Ally Invest Review 2025

Ally Ally Invest is a comprehensive investment and banking platform for passive and active investors to open automated and self-directed investment accounts. Ally also provides personalized financial planning services and advisor-managed accounts. However, it doesn't have cryptocurrencies or fractional shares.

Business Insider compared Ally Invest to the best stock trading apps and found it to be an industry leader for banking and stock trading on the same platform.

Pros and Cons

Ally Invest Pros

• No minimum for self-directed trading ($100 for robo-advisor)
• Access to financial planning services and advisor-managed portfolios from fiduciary advisors
• Accounts are designed for tax optimization and focused on cash flow growth
• Comprehensive customer support via phone, mail, email, and online chat

Ally Invest Cons

• Doesn't offer tax-loss harvesting
• High minimum for advisor-assisted trading options
• High margin rates

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Ally Invest Overview

Ally is a beginner-friendly bank and brokerage platform for DIY trading, robo-advice, and financial planning from fiduciaries. There is no minimum requirement to open a self-directed account and get access to commission-free stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and options (although contract fees still apply).

If you are a passive investor, you can use the platform's robo-advisor to invest in a diversified portfolio of ETFs with a $100 minimum investment. Multiple robo-portfolio options are available, including tax-optimized and socially responsible portfolios.

You can't directly trade cryptocurrencies with Ally, but you can invest in crypto-specific funds and stocks for crypto-market exposure. For example, you can invest in crypto trusts, bitcoin futures, and stocks of companies that trade cryptocurrencies.

You must have at least $100,000 in your Ally Invest account to access a dedicated financial advisor for personalized financial planning and open a Personal Advice account.

Ally Invest offers a bit of everything, catering to a range of different kinds of investors. Its robo-advisor is solid, and active traders can benefit from competitively priced trades on U.S.-listed securities.

Its advanced trading features are limited, so it is not the best option for sophisticated investors looking for low-margin rates, detailed options data, and fast order execution. However, more casual active traders or those new to hands-on investing can benefit from Ally Invest's user-friendly interface and trading tools.

Ally Invest is a subsidiary of Ally Invest Group, Inc. and Ally Financial, Inc. Ally Financial, Inc. also owns Ally Bank. This is one of the things that gives the company a competitive advantage. You could also use Ally to open a checking or savings account, get mortgage refinancing or vehicle financing, or take out a personal loan.

Ally provides users with comprehensive customer support through various mediums, including an online chat, multiple phone numbers), mailing addresses, faxes, and email. It's rare to see a platform offer this many customer service options, including weekend availability.

Ways to Invest With Ally Invest

Let's unpack Ally Invest's offerings.

Ally Invest Self-Directed Brokerage Account

Ally's self-directed brokerage accounts are free to open and require no minimum deposit. Commissions are not charged on most U.S.-listed stocks, ETFs, and options (a $0.50 per contract fee still applies to options). Ally also offers no-load mutual funds, low-cost bonds, crypto-backed securities, and fixed-income assets.

DIY investors can use Ally Invest's dividend re-investing, Smart Scores, market research, streaming charts, custom watchlists, and intuitive ETF screeners.

You can stream real-time quotes with the Ally Invest Live tool. Investors who trade more than 10 times a month can access Quotestream, a market data and technical analysis platform for active traders to view real-time quotes, research, and advanced charting tools.

If you'd like to learn more about your progress, you can use Ally Invest's profitability calculator to track your investment goals.

An Ally Invest margin trading account requires a $2,000 minimum balance. By borrowing up to 50% of the needed funds from Ally, you can potentially earn greater gains or losses on your investments. Only investors with a high-risk tolerance should trade on margin.

Ally's margin rates range from 7.50% to 12.00%, which is higher than platforms like Interactive Brokers (5.17% to 5.58%) and Robinhood (4.7% to 5.75%).

