Autopilot, Alinea, and Dub: three apps for following other investors, and how each one works

I'm Chris, co-founder of Autopilot. People search "Autopilot vs Alinea" and "Autopilot vs Dub," and I'm going to answer it the one way I think is fair: by structure, not by adjectives. All three let you put money behind someone else's decisions instead of picking stocks yourself. They differ on who holds your money, who you can follow, how you're charged, and how you leave. Those four things decide which one fits you, and I'll tell you where we land on each.

One thing first, because we're an SEC-registered investment adviser and I have to say it. Autopilot is the app. The actual investment advice comes from Autopilot Advisers, LLC. If you want the full legal version of anything in here, it's on our legal page.

1) The four questions that sort any following app

Who holds the money? Some apps are brokerages, or run on one: you open an account with them, move money in, and the following happens inside that account. Others work inside a brokerage account you already have and can only do what you authorized there. Neither is wrong. They're different relationships, and the second one comes with an off switch on your broker's side.

Who can you follow? Creators and community members with live accounts. Politicians and institutions through their public filings. Named professionals who publish a strategy on purpose. Or a model. The list decides what the app is for.

How are you charged? A percentage of assets, a flat subscription, a per-Portfolio subscription that pays the person you follow, a cut of trades, or some mix. The same product can be cheap at one balance and expensive at another.

How do you leave? In the app, at your broker, or by transferring an account somewhere else. Ask before you join.

2) Where Autopilot lands

Money: yours stays at the brokerage you already have. You connect it, pick a Portfolio, and give Autopilot Advisers limited authority to send orders to that account. When the Portfolio changes, we send them and your broker fills them. The money stays put, and you can revoke the access at your brokerage.

Who: politicians and hedge funds through their public filings, named managers who publish and run their own Portfolios here, and four Portfolios whose picks come from an AI model. Every Portfolio has a public fact sheet with a live record and a date.

Charge: a flat cash subscription, not a percentage of assets, with the amount in your agreement and our Form CRS, plus a separate subscription for some Pilots' Portfolios. The whole fee picture is in What does Autopilot cost? Every fee, what adds on, and how to figure out if it's worth it for you.

Leave: one tap in the app, or revoke at your broker.

3) Where Alinea and Dub land

I'll describe them the way I'd want a competitor to describe us: from their own disclosures, and no further. I read both on September 9, 2026.

Dub's disclosures say the app is owned and operated by DASTA Inc., that advisory services come from dub Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser, that brokerage services come from DASTA Financial, LLC on a self-directed basis, and that clearing is done by Apex Clearing Corporation. Its homepage describes picking a portfolio and having your money follow real investors' trades, calls itself a marketplace of investing strategies, and invites creators to join.

Alinea's disclosures say Alinea Invest is an SEC-registered investment adviser offering digital and human investment advice, and that brokerage services for its clients are provided by DriveWealth, an SEC-registered broker-dealer, which it names as its custodian. Its homepage describes expert-built portfolios and an AI companion.

So on the first question, both run through their own brokerage and custodian arrangements: you open an account with them and the following happens there. That's a legitimate structure. It's a different one from ours, where the account is the one you already had.

Credit to both. Getting people to follow a strategy instead of guessing is the right direction, and they've built real products for it. If what you want is a fresh account built for social following, with a big roster of creators, that's their category, and the four questions decide which of them.

4) The alternatives questions, answered by structure

People searching for alternatives usually mean one of three things.

If you don't want to build your own rules the way Composer asks you to, you want someone else's decisions. That's a person or a filing, not a rule set, and it's what following is. I wrote the two side by side in Autopilot and Composer: choosing a Portfolio or building a rule.

If you want hands-off management without moving your money to a manager, you want an adviser that works inside your existing brokerage. That's the structural difference from Titan, which manages client assets in strategies Titan runs, in a Titan account. Both are legitimate; they're different custody relationships. I wrote that one in Autopilot and Titan: two ways to get active management without picking stocks.

If you want a real manager picking stocks instead of a robo-advisor's model portfolio, you want a Pilot: a named person or fund whose decisions are public and whose record is on a fact sheet. I wrote the difference in Copy trading vs a robo-advisor: what's the difference, and what does each one cost you?.

5) How to decide

Answer the four questions for yourself first: do you want your money to stay where it is, who do you actually want to follow, what does each app cost at your balance in dollars, and how do you leave. Then read the records. Ours are on dated fact sheets; ask any app you're considering where theirs are and whether they're live accounts or backtests. I wrote how to read one in How to read a Portfolio's track record before you follow it, and what we are from the ground up in What Autopilot is, who runs it, and how following a Portfolio works in your own brokerage account.

