17 Legit Ways To Get Free Stocks In Your Portfolio (2024)

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You know that investing in stocks is one of the best ways to grow your wealth. But how can you start when the barrier to entry is so high? Sure, you could buy a few stocks, but what good will that do you? It’s not possible to get rich on just a few stocks, right?

Fortunately, it’s easier than you think to get started – you can even get free stocks! That’s right, there are legitimate investment companies giving away free stocks for nothing. It sounds crazy, but it’s true, we will show you how to get free stocks.

If you want help tracking your investments as you dive into your retirement goals,Empoweris the perfect free tool to partner with.

How to Get Free Stocks

Just like insurance companies lure clients in with low rates, brokerage firms do the same. They offer free stocks to get you to join their firm. Each brokerage has different rules and ways to earn the stocks for nothing.

Let’s dive in and see how you too can grow your investment portfolio with stocks you earned for free.

If stocks aren’t your thing, check out our articles on VTSAX vs VTI and VT vs VTI to learn more about Vanguard mutual funds.

Where Can I Get Stocks For Free?

Here is a list of our favorite companies giving away free stocks.

1. Webull

Webull is one of the newcomers to the online brokerage industry. Webull offers a free app, commission free trading stock and ETF trades, and lucrative reporting options for even the most experienced investor.

Webull is free to set up and use and there is no minimum required to open an account. Webull is fairly new to the online space, but they offer a variety of features that have brought in both beginning and experienced investors.

Webull offers a variety of tools and reports to aid in your investment decisions, including real-time market data and advanced charting options.Webull offers you up to twofree shares of stock when signing up and funding your account. One free share for signing up for a brokerage account and anotherfree share for funding the account with a minimum of $100.

We love that Webull is free, making it a welcome program for beginners and experienced investors. We also love that you can open both an individual taxable account and a variety of retirement accounts, including traditional and Roth IRAs.

How to get free stock: Webull offers new investors 2 free shares of stock with at least a $100 initial minimum deposit. The free stock value is worth between $8 and $1,600 and comes from Webull’s inventory of settled shares.

2. Public

Public is a free social investing platform. While the basics work like any other platform – you can buy or sell stock and ETFs, what sets them apart is the social aspect of the platform. You can follow other investors or dig in deep into what makes a company tick.

You can buy whole shares or fractional shares, based on how much money you have. You build a portfolio that works for you and converse with other investors to get more ideas. With group messaging, you can really get to know what others think.

One last unique aspect is the themes Public offers. Rather than individual companies, they offer portfolios in themes, such as ‘gaming,’ ‘female-led companies,’ and ‘S&P 500 stocks.’

How to get free stocks: Public offers free stock for signing up once your account is approved and activated. The stock may be worth up to $20 and the stock is chosen at random.

3. M1 Finance

M1 Finance is a robo-advisor for experienced investors. They offer the best of both worlds, free trading commissions and robust portfolios meant for advanced investors. You can choose from prebuilt expert portfolios or create your own.

M1 has more than 80 prebuilt portfolios to choose from for your online brokerage account, each of which includes a mix of ETFs, stocks, and REITs. Like Robinhood, M1 offers fractional share investments. This means you can invest in any stock you want no matter how much (or how little) money you have.

M1 is a robo-advisor that continually monitors and rebalances your portfolio. You can have a hands-off approach to investing or force a rebalance of yourself if you want a more hands-on approach as an active trader.

How to get free stock: If you sign up for M1 Finance with a referral account, both you and the person who referred you receive $10. You can invest the $10 how you see fit and put toward the stock of your choice. Once you are an M1 investor, you receive $10 for every friend that you refer as well, earning even more free stock.

4. Acorns

If you think investing is impossible, check out Acorns. You can invest your spare change! No one can deny the ability to invest when it’s that simple. While you certainly won’t’ be able to retire on your Acorns spare change investments, it’s a great place to start for new investors.

Just link your most used debit or credit card to your Acorns account and let Acorns round up each purchase to the nearest dollar. Acorns automatically take your spare change and invest it based on your investment goals. You can also add more funds whenever you are able or even set up automatic transfers.

Acorns also offer the opportunity to earn bonus stock from its partner stores. The program called ‘Found Money’ is much like credit cards offer rewards for certain purchases, Acorns offers ‘bonus stocks’ each time you use your registered debit/credit card at a partner retailer.

How to get free stock: Acorns offers new users a $5 cash bonus just for signing up. Since Acorns minimum required balance is $5, you can take that money and immediately invest it how you want.

5. SoFi Invest

SoFi Invest makes it easy for anyone to start investing. You can trade stocks, crypto, and ETFs easily whether you’re a beginning or experienced investor.

