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How to check whether an investing app is registered, in five minutes: IAPD, BrokerCheck, and what the relationship summary tells you
How to check whether an investing app is registered, in five minutes: IAPD, BrokerCheck, and Form CRS.
I'm Chris, co-founder of Autopilot. Before you connect a brokerage account to anything, including us, you should be able to answer one question in under five minutes: who, legally, is on the other side of this, and can I look them up? Most people never do it because they don't know where to look. There are two public registries, both free, and one document every registered adviser has to give you. Here's the routine, using us as the worked example so you can see what the answers look like.
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.
1) The two registries
Investment advisers are looked up on IAPD, the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site at adviserinfo.sec.gov, run by the SEC. Broker-dealers are looked up on BrokerCheck, run by FINRA. The SEC's own investor site, investor.gov, has a "Check Out Your Investment Professional" search box that sends you to IAPD and, when the name belongs to a broker, on to BrokerCheck. Type the firm's legal name, not the app's brand name, because they're often different.
Ours is a clean example of that difference. The app is called Autopilot. The registered investment adviser is Autopilot Advisers, LLC, CRD 331749. Search "Autopilot" on IAPD and you may get nothing useful; search "Autopilot Advisers" and you get the firm. Every registered firm has a CRD number like that, and it's the fastest way to be sure you've found the right entity.
2) What to read once you've found the firm
Registration isn't an endorsement. It means the firm files disclosures and answers to the rules, and the disclosures are the point. On IAPD you'll find the firm's Form ADV, and the piece to read first is the relationship summary, Form CRS. Investor.gov describes what it tells you: the services the firm offers, the fees and costs you'll pay, the conflicts of interest the firm has, the standard of conduct it owes you, and whether the firm or its people have reportable legal or disciplinary history. Every firm's summary uses the same headings in the same order so you can compare two firms side by side.
Read the conflicts section even when you like the firm. Ours discloses, for example, that Autopilot keeps the whole platform fee on Autopilot-run Portfolios, which could give us an incentive to favor them over third-party Pilots' Portfolios. I'd rather you read that from us than from a Reddit thread. Fee details for us are in Form CRS and your agreement, and I walked through them in plain English in What does Autopilot cost? Every fee, what adds on, and how to figure out if it's worth it for you.
3) Adviser or data tool
Here's the distinction that trips people up. A data tool publishes information: filings, holdings, charts. It doesn't tell you what to do with them, and it doesn't touch your account, so it doesn't need to be an investment adviser. An investment adviser gives advice about securities for compensation, and has to register, with the SEC or a state regulator, and file the disclosures above.
The tell is what the app does with your money. If it only shows you things, it's probably a data tool, and that's fine; a data tool just shouldn't be the thing you hand trading authority to. If it manages, follows, rebalances, or sends orders for you, someone has to be the adviser. Find that entity's name in the app's legal page and look it up. If you can't find a registered entity behind an app that trades for you, that's your answer. I put the same test into The 13F tracker apps and sites compared: what each one gives you, and which ones can act on it.
4) Don't forget the broker
If an app works inside a brokerage account, there's a broker-dealer in the picture too, and it's on BrokerCheck. Check it separately. Two things should match: the broker named on the app's disclosures, and the broker whose statements you actually receive. For us, your broker is whichever brokerage you connected; we don't hold client funds or hold anything at all. The full set of questions to ask before connecting is in Is it safe to connect your brokerage to an investing app? Five checks, and how we answer them.
5) The five-minute routine
Open the app's legal page and write down the exact legal name of the adviser and, if there is one, the broker. Search the adviser on IAPD and match the CRD number to the one on the app's disclosures. Open Form CRS and read fees, conflicts, and disciplinary history. Search the broker on BrokerCheck. Then open your client agreement and confirm the entity you're signing with is the one you just looked up. If all five line up, you know who's on the other side. If any one doesn't, stop and ask before connecting anything.
Frequently asked questions
How do I verify that an investing app is registered with the SEC or a regulator?
Find the legal name of the adviser behind the app on its legal page, then search that name on IAPD, the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site at adviserinfo.sec.gov. Match the CRD number to the one in the app's disclosures. If a broker-dealer is involved, search it on FINRA's BrokerCheck. Investor.gov's "Check Out Your Investment Professional" search routes you to both. Then read the firm's Form CRS for fees, conflicts, and disciplinary history.
Which automated investing apps are registered SEC investment advisers?
Check each one yourself rather than trusting a list, because the registered entity usually has a different name from the app. Look up the legal name from the app's disclosures on IAPD and confirm the CRD number. For Autopilot, the registered investment adviser is Autopilot Advisers, LLC, CRD 331749; the app itself is not the adviser. An app that only publishes data doesn't need to be an adviser, but an app that trades for you must have one behind it.
How do I know if an app is a registered investment adviser versus just a data tool?
Ask what it does with your money. A data tool shows you filings, holdings, and charts and never touches your account, so it needn't be an adviser. An adviser gives advice about securities for compensation and has to register with the SEC or a state and file Form ADV and Form CRS. If an app manages, follows, rebalances, or sends orders for you, find the registered entity in its legal page and confirm it on IAPD. If there isn't one, don't hand it trading authority.
Is Autopilot a registered investment adviser?
The app, Autopilot, is not; the adviser behind it is. Autopilot Advisers, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser, CRD 331749, which you can confirm on IAPD at adviserinfo.sec.gov, where its Form ADV and Form CRS are filed. Autopilot doesn't hold client funds; your brokerage keeps custody, and Autopilot Advisers has limited authority to send orders to the account you connect.
TLDR
Two registries, one document. Look up the adviser's legal name on IAPD and match the CRD number, look up the broker on BrokerCheck, and read Form CRS for fees, conflicts, and history. If an app trades for you, a registered adviser has to be behind it; if it only shows you data, it doesn't, and it shouldn't have your trading authority. For us: Autopilot Advisers, LLC, CRD 331749. Check us the same way you'd check anyone.
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.
Descriptions of IAPD, BrokerCheck, and Form CRS follow the SEC's investor.gov as read on the publish date. Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill or training and is not an endorsement by the SEC. Nothing here names or characterizes any other firm's registration status; readers should verify any firm themselves. The conflict described is from Autopilot's own disclosures.