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Robinhood vs Vanguard Comparison Review

In this review, we will show you a side by side comparison of Robinhood vs Vanguard. The two online brokers will be compared for fees, trading platforms, safety, mobile apps, and more.

Robinhood vs Vanguard: Popularity

QueryRobinhoodVanguard
Number of users (approximate)13m30m+
Website traffic (estimated)42.6m23.3m
# results on web29.7m112m
Search volume Google40k1.22m
Twitter followers196k302K
FB followers163k224K
How popular on mainstream media?HighHigh
Negative media?HighVery low
Notable awardsMost innovative company by Fast Company (2015), Top 50 by Fast Company (2016)2019 U.S. Morningstar Award for Investing Excellence for Exemplary Stewardship, Best New U.S. Equity ETF, Best New International/Global Fixed Income ETF, Best New Active ETF

By any criteria, Vanguard is the more popular and bigger broker and it has almost three times more clients. But to be fair, Robinhood has only been in existence only since 2013, 38 years later than Vanguard.

Robinhood vs Vanguard: User Rating

QueryRobinhoodVanguard
# users rated on user platforms77 on TrustPilot, 46 on SiteJabber45 on SiteJabber
Percentage of positive reviews out of user reviews20%91%
Common complimentsGreat design and user interface, good appGood investment platform, low fees
Common complaintsPoor customer service, difficult to communicate with, not trustworthySometimes poor customer service
Positive feedback on Twitter?Constant inflow of positive commentsGreat information and analysis
Negative feedback on Twitter?No complaints over the past 14 daysHard to receive help from support
App rating (summary)4.6 / 5Almost 5K reviews with an average rating of 3.1 / 5

A lower percentage of positive feedback for Robinhood on sites like TrustPilot and SiteJabber, but with a lot more reviews online. That being said, on Twitter, Robinhood seems to be highly appreciated. Considering that almost 80% of Twitter’s active users are Millennials, we can see that it is performing well in the category it wants to market to.

Robinhood vs Vanguard: Background Information

QueryRobinhoodVanguard
Company public/privatePrivatePrivate
Revenue Data180m on Q2 of 2020$48.5 billion in Q1 of 2020
CEO and bioVladimir Tenev, Standford graduate, left his PhD in maths for robinhood. Prior to robinhood, he created a high frequency trading company.Mortimer J. Buckley – earned a BA degree in economics in 1991 from Harvard College and an MBA degree in 1996 from Harvard Business School
Number of employees1,28117,600
Notable investors (private companies)SEQUOIA, Index Ventures, CapitalG, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive CapitalNone

Here we can see again the big differences between the two companies when it comes to size. Vanguard is the larger broker when it comes to revenue and number of employees.

Robinhood vs Vanguard: Security

QueryRobinhoodVanguard
HTTPS CertificateYesYes
2FA ?YesYes
Device monitoring?YesYes
New device extra security?YesYes

Robinhood vs Vanguard: Fees & Offering

QueryRobinhoodVanguard
Account minimumNone$20
Account fixed feesNone$20
Fractional shares?YesNo
Margin costs5% per dayVaries
ETF buying feesNoneNone
Stock buying feesNoneNone
Option buying feesNone$0 + $1-per-contract fee
Short selling feesNot availableNone
Futures buying feesNot availableNot available
Future options buying feesNot availableNot available
Cryptocurrency fees1% on buying, 5% on sellingNot available
Fixed income feesNot availableNone
Mutual funds feesNot availableNone

As we already saw before, Robinhood is targeting the younger generation of investors that have lower sums to invest and are focused on new technologies. Allowing its customers to buy fractional shares and invest in cryptocurrencies has allowed the company to grow exponentially in the last couple of years.

Vanguard, on the other hand, is more traditional and caters to older investors with bigger budgets and long term views for which the minimum and fixed account fees don’t really make a difference.

Robinhood vs Vanguard: Trading App

QueryRobinhoodVanguard
Android app # installs10m+1m+
Android app # reviews155k4756
iPhone app # reviews2m29
Android app rating4.3 / 52.1 / 5
iPhone app rating4.8 / 54.1 / 5
Common compliments on appSmooth app, easy for beginners, free stock promotion, low feesEasy to use and navigate once you get used to it.
Common complaints on appSlow, laggy, freezing upon high activityNo fingerprint support, the app feels dated.
Weighted average app rating4.6 / 53.1 / 5

Being focused only on the app, Robinhood is clearly the winner over Vanguard in this category. It is smooth and easy for anyone to understand, and has millions of downloads and great ratings on both mobile app stores.

Final conclusions:

Robinhood is the better choice for the younger generation of investors who are interested in actively managing their portfolio and are looking to make short term trades. Vanguard is best for the opposite type of investors. Those who want to invest long term and have their investments backed by a big brokerage firm.

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