SoFi offers two options – build your own portfolio or let them build one for you. You can begin trading stocks and ETFs for nothing, and you can buy fractional shares, investing only as much or as little as you want. SoFi offers zero-commission stock trades and makes it easy to diversify your portfolio.

How to get free stock: SoFi offers a promo for signing up. The promo changes from time to time, so always check back to see what you could earn.

6. Robinhood

Robinhood was one of the first online brokers to offer commission-free stock trades. Investors can trade a variety of assets including stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrency. Robinhood’s interface is user-friendly, and its no minimum opening balance required is great for beginning investors that want to start investing today.

Robinhood offers investors the option to buy fractional shares, meaning you can invest in any stock at a fraction of its full share price. You can invest any amount, learn about investing as you grow, and always have your portfolio in your pocket wherever you go.

Robinhood offers a cash management account that earns 0.3% APY and its platform is entirely free unless you sign up for Robinhood Gold which offers premium research options, Level II market data, and access to a margin account. Robinhood Gold costs $5 a month. With Robinhood, you can buy shares of stock without worrying about transaction fees. There are no arbitraryaccount minimums – so you do not need thousands of dollars to invest.

How to get free stock: All new users get free stock from Robinhood. The stock could be worth $2.50 to $200 and could include stocks, such as Visa, Apple, or Microsoft.

7. Stash Invest

Stash Invest was created for beginners. Stash takes the complicated part of selecting investments out of the equation, making it easy to start investing in ETFs and stocks.

Stash is more than an investment platform, they also provide educational resources and a savings platform, helping investors, save, learn, and invest in IRA and brokerage accounts. It’s the best of all worlds for those just starting out with managing their finances.

Investors may open an individual taxable account or retirement account. You can even have the investment accounts for your children within each plan. Stash operates on a subscription-based platform and includes a ‘Spend and Earn’ bank account that allows you to earn stock-back (like cash-back but stocks) for specific purchases and have a bank account with no hidden fees.

With advice, education, and budgeting tools, you get the best of all worlds when you’re just starting out.

How to get free stocks: Register for Stash trading account here, and earn a $5 sign up bonus. You can invest the $5 however you want.

8. Schwab

The Charles Schwab Corporation is a brokerage firm that has been around for more than 30 years. Their latest offering is Intelligent Portfolios, which is a Robo-advisor with human investment advice. Schwab offers the automated freedom of hands-off investing along with 24/7 customer service.

Schwab has a higher minimum opening balance requirement of $5,000 for the Intelligent Portfolio products, but they make it incredibly easy to buy stocks with their automated investing programs and plenty of advice and educational videos to help beginners get started without the need for a professional stockbroker.

One aspect of Schwab that many people prefer is the internal ETFs they offer. Rather than making commissions on third-party ETFs, Schwab has their own offerings, which makes it easier for them to service accounts at cheaper prices and with more offerings.

How to receive free stock: Schwab offers free stocks based on the amount of your investment, offering between $100 – $500 for each new stock account. You are free to invest the earned money how you want.

9. TD Ameritrade (E-Trade)

TD Ameritrade offers a commission-free online broker investing platform that doesn’t require trade minimums or have any hidden fees. It’s one of the best online trading platforms for beginner and experienced traders, as it offers a variety of education and trading options for investors from all walks of life.

TD Ameritrade offers robust platforms online, on the desktop, and mobile and offers access to robust 3rd party research making it even easier to trade stocks online.

TD Ameritrade does all the work after you set up your new account. Once you answer their questions, they set you up on a predetermined portfolio that suits your risk tolerance. From there, they manage the rebalancing and monitoring, giving you a hands-off approach to online stock trading.

How to get free stock: Contact us for a referral code and fund your account within 90 days and you’ll receive up to $1000 from TD Ameritrade.

10. Moomoo

Moomoo is a good online trading platform for investors who love research. Moomoo offers robust stock market research for both beginning and experienced investors. It’s a tech-heavy platform that’s great for investors who love intuitive technology and want to learn how to trade online. They offer one of the best online, easy-to-use platforms that are continually updated.

Moomoo offers free access to Level 2 market data and offers commission-free trades on stocks, ETFs, and options. Even though it’s a mobile trading app, the charting and analytics offered are robust, making it easy for investors of all levels to get the information they want including customized alerts based on price movement.

How to get free stocks: Moomoo offers free stock trading, valued up to $1,000 when you sign up and open an account with at least a $500 deposit.

