Autopilot and M1 Finance: building your own portfolio at a brokerage versus following someone else's in the one you already have

I'm Chris, one of the co-founders of Autopilot. M1 and Autopilot get compared because both automate a portfolio, and the comparison is useful precisely because the two automate opposite halves of the job. Here's what M1 is by its own disclosures, what we are, and the one question that decides between them.

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 disclaimer page.

What M1 is, by its own disclosures

I read M1's website on September 15, 2026. Its footer says brokerage products and services are offered by M1 Finance LLC, an SEC-registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC, a subsidiary of M1 Holdings Inc., founded in 2015. It describes its accounts as self-directed brokerage accounts, for which it charges no commission, trading, or management fees, while noting you may be charged other fees such as M1's platform fee, regulatory fees, and account closure or ADR fees, with the full list on its fee schedule. Its own headline is "automated, long-term investing." So M1 is a brokerage where you hold the account, you decide what's in your portfolio, and its software automates investing into it. Those are M1's words about itself as of that date; read the current versions before deciding.

What Autopilot is

Not a brokerage. You keep the brokerage account you already have, and instead of building the portfolio yourself, you follow one someone else published: a hedge fund's public filings, a Pilot who runs their own, or an AI-model Portfolio. You 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. Autopilot Advisers, LLC is the SEC-registered adviser, CRD 331749; the cost is a flat subscription.

The question that decides it

Who picks the stocks? At M1, by its description, you do, and its software automates the mechanics of investing into what you picked. At Autopilot, a named Pilot does, and we automate delivering their decisions into your account. If you have a portfolio in your head and want it run automatically, that's M1's design. If you don't want to pick and would rather follow a person or fund with a public record, that's ours. Both are hands-off after setup; they hand off different decisions. I made the same point about the whole category in Automated investing, explained: what actually runs on its own when you follow a Portfolio in your own brokerage, and what doesn't.

Fees, structurally

M1 says it charges no commission, trading, or management fees on self-directed accounts and may charge a platform fee. Autopilot charges a flat cash subscription for ongoing following, with a Basic Tier that has no platform fee, plus Pilot subscriptions for some Pilots, and never a percentage of assets; the amounts are in Form CRS and the checkout. Which is cheaper depends entirely on your balance and which fees apply to you, so convert both to dollars a year for your situation, as I did for ours in How much does it cost to follow a portfolio? Autopilot's subscription in dollars, the two layers, and the math at your balance.

Can you use both

Autopilot works inside brokerages on our connect screen, which is the only reliable list; M1 isn't among the brokerages named on our App Store listing, and I won't claim a connection I can't verify. What you can do is use each for what it's built for: build your own at a brokerage that automates it, and follow published Portfolios inside a connectable brokerage with us. The five checks I'd run on either of us are in How to check whether an investing app is registered, in five minutes: IAPD, BrokerCheck, and what the relationship summary tells you.

Frequently asked questions

Autopilot and M1 Finance: what's the difference?

Who picks the stocks and where the account lives. M1, by its own disclosures, is a self-directed brokerage, M1 Finance LLC, where you build the portfolio and its software automates investing into it, with no commission or management fees on self-directed accounts and a possible platform fee. Autopilot isn't a brokerage: you keep your existing account and follow a named Pilot's published Portfolio, with Autopilot Advisers, LLC, an SEC-registered adviser, sending the orders for a flat subscription.

Can I use Autopilot with M1 Finance?

Autopilot connects to the brokerages on its connect screen, and M1 isn't among those named on Autopilot's App Store listing; the connect screen in the app is the only reliable list. The two serve different jobs: M1 automates a portfolio you build at M1, and Autopilot follows someone else's Portfolio inside a connectable brokerage you already have.

Is M1 Finance a robo-advisor?

By its own description, M1 is a self-directed brokerage with automated investing, not an adviser choosing your allocation from a questionnaire: you build the portfolio and M1's software automates investing into it. A robo-advisor decides the mix for you; Autopilot follows a named Pilot's Portfolio in your existing brokerage. Three different answers to who decides.

Which costs more, Autopilot or M1 Finance?

It depends on your balance and which fees apply. M1 says it charges no commission, trading, or management fees for self-directed accounts and may charge a platform fee among other fees. Autopilot charges a flat subscription for ongoing following, with a Basic Tier that has no platform fee, plus Pilot subscriptions for some Pilots, never a percentage of assets. Convert each to dollars a year for your situation before comparing.

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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 disclaimer 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/disclaimer.

This information is provided by Autopilot for educational and illustrative purposes only and is not a recommendation, an offer to sell or the solicitation to buy any security. Autopilot relies on information from various sources believed to be reliable, including information from Clients, Pilots and other third parties, but cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of that information. Autopilot does not provide tax or legal advice and you are encouraged to consult with professionals before making investment decisions.

Autopilot is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by the companies listed, described, or featured on its site. Company logos or trademarks used do not imply endorsement and are the property of their respective owners.

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. You should carefully consider your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and time horizon before investing through Autopilot.

Autopilot Advisers, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Additional information about Autopilot is available in our Form ADV Part 2A, available at adviserinfo.sec.gov or joinautopilot.com/adv.

Autopilot provides limited investment advisory services focused on Portfolio selection and suitability assessment. Our services are not intended to replace comprehensive financial planning. We recommend consulting with a qualified financial advisor regarding your complete financial situation.

This content is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice and should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision. You should consult with qualified professionals regarding your specific circumstances.

Autopilot does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult with qualified tax and legal professionals regarding your specific circumstances.

Autopilot does not hold client assets. All investments are held at the brokerage firm you select and connect to Autopilot. Your brokerage firm is responsible for trade execution, custody, and reporting. Autopilot is not responsible for your broker-dealer’s services, fees, or execution quality.

Autopilot’s services depend on technology systems, third-party APIs, and internet connectivity. System outages, API disruptions, or connectivity issues may temporarily affect service availability or trade execution timing.

Client account holdings are designed to track the Portfolio you’ve selected, but your actual holdings and performance may differ from the Portfolio due to execution timing, market conditions, brokerage capacity constraints, fractional share availability, and other factors outside Autopilot’s control.

For Portfolios inspired by publicly disclosed trading activity, there may be a delay between when a Pilot executes a trade and when that trade becomes publicly available and is incorporated into the Portfolio. This timing delay may affect the suitability or performance of trades when executed in client accounts.

Descriptions of M1 are taken from its own public website and disclosures as read on September 15, 2026 and may change; M1 Finance LLC and M1 Holdings Inc. are not affiliated with Autopilot and have not endorsed it. Nothing here ranks either product, asserts superiority, or claims a connection between Autopilot and M1. Nothing here is a performance claim or a recommendation.