Robinhood Alternative Apps in Canada (2023)

Due to its no-fee business strategy and sleek, user-friendly trading interface, Robinhood has evolved to become a highly well-known brand among tech-savvy investors and novice traders since it first disrupted the brokerage market. Users like that being able to trade fractional shares offers them access to a broader variety of assets than they might otherwise be able to buy.

The platform simplifies the interface and trading experience by offering a small selection of assets, including stocks, ETFs, and direct cryptocurrency trading. Options trading is also available, although certain order type limitations regarding the caliber of trade executions may put off more serious investors.

The limitations of Robinhood are a consistent problem for experienced traders. For example, the absence of fixed income, mutual funds, Foreign Exchange (FX), and futures trading on Robinhood makes it more challenging to set up a multi-asset trading position.

Executing more complicated trading strategies is complicated on Robinhood due to a need for more assets, tools, calculators, and advanced charting features. Despite efforts to improve its educational material, Robinhood still needs to catch up to what many of its rivals offer.

However, Robinhood is attempting to remedy this by adding content to its “Learn” section and improving the onboarding questionnaire to help consumers grasp the fundamentals of investing while setting risk tolerance-appropriate limits.

Robinhood has also been highlighting its cash management improvements to entice new users by offering a better interest rate on uninvested funds and premiering its cash card. To help to sort out whether Robinhood may be a good option for you, down below I have gathered some of its key features along with its pros and cons:

Key Features

• $0 deposit
• Commission-free trading
• Fractional shares which means no need to have thousands of dollars to buy a unit of share. Buy as little as you are able.
• Earn interest on uninvested cash including a customizable debit card and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protection (up to $1.25 million)

Pros

• No account minimum.
• Streamlined interface.
• Cryptocurrency trading.

Cons

• No mutual funds, bonds, FX, or futures trading
• Limited customer support.

The Robinhood investing app, however intriguing, has shifted its attitude drastically in recent years. They have gone from being a user-friendly, free, simple to use, and relatively cheap way to dip your toes into investing to more of an approach of an app that lures young traders, sometimes with devastating results.

Many feel that the app’s name is now a misnomer. The Robinhood app controversy has led to some countries banning its activities, and Canada is one of those countries. Finding this out made me curious to look for alternative apps.

So, to help my friends and family in Canada as well as you guys to get your hands on the best alternative apps available for Canadians, here are my Top 3 Investing apps in Canada.

1. Wealthsimple Trade

A big draw of Robinhood was that it offered commission-free trading. If that was appealing for you, Wealthsimple Trade is the most significant substitute in Canada. Wealthsimple Trade is the first commission-free trading platform in Canada. You can buy or sell stocks in many cases without paying fees. On top of that, there are no investment minimums.

This becomes beneficial when you are a smaller investor or deciding whether to commit a lot of money. Another exciting feature of the Wealthsimple Trade platform is buying fractional shares of stocks, where you can buy a portion of shares that you may have otherwise not been able to afford.

Here’s the catch: Not all shares are available for buying fractional shares, but Wealthsimple Trade has provided a list of eligible shares for you to purchase.

In addition to all that, they offer a feature called Instant Deposit, which means once you have linked up your bank account, they allow instant deposits up to $1500, and if you need to make larger deposits, their Plus plan will enable you to deposit up to $5000 without waiting.

Wealthsimple Trade also offers Wealthsimple Crypto, where you can buy or sell 56 different cryptocurrencies. I personally prefer not to keep my crypto assets in any type of investing or exchange app as they are prone to hacking or may go bankrupt. I would rather keep my crypto assets in a crypto wallet. Here you can read about The Best Crypto Wallets in Canada (2023).

As I said earlier, they offer a Plus plan for only $10/month, where you do not need to pay conversion fees when trading FX or US stocks. Basically, you are holding a US account for just $10/month. If you want similar functionality to Robinhood, Wealthsimple Trade is your best replacement.

There may be minor differences, but they are hardly noticed. Wealthsimple Trade is safe, easy to use, and user-friendly, and it can be your frictionless step into the financial market. To make it easier for you guys, down below are some of Wealthsimple Trade’s features as well as pros and cons at a glance:

Key features

• No account minimum
• Commission-free trading
• Fractional share trading
• 0% currency conversion fee (available only on the Plus plan and USD account)
• Instant deposit up to $1500
• Crypto trading

Pros

• Commission-free stock and ETF trades
• Competitive option for new investors
• Automated investing platform
• Fractional stock and ETF shares trading

Cons

• Trading fractional shares is only available for limited stocks
• No margin accounts
• If you do not upgrade to the Plus plan, you can hold USD cash in your account, which means you have to pay 1.5% of conversion fee to CAD
• On a free account, you only get limited market data, which means stock quotes are delayed by up to 15 minutes

2. Questrade

Since 1999, Questrade has provided complete online brokerage services to Canadians. Over time, it has developed into a vital substitute for investing through one of the central banks. As such, Questrade does charge a commission, unlike Wealthsimple Trade. Their commission structure charges 1 cent per share.

That makes up for a minimum of $4.95 to a maximum of $9.95 based on which currency you are buying with. A lovely feature on Questrade is that they offer ETF purchases for free. When you sell your ETFs, you must pay the typical commission (1 cent per share) on the way out. So a pro tip for you, don’t go crazy with buying all the ETFs that you can!