11. Tornado (Formerly Nvstr)

If you’ve always wanted to invest with the ideas of others, Tornado is a great option (formerly Nvstr). They operate on the theory of collective wisdom and innovative technology. Not only do you get access to proper research, but you also have access to some of Wall Street’s most promising investors and even your trusted friends.

Perhaps what sets Tornado apart the most is its Nobel-prize winning one-click portfolio allocation. It’s the fastest and most accurate allocation offered across any platform in the stock market.

When you garner the advice of other investors and combine it with your own thoughts and theories, you may be able to create a more robust and profitable portfolio than any other method allows.

How to get free stocks: Tornado rewards new users with a bonus of up to $1,000 free stock worth. They draw the prize at random, and you cannot withdraw the funds for 12 months. You must also invest the funds in securities within 30 days of receiving it.

12. Firstrade

Firstrade is a powerful trading platform that’s available via the desktop, tablet, or smartphone. All data syncs in the cloud, so you have real-time data no matter where you log into your account.

Firstrade offers commission free trades and plenty of research powered by Morningstar. You can trade stock, ETFs, options, and mutual funds. Investing with Firstrade is straightforward, affordable, and great for beginning and expert investors.

How to get free stocks: Firstrade offers free stock for each referral. When you sign up with a referral link, both you and the person who referred you receive free stocks. Once you’re signed up, if you refer friends or family, you’ll earn more free stock for each referral.

13. Dividend Reinvestment Plans

Many stocks pay dividends. Typically, you can choose to take them as cash or reinvest them back into stocks. When you reinvest, it’s like getting free stocks. Since it’s automatic, you typically don’t pay any commissions or fees, so it truly is like getting stocks for free.

You can even set up a dividend reinvestment plan automatically, so you don’t have to do anything, but your dividends are automatically reinvested. DRIP takes advantage of compounding. It’s the best way to grow your investments without digging into your own wallet.

14. Groundfloor

Groundfloor is a real estate crowdfunding website. Investors with active bank accounts can contribute funds to deals they are interested in after learning about the property and developer. You can invest as little or as much as you want in each portfolio. The investments typically mature in 12 – 18 months, so make sure you can afford to tie up the funds that long.

Investors earn interest on top of the return of their principal, which is the equivalent of capital gains you’d earn investing in stocks.

How to get free stocks: When you sign up for a new Groundfloor account, link your external bank account and fund your account with at least $10, you’ll earn free stock worth $10 from Groundfloor, which you can invest how you want.

15. iConsumer

iConsumer is a cashback reward site, but with a twist. They also reward you with stocks.

iConsumer offers rebates at more than 2,300 stores. This part works the same as any other reward site. You shop through your iConsumer dashboard, and you earn cashback as detailed.

In addition to the cashback, you earn stock in iConsumer. While the shares aren’t worth a lot right now, getting in while the value is low could mean high potential growth in the future.

How to get free stocks: When you sign up for iConsumer and make a qualifying purchase within 90 days (that earns you at least 10 shares), you’ll earn a bonus 100 iConsumer shares.

16. Bumped

If you love to shop, join Bumped. You’ll turn your shopping sprees into stock ownership. Bumped is like a cashback reward site except they only pay you in stocks, not cashback.

Bumped is easy to use – you just download the investing app, and follow the instructions to earn your free stocks back. Bumped makes it easy to have ownership of the brands you love without investing any money. You earn fractional shares for your purchases, which appreciate (hopefully) earning you even more money over time.

How to get free stocks: Everyone earns free stocks from Bumped just by doing their regular shopping through the Bump app. It’s simple and just makes sense if you’re going to shop anyway.

17. Stockpile

If you think you don’t have enough money to invest, check out Stockpile. You can invest with as little money as you can without relying on payday loans or any other borrowing methods, by just buying fractional shares of your favorite companies. Stockpile is an easy-to-use mobile app that offers bits and pieces of educational material and even lets you gift stocks.

Stockpile charges $0.99 per trade, so keep that in mind as many virtual trading platforms are free.

How to get free stocks: Stockpile gives new users signing up from a referral link $5 to invest how they want. You may also earn shares with your first e-stock gift of $10 or more.

Free Stock Trading: Are Free Stocks Really Possible?

As you can see, it’s easy to earn free stock through legitimate companies. You just have to know where to sign up and how. Many companies today are vying for your business as online investing becomes more popular every day.

Choose the broker or online trading platform that offers the investment choices you want and offers the support you need. Remember, investing involves risk, so you want a company that you’re comfortable working with and that will provide the support you need. You can also collaborate with others in theinvesting community and learn from collective wisdom

Enjoy your free stocks and your newfound investing options as you grow your wealth!