Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not financial, investment or legal advice. Features and minimums change; confirm details on each brokerage’s website before opening an account.
Automatic investing means telling your brokerage to buy the same investments, for the same dollar amount, on a schedule you choose: every week, every two weeks or every month. Once it’s set up, you don’t have to log in, decide what to buy or worry about whether “now” is a good time.
Almost every major U.S. brokerage now offers some form of automatic investing, but they differ a lot in what you can automate. Some let you schedule buys of individual stocks and ETFs. Others only automate their own mutual funds. This guide compares the major brokerages for 2026 so you can pick the one that matches how you want to invest.
Quick answer: the best brokerages for automatic investing in 2026
- Best overall: Fidelity. Recurring investments in stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and Fidelity Basket Portfolios, all from one screen.
- Best for small, app-first investing: Robinhood and Webull. Dollar-based recurring buys of stocks and ETFs from a phone.
- Best for Vanguard fund investors: Vanguard. Automatic investing in Vanguard mutual funds and Vanguard ETFs.
- Best for mutual-fund-only plans: Charles Schwab and E*TRADE. Strong fund lineups, but no recurring buys of individual stocks.
- Best for international stocks: Interactive Brokers. Recurring buys of U.S., Canadian and European shares.
Recurring transfer vs. recurring investment: know the difference
Before comparing brokerages, it helps to know there are two separate automations, and most people need both:
- Recurring transfer (or deposit): moves cash from your bank into your brokerage account on a schedule. On its own, this money just sits as cash.
- Recurring investment: uses cash to buy a specific stock, ETF or fund on a schedule.
Fidelity explains it this way: recurring contributions move money into your account, while recurring investments go a step further and put those dollars into the investments you’ve chosen. If you only set up the transfer, you’re saving, not investing. (More detail: Fidelity recurring deposit vs. recurring investment.)
Comparison table: automatic investing by brokerage (2026)
| Brokerage | Recurring stocks | Recurring ETFs | Recurring mutual funds | Fractional (dollar-based) buys | Robo-advisor option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fidelity | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Fidelity Go ($10 to start) |
| Robinhood | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Robinhood Strategies |
| Webull | Yes (fractional-eligible) | Yes (many) | No | Yes ($1 minimum) | Webull Advisors |
| SoFi Invest | Yes (fractional-eligible) | Yes (fractional-eligible) | No | Yes | SoFi Automated Investing |
| Vanguard | No | Vanguard ETFs only | Yes (Vanguard funds) | Vanguard ETFs only | Vanguard Digital Advisor |
| Charles Schwab | No | No | Yes (eligible funds) | Stock Slices (manual only) | Schwab Intelligent Portfolios ($5,000) |
| E*TRADE | No | Yes (eligible ETFs) | Yes (eligible funds) | No | Core Portfolios ($500) |
| Interactive Brokers | Yes (U.S., Canada, Europe) | Yes | No | Yes | — |
“Yes” means the brokerage lets you schedule automatic purchases of that asset type in a self-directed account. Checked October 2026.
Brokerage-by-brokerage breakdown
1. Fidelity: best overall for automatic investing
Fidelity has the widest automatic investing feature of any major brokerage. From Trade → Recurring Investment, you can schedule purchases of stocks, ETFs, mutual funds or Fidelity Basket Portfolios, and you can add up to 10 symbols in a single recurring plan. You choose the amount, frequency and start date, and you can fund each purchase from your linked bank account or from cash already in your Fidelity account.
There’s no minimum to open a Fidelity brokerage account, no commission on online U.S. stock and ETF trades, and you can change or stop a recurring investment at any time.
Best for: hands-on investors who want to automate a portfolio they picked themselves, including individual stocks.
👉 Step-by-step guides (UseFidelity):
- How to set up Fidelity recurring investments
- How to edit or cancel a Fidelity recurring investment
- Fidelity recurring deposit vs. recurring investment: what’s the difference?
2. Robinhood: best for simple, mobile-first recurring buys
Robinhood has offered recurring investments to all customers since 2020. You can schedule automatic buys of thousands of stocks and ETFs, plus crypto through Robinhood Crypto. Recurring investments use dollar-based orders, so your money buys fractional shares and none of it sits uninvested. Robinhood says the most common recurring amount its customers choose is just $10.
You can adjust, pause or delete a recurring investment any time, and recurring buys also work inside a self-directed Robinhood IRA. Some products aren’t eligible, including inverse ETFs and volatility products.
Best for: beginners who want to start small and manage everything from an app.
Limitation: no mutual funds.
3. Webull: best for flexible amounts
Webull’s Recurring Investment Plan works with any stock available for fractional trading and many ETFs. Fixed recurring buys range from $1 to $25,000 per plan. Webull also offers a “dynamic” recurring option for individual stocks and standard ETFs, which changes the amount based on rules you set. Leveraged, inverse and volatility ETFs aren’t eligible. You manage or cancel plans under Orders → Recurring Investment Plan.
