Astor vs. Betterment: which one fits how you invest?

How do Astor and Betterment work?

Betterment starts with your goals. You tell it about yourself and what you’re investing for, and its software builds portfolios from that, mostly out of low-cost ETFs. For these managed portfolios you give Betterment discretionary authority, so it buys and sells when it decides to, in response to your deposits and withdrawals and to drift from your target mix. Its Form CRS says the software monitors your account on an ongoing basis without trying to time the market. You can also turn on a glide path that makes a goal’s portfolio gradually more conservative as the date gets closer.

Betterment has more than managed portfolios. There’s a self-directed investing account where you choose stocks and ETFs yourself, a Cash Reserve account and checking. Your managed accounts are held at Betterment’s affiliated broker-dealer, Betterment Securities.

Astor doesn’t hold or manage money. It connects through Plaid to the brokerage, retirement and crypto accounts you already have at most major US institutions, like Robinhood, Schwab and Coinbase. It learns what you own and watches the market for what matters to your portfolio. When an earnings report, a filing or a headline touches something you hold, it texts you what happened, why it matters to you, and what you could do. Whether you act on it is up to you. If the category is new to you, start with what is a personal investing agent.

Astor vs. Betterment side by side

Which one costs less?

Betterment’s price changes with your balance and Astor’s doesn’t. On Betterment’s Digital plan you pay $5 a month until you reach $24,000 or set up at least $200 a month in recurring deposits, and from then on you pay 0.25% a year. Premium is 0.65% a year on the first $1 million and requires $100,000. Here’s the yearly fee at a few balances, assuming the balance stays the same all year and no recurring deposits on the smallest one.

At small balances Betterment Digital costs less than Astor Pro, and with $200 a month in recurring deposits it drops further, to $25 a year on $10,000. Past $48,000, its 0.25% is more than Astor Pro’s $120. Betterment’s fees don’t include the expense ratios of the funds you hold, and Betterment Securities charges $75 for each investing account you transfer out to another firm. Astor’s free plan costs nothing and includes one custom alert.

The fair way to read that table is that Betterment’s fee buys a managed portfolio, and Astor’s buys research and monitoring for decisions you make yourself. If you want your money managed, compare Betterment with other robo-advisors, not with Astor. We line up those options in how much an AI financial advisor costs.

What about Betterment’s self-directed investing?

This is where the two products come closest. Betterment’s self-directed account lets you pick stocks and ETFs with no trading commissions, and Betterment waives its management fee on it. You decide what to buy, Betterment decides the timing and price of the trade, and it doesn’t rebalance these accounts. In practice, it works like a commission-free stock account inside Betterment, next to your managed portfolio.

Astor isn’t a brokerage. It sits on top of the brokerage and retirement accounts you already use and helps you decide what to do in them, with alerts, research and answers about your actual holdings. If you’d like everything at Betterment, its self-directed account is a simple way to hold a few stocks next to a managed portfolio. If your stocks are spread across Robinhood, Schwab or a retirement account somewhere else, Astor can watch them together.

When is Betterment the better choice?

We think Betterment is the better fit in these cases.

• You want a portfolio built around your goals and managed for you. Betterment builds portfolios from the goals you give it, and Astor doesn’t run a managed portfolio at all.
• You want a glide path, automatic rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting. Betterment handles these inside its accounts. Astor never trades for you, so it does none of them.
• You want to talk to a person. With $100,000 or more, Premium adds advice from Betterment’s financial consultants by phone, video, live chat or email.
• You’re starting small. There’s no account minimum, the minimum deposit is $10, and the Digital plan starts at $5 a month.
• You use Android or want a web app. Betterment has both. Astor is iPhone and iMessage only.

When is Astor the better fit?

Astor is for people who already invest on their own and want someone paying close attention to what they own. Here’s where we think it’s the better fit.

• You don’t want to move your money. Astor works with the accounts you have, and it can see your holdings but can’t move money. We explain the details in is it safe to connect your brokerage account.
• You hold individual stocks and want to know when something touches them. Astor follows every position you own, plus the earnings dates, filings and headlines that affect them, and stays quiet when nothing matters. More on that in stock alerts for news on stocks you own.
• You want answers about your actual portfolio. You can text Astor in iMessage, ask what moved your money today, and follow up in the same thread. Every alert links to the reasoning and sources behind it.
• You’d rather pay a flat price. Astor costs the same whether you connect $20,000 or $2 million, and it’s never a percentage of your assets.
• You want help acting on your own ideas. With Text to Trade, launching in October 2026, you describe an idea in a sentence, Astor proposes a basket of companies sized against what you already own and the budget you set, and you approve every trade before it executes in your own Robinhood agentic account.

Astor is an SEC-registered investment adviser, so its recommendations are personalized investment advice and it owes clients a fiduciary duty. The limits matter as much as the strengths. Astor is iPhone and iMessage only and US only, it doesn’t hold your money or run a managed portfolio, and it doesn’t do budgeting, tax filing or estate planning. The AI can be wrong, which is why it shows its sources and you make the call.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Betterment: Pricing, accessed Oct 12, 2026
2. Betterment LLC: Form CRS, July 31, 2026, accessed Oct 12, 2026
3. Betterment: Can I sync my external accounts to my goals?, accessed Oct 12, 2026
4. SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure: Betterment LLC (CRD 149117), accessed Oct 12, 2026
5. SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure: Gaus, Inc. DBA Astor (CRD 338424), accessed Oct 12, 2026
6. Google Play: Betterment Invest & Save Money, accessed Oct 12, 2026