Qapital vs Acorns – Whats the Difference & Which is Better?
Lets take a Deep Dive into the differences between Qapital vs Acorns as Investing Platforms

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This article is going to compare two programs that make saving money as easy and pleasant as possible.

The first one is Acorns, an app that invests spare coins.

Then there’s Acorn’s rival, Qapital, a money-saving or investing app based on IFTTT logic.

Qapital is a banking application that provides a full range of services, whereas Acorns is an online Robo adviser that allows you to invest small amounts of money.

Investing used to be restricted for high-net-worth individuals with tens of thousands of dollars to put into the stock market.

There are a plethora of investment applications available now that allow you to invest with little to no cost.

Both Acorns and Qapital require a monthly fee because their services go above and beyond the usual app.

Let’s learn more about each one!

Qapital vs Acorns: The Basics

Acorns is a savings app that aims to help people save more frequently and without difficulty.

This is accomplished by Round-Ups, which transfer spare change to pre-built investment portfolios.

Although this is a greatly desired feature, it is not free.

Users of the Acorns app pay anywhere from $1 to $5 per month to use it.

Qapital is a personal financial app that turns saving goals into a game while also assisting you in making long-term investments.

This platform’s major focus is rule-based saving.

Users can create their own rules and have the process of saving for their goals automated.

Qapital is more expensive than Acorns, but having identical features like round-up technology.

The cheapest option is $3, while the most expensive option is $12.

Both of these services allow consumers to get into the automatic investing and saving game while minimizing difficulties.

Both of these apps allow you to round up your purchases to the closest dollar and automatically invest the difference in pre-built portfolios designed to maximize your profits based on your objectives.

Acorns vs Qapital: Quick Summary Highlights

  • Qapital charges $3 – $12 per month for consumers to save by initiating transfers to a savings account based on pre-set events, whereas Acorns charges $1 – $5 per month.
  • Similar to Acorns, Qapital offers only five investment portfolios and no individual companies.
  • You can round up and invest or save your spare change with Acorns and Qapital.
  • Qapital and Acorns both include retirement accounts for long-term investors.
  • Acorns have a $5 minimum investment requirement.
  • You can’t trade individual stocks on Qapital or Acorns.
  • Both accept debit cards, but neither accepts credit cards at this time.
  • Many other investment applications allow you to trade individual stocks for free.
  • Both investment applications are simple to operate.
  • Acorns and Qapital employ Modern Portfolio Theory, which is based on Dr. Harry Markowitz’s research.
  • This refers to index fund investing rather than active portfolio management.

What is Qapital?

The origins of Qapital can be traced back to elementary mathematics.

But don’t worry, you don’t have to be a math whiz to participate.

They handle all of the grunt work for you.

One of the best features of Qapital is that it allows you to save for certain objectives.

Instead of putting all of your money into one goal, you might set aside money from each rule for individual savings goals.

You can create as many goals as you like, and they can be for any amount.

Perhaps you want to put $300 down for a new bike or $2,000 aside for a vacation.

Qapital can assist you in any case.

You can provide a goal to each of your rules, or you can assign many goals to a single rule.

In this situation, the funds are eventually distributed among the goals.

Qapital provides a variety of ways to save money. The concept behind these strategies is that Qapital saves money in modest increments for you.

You might not even realize how much money you’re saving!

Take into account the following:

If you put $20 in a savings account every week for ten years, you’ll have $14,369, compared to $10,400 in standard savings account with a 7% annual return. (Weekly donations with no withdrawals are used in this calculation.)

This is the power of not only putting money aside but also investing it.

Qapital is a full-service financial technology software that has helped over 2 million users save an average of $1,500 to $5,000 each year.

Qapital “empowers people to optimize their happiness by saving, spending, and investing with their goals in mind,” according to business representatives.

How Does Qapital Work?

The Qapital Spending Account, which is linked to the Qapital Visa Debit Card, is a checking account in your name at a participating bank that helps you keep track of your weekly and monthly spending patterns.

It can also keep track of certain spending categories, which is important when used in conjunction with the IFTTT (If This Then That) logic.

You can instruct Qapital to “transfer $1 to savings every time I spend money at Starbucks,” for example.

