Vault’s Viewpoint
- Robinhood Gold offers perks that aren’t available with a regular account, including a higher APY on uninvested brokerage cash and a higher match rate for the IRA.
- Gold account holders can also apply for a 3% cashback credit card with no foreign transaction fees.
- Robinhood Gold costs up to $6.99 per month or up to $75 (representing a discount) if paid annually.
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Robinhood
On Robinhood’s Website
Promotion: New eligible deposits get a 1% boost that can then start earning 5.00% APY or be invested in stocks and ETFs after you receive it. Terms and limitations apply.
How It Works
- Make a new, eligible brokerage deposit as a Robinhood Gold member to get a 1% boost
- Your brokerage deposit and boost can be used to invest or earn a 5.00% APY
- There’s no limit to how much you can earn
- To earn your full boost, hold or invest your brokerage deposits for two years as the deposit boost is divided into 24 (or 25) monthly payouts
- Money withdrawn from Robinhood after you begin earning the boost will be deducted from your pending boost
- This offer does not apply to IRAs
Disclosures
Robinhood Gold is a subscription offering premium services available for a fee.
All investments involve risk and loss of principal is possible.
Terms and limitations apply. See the Robinhood Gold Agreementfor more information.
Robinhood Financial LLC (member
What Is Robinhood Gold?
Robinhood is an investing app known for simplified trading and making it easy to start investing. In addition to offering stock and fund investing, Robinhood also offers access to cryptocurrencies and a number of other products.
Robinhood Gold is the premium version of Robinhood. When you pay for a subscription to Robinhood Gold, you receive access to a higher yield on your uninvested cash balance, as well as other perks, like access to a cashback credit card and a higher IRA match.
Robinhood Gold Benefits
Robinhood Gold touts several benefits you can access when you pay the membership fee. It’s important to note that when you sign up for a Robinhood Gold account, you still need to make sure you keep your money separate, depending on the benefits you want.
For example, you need to understand the difference between a brokerage account vs. IRA. You have to open your Robinhood IRA separately from your brokerage account. But to get the extra perks associated with the IRA (such as the 3% match), you need to activate your Gold subscription.
5.00% APY on Cash Balance
When you sign up for Robinhood, your uninvested cash is held in partner banks and earns an annual percentage yield (APY). For a regular account, you receive 0.01% APY. But with a Robinhood Gold account, you earn up to 5.00% APY. This is on par with many of the best high-yield savings accounts.
3% IRA Match
Robinhood offers access to a tax-advantaged retirement account. You can choose a traditional or Roth IRA. On top of that, Robinhood provides an IRA match, similar to what you might receive from an employer when you invest in a retirement plan. The regular Robinhood account offers a match of 1%, but Robinhood Gold offers a 3% IRA match on new contributions. You can also receive a 1% match on transfers and rollovers from other custodians. Terms apply.
The amount that Robinhood contributes to your IRA isn’t included in your annual contribution limit, so you can still max out your IRA, even with Robinhood’s contributions.
With the match, Robinhood Gold is one of the best IRA accounts since, in many cases, you won’t be able to get a match. Some employers offer matching contributions through an IRA or 401(k), but when you open an account on your own, a match is rare.
Cash Back Credit Card
The Robinhood Gold Card offers 3% cash back on eligible purchases, without worrying about special or rotating categories. Additionally, if you use the card to pay for travel booked through Robinhood’s portal, you can get 5% cash back.
There’s no annual fee or foreign transaction fee. You also get many of the perks you might expect from a credit card, including trip interruption protection, an auto rental collision damage waiver and return protection. The credit card comes with a variable APR of 19.99% to 29.99%, depending on your credit score.
This Visa credit card is only available to Robinhood Gold members.
High Instant Deposit Limit
With Robinhood, your deposits into the account usually come with instant access, allowing you to trade or invest immediately instead of waiting up to five days for your funds to get added to your account. In general, the regular account starts with a $1,000 instant deposit limit. Once you become a Gold member, though, your instant deposit limit increases to up to $50,000, depending on your individual investing account balance and status.
1% Unlimited Deposit Boost (Future Benefit)
Robinhood Gold plans to add a deposit boost designed to give you a little extra when you add money to your account. When you make a deposit, you get a boost that’s added to uninvested cash, earning 5.00% APY. For example, if you deposit $1,000, you’d get a boost of $10. There will be no cap on the deposit boost, so you can make bigger deposits and still receive a 1% boost.
Access to Advanced Research and Market Data
A Robinhood Gold account comes with advanced data you can use to make investment decisions. You can see Nasdaq Level 2 data while accessing Morningstar insights that you would normally have to pay a separate subscription for. These research and data tools normally cost money, and the Morningstar access alone is worth $249 per year.
How Much Does Robinhood Gold Cost?
Robinhood Gold operates on a subscription model. It offers a 30-day free trial that allows you to try the Gold version before you commit.
The regular cost is up to $6.99 per month. But if you pay on an annual basis, you’ll pay up to $75, resulting in a discount of almost $9 over the year. Your subscription fee is deducted from your individual investing account each billing cycle, or you pay upfront for the annual subscription.
Robinhood allows you to trade on margin, and that includes having a Gold subscription. In the past, margin rates were discounted compared to a regular Robinhood account, but as of May 22, 2024, the interest rates range between 5.70% and 6.75% regardless of the account type. Gold subscribers get the first $1,000 of margin investing included with their subscription.
Other costs, such as regulatory trading fees, are usually baked into your transactions. Overall, Robinhood doesn’t charge commissions on trades and other transactions made through the app.
