How Autopilot makes money: the subscription, the Pilot subscriptions, the Public referral, and the conflict we put in writing

I'm Chris, one of the co-founders of Autopilot. Before you trust an app with authority over part of your brokerage account, you should know exactly how it gets paid, because that's where every incentive lives. Ours has four parts, and all four are already in our public disclosures. Here they are in plain English, including the one that's a conflict of interest.

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.

One: the subscription

The main way we're paid is a cash subscription, the Base Advisory and Licensing Fee, billed quarterly or yearly. Basic Tier has none; Premium Tier, which turns on the ongoing following, runs per our Form CRS dated February 2026 from $29.99 to $199.99 a quarter or $99.99 to $699.99 a year, with the fee that applies to you set in your Investment Advisory Agreement. It is not a percentage of your assets and it doesn't rise with how many Pilots you follow. That design is deliberate: the manifesto we wrote at the start named percentage-of-assets fees as one of the things wrong with the industry, and a flat fee is the fix we chose. What it means at your balance is in What a flat investing fee means at your balance: the small-account math, what Premium Tier is for, and how to leave.

Two: Pilot subscriptions

Third-party Pilots set their own subscription for their Portfolios, and one subscription covers everything that Pilot publishes. Pilots earn recurring revenue from their subscribers; Autopilot keeps a share. We don't publish the split, so I won't invent a number here. What you can see is the subscription itself, on the fact sheet and in the app, and the fact that it's separate from the platform tier. How Pilots are paid and what they aren't is in How Pilots work: who they are, how they get paid, what they aren't, and how to become one.

Three: the Public referral

Public is a brokerage partner, and we receive compensation from Public when clients we refer open and fund accounts there, ranging from fifty to five thousand dollars depending on the funding amount. That creates a financial incentive for us to refer you to Public, which is exactly why it's in our footer and in Form CRS, and why I'll say it here in the body: you are not required to use Public, and you can connect any brokerage on our connect screen. How Public and Autopilot fit together is in How Autopilot works with Public.

Four: the platform fee on our own Portfolios

Some Portfolios are run by Autopilot Advisers itself, the hedge fund trackers among them, and they're bundled into Premium Tier. We keep the whole platform fee attributable to those Portfolios, while a third-party Pilot's Portfolio shares its subscription with the Pilot. That means we could have an incentive to favor our own Portfolios over third-party Pilots' in how things are presented. Our fact sheets say so in plain words. My answer to it is the fact sheets themselves: every Portfolio we publish a sheet for gets the same live composite, the same drawdown line, and the same date, whoever runs it, and you should judge ours by the record exactly as hard as anyone else's.

What we don't charge

No percentage of assets. No per-trade charge from us; your brokerage's own costs are its own and apply whether or not you use Autopilot. And nothing at all on Basic Tier. Everything above is in Form CRS, which you can read on adviserinfo.sec.gov under Autopilot Advisers, LLC, CRD 331749, in the same format every registered adviser has to use, so you can compare our incentives with anyone else's line by line. How to read that document is in How to check whether an investing app is registered, in five minutes: IAPD, BrokerCheck, and what the relationship summary tells you.

Why this page exists

Because "how does this app make money" is the right first question and most apps make you dig for the answer. If an app's revenue depends on you trading more, it will nudge you to trade more. Ours depends on you staying subscribed, which depends on the following being worth it to you, which depends on the Portfolios being worth following. That's an incentive I'm comfortable stating out loud, conflict included.

Frequently asked questions

How does Autopilot make money?

Four ways, all in Autopilot's public disclosures: a flat cash subscription called the Base Advisory and Licensing Fee for Premium Tier, which turns on ongoing following, with none on Basic Tier; a share of the subscriptions third-party Pilots set for their Portfolios, with the split not published; referral compensation from the brokerage Public, ranging from fifty to five thousand dollars per funded referred account, which is disclosed as a conflict; and the full platform fee on the Portfolios Autopilot Advisers runs itself. There is no percentage-of-assets fee.

Does Autopilot charge a percentage of assets?

No. Autopilot's fee is a cash subscription, the Base Advisory and Licensing Fee, billed quarterly or yearly at amounts set in Form CRS and your agreement, and it doesn't rise with your balance or with how many Pilots you follow. Because it's flat, it's a larger share of a small account than a large one, which is worth working out at your balance before you pay for the Premium Tier.

Does Autopilot get paid by brokerages?

By one that it discloses: Autopilot receives compensation from Public when clients it refers open and fund accounts there, ranging from fifty to five thousand dollars depending on the funding amount, which creates an incentive to refer you to Public. That arrangement is stated in Autopilot's footer and Form CRS, you are not required to use Public, and you can connect any brokerage on the connect screen.

Why does Autopilot disclose a conflict of interest on its own Portfolios?

Because it has one. Autopilot Advisers keeps the whole platform fee attributable to the Portfolios it runs itself, while a third-party Pilot's Portfolio shares its subscription with the Pilot, so Autopilot could have an incentive to favor its own Portfolios. The fact sheets state this plainly, and the answer to it is that every Portfolio with a fact sheet gets the same live composite, drawdown, and date, so you can judge Autopilot's Portfolios by the record as hard as anyone else's.

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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.

Autopilot receives compensation from Public.com when clients referred by Autopilot open and fund accounts. Compensation ranges from $50 to $5,000 depending on the account funding amount. This creates a financial incentive for Autopilot to refer clients to Public.com. You are not required to use Public.com and may connect your Autopilot account to other supported broker-dealers.

Fee amounts are from Autopilot's Form CRS dated February 2026 and may change; the fee that applies to any client is set in that client's Investment Advisory Agreement. The Public referral compensation and the platform-fee conflict are described as they appear in Autopilot's public disclosures. The revenue split with Pilots is not published. Nothing here is a performance claim or a recommendation.