Robinhood Gold costs $5 a month, and what it buys is six changes to an account that's otherwise free to use: a higher rate on idle cash, a bigger IRA match, the first $1,000 of margin at no interest, larger instant deposits, Morningstar research reports, and Nasdaq Level II data. Instant deposits show how far apart the tiers can sit. A standard account releases up to $1,000 of a pending deposit right away, while Gold raises that ceiling to as much as three times the portfolio's value.
What the $5 Fee Adds to a Standard Account
Robinhood's free tier already covers commission-free trades in stocks, ETFs, and crypto, fractional shares, options trading, and extended hours on business days. Gold is an optional layer on top of that account, not a separate platform. The table below lists where the two tiers part company.
| Standard Robinhood | Robinhood Gold | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $0 | $5 a month, or $50 a year |
| Instant deposit access | Up to $1,000 | Up to 3x portfolio value |
| Interest on uninvested cash | Cash sweep available | Up to 3.35% APY (as of 02/11/26) |
| Interest-free margin | None | First $1,000 |
| IRA match on contributions | 1% | Up to 3% |
| Morningstar reports | Not included | Included |
| Nasdaq Level II data | Not included | Included |
The Cash Sweep Is Open to Everyone, the Top Rate Isn't
Any Robinhood user can move uninvested cash into the brokerage's sweep program, called the IntraFi Network Deposit Sweep Service. It parks money at partner banks, among them Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and Truist Bank, where it's FDIC insured up to $250,000 per bank and up to $2.5 million in total. That ceiling was raised from $1.5 million in 2024.
The interest rate is the part behind the paywall. Gold subscribers can earn up to 3.35% APY (as of 02/11/26) on uninvested cash, with subscription fees applying. Competing cash accounts publish rates in the same neighborhood without a paid tier attached:
| Account | Rate | Subscription required |
|---|---|---|
| Robinhood Gold cash sweep | Up to 3.35% APY (as of 02/11/26) | Yes |
| Wealthfront Cash Account | 3.30% base APY (as of 1/30/26) | No |
| Betterment Cash Reserve | Up to 3.25% APY (as of Oct. 24, 2025) | No |
A flat $5 fee is a fixed cost no matter how much cash is sitting idle. The larger the uninvested balance, the less that fee weighs against the interest it buys, and the smaller the balance, the more it weighs. One wrinkle on the insurance: FDIC coverage in a sweep program applies to the cash at the program banks, not to the securities in the brokerage account. If you already keep deposits at one of those banks in your own name, balances at that same institution can count toward the same limit.
The IRA Match Goes From 1% to Up to 3%
Robinhood matches retirement contributions, and Gold membership raises the rate. Standard users qualify for a 1% match; Gold members qualify for up to 3% on qualifying annual IRA contributions.
Money moved in from elsewhere is treated separately. IRA transfers and 401(k) rollovers earned a 2% match until Apr. 30, 2025, and 1% after that date.
The First $1,000 of Margin Is Interest-Free, Then 4.70% to 5.75%
Every Robinhood account can borrow against its holdings. Gold changes the price. Subscribers borrow their first $1,000 on margin without paying interest, and beyond that the rate runs 4.70% to 5.75% depending on how much is borrowed. Interest accrues daily, and Robinhood bills it to the account at the end of each billing cycle.
In practice, say $3,000 of borrowed money is in use. The first $1,000 carries no interest under the Gold subscription, so interest applies only to the remaining $2,000, working out to roughly $0.29 a day.
The risk here isn't symmetrical with the savings. Borrowed money magnifies losses as readily as gains, and the debt survives a bad outcome. If the account's value falls far enough, a brokerage can issue a margin call and sell positions to cover the loan, sometimes without waiting for the account holder to choose which ones. A discount on the interest rate does nothing to change that mechanic.
Instant Deposits Scale With Portfolio Size
Deposits into a brokerage account normally take a few days to settle before the money can be traded. Robinhood fronts some of it immediately: $1,000 on the free tier, and up to three times the portfolio's value for Gold members, depending on the portfolio and the account type.
For someone who holds a substantial position and occasionally wants to act on a deposit the same day, that's the most concrete gap between the tiers. For someone who deposits a fixed amount each month and buys the same holdings, the settlement wait rarely comes up.
Morningstar Reports Cover About 1,700 Stocks
Gold includes unlimited access to Morningstar's independent research reports, available for roughly 1,700 stocks. The reports go into a company's business strategy, its leadership, and an estimate of fair market value, the kind of written analysis the free app doesn't provide.
Coverage is the catch. Roughly 1,700 names is a large slice of the market by size but not all of it, so anything held outside that list has no report behind it.
Nasdaq Level II Data Shows Only Nasdaq Orders
Gold also unlocks Level II market data through Nasdaq TotalView. Instead of a single last-traded price, Level II shows the queue of bids and asks behind a stock, a rough read on how much demand is sitting at each price level. Active traders lean on it; buy-and-hold investors generally don't.
The limit is exchange-specific. The feed reflects orders on the Nasdaq exchange, not activity on other exchanges, so anyone trading names listed elsewhere gets a partial picture.
Mutual Funds and Bonds Stay Off the Menu
The subscription changes the tools, not what's available to buy. Assets Robinhood doesn't support, mutual funds and bonds among them, stay unavailable on Gold. The $5 also covers the subscription itself and nothing else; other brokerage charges are billed separately.
Billing Starts After a 30-Day Free Trial
Gold is free for the first 30 days. After that it bills $5 a month, or $50 a year if paid annually, and it keeps charging until it's canceled. Someone who cancels during the trial keeps the premium features until the trial period ends.
Canceling happens in the app:
- Open the menu and select "Investing."
- Find the Robinhood Gold membership tab.
- Tap "Cancel membership" and follow the prompts.
Acorns and Moomoo Overlap in Different Places
Acorns starts investing with as little as $5 and automatically allocates money into ETF portfolios based on stated goals and risk tolerance. It supports taxable brokerage accounts and IRAs, and its own Acorns Gold tier also includes IRA matching and higher APYs on uninvested cash. It's built for hands-off, automated investing rather than active trading.
Moomoo is commission-free for U.S. residents trading U.S. securities and reaches both the U.S. and Hong Kong markets, covering stocks, ETFs, options, and American depositary receipts. Its analytical tools and research aren't behind a paid tier. What it lacks is crypto and IRAs, so the IRA match and crypto trading available at Robinhood have no equivalent there.
Counting the Features You'd Actually Use in a Month
Gold's value is concentrated rather than spread evenly across the six items. The ones that clearly justify a recurring fee are tied to activity: margin borrowing, same-day access to large deposits, Level II data used regularly, a sizable idle cash balance, and an IRA receiving contributions that qualify for the higher match. An investor doing several of those things gets a lot for $5 a month. The same $5 buys very little for someone making monthly ETF purchases and holding them.
If only one of the six sees regular use, and that one is available free elsewhere, as the cash-account rates above show, the fee is mostly paying for capacity that goes unused. Counting in advance is guesswork, which is part of why the trial period is there.