If you're looking for interest-bearing account perks, the company offers a Securities Income Program that pays investors interest when they loan stocks to Ally for a short period of time. To qualify, you need to meet one of the following:

• Net worth of $100,000+
• Account value exceeds $50,000
• Annual income exceeds $50,000
• More than five years of trading experience

Ally Invest Robo Portfolios

Ally Invest Robo Portfolios invests a portion of your funds into one of its diversified portfolio options (either cash-enhanced or market-focused), with the remaining funds set aside as cash to earn interest.

Ally Invest's robo-advisor requires a $100 minimum. There are two ways to allocate your funds:

• Cash-enhanced portfolio: For no advisory fees, Ally invests 70% of your funds into diversified portfolios of ETFs, with the remaining 30% held as cash to protect against market volatility. You'll earn 3.80% annual interest on cash.
• Market-focused portfolio: For a 0.30% annual advisory fee, almost all of your funds are invested in a diversified investment portfolio of ETFs, with only 2% cash buffer. You'll earn 3.80% annual interest on cash.

Ally Invest Robo Portfolios solely offers stock and bond ETFs, with a majority of portfolios holding mainly iShares ETFs and Vanguard ETFs. There are assets available for both short-term and long-term goals. You can choose between four different portfolios:

• Core: Ally Invest Robo Portfolio diversifies your portfolio across domestic, international, and fixed-income assets with this option. Risk levels range from conservative to aggressive, so you can choose the level that best aligns with your investment goals.
• Income: The automated account offers this portfolio for investors near or in retirement. Ally Invest says this option provides both higher dividend yields and a conservative risk level.
• Tax-optimized: This portfolio is best for those in higher tax brackets, according to Ally. It strives to maximize your returns by investing in low-cost, tax-advantaged ETFs.
• Socially responsible: As the name implies, this portfolio focuses on investing in ESG-based ETFs of companies that regularly engage in ethical environmental and sustainability practices.

Ally Invest Robo-Portfolios requires a few quick steps to set up. You choose your goals (Ally's available goals include Retirement, Major Purchase, Generate Income, and Building Wealth), set your time horizon, liquid assets, and initial investment.

For instance, let's say you selected Building Wealth as a goal, picked a time horizon of five years or less, and inputted $10,000 as your liquid assets and $500 as an initial investment. If you selected the "high" risk level and picked the Core portfolio type, Ally would offer the following recommendation:

After providing a portfolio recommendation, Ally gives you the option to open a new account or make changes to your preferences.

Ally Invest Personal Advice

Though Ally's automated portfolios don't offer one-on-one advisor guidance, you can still work with a financial advisor, thanks to its Personal Advice account. However, you'll need a $100,000 minimum, and you'll pay up to 0.85% in advisory fees.

A Personal Advice account includes a long-term investment plan, a custom-built portfolio, and ongoing financial advisor support.

Get quarterly and on-demand advice from a financial advisor dedicated to helping you reach your goals, minimize portfolio risk, and focus on growth. All Ally Invest advisors are fiduciaries.

Ally Invest Retirement Accounts

Ally Invest offers traditional, Roth, and rollover IRAs. Neither of its retirement accounts charges annual fees, monthly maintenance fees, transfer fees for rollovers, or commissions for US-listed stocks, ETFs, and options. You can also invest in mutual funds, bonds, and CDs.

Retirement accounts with Ally can be opened as self-directed, automated, or Personal Advice accounts.

Ally Invest Fees

Self-directed Ally Invest accounts require no minimums and have no advisory fees. Robo-Portfolios require a $100 minimum, and only market-focused portfolios charge a 0.30% annual advisory fee. Personal Advice accounts require a $100,000 minimum and charge an advisory fee between 0.75% and 0.80%.

You'll have to pay $0.50 for each options contract, which is about $0.15 less than other brokerages — such as Fidelity and Merrill Edge — typically charge for options. You'll need a minimum of $10 for bonds and pay $1 per bond. Stocks that are priced less than $2 cost $4.95 (plus $0.01 per share).

Certain fees apply to IRA account transfers or closures. Ally Invest charges $25 for IRA account closures, $75 for full account outgoing transfers, and $50 for partial account outgoing transfers.

