Betterment Vs. Wealthfront: Which Is Best For You?

A robo-advisor provides automated portfolio management for investors, selecting investments for you using an algorithm based on your risk tolerance and when you need the money.

Betterment and Wealthfront are two of the top robo-advisors in a crowded field that includes platforms powered by the biggest names in the brokerage world.

These robo specialists have years of experience perfecting their offerings for customers who want a professionally managed portfolio at an affordable cost. Plus, they’ve continually added services that go beyond what you’d expect from a standalone robo-advisor.

Both Betterment and Wealthfront scored top marks in Bankrate’s latest reviews (with Betterment taking the top honors for best robo-advisor overall in 2025). These robos have a lot in common, but it’s the differences — which we dive into below — that will help you decide which provider best meets your financial needs.

Our take

Top robo-advisors use low-cost exchange-traded funds to build your portfolio and then add on a heap of value-added features such as tax-loss harvesting and a cash management account. The result is a portfolio that may be able to outperform a human-created portfolio. 

Here’s how Betterment and Wealthfront compare head to head in five key categories.

Portfolio management

Edge: It’s a close call, but Wealthfront wins out in this category if you want the ability to include a wide array of investment choices in your portfolio beyond what robo-advisors typically offer.

If you’re seeking a more traditional money management relationship that includes access to a financial planner, Betterment has the obvious leg up since Wealthfront does not offer a human advisor option.

In many respects, Betterment and Wealthfront look similar in terms of managing your portfolio. Both offer sophisticated portfolio management and tax strategies that can reduce the net cost of the service (more below). Each also allows you to gain exposure to cryptocurrency, too, if you’re interested in that. 

Beyond the extra bells and whistles, which may or may not increase your returns, here’s how they stack up.

Betterment portfolio management

Betterment constructs a portfolio based on 13 asset classes, and allows you to set multiple goals and save for them individually. You’ll have access to a smart beta fund, which weights various factors to try to beat the market return, as well as socially responsible investments. You can go “all cash” or “all bonds,” and you have some freedom to adjust your portfolio’s weightings.

Although both Betterment and Wealthfront are designed to function without human advisors, a key differentiator is Betterment’s option to speak with qualified human advisors — a nice feature for times when non-routine questions that can’t be answered by an FAQ do arise.

You’ll need to bring $100,000 or more to Betterment to qualify for the premium tier that includes unlimited access to its team of certified financial planners (CFPs). 

Wealthfront portfolio management

Similarly, at Wealthfront you can create a customized portfolio from hundreds of ETFs and invest for multiple goals. If you’re looking to add a specific ETF to your portfolio, Wealthfront gives you an absolute ton of choices and lets you tinker with your allocations, offering you more freedom.

Income investors will appreciate the robo-advisor’s Automated Bond Ladder, which handles the heavy lifting of building a ladder of U.S. Treasurys with different maturities and risks while helping you avoid state and local taxes on interest.

With more than $500,000, you can access Wealthfront’s smart beta fund, which weights features in your investments to drive returns up.

Wealthfront also introduced the ability to buy individual stocks in early 2023, and you can add fractional shares with a minimum investment of $1 and no trading commission. More recently, the firm added direct indexing as an option, which adds another layer of customizability and allows the robo to optimize losses for tax-loss harvesting. (More on this below.)

Cash management account

Edge: Wealthfront. Used responsibly, the portfolio line of credit they offer is a great feature, giving you access to a low-cost loan at almost any point.

Wealthfront and Betterment are close when it comes to the cash management accounts they offer. In fact, they’re some of the best in the industry and pay interest, unlike many accounts. Both offer accounts that regularly ratchet up (or down) rates as the prevailing rate shifts, making them a great place to stash your cash when rates are high.

Here’s how their cash management accounts stack up:

These two robo-advisors are identical on so many features, but let’s run through a few differences:

• Early direct deposit: Wealthfront offers early direct deposit on your payroll check, so you can get that money working for you faster, while Betterment does not.
• Fee-free ATMs: Both offer access, but Betterment’s reach is broader.
• Portfolio line of credit: Wealthfront allows you to borrow up to 30 percent against your automated investing account (if it’s above $25,000) at a low rate. You can have the money in hours. Betterment does not offer this feature.

Wealthfront offers a better suite of features, with early direct deposit and a portfolio line of credit, allowing you immediate access to a loan, which may be helpful when paying off high-rate debt.

Meanwhile, fee-free ATMs are a nice add-on offered by both, but cash is becoming less necessary every day. However, frequent travelers abroad may find Betterment’s global ATM coverage a worthwhile perk of the account.

Management and fund fees

Edge: This category is too close to call for most investors when comparing the core portfolio management services and expense ratios on investments.

Betterment and Wealthfront are neck and neck when it comes to management fees on their basic plans (which go to the robo-advisor) and fund fees (which go to the company that created the fund).

Portfolio management fees

Both Betterment and Wealthfront charge 0.25 percent of assets annually for their core portfolio management services, which translates into a $25 fee for every $10,000 invested.

Betterment has additional fee tiers based on account balance:

• Digital plan: The 0.25 annual fee applies to customers with $20,000 or more across all accounts. Those with less are charged a $4 monthly fee instead. Betterment waives the monthly fee if you set up a $250 or more monthly recurring deposit.
• Premium plan: This second tier of service steps up the price to 0.65 percent of assets (with at least $100,000 in the account), or $65 per year for each $10,000 invested. This is the level that buys access to a team of CFPs who can advise on investments held outside of Betterment accounts.
• Discount for high-dollar portfolios: Wealthy investors in either plan earn a management fee discount of 0.1 percent on the portion of their portfolio that exceeds $2 million. That brings the digital plan management fee to 0.15 percent and the premium plan to 0.55 percent.

