Robinhood direct indexing alternatives and what Robinhood Strategies charges for tax loss harvesting
Robinhood has no direct indexing account. Its managed option picks stocks, charges 0.25% and harvests losses once a year. Model the exact index you want here, with your exclusions, and see how it tracks the S&P 500 before you pay anyone to run it.
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In short
Robinhood does not offer direct indexing. Robinhood Strategies, its managed account, is an actively managed mix of stocks and ETFs that costs 0.25% a year, capped at $250 for Gold members, and harvests tax losses once a year at year end from $3,000. A Robinhood customer who wants an index held stock by stock with ongoing harvesting uses a dedicated provider instead: Wealthfront and Frec charge 0.09% for the S&P 500, Public 0.19% from $1,000.
What a Robinhood account can and cannot do
Does Robinhood offer direct indexing?
No, and the two things people mistake for it each miss one half of the definition. Direct indexing means owning an index's stocks individually and harvesting losses on them as they appear.
Route 1
Build it yourself in a Robinhood brokerage account
Fractional shares from $1 and no commissions make the buying cheap. There is no basket tool, so 50 stocks means 50 orders, and Robinhood sells the oldest lot first with no lot selection, which is the opposite of what harvesting needs.
Index tracking yes, harvesting by hand only
Route 2
Robinhood Strategies
An investment team builds and changes the portfolio, mixing individual stocks with ETFs from a $500 balance. You can switch individual stocks off. Losses are harvested in one pass near year end, not as prices move.
Harvesting yes, index tracking no
Route 3
A dedicated direct indexing provider
Wealthfront, Frec, Public, Fidelity or Schwab hold the index itself as single stocks and harvest continuously. That means a second account outside Robinhood and a fee of 0.09% to 0.40% depending on the provider.
Index tracking yes, harvesting yes
The distinction matters because of what the tax benefit depends on. A direct index tries to hold the S&P 500 or another benchmark closely, so the losses it harvests come with little change to what you own. Robinhood Strategies is trying to beat the market with its own picks. It can still harvest losses, but the portfolio you hold is the team's view, and its returns will drift from the index by design. Robinhood reports that its all equity portfolio returned 17.2% in the year to March 31, 2026 against 16.3% for the S&P 500, and 6.4% a year since its January 31, 2025 start against 6.9%. That is ordinary active management: ahead in one window, behind in another.
If you already know you want an index rather than a manager, the useful first step costs nothing at any broker: decide which index, which names you would remove, and how far that pulls you from the benchmark. You can model that in the studio above and compare it with the S&P 500 over any period, which is the same question our direct indexing exclusions comparison answers provider by provider.
Yearly cost in dollars, management fee plus Gold where used
How much does Robinhood Strategies cost at your balance?
0.25% a year, or $2.50 per $1,000. Gold members at $5 a month pay that fee on the first $100,000 only, which turns a percentage fee into a flat one above $100,000.
| $10,000 | $50,000 | $100,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robinhood Strategies | $25 | $125 | $250 | $625 | $1,250 |
| Robinhood Strategies with Gold | $85 | $185 | $310 | $310 | $310 |
| Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct, 0.09% | $9 | $45 | $90 | $225 | $450 |
| Frec S&P 500, 0.09% | Below $20,000 minimum | $45 | $90 | $225 | $450 |
| Public Direct Index Account, 0.19% | $19 | $95 | $190 | $475 | $950 |
Gold row includes $60 a year of Gold membership. Fund expense ratios inside each portfolio are extra and not shown.
The Gold cap makes Robinhood the cheapest managed account above about $344,000
A Gold member pays $250 in management fees at $100,000 and still $250 at $1,000,000. Add the $60 a year of Gold and the all in cost is $310. A 0.09% direct indexer such as Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct or Frec costs $310 at about $344,000 and more above it. If you already pay for Gold for its other features, the crossover drops to about $278,000.
Below $100,000 the picture flips. Without Gold, Strategies costs the same 0.25% as Wealthfront's Automated Investing account and almost three times the 0.09% direct indexers. With Gold on a small account, the $60 membership dominates: $85 a year on $10,000 is 0.85%.
// Robinhood tax loss harvesting
Does Robinhood do tax loss harvesting?
Yes, inside Robinhood Strategies only, and once a year. Robinhood says it harvests at the end of the year, when it can see the full year's gains, and will also consider harvesting in a larger market downturn. Self directed accounts get no automatic harvesting.
- Taxable managed accounts of US persons only, never IRAs.
- The account must be funded for more than 30 days and worth $3,000 or more at harvest time.
- By default it harvests just enough to offset gains inside the managed account. You can choose to offset gains in your other Robinhood accounts, or harvest the maximum.
- Sale proceeds go into ETFs for 31 days, then back into the portfolio, to stay clear of the wash sale rule.
- A pending full withdrawal, a transfer out or a mark to market election makes the account ineligible.
Robinhood argues that harvesting once, with the whole year in view, avoids selling losses you did not need. The cost is the losses that come and go before December. A stock that fell 20% in April and recovered by October offered a loss in spring and none at year end. A continuous harvester can book that loss; a December pass cannot. How much that is worth depends on the year, which is why the tax loss harvesting calculator asks for your own numbers rather than promising one.