Ally Invest Trustworthiness 

Ally Invest Group, Inc. has received a B rating from the Better Business Bureau. The BBB rates companies using a grade scale range of A+ to F.

On April 23, 2024, Ally Invest's data was breached, exposing users' personal information, including Social Security numbers. In May, Ally notified customers via letter about the breach. Two class action lawsuits were filed soon after: the first on September 7 and the second on September 10. The complaints argue that Ally failed to protect and encrypt sensitive information adequately. These cases are still pending.

In September 2023, a West Virginia resident filed a class action lawsuit against Ally Financial alleging the bank charged unlawful pay-to-pay fees for online and phone payments. Ally denied these allegations and filed to dismiss the claims. On August 13, 2024, a judge granted the dismissal.

Ally Invest vs. Other Stock Trading Apps

Here's how Ally Invest compares to other popular stock trading apps.

Ally Invest vs. Merrill Edge

Ally Invest and Merrill Edge are both tied to larger banks. Neither brokerage has commission fees or minimum requirements for self-directed accounts, but their fees vary regarding automated advice.

For instance, Ally Invest's automated account has no advisory fees (unless you choose the market-focused portfolio) and only requires a minimum balance of $100. On the other hand, Merill Edge requires a $1,000 minimum balance to access automated advising.

You'll pay a higher 0.45% annual fee if you want to take advantage of robo-advice at Merrill Edge. However, the balance requirement to access advisor-guided investment advice is lower with Merrill ($20,000 minimum) than with Ally Invest ($100,000 minimum).

Merrill Edge review

Ally Invest Robo Portfolios vs. Fidelity Go

If you're a hands-off investor in search of automated portfolio management, Ally Invest Robo-Portfolios and Fidelity Go are both popular robo-advisors. However, the investment apps have a few differences regarding fees and investment choices.

For instance, you won't need a minimum account size to use Fidelity's automated account, but you'll have to pay an advisory fee if you have a balance greater than $25,000 (0.35% for accounts with balances of $25,000 or more). You'll need at least $100 to use Ally Invest Robo-Portfolio, but you won't need to worry about advisory fees unless you open a market-focused portfolio.

Fidelity Go is one of the few robo-advisors that don't offer ETFs but instead Fidelity Flex mutual funds. If you prefer ETFs, then Ally Invest is better, and vice versa.

Fidelity Go review

Ally Invest FAQs

Methodology: How We Reviewed Ally Invest

Ally Invest Robo Portfolios was reviewed using Business Insider's rating methodology for investing platforms, which examines asset availability, access, ethics, fees, and customer experience. Platforms are given a rating from 1 to 5. 

Ally Invest was evaluated with a focus on how it performs in each category.

Business Insider's Overall Ally Invest Rating

Tessa Campbell

Investing and Retirement Reporter

Tessa Campbell is an investing and retirement reporter on Business Insider’s personal finance desk. Over two years of personal finance reporting, Tessa has built expertise on a range of financial topics, from the best credit cards to the best retirement savings accounts.ExperienceTessa currently reports on all things investing — deep-diving into complex financial topics,  shedding light on lesser-known investment avenues, and uncovering ways readers can work the system to their advantage.As a personal finance expert in her 20s, Tessa is acutely aware of the impacts time and uncertainty have on your investment decisions. While she curates Business Insider’s guide on the best investment apps, she believes that your financial portfolio does not have to be perfect, it just has to exist. A small investment is better than nothing, and the mistakes you make along the way are a necessary part of the learning process.Expertise: Tessa’s expertise includes:

• Credit cards
• Investing apps
• Retirement savings
• Cryptocurrency
• The stock market
• Retail investing

Education: Tessa graduated from Susquehanna University with a creative writing degree and a psychology minor.When she’s not digging into a financial topic, you’ll find Tessa waist-deep in her second cup of coffee. She currently drinks Kitty Town coffee, which blends her love of coffee with her love for her two cats: Keekee and Dumpling. It was a targeted advertisement, and it worked.

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