How Autopilot works with your Charles Schwab account

I'm Chris, co-founder of Autopilot. If you have a Schwab account and you want to follow a Portfolio in it, you don't move anything and you don't open anything. You connect the account you already have, pick a Portfolio, and Schwab keeps holding your money the way it always has. Here's how the two fit together, what each one does, and what to check before you connect.

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) What each one does

Schwab is a brokerage. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. is the broker-dealer, and its own site points you to FINRA's BrokerCheck to confirm its background. It holds your account, executes your trades, sends your statements, and has its own products, which are Schwab's to describe, not mine.

We're an adviser that works inside the brokerage account you already have. Charles Schwab is one of the brokerages named on our App Store listing as of August 20, 2026, and the connect screen in the app is the live list. You don't pick one or the other. You connect your Schwab account, pick a Portfolio, and give Autopilot Advisers limited authority to send orders to that account. When the Portfolio changes, we send them and Schwab fills them. The money never leaves Schwab.

2) How to set it up

Three steps. Open Autopilot, and on the connect screen choose Charles Schwab and follow the authorization flow it shows you. Pick a Portfolio: a hedge fund tracker built on public filings, a manager who publishes and runs a Portfolio here, or one of the AI-model Portfolios. Set how much of the account follows it. From there, when the Portfolio changes, the orders go to Schwab and your account follows on Schwab's terms.

You're never trading at the same time as the Pilot, and your holdings won't match theirs exactly. Account size, brokerage support for fractional shares, and trade timing all change what lands in your account. Both of those cautions are on every fact sheet.

3) What stays Schwab's

Custody, execution, statements, and tax documents all stay exactly where they were, because the account is still a Schwab account. Schwab's fees are Schwab's, on its site. Our fee is separate from Schwab's: a flat subscription that doesn't multiply by how many Pilots you follow, plus a Pilot subscription for some Pilots, with the schedule in our Form CRS and your agreement. I wrote the whole fee picture in What does Autopilot cost? Every fee, what adds on, and how to figure out if it's worth it for you.

4) The questions to ask before you connect anything

Same five I'd ask of any app, us included. Does it hold your money, or work in an account someone else holds? We work in yours, at Schwab. Is the adviser registered, and can you look it up? Autopilot Advisers, LLC is CRD 331749 at adviserinfo.sec.gov. Can you cut off its access from your brokerage's side, not just inside the app? If the only off switch is inside the app, you're depending on the app working to turn it off; you can stop following any Portfolio in the app at any time, and your Schwab account's permissions are yours to manage at Schwab. What happens when the connection breaks? Your positions sit at Schwab exactly as they were. What conflicts does it disclose? They're on our legal page and in the footer below. The long version is in Is it safe to connect your brokerage to an investing app? Five checks, and how we answer them.

5) What to follow once you're connected

That's the real decision, and it's the same at Schwab as anywhere. Don't do the research on the stocks. Do the research on the person, and read the fact sheet: live or backtest, window and start date, gross and modeled net, worst drawdown, a date on every number. The lineup of hedge fund and Wall Street Portfolios is in Every hedge fund and Wall Street Portfolio you can follow on Autopilot, and how each one works, how to read a record is in How to read a Portfolio's track record before you follow it, and the full brokerage list and what to do if yours isn't on it is in Which brokerages work with Autopilot, and what if yours doesn't?.

Frequently asked questions

Charles Schwab copy trading

Schwab is a brokerage, and what people call copy trading is something you add to a Schwab account rather than something you switch to. Connect your Schwab account to Autopilot, pick a Portfolio, and your account follows it while Schwab keeps holding the money. We call it following rather than copying because you're never trading at the same time as the Pilot and your holdings won't match theirs exactly.

How can I follow a portfolio inside my Schwab account?

Open Autopilot, choose Charles Schwab on the connect screen, follow the authorization flow, pick a Portfolio, and set how much of the account follows it. You give Autopilot Advisers limited authority to send orders to that account; when the Portfolio changes, we send them and Schwab fills them. The money never leaves Schwab, and you can stop following in the app at any time.

Does Charles Schwab have copy trading?

Schwab is a brokerage, and its own products are Schwab's to describe. Following other investors' decisions inside a Schwab account is what Autopilot adds: connect the account, pick a Portfolio built on a manager's published decisions or a fund's public filings, and your Schwab account follows it. Schwab is named on Autopilot's App Store listing as a connectable brokerage.

Autopilot Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab is one of the brokerages you can connect to Autopilot, named on the App Store listing as of August 20, 2026. Autopilot Advisers, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser, follows the Portfolio you pick inside your Schwab account with limited authority to send orders; Schwab fills them and keeps custody. Schwab and Autopilot are separate companies.

Can I automate my Schwab brokerage account?

Yes, by connecting it to Autopilot and picking a Portfolio to follow. Autopilot Advisers sends the orders when the Portfolio changes, Schwab fills them, and your money stays at Schwab. It isn't a rules engine you program; it's a person's decisions or a fund's filings applied to your account. Stop following any time in the app.

TLDR

Schwab holds the money and fills the orders. Autopilot picks nothing for you; it follows the Portfolio you picked, inside your Schwab account, and you can stop following it in the app any time. 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.

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.

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. is a separate company and is not affiliated with Autopilot beyond being a brokerage clients may connect; it has not endorsed Autopilot. Descriptions of Schwab are limited to its status as a broker-dealer per its own site and its appearance on Autopilot's App Store listing as of August 20, 2026; Schwab's own products, fees, and account protections are described only by reference to Schwab. Nothing here compares the two companies or is a performance claim or a recommendation.