Wealthfront vs. Betterment - A Plebian's Perspective - First Experiences

First Experiences

I've now been enrolled in Betterment and Wealthfront for just over two weeks. Each account was funded with $7,500 and no additional investments were added at this time. Here's how we stand.

Betterment

Wealthfront

At this point, neither account has provided any tax loss harvesting. I'm not sure why, probably due to the short duration, so I'm interested to keep an eye on that. As you can see, both have had positive movement. Partially because the time of creation the market was in a dip, so I will keep an eye on this over time. Starting today, I will add $100 per account every month.

Again, I would greatly appreciate your referral if you decide to use either service.

Wealthfront Referral | Betterment Referral

First Glance Pros and Cons

Betterment Pro

External Account Linking - I haven't explored this feature fully just yet, but it claims it can give better advice.

Wealthfront Pro

The Landing Page - I find this landing page to be the most appealing of the two sites. Right up front it contains everything I'm looking for in a clean format. Current Balance, Performance Chart and Holdings Distribution. It's to the point and provides value.

Betterment Con

Email Volume - I'm not sure if I have the ability quite yet to unsubscribe, but I feel like I'm getting a lot more communications from Betterment than I am from Wealthfront. A few of them I've read, but it's starting to get the the point of deleting without reading. I signed up for a "set and forget" robo-advisor for a reason, I don't want to be overwhelmed by communication.

Wealthfront Con

Quite Frankly, none. I find this service appealing. Right now, because I'm under the $15,000 threshold it will remain free. If, some day, I had $100,000+ invested, then the cost ratio of Betterment takes over, but right now Wealthfront is my clear favorite.