There are no account setup or overdraft fees, which is great news.

To add more to that great news, you may make limitless rapid transfers to and from your Qapital Goals account, and you can set up direct deposit to have the money paid immediately to your spending account.

After you’ve set up your spending account, you’ll be asked a series of questions to determine which investment portfolio is appropriate for you.

Qapital Invest

The Qapital Invest account was created to assist members in achieving longer-term goals such as purchasing their first home, traveling to Tahiti, or whatever else they can think of.

Your money is invested in an Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) portfolio that is tailored to your risk tolerance.

Qapital emphasizes the importance of diversification, which involves spreading money across a variety of investments so that a falling stock or bond can be offset by a rising ETF.

Dividends earned will be disbursed according to each fund’s schedule.

For the ETFs in Qapital portfolios, each stock fund gets quarterly payments, while each bond fund delivers dividends monthly.

Because this is crucial, read it carefully: All profits you get will be automatically reinvested.

For this policy, we congratulate Qapital.

Rather than pocketing your hard-earned dividends and spending them, it makes considerably more financial sense to keep putting your money to work for you.

Compounding, which enhances the value of your assets over time, is another huge benefit of reinvesting.

It’s also an excellent approach to prepare for long-term success.

Qapital Plans

The following features are included in all of the plans:

  • You can set as many savings objectives as you wish.
  • You can use IFTTT logic to automate your savings.
  • Transfers are unrestricted.
  • Accounts that are guaranteed by the FDIC.

Basic members pay $3 each month and save $1,500 on average every year.

Complete members pay $6 each month and save $4,300 on average.

Complete members also have access to Qapital’s Spending tools as an extra bonus.

A debit card, the Payday Divvy feature, and the Spending Sweet Spot feature are all included.

In this tier, you also have access to Qapital Invest.

Finally, for $12 per month, you can join the Master membership and save an average of $5,000 every year.

This package includes all of the previously listed features, as well as Money Missions and early access to new features.

Saving money becomes a game with these money missions.

One of these missions, for example, could be to “plan your meals for the week ahead.”

Rules, rules, and then, yup, more rules!

“More rules” may sound bad, but it actually might work for you.

There are a lot of steps to take to make Qapital a part of your life in a sea of user-friendly apps.

Their set of “rules” is designed to make saving and investing simple and flexible, but you’ll need to take a few steps to get started.

A partial list of saving “rules” is as follows:

  • The 52-Week Rule states that you should save $1 the first week, $2 the second week, and so on. If you do this once a week for a year, you will save $1,378.00.
  • When you come in under budget at a certain retailer, the Spend Less Rule funnels money towards your goals.
  • Round-Up Rule: When you make a purchase with a linked account, Qapital will round it up to the nearest whole number, and the change will be paid to your goals account.
  • The Set & Forget Rule states that you set aside a certain amount of money each day, week, or month to go toward your goals.

“IFTTT” Rule

The “IFTTT” (If This Then That) rule, on the other hand, is a sensible money-saving trigger.

This initiates savings behavior based on what’s going on in social media.

You may connect Qapital to several of your favorite social networking platforms, for example, and reward or punish yourself based on activity.

For example, each time you enjoy a YouTube video, you can reward yourself by putting money aside.

According to the information provided by the company, Qapital’s basis is built on behavioral research, making saving and investing without breaking the bank a pleasurable experience rather than a hated chore.

Is it possible to have fun while sticking to a budget, spending sensibly, and investing properly?

We agree with Qapital and believe it is possible.

What Is Acorns?

Acorns is an online Robo adviser that lets you begin your portfolio with spare change, which is then activated by spending money.

The robo-advisor capabilities of Acorns make the most sense for someone attracted to the platform’s “round-up” savings claim to fame: Purchases in connected accounts are rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the remaining balance is kept in an investment account.

Acorns is a low-cost, low-complexity passive investment platform with a wide appeal to investors.

While the app’s user interface and educational content are geared for newer investors, the flat-fee structure makes it more expensive for those just getting started (competitor Ellevest has a similar problem).

As a result, we advise potential clients to evaluate their enthusiasm for Acorn’s passive savings technique against the possibility of increasing charges.

