If you are in search of a new broker and can’t decide between these two companies, we can help you by showing all the important information and stats in this Ally Invest vs Robinhood comparison review.
Ally Invest vs Robinhood: Popularity
| Query | Ally Invest | Robinhood |
| Number of users (approximate) | 388K | 13m |
| Website traffic (estimated) | 16m | 42.6m |
| # results on web | 50m | 29.7m |
| Search volume Google | 70K | 40k |
| Twitter followers | 43K | 196k |
| FB followers | 342K | 163k |
| How popular on mainstream media? | Medium | High |
| Negative media? | Low | High |
| Notable awards | None, but Ally Bank has consistently received awards | Most innovative company by Fast Company (2015), Top 50 by Fast Company (2016) |
Robinhood has been in the public eye a lot lately and that buzz around the brand has allowed it to grow exponentially in the COVID-19 pandemic period. Comparing its 13 million customers to Ally Invest’s 388,000, the winner is clearly Robinhood.
Ally Invest vs Robinhood: User Rating
| Query | Ally Invest | Robinhood |
| # users rated on user platforms | 60 on TrustPilot, 1 on SiteJabber | 77 on TrustPilot, 46 on SiteJabber |
| Percentage of positive reviews out of user reviews | 7% | 20% |
| Common compliments | Helpful and secure. | Great design and user interface, good app |
| Common complaints | Unreliable customer service. | Poor customer service, difficult to communicate with, not trustworthy |
| Positive feedback on Twitter? | Great research and tools. | Constant inflow of positive comments |
| Negative feedback on Twitter? | The app is buggy | No complaints over the past 14 days |
| App rating (summary) | Almost 100 reviews with an average rating of 2.35 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 |
Even though neither one has a great score on the feedback sites online, there is a considerable advantage for Robinhood. Both in terms of positive percentage and the number of reviews.
Ally Invest vs Robinhood: Background Information
| Query | Ally Invest | Robinhood |
| Company public/private | Public | Private |
| Revenue Data | – | 180m on Q2 of 2020 |
| CEO and bio | Jeffrey J. Brown – Prior to being named CEO, Brown was president and CEO of Ally’s Dealer Financial Services business where he oversaw the company’s auto finance, insurance and auto servicing operations. | Vladimir Tenev, Standford graduate, left his PhD in maths for Robinhood. Prior to Robinhood, he created a high frequency trading company. |
| Number of employees | 8700 | 1,281 |
| Notable investors (private companies) | None | SEQUOIA, Index Ventures, CapitalG, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital |
Both companies are relatively young and both are growing rapidely. One is private but backed by big names as investors. The other is public and part of a huge banking institution. Only time will tell who will become the more profitable one.
As of today, we only have revenue data for Robinhood so we can’t name a winner in this section of the comparison.
Ally Invest vs Robinhood: Security
| Query | Ally Invest | Robinhood |
| HTTPS Certificate | Yes | Yes |
| 2FA ? | Yes | Yes |
| Device monitoring? | Yes | Yes |
| New device extra security? | Yes | Yes |
Ally Invest vs Robinhood: Fees & Offering
| Query | Ally Invest | Robinhood |
| Account minimum | None | None |
| Account fixed fees | None | None |
| Fractional shares? | Yes | Yes |
| Margin costs | Varies | 5% per day |
| ETF buying fees | None | None |
| Stock buying fees | None | None |
| Option buying fees | 50¢ per contract traded | None |
| Short selling fees | None | Not available on robinhood |
| Futures buying fees | None | Not available on robinhood |
| Future options buying fees | – | Not available on robinhood |
| Cryptocurrency fees | Not available | 1% on buying, 5% on selling |
| Fixed income fees | None | Not available on robinhood |
| Mutual funds fees | None | Not available on robinhood |
The only way to choose a winner for this section is to know what tools you want to use. Both have pros and cons.
If you are only using stocks and cryptocurrencies, you better choose Robinhood. But if you are not interested in trading crypto but more on the futures market, the choice is Ally Invest.
Ally Invest vs Robinhood: Trading App
| Query | Ally Invest | Robinhood |
| Android app # installs | 5K+ | 10m+ |
| Android app # reviews | 18 | 155k |
| iPhone app # reviews | 78 | 2m |
| Android app rating | 2.3 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| iPhone app rating | 2.4 / 5 | 4.8 / 5 |
| Common compliments on app | App is responsive and fast. | Smooth app, easy for beginners, free stock promotion, low fees |
| Common complaints on app | App crashes a lot. | Slow, laggy, freezing upon high activity |
| Weighted average app rating | 2.35 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 |
When we talk about mobile apps, unfortunately for Ally Invest, there is no competition. The Robinhood app is the clear winner on every single category.
Final conclusions:
Robinhood caters for the more younger audience who want to invest from the comfort of their phone and don’t need a lot of investing instruments. Ally Invest, on the other hand, is more for brokers with experience that maybe also bank with its parent company Ally.