| Bonus: | $20, or $30 for first responders, healthcare workers and military personal. |
| Requirements: | Make a $5 minimum recurring investment. |
| When: | 30 days after requirements are met. |
| Is a referral code needed? | No, but you must sign up through the proper landing page. |
Acorns is a popular investment app that makes it easy to start investing with spare change roundups.
To encourage new users to join, Acorns currently offers a sign-up bonus of $20.
Healthcare workers, first responders, and active-duty military members are eligible for an increased bonus of $30. To receive this bonus, users must verify their identity using ID.me.
To qualify for the bonus, your investment must be made via Acorns’ recurring investment feature and must be a minimum of $5.
Note that this recurring investment requirement was a change Acorns made in February 2023. Before this date, any $5 investment would allow you to earn a bonus.
In the past, Acorns has offered limited-time bonuses related to their banking product, such as a $75 bonus for setting up direct deposit. However, that offer has expired.
Acorns App Sign-Up Bonus Conditions and Requirements
Important conditions and requirements include:
- Sign up with Acorns via their promotional landing page.
- Open an Acorns Portfolio account.
- Link a funding source, such as a checking account.
- Initiate a recurring investment of at least $5 within 14 days.
- Maintain the investment for 30 days.
- Maintain the paid subscription until the bonus is received.
Acorns Sign-Up Process for $20 Bonus
To get started, simply download Acorns via this promotional page on your smartphone.
After providing some basic information — including your name, email address and password — you’ll move on to the Know Your Customer (KYC) process. This involves providing your physical address and Social Security number. As part of the verification process, you may also need to upload a photo of your government-issued ID or other documentation.
Once complete, you’ll need to link your bank account to your Acorns account by providing your banking login information.
To help Acorns recommend the right portfolio, you’ll also need to provide general profile information, including your financial goals, occupation and earnings.
Most accounts are approved within one business day.
Acorns Investment Options
What Acorns is most well-known for is its roundups feature, which allows you to invest your spare change into a diversified portfolio of ETFs.
How this works is that you connect your debit or credit card to Acorns, and every time you make a purchase, the app will round up the amount you spend to the nearest dollar.
What’s happening on the back end is that Acorns is setting aside your spare change in a separate account, and once you reach a $5 minimum threshold, they’ll invest the funds.
Acorns also offers a recurring investment feature. This feature allows users to set up automatic recurring investments (also known as dollar cost averaging) making it easy to invest consistently. You can choose from several recurring investment options, including weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.
You’ll need to invest a minimum of $5 with the recurring investment feature to earn the $20 bonus.
Acorns uses a diverse portfolio of ETFs, similar to a robo-advisor like Betterment or Wealthfront, to invest your funds. The app provides a recommended portfolio based on your financial goals, risk tolerance and other personal information, which you input during the signup process.
The portfolio is periodically rebalanced to stay aligned with your goals and market conditions.
Acorns Pricing
Acorns offers three account tiers: Acorns Personal, Acorns Personal Plus and Acorns Premium.
- Acorns Personal costs $3 per month and provides access to basic brokerage accounts and financial education.
- Acorns Personal Plus costs $5 per month and adds access to Acorns Later (an IRA) and resources to help you learn, save and invest. This tier includes Premium Education, which includes live Q&As with financial experts.
- Acorns Premium costs $9 per month and provides access to the full suite of tools for saving and investing for your family.
There is no minimum amount required to open an Acorns account, but you must have funds in your account to start investing. Additionally, Acorns does not charge separate account management fees for managing your portfolio, but ETFs do have expense ratios.
As these are index-based ETFs, expense ratios tend to be on the low end.
Overall, compared to other micro-investing apps, Acorn’s fees are in line with many of the most popular on our list.
Comparison to Other Investment App Bonuses
If you’re in the market for an investment app, you may have come across offers for free stocks from several companies, including Robinhood, Webull and Moomoo.
Robinhood’s current promotion allows you to get up to $200 in free stock.
Webull’s current offer gives you up to 75 free shares valued between $3 and $3,000 each, while Moomoo’s free stock offer gives you 7 free shares valued at $5.
For more details and other offers, we have put together a list of the best offers on our free stocks page.
| Company | Free Stock Offer |
| Moomoo | Seven free shares worth at least $5 each. |
| Webull | Up to 75 fractional shares worth between $3 and $3,000 each, depending on how much you deposit. |
| Robinhood | Up to $200 in free shares with no deposit required. |
| Stash | $20 in free stock for a 1 cent deposit. |
| SoFi | $25 in free stock with a $10 deposit |
| Stockpile | $10 in free stock. |
| TradeUP | Up to $3,600 in free stock with a minimum $100 deposit. |
While free stocks can be a tempting incentive, it’s important to consider what kind of investor you are and what you’re looking for in an investment app.
While Webull and Moomoo are geared towards short-term traders, Acorns may be a better choice for those seeking a more long-term investment strategy. Acorns uses an indexed-based approach, which is better-suited for building wealth over time.
Acorns also offers more conservative portfolios, which may be suitable for users who are saving towards short-term goals such as a down payment on a house or a vacation. These portfolios may feature 100% bonds and are designed to provide a lower-risk investment option.
If you’re a short-term trader, Webull or Moomoo’s free stock offer may be the right choice.
If you’re a long-term investor, Acorns offers the better approach. Make sure you’re investing enough to make monthly fees worth the cost.
See our articles on the best free stock offer to learn more.
Acorns Promotional Code FAQs
The referral bonus, which is different from the $20 promotion mentioned here, is currently $5. To get the referral bonus, you’ll need a friend’s referral link or referral code. You and your friend will earn $5 once a minimum first investment of $5 is made within 14 days. You’ll get immediate access to the referral program once you sign up.
No. This was a limited-time bonus that ended in 2021.
The Acorns Earn feature allows you to get cash-back for making certain purchases with your credit or debit card. While money you get via Acorns Earn is directed to your Acorns Investment account, it won’t qualify you to earn the bonus, as only recurring investments count. Money from Acorns Earn also takes up to 120 days to be deposited.
Your Acorns checking account is FDIC Insured. Investment accounts with Acorns are SIPC protected.
Yes, you may make a recurring investment of at least $5 inside of an IRA with Acorns (which Acorns calls Acorns Later) to qualify for the bonus.
Conclusion
Acorns is a user-friendly investment app that provides a simple way to start investing and saving. With its nice $20 bonus, easy sign-up process, diverse investment options and affordable fees, it’s an ideal choice for anyone who has had trouble investing.
If you’re looking to get started with investing, signing up for Acorns is a great first step.
If you’re looking for a larger bonus and have at least $500 to start investing, check out our latest list of the best available brokerage bonuses.
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