When it comes to ETF fees, the race is just as tight. Betterment says its portfolios average between 0.05 percent and 0.24 percent, depending on exactly what’s in it. That would cost between $5 and $24 annually for every $10,000 invested. 

Wealthfront is right there, with an average portfolio costing about 0.08 percent. Either way, it’s about as cheap as it gets.

In practice, the ETF fees that you’d pay at either robo-advisor depend exactly on what kind of portfolio is constructed and that depends on your individual needs and preferences.

Tax strategy

Edge: With potential higher returns and direct indexing, Wealthfront comes out ahead in this category, but Betterment offers a solid feature set, too.

A robo-advisor can also add value through its tax strategy, which is an important consideration for investors with money invested outside of tax-advantaged retirement accounts. Robo-advisors are ideally situated to perform tax-loss harvesting, with the ability to do trades that would be onerous for a human advisor. Tax-loss harvesting means selling losers to take a tax loss that can offset gains.

Betterment tax strategy

Betterment uses daily tax-loss harvesting to try to maximize your gains. Typically, they’ll sell one fund and then replace it with another that has many similar features. You’ll have access to this service with any level of assets you bring to the accounts.

Betterment also has a tax-coordinated portfolio that tries to minimize taxes by optimally putting investments in taxable and tax-advantaged accounts such as an IRA. The robo says this service improves after-tax returns by about 0.48 percent annually, or about twice the core advisory fee.

Wealthfront tax strategy

Wealthfront also uses daily tax-loss harvesting, but it takes it to the next level. 

When you have more than $100,000, Wealthfront can start using direct indexing, giving you more opportunities to realize savings. So rather than owning the fund, your account owns the constituent stocks. In any given trading day, Wealthfront has more opportunities to take losses with this stock-level tax-loss harvesting, meaning more savings over time. (Wealthfront’s S&P 500 Direct indexing strategy focused solely on that index’s holdings is available at a lower $20,000 investment minimum.)

Wealthfront says its tax-loss harvesting program can recoup its management fee for 97 percent of its clients. The robo-advisor says that clients in riskier portfolios (that is, stock-heavy) have seen an estimated after-tax benefit of six to 13 times the advisory fee.

Features and tools

Edge: Wealthfront. Its excellent planning tool (which is really several tools in one) and useful Self-Driving Money feature compare well against Betterment’s useful (but more narrowly focused) tools.

Betterment and Wealthfront both offer features and tools that can add value to your account.

Besides those already mentioned, Betterment’s tools include:

• Tax impact preview, which allows you to see how a financial decision affects your taxes
• Charitable giving tool, which helps you manage your giving and receipts, and save more on taxes, too
• Retirement-planning tool, which offers suggestions on how to optimize your portfolio to meet your retirement needs
• Goal-based saving tool, which helps you set different goals and save for them. It also allows you to rank your goals in terms of priority.

In addition to those already mentioned, Wealthfront’s tools include:

• Path financial planning tool, a robust tool that helps you plan for multiple financial goals by pulling in all your spending and financial data. You can project your net worth over time, and see how spending in one area can affect your progress to other goals in an easy-to-use graphic. You’ll also be able to use the tool to plan for college and open a 529 college savings plan with Wealthfront or link an outside plan. You can even budget for time off and see how that affects your goals.

Plus, Wealthfront’s comprehensive planning tool is available even if you don’t choose to have the robo manage your money. You simply need to open a Wealthfront account to gain access and link to your other financial accounts to get the most accurate results.

Who is Betterment best for?

Betterment is ideal for both new investors just starting out (thanks to its $0 minimum for the digital tier) and those with $100,000 or more who want the option to consult with a financial planner at any time. Notable offerings include:

• Unlimited access to human financial planners for larger portfolios.
• No-fee account management and no minimum investment requirement for customers with less than $20,000 who set up an automated monthly deposit.
• Competitive rate on a no-fee cash management account that includes a debit card, ATM and checking.
• Tax-optimization strategies for taxable accounts (e.g., daily tax-loss harvesting and a tax-coordinated portfolio).

Who is Wealthfront best for?

Wealthfront’s all-encompassing investment options (including individual stocks, bond ladders and direct investing) is a boon to those looking for money management that goes well beyond what’s offered by a typical robo-advisory. Highlights include:

• Sophisticated portfolio management services that offer a high degree of customization.
• No-commission trading in individual stocks and ETFs.
• Access to automated bond laddering, direct indexing services and financial planning tools.
• High-interest cash management account with free banking features (including checking, bill pay and free ATM access).

Bottom line

The core portfolio management services and management fees at both Betterment and Wealthfront are very good and very similar, as are the features of their perk-heavy cash management accounts. But whether you go with one or the other depends a lot on your individual needs. 

For example, if you need a human advisor and meet the minimum investment requirement for unlimited access, Betterment may be your answer. If the ability to invest in individual stocks (through a brokerage or access to direct indexing) are priorities, then Wealthfront might be better able to serve your needs. Other things that might sway you to one robo-advisor or the other are specific features in a cash management account or access to a portfolio line of credit.

— Bankrate’s Dayana Yochim contributed to an update of this article.