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If you want to grow your wealth with automated investing, Wealthfront and M1 Finance are two popular options. Both provide low-cost, hands-off solutions but serve different needs. This guide compares their features and strengths to help you pick the best fit for your goals.
Wealthfront started as a traditional robo-advisor for investors who prefer a fully managed experience. After a brief questionnaire, it builds a diversified portfolio tailored to your timeline, risk tolerance, and goals. Wealthfront handles rebalancing, dividend reinvestment, and tax-loss harvesting to help optimize returns. It also offers access to individual stocks, ETFs, and themed portfolios.
M1 Finance focuses on giving investors more control. The platform offers thousands of ETFs and stocks, plus screeners to help you assemble a portfolio. M1’s expert model portfolios cover a wide range of strategies—retirement, stock-and-bond mixes, income, global exposure, socially responsible options, and conservative or aggressive allocations. The platform will rebalance your portfolio back to your target allocation when you request it. M1 offers commission-free investing with a $10,000 balance or loan; otherwise there’s a $3 monthly fee.
Which to choose depends on how hands-on you want to be. Choose Wealthfront if you want a mostly set-it-and-forget-it, tax-aware portfolio managed for you. Choose M1 Finance if you prefer building or customizing your portfolio while still using automated tools like model portfolios and rebalancing. Wealthfront excels at simplicity and tax strategies; M1 shines in customization and integrated financial tools. Both cater to passive and socially responsible investors and offer cash management features.
Both platforms use strong security measures. Wealthfront employs bank-level protections, and cash deposits are covered through partner banks by the FDIC; investment accounts have SIPC coverage. M1 is a registered broker-dealer, also uses partner banks for FDIC-insured cash accounts, and provides SIPC protection for investment assets. In all cases, market risk remains — diversification and automated strategies can help manage volatility but do not eliminate investment risk.
