M1 Finance vs Cash App: Available Choices, Features, & Fees

M1 Finance vs Cash App – both have robo-advising features. Robo-advisors, or automated investment advisors, rely on mathematical formulas and advanced technology like artificial intelligence to refine the financial advice they provide to users.

As such, these platforms can replace or assist human advisors. However, despite their accuracy levels, the best robo-advisor for you depends on the features and costs you need. While some platforms advertise free services, they need to be profitable, and charges often apply for certain services.

Most robo-advisors offer services such as automatic portfolio rebalancing, automated tax-loss harvesting, retirement accounts, and borrowing against your portfolio. Robo-advisors can cater to either experienced or novice investors.

Our M1 Finance vs Cash App comparison analyzes which platform is best for different types of users. We’ll also determine which platform prevails based on features, fees/commissions, referral programs, and available investments.

But first, a short overview.

What is M1 Finance?

M1 Finance is a robo-advisor offering the best automated investing and human-induced trading. The platform is accessible via a mobile app and on the web. On mobile, the platform is available on both Android and iOS-powered devices.

M1 Finance enables you to automate everything, including contributions to customized portfolios. This makes the platform ideal for investors looking to put their investment journey on autopilot.

The automated financial advisor employs what it calls “pie investing.” This divides an investor’s portfolio into pies. A pie represents an individual investment like a stock or an exchange-traded fund (ETF). Need an in-depth review of M1 Finance? Check out our M1 Finance Review to know what else M1 has in store for you.

What is Cash App?

Initially, Cash App was a mobile payment service with two major options; paying and getting paid. Although it still offers these services, it has evolved to allow users to invest in stocks and cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin (BTC) using Cash App Investing. However, the investment offering is pretty basic and aimed at those new to the investment scene.

The application is only available to users using iOS or Android-powered smartphones. Despite its basic features, the platform provides investors with a chance to transfer their investments to other automated investment advisors that offer more advanced investment options. There a lot more that you need to know about Cash App. Click this Cash App Review to help you find out how Cash App can be beneficial to you.

Available Investments

M1 Finance

M1 Finance puts major emphasis on stocks and ETFs. Unfortunately, the platform only supports stocks listed in reputable exchanges in the US.

The platform also allows investments in fractional shares. These are portions of shares that equal less than a full share. M1 Finance powers investing in fractional shares by splitting a share 100,000 times. This allows you to buy even the smallest amount in shares.

Also, M1 Finance enables investors to interact with mutual funds. Mutual funds are collections of money from deep-pocketed investors. One example of a mutual fund is an index fund.

With M1 Finance, you can invest in companies like Amazon and Facebook for just $5. Unfortunately, the list of available investments does not include notable picks like cryptocurrency, options, and bonds.

Cash App

Cash App, through its Cash App Investing platform, caters to new investors eyeing the stock market and emerging assets like Bitcoin. The platform supports fractional shares and enables users to invest as little as $1 when buying stocks. Additionally, it offers an option to invest in ETFs.

Fees and Commissions Comparison

M1 Finance

M1 Finance allows you to receive the highest return on investment (ROI) by scraping trading fees. Also, the platform doesn’t charge for depositing or withdrawing money to your linked bank account. As an added bonus, there are also no platform usage fees.

Unfortunately, that’s as far as it goes. If you are thinking of requesting paper copies of your account statements, be ready to pay $5 per request. Also, M1 will penalize you for opening an account and leaving it dormant for 90 days. Other activities that incur charges include escheatment processing, liquidating securities traded on foreign exchanges, domestic wire transfers, and regulatory fees.

Cash App

Cash App offers free account opening, zero commissions on trades, and no minimum balance required. However, it transfers regulatory fees such as those charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investors.

Cash App charges more on Bitcoin trades. For example, the platform charges a service fee for each transaction and an extra fee depending on Bitcoin’s volatility across BTC exchanges in the United States. Cash App calculates volatility charges during trading time.

Other fees include $2 for Cash Card usage at any ATM and a 3% charge when sending money from your linked credit card.

Features

M1 Finance

Cash App

Referral programs

M1 Finance rewards users for spreading the news about its services and attracting a larger following. The platform has a simple referral program and one that is more detailed.

The simple program allows existing users to invite family and friends and earn 50 USD distributed to both the referrer and the referral. M1 Finance’s more extensive program, also known as the M1 Finance affiliate program, rewards referrers $100 for referrals with at least $1K in their account balance. Check out the step-by-step instruction on how to get the $50 M1 referral bonus in our full article about the M1 Finance referral program.

On the other hand, Cash App uses its “Invite Friends” feature to reward $30 to users for making referrals. However, to earn the incentives, the referral has to send a minimum of $5 using Cash App and use your unique referral code when creating an account. Discover how to get up to $30with a Cash App referral code in this Cash App referral article.

Customer Service

M1 Finance supports its customers through email, phone number, and instant help via chatbot. Users can reach M1 Finance’s customer service desk via phone between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Time. The phone option is not available on weekends.

Cash App provides an in-app option to contact customer support as well as a phone number. Additionally, the platform offers customer service through physical mail.

Education and Research

M1 Finance keeps users informed through articles published on its blog, a support/help section, and a FAQ section. The platform focuses on general investing research and offers news from leading business and investing outlets.

On the other hand, Cash App provides education through FAQs, a support section, and the “Cash App Code Blog.” A look at the blog’s reveals resources directed to more technical readers. This somewhat contradicts the platform’s mission to be beginner-friendly.

Pros and Cons

M1 Finance

Cash App

Conclusion

Is M1 finance good for you? Ultimately, it depends on what you’re looking for. You’ll fare better on the platform if you have a background in investing.

M1 opens up the possibilities of automation while still allowing users to have some control It’s worth noting that M1 Finance doesn’t hand-hold you through the investing process.

On the other hand, Cash App targets beginners in the stock and crypto markets. Its fractional shares offering allows users to invest as little as $1 in Bitcoin.

Our M1 Finance vs Cash App comparison reveals that the choice for the best robo-advisor boils down to personal preference, experience, and available investments.