Fees and minimums from each provider's own pricing
Robinhood direct indexing alternatives compared
| Fee a year | Minimum | Holds an index | Harvesting | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robinhood Strategies | 0.25%, capped at $250 with Gold | $50; stocks from $500 | No, actively managed | Once a year, from $3,000 | Large Gold accounts that want a manager |
| Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct | 0.09% | $5,000 | Yes, S&P 500 | Continuous | Plain S&P 500 from $5,000 |
| Frec | 0.09% to 0.35% | $20,000 or $50,000 | Yes, 25 index choices | Continuous | Index choice and exclusions |
| Public | 0.19% | $1,000 | Yes, 100+ indexes | At rebalances and cash flows | Small accounts, app first users |
| Fidelity Managed FidFolios | 0.40% | $5,000 | Yes, five index strategies | Continuous | Fidelity customers |
| Schwab Personalized Indexing | 0.40% | $100,000 | Yes, six strategies | Continuous | Schwab customers wanting an adviser |
For most Robinhood customers the short answer is a two account setup: keep trading at Robinhood, and open the index account where the fee and minimum fit. Below $5,000, Public is the only one that will take you. From $5,000 to about $344,000, a 0.09% S&P 500 account at Wealthfront or Frec is the cheapest true direct index. Above that, Robinhood Strategies with Gold costs less in dollars, but you are buying a manager's picks with a once a year harvest, not an index. Minimums for every provider, including the adviser only ones, are on our direct indexing minimums page.
Moving money is the hidden cost. Robinhood charges $100 to transfer out, full or partial, and fractional shares cannot move by ACATS, so Robinhood sells them and sends cash, which can realize gains. Our ACATS transfer fees by broker table shows which firms charge and which ones you can ask to repay it. Funding the new account with fresh cash avoids both problems.
Before you open a second account
Model the index you would direct index, then pick who runs it
1
Pick the benchmark
Start from the S&P 500 or a narrower list of up to 20 names, the shape most people actually want when they leave a stock picking app.
2
Apply your exclusions
Drop your employer, a sector or the stocks you already hold at Robinhood, and reweight the rest the way a provider would.
3
Measure the gap
Backtest the result against the S&P 500 to see how far your changes pull you from the index you would be paying to track.
4
Choose the provider
With the index defined, match it to the provider whose menu, restrict limit, fee and minimum fit, and keep tracking it daily here.
What Indexes does and does not do: it is index construction, backtesting and tracking software. It does not hold money, place trades, harvest losses or give investment advice, and it is not affiliated with Robinhood or any provider on this page. Plans start at $24 a month billed yearly, with no account minimum, which is less than a year of Gold.
Robinhood Strategies and direct indexing questions
What Robinhood customers ask before they choose
Does Robinhood offer direct indexing?
No. Robinhood does not sell a direct indexing account that holds an index stock by stock and harvests losses against it. Its managed product, Robinhood Strategies, is an actively managed portfolio of stocks and ETFs picked by an investment team, with tax loss harvesting once a year. To direct index you need a dedicated provider or a do it yourself basket.
How much does Robinhood Strategies cost?
Robinhood Strategies charges 0.25% of assets a year, accrued daily and debited monthly, which is $2.50 per $1,000. Robinhood Gold members, at $5 a month, pay the fee only on the first $100,000, so a Gold member with $500,000 pays $250 in management fees plus $60 for Gold, $310 in total.
Does Robinhood do tax loss harvesting?
Yes, but only inside Robinhood Strategies and only in taxable managed accounts, not IRAs. Robinhood harvests once a year near year end rather than continuously, the account must be worth at least $3,000 at harvest time and funded for more than 30 days, and the sale proceeds sit in ETFs for 31 days to avoid a wash sale.
What is the minimum for Robinhood Strategies?
The minimum investment is $50. Balances under $500 are invested in ETFs only, and balances of $500 or more may hold a mix of ETFs and individual stocks. Tax loss harvesting needs at least $3,000 in the taxable managed account when the year end harvest runs.
Can I exclude stocks in Robinhood Strategies?
Yes. Robinhood says you can toggle any stock on or off to keep the portfolio aligned with your preferences. That is an exclusion list on an actively managed portfolio, not on an index, so you control what is removed but not what the team buys in its place.
Can I do direct indexing myself on Robinhood?
You can buy the stocks yourself with commission free fractional shares from $1 an order, but there is no basket tool, so each position is a separate order. Robinhood also uses first in first out cost basis with no lot selection, which makes it hard to sell only the losing lots you would want to harvest.
Is Robinhood Strategies worth it for a large account?
On fee alone it gets cheap: with Gold the all-in cost is capped at $310 a year, which beats a 0.09% direct indexer above about $344,000. The catch is what you buy. Strategies is a stock picking portfolio that harvests once a year, so you trade index tracking and daily harvesting for a low flat fee.
How much does Robinhood charge to transfer out?
Robinhood charges $100 for a full or partial ACATS transfer out, and fractional shares cannot move by ACATS, so Robinhood sells them and sends the cash. If you plan to move a Robinhood account to a direct indexing provider, check whether the new firm reimburses transfer fees before you start.
Sources
Robinhood Strategies fee, Gold cap, minimums, stock toggles and performance figures (as of March 31, 2026) from robinhood.com/us/en/strategies, read on October 7, 2026. Harvesting rules from the Robinhood support article on tax loss harvesting, read the same day. Robinhood transfer fee and fractional share treatment from its support article on transferring stocks out, and cost basis method from its help center, both checked in August and September 2026. Wealthfront, Frec, Public, Fidelity and Schwab fees and minimums from each provider's pricing pages and filings, as set out on our provider pages. Fees change; check the provider before you fund an account.
Know what your index looks like before you pay 0.09% or 0.25% to run it
Build the index with your exclusions, backtest it against the S&P 500, and track it daily. Then open the account that fits.
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