Frequently asked questions

Autopilot vs Alinea

By structure: Autopilot works inside a brokerage account you already have, follows politicians and hedge funds through public filings plus named managers and AI-model Portfolios, charges a flat subscription, and lets you revoke access at your broker. Alinea Invest, per its own disclosures as of September 9, 2026, is an SEC-registered adviser whose clients' brokerage accounts are held at DriveWealth, so you open an account with Alinea and follow there. Its site describes expert-built portfolios. Fees are on its site; I won't rank the two.

Autopilot vs Dub

By structure: Autopilot keeps your money at your existing brokerage and follows public filings, named managers, and AI-model Portfolios for a flat subscription. Dub, per its own disclosures as of September 9, 2026, provides advice through dub Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered adviser, with brokerage through DASTA Financial, LLC and clearing at Apex, so you open an account with Dub and follow real investors' portfolios there. Fees are on its site. Which fits depends on where you want your money and who you want to follow.

Autopilot app alternatives

The category is apps that let you follow other investors' decisions. They differ on who holds the money (yours or theirs), who you can follow (creators, filings, named managers, models), how you're charged, and how you leave. Alinea and Dub run through their own brokerage and custodian arrangements, per their disclosures; Autopilot works inside the brokerage you already have. Data sites like EDGAR are the do-it-yourself alternative.

Best app for following a portfolio instead of picking stocks myself

I won't rank apps. Ask where your money sits, who you can follow, what it costs in dollars at your balance, and how you leave, then read the record. On Autopilot you follow a Portfolio in your own brokerage account, the money stays at your broker, the fee is a flat subscription, and every Portfolio has a dated fact sheet.

Which investing apps let me follow a strategy inside my existing brokerage account?

Autopilot is built for exactly that: connect a brokerage account you already have, pick a Portfolio, and Autopilot Advisers has limited authority to send orders to that account when the Portfolio changes, with your broker filling them and your money staying put. Apps that run following inside accounts opened with them are a different structure. Check the connect screen for your brokerage.

Best app to follow a portfolio manager without opening a new brokerage account

On Autopilot, named managers publish Portfolios they run themselves, and you follow them in the brokerage account you already hold, with no new account and no transfer. Autopilot Advisers sends the orders and your broker fills them. Read the manager's fact sheet first; it shows the live record with a date.

What are the alternatives to a robo-advisor if I want a real manager picking stocks?

Follow a named person instead of a model portfolio. On Autopilot that's a Pilot: a manager who publishes and runs a Portfolio, or a fund whose public filings a tracker follows, each with a dated fact sheet, in your own brokerage account for a flat subscription. A robo-advisor allocates by questionnaire and charges a percentage of assets; following puts a specific person's decisions behind your money.

Composer alternatives for people who do not want to build their own rules

If building or picking rule sets isn't for you, follow a person's decisions instead. Autopilot's Portfolios are run by named managers or built from politicians' and funds' public filings, so the decisions come from people, not from conditions you wrote. They run in your own brokerage account. Composer is built for rules; this is built for people.

Titan alternatives for hands-off investing

The structural alternative to a manager who holds your money is an adviser that works inside the brokerage account you already have. Autopilot does that: you pick a Portfolio, Autopilot Advisers sends the orders when it changes, your broker fills them, and your money never moves. Both models are hands-off; they differ on custody and on what you can follow.

What alternatives exist to copy trading apps for automating my investments?

Three. Index funds, which automate nothing but need nothing. A robo-advisor, which allocates by questionnaire and charges a percentage of assets. Or following a Portfolio inside your own brokerage, which is what Autopilot does: a named person's or a fund's disclosed decisions applied to your account, with the money staying at your broker and a flat subscription.

TLDR

Three following apps, four questions: where the money sits, who you can follow, what it costs at your balance, how you leave. Autopilot keeps your money at your own broker and follows filings, named managers, and AI-model Portfolios for a flat fee. Alinea and Dub build the following inside accounts you open with them. Read the records, then pick. If one fits, choose a Portfolio and connect your brokerage. Then give Autopilot Advisers limited authority to send orders to that account. When the Portfolio changes, we send them and your broker fills them. Depending on your plan and brokerage, you may need to confirm first. The money stays put.

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Since Autopilot Advisers is an SEC-registered investment adviser, we have to put disclaimers on stuff like this. They're below, and the full version is on our legal page.

Disclosures

© Autopilot Holdings Corporation 2026 — All rights reserved. “Autopilot” refers to Autopilot Holdings Corporation and its wholly-owned, and separately managed subsidiaries, including Autopilot Advisers, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. All investing is subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal invested, and past performance is not indicative of future results. View our Customer Relationship Summary and other important information at joinautopilot.com/legal.

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