How much do investing app subscriptions cost? Flat fees, percentage fees, and the math at your balance

I'm Chris, one of the co-founders of Autopilot. People ask what investing apps cost. The price tag matters less than how the app charges, because the same fee can be cheap for one person and expensive for another.

Let me explain the three ways apps charge, what we charge, and how to do the math at your balance.

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 three ways investing apps charge

• A percentage of your balance: you pay a slice of what you hold every year. Robo-advisors and traditional advisers often charge this way. The dollars grow as your balance grows.

• A flat subscription: you pay the same dollars every month, quarter, or year, whatever your balance. The share of your money it takes shrinks as your balance grows.

• A price per product: some services sell stock picks or newsletters. Some marketplaces charge for each creator or Pilot you follow, on top of the platform's own fee.

And then there's what the app doesn't charge but you still pay: your brokerage's own costs, the expense ratios of any funds you hold, and taxes on any selling in a taxable account.

2) What Autopilot charges

A flat cash subscription, not a percentage of your balance. Per our Form CRS dated February 2026, Basic Tier has no Base Advisory and Licensing Fee, and Premium Tier is $29.99 to $199.99 a quarter or $99.99 to $699.99 a year. Pilot subscriptions are separate and add on for each Pilot you subscribe to. Because it's a flat dollar amount, it's a bigger share of a small account than a big one, so do the math at your balance.

A Pilot subscription usually covers all of that Pilot's Portfolios. Each Pilot decides what its subscription includes, and the app shows you before you pay.

3) The math at your balance

Here's how to compare any two apps. Convert every fee to dollars a year at the balance you'll actually use. Then divide by that balance.

A flat fee is a bigger share of a small account and a smaller share of a large one. A percentage fee is the same share at any size, so it costs more dollars as you grow. There's a balance where the two cross, and it's different for every pair of prices.

I did the small-account version of this in What a flat investing fee means at your balance.

4) Is a monthly subscription worth it

It depends on three things: what you'd pay otherwise, how much you'd put in, and whether you'd actually follow the strategy on your own, every time it changed, without the app.

That last one is the real question. A lot of people who say they'll do it themselves don't. If you would, you might not need a subscription at all.

The problem I see retail investors have is there are really only three options. Invest on their own and guess, put it in passive funds, or hand it to an adviser. Following a Portfolio is a fourth. Whether it's worth the fee is your math, not mine.

5) Compared with a traditional adviser

A traditional adviser usually charges a percentage of the assets they manage, and many do more than pick investments: financial planning, taxes, and advice tailored to you.

Autopilot provides limited advisory services focused on Portfolio selection and suitability. It isn't meant to replace comprehensive financial planning. So compare the job, not just the price. If you need a plan, you need a planner. If you want a specific strategy followed in your account, that's what we do.

TLDR: Investing apps charge a percentage of your balance, a flat subscription, or per product. Autopilot is a flat subscription, and Pilot subscriptions add on. Convert every fee to dollars a year at your balance before you compare, and compare the job each one does, not just the price.

Frequently asked questions

investing app subscription cost

It depends on how the app charges. Some take a percentage of your balance each year, some charge a flat subscription, and some charge per product or per creator. Autopilot is flat: per Form CRS dated February 2026, Basic Tier has no Base Advisory and Licensing Fee, Premium Tier is $29.99 to $199.99 a quarter or $99.99 to $699.99 a year, and Pilot subscriptions add on.

Is it worth paying a monthly subscription for a copy trading app?

It depends on your balance, what you'd pay otherwise, and whether you'd really follow the strategy yourself every time it changed. Convert the subscription to dollars a year and divide by what you'll allocate. A flat fee is a bigger share of a small account, so do that math before you pay.

How do subscription fees for copy trading apps compare to a traditional advisor's fee?

A traditional adviser usually charges a percentage of assets and often includes planning and personalized advice. A flat subscription costs the same dollars at any balance, so it's a bigger share of a small account and a smaller share of a large one. Compare the dollars at your balance and the job each one does.

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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.

Descriptions of other fee models are general and do not describe any specific company's pricing. Fee amounts are quoted from Form CRS dated February 2026 and may change.