Ellevest review: Automated investing, plus access to financial planners and career coaches

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• Ellevest is an automated investing app that factors in women’s pay gaps and longer lifespans.
• There are three membership plans that range from $1 to $9 per month.
• Ellevest also offers one-on-one sessions with certified financial planners and career coaches for purchase (and at a discount if you’re a member).
• Click here to open an account with Ellevest.

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Is Ellevest right for you?

Ellevest is best for hands-off investors who want personalized plans for individual investment accounts or retirement accounts. The automated investment app provides a range of services, including rollovers for certain employer-sponsored retirement plans and one-on-one sessions with financial planners and career coaches for purchase.

The app was created to help close gender money gaps for women, but it says it welcomes all clients. Ellevest says it provides customized recommendations and forecasts for women’s goals by using gender-specific salary curves and longevity data.

Ellevest also offers a range of banking products. This includes Ellevest Spend, Ellevest Save, and a debit card. The app’s banking services also have no minimum balance requirements, no transfer fees, and no overdraft fees*.

While other automated advisors like Betterment and Wealthfront charge annual asset-based fees on your investment account balance, Ellevest charges monthly management fees instead. The company charges $1, $5, or $9 per month, depending on the membership plan you select.

One thing to look out for is that Ellevest doesn’t offer any active trading opportunities. This means you won’t be able to trade stocks and other investments on your own. Another potential drawback is that Ellevest only offers individual investment accounts. If you’re looking for joint investment accounts, you should consider other automated apps like Wealthfront.

Editor’s rating	4.5 out of 5
Fees	$1 to $9 per month
Account minimum	$0
Promotion	1 month free when you include the code: INSIDER
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Ellevest pros and cons

Pros

• Personalized, automated investment advice with a $0 minimum requirement
• Monthly plans include discounted access to certified financial planners and career coaches
• Automated IRA accounts and 401(k)/403(b) rollovers available

Cons

• No active trading opportunities available; money is mainly invested in stock ETFs and bond ETFs
• You can only open individual invest accounts; joint accounts or custodial accounts not available

How does Ellevest compare to other investment platforms?

Min. Investment $0	Min. Investment $0 or $100,000, depending on plan	Min. Investment $500
Fees $1 to $9 per month	Fees 0.25% (0.40% for premium plan)	Fees 0.25%
Investment choices Stock ETFs and bond ETFs	Investment choices Stock ETFs and bond ETFs	Investment choices ETFs
Open an account	Open an account	Open an account

Ways to invest with Ellevest

Automated investing accounts

Ellevest’s three plans automatically invest and manage your money for you. The Essential plan, which costs $1 per month, gives you access to a personalized investment portfolio, unlimited online workshops and email courses, an Ellevest debit card, and a 20% discount for one-on-one sessions with financial planners and career coaches. Sessions usually start at $150 without the member discount.

If you decided to upgrade to the Plus plan for $5 month, you’d get all the perks of the Essential plan along with IRA retirement account management and a 30% discount on financial planner sessions.

The most premium plan, Ellevest Executive, has a $9 monthly fee but offers something the other two plans don’t: multi-goal investing. This lets you take advantage of up to six customized investment accounts for different savings goals. Executive members also get a 50% discount on financial planner and career coaching sessions.

Ellevest primarily invests your money in a combination of stock ETFs and bond ETFs. This is quite similar to Betterment, another automated app that primarily utilizes stock ETFs and bond ETFs. However, investment advisors like Wealthfront rely more heavily on index funds.

If you’re interested in real estate investment trusts (REITS), mutual funds, or any other investment type, you may need to consider other options.

Retirement accounts

If you’re thinking about growing your retirement plan’s savings the automated way, Ellevest provides a range of options. Currently, the app accepts 401(k) and 403(b) rollovers and IRA transfers. It also offers personalized management for traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and SEP IRAs.

IRA transfers primarily apply to traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs. So in other words, the only accounts you can roll over or transfer are 401(k)s, 403(b)s, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and SEP IRAs.

As for fees, you don’t have to worry about paying anything extra to use a retirement account. The fees are included in the Plus and Executive monthly membership plans.

Is Ellevest trustworthy?

Ellevest has received a B+ in trustworthiness from the Better Business Bureau. The BBB rates companies with a grade scale range of A+ to F, so this indicates Ellevest interacts arguably well with its customers and exhibits trustworthy business practices.

BBB ratings can vary per investment app, though. For instance, both Robinhood and Webull have F ratings due to a lack of transparency with business practices, copious customer complaints, and failure to respond to customer complaints.

Ellevest has been in business since 2016, and it has received 13 complaints over the last three years. The app’s record is currently clear of any major lawsuits or scandals.

What is Ellevest?

Ellevest is an automated investment app that provides personalized investment strategies for women looking to grow their wealth. While the company accepts customers of all genders, it uses a proprietary algorithm that considers women’s pay gaps, career breaks, and longer lifespans.

In addition to its personalized offerings for individual investment accounts and IRAs, Ellevest also provides private wealth management for high-net-worth individuals, families, and institutions who have at least $1 million to invest.

Ellevest was founded in 2016 by CEO and CFO Sallie Krawcheck. The company is currently headquartered in New York and maintains its standing as a registered investment advisor (RIA) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Ellevest holds more than $634 million in assets under management, according to its SEC record.

Rickie Houston is a wealth-building reporter at Personal Finance Insider who covers investing, brokerage, and wealth-building products.

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*Banking products and services are offered by Ellevest in partnership with Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International. Your Spend and Save account deposits will be insured to the regulatory limits by the FDIC.

**Ellevest Digital doesn’t require you to maintain a minimum account balance. However, there are portfolio-specific minimums (ranging from $1 to approximately $240). You may not receive the entire recommended portfolio until your account balance meets the respective portfolio minimum.