It’s probably better for people that need a little push to save a little more.

When you buy windshield wipers, frosted donuts, or a YMCA day ticket, the platform rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and deposits the difference in your Acorns portfolio. Acorns offer five alternative low-fee index fund investment portfolios. These portfolios range from conservative to aggressive, depending on whether you want to take on more risk or optimize your potential rewards.

The principal option, Acorns Lite, is available for a monthly cost of $1. Upgrade to either the $3 or $5 per month plans if you wish to unlock some more services, such as retirement accounts.

More about this topic a little later in the article.

How Does Acorns Work?

Micro-investing is possible with Acorns Lite for as little as one cent.

If you buy something for 99 cents, Acorns will round it up to $1 and deposit the difference in your investment account.

Any purchases made with a linked debit or credit card, or even your PayPal wallet, contribute to this real loose cash.

Your money will flow from your connected checking account into investments once your round-ups total $5.

Each investment is tied to your defined goals, and there are no minimums or commission costs.

The fact that Acorns is an investment app distinguishes it from Qapital.

Qapital is a banking app that also allows you to invest.

Acorns does not allow you to put your money in a savings account on the sidelines.

Instead, they put that money into investments.

Investing Your Savings

Acorns Lite diversifies your portfolio by investing in over 7,000 equities and bonds.

Making one-time deposits from little savings accelerates the process.

If you’re well-organized, you can move money from your bank account to your Acorns investments on a weekly or monthly basis.

Begin by considering your financial future, precisely how you intend to spend all of your newly acquired funds.

Acorns will prompt you to pick one of the following options:

  • Long-term financial commitment
  • Investing in the short term
  • a significant purchase
  • General
  • Children

Based on your “risk tolerance,” Acorns will place you in one of five investment portfolios.

Individual stock purchases and custom portfolios are not available.

You must select one of the pre-made portfolios.

Other Useful Features

Acorns Earn is a network of 350+ retail partners who will add an extra 5 to 10% cashback to your Acorns brokerage account when you make a purchase.

Dollar Shave Club, Groupon, Sephora, Nike, Warby Parker, and a slew of other amazing stores that you’re definitely already buying are among them.

Acorns Spend, a debit card with Acorns built-in for checking accounts, is a useful addition to the mix.

There’s no minimum balance requirement, no overdraft fees, and limitless free or fee-reimbursed ATMs around the country with this account.

But hold on, there’s more!

Acorns Later recommend Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) depending on your objectives, employment, and income, and then keeps you updated on your progress.

Join Acorns Grow and gain online access to a wide range of lessons and other instructional materials.

This can help you expand your investment knowledge while making you sound like one of the smart guys.

If you want to go all-in and sign up for Acorns Lite, Acorns Later, and Acorns Spend, you’ll only have to pay $3 per month.

Investing for the Family

Those who want to invest for their children can choose the $5 per month option.

Users can register custodial accounts and start investing for their children early with Acorns Early.

Everything in the $3 account is included, plus automated investing for your child’s custodial account.

This could be an excellent choice for families that are just starting to save for their children’s education.

Qapital vs. Acorns: Closing Thoughts

Both Qapital and Acorns provide consumers with a comparable type of saving and investment service.

They are both enabling small investors and allowing them to get their feet wet in the investment world without having to save!

Qapital is primarily a banking app, whereas Acorns is mostly an investment app.

Qapital was created with the purpose of making goal-based saving as simple and pleasant as possible.

They do offer to invest in individuals that are interested.

Acorns is a website that allows you to save money as well as invest it in one of their five portfolios for long-term goals.

Overall, we have to give Acorns the win because they are less priced.

Acorns not only save but also invests your money; they don’t just offer a savings account.

While these fees may appear insignificant, they still imply that less of your hard-earned money is being invested.

We believe you should keep your money in your investment account where it belongs!

Aside from that, these apps have a lot of the same functions.

They both allow you to save and invest money automatically.

The fees as well as the amenities supplied by each are what it comes down to.

Qapital will be a better alternative if you are only wanting to save money without investing.

This is due to the fact that this app was created to accomplish just that.