Betterment vs Wealthfront

Betterment charges $5 a month, or 0.25% a year once you deposit $200 or more regularly or hold $24,000, and steps up to 0.65% for Premium at $100,000 per household. Wealthfront prints one figure, 0.25% annually, and bundles tax-loss harvesting and automatic rebalancing into it. Betterment is the one that shows a cash rate, 3.50% as of 9/21/2026, and a $75 outbound transfer fee. Wealthfront gives no cash rate and no trial. Neither page states a country, so the choice rests on fee shape and the information each vendor chose to publish.

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Both are reviewed in full in our robo-advisors ranking: Betterment and Wealthfront.

1. 01

   Staged percentage against one flat 0.25%

   Betterment's digital investing costs $5 a month as a base price, or 0.25% a year once recurring deposits reach $200 or the balance reaches $24,000. Premium costs 0.65% a year and needs $100,000 per household. Wealthfront prints a single advisory fee for its portfolio, 0.25% annually, with no minimum named in the pages shown. For a saver who stays below those thresholds the two schedules differ in shape, and Wealthfront's is the shorter list to read.

   Edge: Wealthfront

2. 02

   Where a $1 brokerage account meets a $75 exit fee

   Wealthfront lists its Brokerage Account for ETFs and stocks as having no fees and $1 to get started. Betterment's self-directed investing carries no management fee on trades, which is a similar promise, but its pricing page also states a flat $75 for outbound transfers. Wealthfront's page names no transfer charge, though nothing shown there says whether one exists. Anyone planning to move accounts later should weigh that stated $75 against a page that is silent.

   Edge: Wealthfront

3. 03

   Cash accounts: a printed 3.50% against a bare promise

   Betterment's Cash Reserve has no monthly management fee and a variable APY stated as 3.50% as of 9/21/2026, with a $10 minimum deposit to earn the base APY. Wealthfront offers a Cash Account described as high APY, yet its pricing page gives no rate and no fee. A buyer who wants to compare yields before opening anything can do so only with Betterment from these pages. The Wealthfront figure would have to come from another page of the vendor.

   Edge: Betterment

4. 04

   Tax features and rebalancing named on the page

   Wealthfront's pricing page names automatic rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting and customizable allocations drawn from hundreds of funds, plus an app for tracking net worth. All of that sits under the 0.25% fee. Betterment's pages list the fee tiers, Premium, Cash Reserve and self-directed investing, but its pricing text does not describe tax-loss harvesting or rebalancing. That does not prove Betterment lacks them, only that this page does not show them, so Wealthfront wins on stated features.

   Edge: Wealthfront

5. 05

   Trial or test balance before you commit

   Neither pricing page names a free plan or a trial. Betterment states that fees apply on any balance, so the $5 monthly base price starts from the first deposit unless the $200 deposit rule or the $24,000 balance moves you to 0.25%. Wealthfront's pricing page mentions no trial either, though its brokerage account starts from $1 and lists no fees. Testing Wealthfront through that account costs less than testing Betterment's managed product, whose fee runs from day one.

   Edge: Wealthfront

6. 06

   Who stands behind the accounts and where they are based

   Betterment's pricing page says brokerage runs through Apex Clearing Corporation and checking through nbkc bank, and its footer address is 450 West 33rd Street, New York, NY 10001. The vendor names no country in that text. Wealthfront's pages show no country, terms or contact details in the fetched text, and name no clearing partner. Betterment tells you more about the firms involved and gives an address, while neither page settles the question of country directly, so look elsewhere for that.

   Edge: Betterment

Is there a minimum for the 0.25% rate at Betterment?

Yes, in two forms. Recurring deposits or transfers of $200 or more, or a balance of $24,000 or more, move digital investing from the $5 monthly base price to 0.25% a year. The pricing page does not state the currency, only $ signs.

Does Wealthfront publish a rate for its cash account?

Not on its pricing page. The page calls the Cash Account high APY but gives no figure and no fee. Betterment, by contrast, states 3.50% as of 9/21/2026 for its Cash Reserve.

What happens if I want to leave Betterment later?

The pricing page states a flat $75 fee for outbound transfers. That fee sits under self-directed investing on the page. Wealthfront's pricing page does not show a transfer fee either way.

• Betterment pricing page: the $5 base price, 0.25% and 0.65% tiers with their thresholds, and the $75 outbound transfer fee.
• Betterment pricing page, cash section: Cash Reserve APY of 3.50% as of 9/21/2026 and the $10 minimum deposit.
• Betterment pricing page, footer and partners: Apex Clearing, nbkc bank and the New York footer address.
• Wealthfront pricing page: 0.25% annual advisory fee, the $1 no-fee brokerage account and the missing cash rate.
• Wealthfront pricing page, features: tax-loss harvesting, automatic rebalancing, hundreds of funds and the net worth app.