Questrade is a deeper-level platform. They offer Options Trading with a flat rate commission of $9.95 plus $1 per contract, and you have a variety of options like CFDs, mutual funds, bonds, GICs, international equities, etc.

One of the significant features of Questrade is that you can hold USD in your account. It’s the same account, but they allow you to split up your CAD and USD. Again, this is a way of actually minimizing the currency conversion fee.

A downfall of Questrade for retail investors working with smaller amounts of money is that there is an investing minimum. It’s hard to find it on their website, but if you dig deep enough, you will find out that the minimum account is 1000 CAD.

Although it may sound a little disappointing that Questrade is not a commission-free platform and has a minimum investment amount, you will find that you have access to more features in exchange for those costs. You know the saying: “Pay more, get more.”

I’d like to make it as simple as possible for you to know some of Questrade’s main features with its pros and cons, so here they are:

Key features

• Commission-free ETF purchase
• A vast array of securities
• It avoids paying the currency conversion costs by enabling the users to hold and USD trade
• Low Commission Stock Trading
• Options with various choices for trading

Pros

• Low stock and ETF fees
• Solid research tools
• Superb customer service

Cons

• Fee payment
• Minimum investment deposit

3. TD Easy Trade

TD Easy Trade, formerly known as TD GoalAssist App, is the direct investing branch of Toronto Dominion Bank. This is the most expensive brokerage app out of the three apps we’ve covered. Also, TD Easy Trade has fewer features than the other two, but it is still worth considering, especially for beginners.

The direct investing branches usually have a higher commission, and TD Easy Trade is no exception. For example, TD Easy Trade charges a flat rate of $9.99 per trade that goes for both Canadian and US stocks.

On the plus side, $0 for the first 50 stock trades and $9.99 per stock trade thereafter in a calendar year (January-December). Based on the stocks and the currency you trade in, they charge a flat commission of $9.99 plus $1.25 per contract.

If you are looking for options in both Canadian and US options, TD Easy Trade has a more attractive price for active traders – for example, people that are making 150 trades per quarter. If you’re that type of trader, you’ll find that your fee drops to just 7%.

TD Easy Trade also charges a maintenance fee. They break it up by quarters – $25 per quarter, or $100 per year. This only applies if your account is below $15000. Below are TD Easy Trade’s features as well as pros and cons at a glance for you to get quickly:

Key features

• $0 commission on TD ETFs
• The account uses only Canadian dollars as its currency. This implies that when you trade stocks denominated in US dollars, you will have to pay some Forex transfer costs
• $9.99 flat cost to trade equities on major North American exchanges
• Set objectives and track your progress
• Videos for learning about investment.

Pros

• Easy to get started
• Partially free platform
• Free resources for gaining knowledge

Cons

• Not all trades are free
• Only TD ETFs are available to trade
• $9.99 in fees – excessive compared to other services.
• Costs for currency conversion
• FX, options, and several other securities cannot be traded using TD Easy Trade
• No crypto trading

For your convenience, I have arranged this table below to make it easier to compare these three app features alongside the Robinhood app’s features.

Is the Robinhood app available in Canada?

No, it is not, and it is US based and not available for Canadian citizens.

How does Robinhood make money?

1. Rebates from Market Makers
2. Monthly Fee for Robinhood Gold ( Premium Version)
3. 2.5% per annum rate when users trade on margin
4. Interest on uninvested cash
5. Cash management services

What are the best alternative apps to Robinhood in Canada?

There are various investing apps available in Canada. But the top apps are Wealthsimple Trade, Questrade, and TD Easy Trade.

Which investment app is the best in Canada?

Depending on your needs and expertise, you can choose investment apps that best suit your desires. But Wealthsimple Trade is the most popular investing app in Canada.

Which investment app has crypto trading in Canada?

Wealthsimple Trade is the most popular investing app available in Canada with crypto Trading features.

Is Wealthsimple the same as Robinhood?

No, they are not. Even though they show similarities in features like commission-free stock trading and crypto trading, before choosing one, do your own research (DYOR), knowing that Robinhood is US based and not available to Canadians.

Conclusion

There you go! These are my top 3 picks from the investment apps available to Canadians. You’ll find that each one is user-friendly with a modern user interface. You can access your investment on the go and take advantage of an opportunity to save your profits or stop your losses.

Each app has its unique aspects, and you can start using them according to your needs. If you are a new investor, I’d recommend checking out Wealthsimple Trade. On the other hand, if you are an investor with more expertise, you will find Questrade’s platform rather interesting.

I do not have a preference, but the Wealthsimple trade is quite handy for me because I can use it for crypto trading 24/7. Also, since I run out of time sometimes, I use the Questrade platform. They provide excellent customer service due to receiving considerable commission fees.

Recently, I referred my young cousin, who lives in Toronto, to TD Easy Trade. He is only 19 years old and has an eye for learning investment.

Therefore, I found it suitable for him to use this platform since TD Easy Trade is beginner-friendly and has a lot of educational content about investing. After all, Benjamin Franklin said: “ An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

Remember that no matter how colorful, gimmicky, easy to use, or delightful investing apps are, they are never responsible for your loss of money. So it is of utmost importance to gain a fair amount of knowledge about what you want to do.

On that note, always remember as Warren Buffet said: “Never invest in a business you cannot understand.” In the end, I’d like to thank you guys for staying with me until the end of this article. Stay tuned with me for more articles to come! Need a trading strategy to use with these apps? Learn how to trade short squeezes, or consider day trading.