Best for: app users who want very low minimums and more control over the schedule.
4. SoFi Invest: easy setup inside the SoFi app
In a SoFi Active Invest account, any stock or ETF that’s eligible for fractional trading can be set up as a recurring investment. Search the ticker, tap Trade, then Recurring, and choose the amount and frequency. If a scheduled buy lands on a weekend or market holiday, SoFi places it on the next trading day.
Best for: people who already bank with SoFi and want investing in the same app.
5. Vanguard: best if you invest in Vanguard funds
Vanguard’s Automatic Investments feature covers Vanguard mutual funds and Vanguard ETFs, using dollar-based fractional purchases with a $1 minimum for its ETFs. That’s ideal if your plan is built around Vanguard index funds.
Limitation: you can’t automate purchases of individual stocks or non-Vanguard ETFs.
6. Charles Schwab: best for mutual fund investors
Schwab’s Automatic Investing tool (Trade → Automatic Investing) is limited to eligible mutual funds you already hold. Stocks and ETFs can’t be bought on a recurring schedule in a regular Schwab brokerage account. You can still buy fractional shares through Schwab Stock Slices, but you have to place each order yourself.
If you want Schwab to automate everything, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios is its robo-advisor. It builds and manages an ETF portfolio and requires $5,000 to start.
Best for: investors who build their core portfolio from Schwab or OneSource mutual funds.
7. E*TRADE (from Morgan Stanley): mutual funds and ETFs from $25
E*TRADE’s Automatic Investing program supports eligible mutual funds and ETFs, with a $25 minimum per recurring investment. Individual stocks aren’t eligible. For a hands-off option, E*TRADE Core Portfolios is a robo-advisor with a $500 minimum.
Best for: fund investors who want a large mutual fund selection.
8. Interactive Brokers: best for international stocks
IBKR’s Recurring Investments feature lets you schedule daily, weekly or monthly buys of U.S., Canadian and European shares using fractional shares. IBKR’s standard commissions apply to each purchase. You set up and cancel plans in the Client Portal under Trade → Recurring Investments.
Best for: experienced investors who want global exposure.
How to choose the right brokerage for automatic investing
Answer these four questions:
- What do you want to automate?
- Individual stocks: Fidelity, Robinhood, Webull, SoFi or IBKR.
- Index funds only: Vanguard, Schwab or E*TRADE also work.
- How much will you invest each time? If it’s $10–$50, look for dollar-based fractional buys so every dollar is invested. Our guide to the best brokerages for fractional shares covers this in more detail.
- Do you want to pick investments or have them picked for you? If you’d rather not choose, a robo-advisor (Fidelity Go, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, Vanguard Digital Advisor) handles selection and rebalancing for a fee.
- Desktop or app? Robinhood, Webull and SoFi are built for phones. Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard work well on both.
Why automatic investing works
Automatic investing is the easiest way to practice dollar-cost averaging: investing a fixed amount on a fixed schedule no matter what the market is doing. Because the amount stays the same, you automatically buy more shares when prices are low and fewer when prices are high. You also stay invested through rough markets instead of trying to guess the “right” time.
Want the full picture, including how DCA compares with investing a lump sum? Read Dollar-Cost Averaging Explained: The Complete DCA Guide.
Not sure what to automate? Start with a portfolio
A brokerage can automate the buying, but you still have to decide what to buy. PortfolioGPT builds a personalized portfolio of stocks and ETFs based on your risk tolerance and time horizon in about 25 seconds. Then you can set it up as a recurring investment at the brokerage you picked above.
Frequently asked questions
Which brokerage is best for automatic investing in 2026?
Fidelity, because it lets you automate stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and baskets from one place. Robinhood and Webull are strong alternatives if you want a simple app and very small amounts.
Can I set up automatic investing in individual stocks?
Yes, at Fidelity, Robinhood, Webull, SoFi and Interactive Brokers. Schwab, Vanguard and E*TRADE don’t offer recurring buys of individual stocks.
Does Schwab offer automatic investing for ETFs?
Not in a regular brokerage account. Schwab’s Automatic Investing tool works only with eligible mutual funds. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, its robo-advisor, invests automatically in ETFs.
Is there a fee for automatic investing?
At most brokerages, recurring stock and ETF purchases are commission-free, the same as regular online trades. Interactive Brokers charges its standard commissions, and some mutual funds charge their own transaction fees.
What’s the minimum for automatic investing?
It depends on the brokerage: $1 at Webull, $1 for Vanguard ETFs, and $25 at E*TRADE. Mutual funds may carry their own minimums.
Is automatic investing the same as dollar-cost averaging?
They’re closely related. Dollar-cost averaging is the strategy (investing a fixed amount on a schedule). Automatic investing is the brokerage feature that carries it out for you.
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