sophisticated research tools  

may not be a dealbreaker.  But for more experienced traders,  

Robinhood’s basic research tools may be at  best: problematic — and at worst, a liability.

The only way to get in touch with Robinhood  customer support is through its online ticketing  

system. There’s no number to call and no reps  standing by on a live chat service. Support  

requests are limited to email inquiries and reps  tend to respond within one to two business days.

Now, limited customer support may not sound  like a big deal — until you run into a problem.  

It’s here that platforms with 24/7 customer  support, like TD Ameritrade, really shine.

Robinhood may beef up its customer  service options in the future,  

but for now, its limited support  is definitely a drawback.

This is a complicated question, but it’s  one we need to address — especially in  

light of the multiple service outages  that have plagued Robinhood’s platform.

Let’s start with the good news:  

As far as having its paperwork in order,  Robinhood is in good shape. It’s registered  

with the US Securities and Exchange Commission  (SEC) and it’s a member of the Financial Industry  

Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities  Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).

Robinhood accounts are protected up to $500,000,  

including up to $250,000 in cash balances should  the platform go under. Robinhood also uses  

128-bit encryption to protect your  data on its website and mobile app.

Now, for the bad news. Robinhood experienced  a handful of major service outages in 2020.  

In March, the platform went down  on three separate occasions.  

The shortest outage lasted less than two  hours — the longest took 16 hours to resolve.

In 2020, Bloomberg reported that over 10,000  Robinhood email login credentials were for sale  

on dark web marketplaces. Robinhood  wasn’t the only platform affected,  

but e-crime intelligence firm, Q6 Cyber, stated  that the number of Robinhood-related emails  

outnumbered those for other  brokerages by about 5-to-1.

Robinhood has also been involved in several  lawsuits covering how it discloses information  

and protects users. You can read more  about these events in our Robinhood review.  

The link is in the description box below.

The bottom line is that managing your investments online  

can be risky. Is Robinhood riskier  than other platforms on the market?  

It’s difficult to say. But do your  due diligence and research the  

data protection measures Robinhood has in  place before you sign up for an account.

Another factor to consider  before you sign up for an account  

is what it’s actually like to trade on  Robinhood. Here’s a look at the process.

Robinhood offers more than  5,000 tradable stocks and ETFs.  

To find a stock, search by  company name or ticker symbol.

Indicate how many shares you’d like to  purchase and check the total cost of  

your order. Make sure you have enough  buying power to execute the trade.

Once you’ve pinpointed the stock, select your order type. Market orders let you purchase the stock right away at the current market price.

Limit orders let you delay your purchase until the stock hits your desired price. Robinhood also offers stop loss and stop limit orders.

Before finalizing your purchase, review  your order. If you’re ready to execute,  

swipe up on the screen to submit, and watch  green confetti fall from the top of your screen.

You can read our full review of Robinhood and compare your brokerage account options  

on finder.com. And if you liked this video,  

don’t forget to hit the subscribe button  so you’ll be the first to know when new Finder videos drop.

Thanks for watching!