How to Sign Up for Robinhood Gold
If you decide you want to sign up for a Robinhood Gold account, you need to first open a regular Robinhood account. You can do this through the app or online at Robinhood.com. To sign up for a Robinhood account, you need the same information you’d gather for any other investment account:
- Name
- Address
- Birthdate
- Social Security number
- Identification (driver’s license or other state-issued ID number)
You must also be at least 18 years old and have U.S. citizenship or some other established residency or immigration status.
Finally, you need to make sure you connect a funding account. You usually need to connect a bank account using a secure process to facilitate smooth transfers of money from your bank account into Robinhood. You can also set up automatic transfers from your bank account into your Robinhood account.
Once you have established your Robinhood account, you can upgrade to a Gold account. You’ll be able to do that online or in the app.
Alternatives to Robinhood Gold
There are other investing apps and platforms that offer various perks similar to what Robinhood Gold offers.
| Robinhood Gold | SoFi | M1 Finance Plus | |
| Commission-free transactions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Annual fee | Up to $75 | N/A | $36 |
| Margin interest rate | 5.70% – 6.75% | 11% | 7.25% |
| IRA match | 3% | 1% | N/A |
| Credit card cash back rewards | -3% cash back -5% cash back on travel booked through the portal | -Unlimited 2% cash back rewards -3% on travel booked through the portal | Up to 10% cash back at select merchants |
Robinhood Gold vs. SoFi: IRA Match
Like Robinhood, SoFi offers an investing platform and access to different financial products. SoFi doesn’t have a subscription model, so all its investing platforms come with no commissions. SoFi also offers access to financial planning help and an IRA match.
The SoFi IRA match is 1% instead of the 3% you can receive with Robinhood Gold. SoFi also offers a credit card with 2% cashback and the opportunity to earn boosted rewards for investors who have direct deposit set up through the checking product.
Robinhood Gold vs. M1 Finance Plus: Credit Card Rewards
M1 Finance offers higher credit card rewards—up to 10% cash back depending on where you shop and whether you invest your rewards. M1 Finance requires an M1 Plus subscription to access a higher rewards tier. But the Plus subscription is only $3 per month or $36 annually.
On the other hand, the APR for M1 Finance is a little higher, at 20.24% to 30.24%, depending on your credit score.
M1 Finance offers commission-free trades and access to a variety of banking products and services. It also offers attractive margin rates that start at 7.25% for those with a Plus subscription. But you need to have at least $2,000 invested to borrow on margin through M1.
Is Robinhood Gold Worth It?
Whether Robinhood Gold is worth it depends on how you plan to use the account. Even though it costs up to $75 per year, it might be worth paying the cost if you’ll use the benefits—especially the uninvested cash and IRA match.
Robinhood Gold Pros and Cons
Pros
- Get up to 5.00% APY on uninvested cash
- Receive a 3% match on new contributions to a Robinhood IRA
- Access to a 3% cashback rewards credit card
Cons
- Annual subscription fee
- Must keep your money in the IRA for at least five years or pay a fee for withdrawing matching funds early
When to Use Robinhood Gold
- You’ll contribute at least $3,000 to your Robinhood IRA. The breakeven point to cover the cost of the up to $75 annual fee is $2,500 if you get the 3% match. If you contribute at least $3,000 to your IRA, your match should more than pay for the annual fee.
- You want to earn a higher APY on uninvested cash. If you know you want to keep uninvested money in an account that offers an APY on par with a high-yield savings account, Robinhood Gold can be a good choice. Additionally, once the deposit boost is in effect, there’s a potential to add money and earn extra.
- You expect to borrow against your portfolio. Margin rates can be relatively low and the first $1,000 is free for Gold members. If you know that you want to use your investments as collateral, and you are taking advantage of the other benefits of Robinhood Gold, this can be a good perk.
- You’re interested in the credit card. While getting Robinhood Gold just for the credit card might not make sense for some investors, if you know you’ll use the IRA match, it could be a good bonus, especially if it fits into your overall credit card strategy.
To determine whether the annual cost is worth it, review how likely you are to use each of Robinhood Gold’s features and how much you’re likely to allocate to an IRA with Robinhood. If you don’t want to use the IRA or uninvested cash and you don’t want a margin account, Robinhood Gold might not be the right choice for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Cancel Robinhood Gold Anytime?
Yes, it’s possible to cancel Robinhood Gold when you want. You’ll receive all the benefits until your billing cycle ends. Additionally, if you downgrade your monthly plan, you won’t see a prorated adjustment. If you cancel your Robinhood Gold account within a year of opening it, and you receive a 3% match for contributions, you’ll have to repay the extra 2% match that represents an excess above the standard 1% IRA match offered by the regular account.
Is It Safe to Keep Money in a Robinhood Gold Account?
In general, your money should be safe in Robinhood Gold, up to the insured amounts available. Robinhood is insured by SIPC, so investment accounts are protected up to $500,000 per investing account (including IRAs). It’s important to note that SIPC coverage only applies to the failure of Robinhood, and doesn’t include investment losses due to falling markets, asset values or other issues.
Do I Pay Taxes on Robinhood Gold?
As with any other investment, you only pay taxes when you realize gains. You will pay taxes on assets when you sell them, based on whether you have short-term or long-term capital gains. If you have an IRA, you’ll pay taxes according to the rules associated with a traditional or Roth IRA. Robinhood will issue you the appropriate forms so you can calculate any tax owed and submit them with your tax return.
