Is Robinhood Gold Worth It? Yes, If You Regularly Use These Key Features
For just $5 per month, or a $50 annual plan, the benefits of Robinhood Gold can easily outweigh the cost, especially if you take full advantage of its features.
A $5 monthly Robinhood Gold subscription, or $50 for its annual plan, provides higher interest on uninvested cash, a 3% IRA contribution match, advanced research tools and more.
But do the premium perks justify the added cost?
Well, yea. Using some basic math, it turns out Robinhood Gold is worth it — you just need to take advantage of a couple key benefits for the cost to make sense.
Actually, it really boils down to your situation and where you place value in a broker.
Robinhood Gold vs non-Gold: Quick comparison
Feature
Robinhood Gold
Non-Gold
Monthly cost
$5
$0
Research reports
Morningstar access
None
Level 2 market data
Included
Not included
Instant deposits
Greater of up to $5,000 or 3X your portfolio value
Up to $1,000
Interest on cash
4%
0.01%
Robinhood Gold Card access
Yes
None
Robinhood Legend access
Yes
Yes
Is Robinhood Gold worth it?
From higher annual percentage yield (APY) on uninvested cash to advanced research tools, Robinhood Gold is a marked improvement over the standard account.
Here are some specific situations in which Robinhood Gold is worth it:
You keep a decent chunk of uninvested cash in your brokerage account. With $1,250 in cash and your account enrolled in Robinhood’s brokerage sweep program, you’d earn $50 in interest over a year at Gold’s 4% APY, enough to cover the $50 annual subscription. Anything above that is profit. Non-Gold users get just 0.01%.
Brokerage cash: $1,250 at 4% APY = $50/year (break-even point).
You max out or heavily contribute to an IRA. Gold offers a 3% match on self-directed IRA contributions, versus 1% for non-Gold members. If you contribute the 2025 IRA maximum of $7,000, Robinhood Gold would add $210 to your account. Without Gold, you’d get $70 from the standard 1% match. That extra 2% more than covers the $50 annual cost and even the $5 monthly cost. If you’re a Robinhood customer, plan to fund an IRA and intend on staying with Robinhood for several years, Gold is a no-brainer. (Psst, you must stay a Gold member for a year and keep contributions in for five years to keep the full match.
IRA: $2,500 contribution at 2% extra match = $50/year (break-even).
You trade on margin regularly. Gold includes $1,000 of interest-free margin, which can save you up to $57.50 in interest on margin balances of up to $50,000. Robinhood’s margin rate for balances of this amount is 5.75% as of June 2025.
Margin: $1,000 at 5.75% = $57.50/year saved (more than break even).
You have a portfolio of $100,000 or more you want managed. Gold offers a $250 cap on the management fee for Robinhood Strategies. So, only the first $100,000 of a portfolio is charged the 0.25% management fee. And until December 31, 2025, pay $0 in management fees on the first $1,000 in your account.
Robinhood Strategies example: With a $200,000 portfolio, the first $100,000 incurs a 0.25% fee, amounting to $250. The remaining $100,000 incurs no fee. Thus, your total annual management fee is $250, which is the cap. Without Robinhood Gold, the 0.25% fee would apply to the entire $200,000, resulting in a $500 fee — double the amount with Gold.
You’re an existing Robinhood customer and rely on advanced research or data. The value here isn’t cash savings but rather decision-making power. Gold provides unlimited access to Morningstar reports and Level 2 market data. If you’re an active investor or trader, these tools probably feel essential.
So is Robinhood Gold worth it?
For $5 per month, or $50 when you subscribe to the annual plan, the benefits can easily outweigh the cost, especially if you take full advantage of the higher Robinhood Gold APY, IRA match and margin interest savings. Try the 30-day free trial to test it. If your habits align with one or more of these scenarios,
Robinhood Gold's a cheap upgrade; otherwise, skip it.
Robinhood Gold pays 4% APY on your uninvested cash, far higher than most traditional savings accounts.
This rate comes as part of its FDIC-insured cash sweep program, potentially covering the cost of Gold if you maintain a balance over $1,250.
Non-Gold customers earn just 0.01% APY.
In a low-interest-rate environment, having access to such a high APY can be a game-changer, turning what would typically be idle cash into a productive asset.
This match functions similarly to an employer match in a 401(k). Over time, this can significantly boost your retirement savings, compounding your wealth more effectively.
For example, if you contribute the 2025 IRA maximum of $7,000, Robinhood Gold would add $210 to your account.(2) While this might seem modest, that extra contribution could grow substantially over 20 years with compounded growth, depending on your investment returns.
You must maintain your eligible deposit for at least five years to keep the IRA match, which can help ensure you’re committed to your long-term retirement strategy but also limits you from switching brokers.
Robinhood matches 1% to non-Gold customers.
Bigger instant deposits
Robinhood Gold members can access instant deposits of up to $5,000 or three times their portfolio value, allowing you to invest without waiting for bank transfers to clear.
This is a big upgrade from the $1,000 instant limit on standard accounts with a portfolio value of less than $1,000.
Portfolio’s greater than $1,000 are capped at up to two times the portfolio value.
With Robinhood Gold, you get access to Morningstar research and Level 2 market data, which helps you evaluate investment opportunities using in-depth analysis.
Normally priced at $249 per year for Morningstar Investor, these reports include analyst ratings, risk assessment and valuation estimates.
Level 2 market data, which shows the full range of bid and ask prices beyond the standard quote, helps active traders make smarter buy and sell decisions by seeing order book depth and market sentiment.
First $1K of margin interest-free
Robinhood Gold offers a unique benefit for margin users by providing the first $1,000 of margin interest-free. This benefit can significantly reduce your borrowing costs, especially if you’re using margin to make strategic investments.
It’s important to approach margin trading with caution, as it can also magnify losses.
The interest-free benefit on the first $1,000 can make margin trading more accessible and affordable, but it’s still crucial to have a clear strategy and risk management plan in place.
Discounted futures and index options commissions
Save $0.25 on futures commissions and $0.15 on index options with Robinhood Gold.
Trade index futures, energy futures, crypto futures, currency futures and metals futures.
Trade as options on indices like the S&P 500 and VIX.
$250 cap on Robinhood Strategies
The annual management fee for Robinhood Strategies is 0.25%, but it’s capped at $250 per year for Gold subscribers. This means accounts managed by Robinhood Strategies are only charged management fees on the first $100,000 of assets under management. So, for every dollar over $100,000, the management fee is 0%.
Discounted mortgage rates
Get a discounted mortgage rate and a $500 credit toward closing costs with Sage Home Loans.
How much does Robinhood Gold cost?
Robinhood Gold is priced at $5 per month, which totals $60 annually. If you go with the annual plan, it’s $50 for the year. Robinhood also offers a 30-day free trial for new subscribers, allowing you to test the features before committing to the monthly fee.
What is the Robinhood Gold Card?
The Robinhood Gold Card is an exclusive credit card available only to Robinhood Gold members. It offers:
3% cash back on all purchases
5% cash back on travel bookings made through Robinhood’s travel portal
$0 annual fee
$0 foreign transaction fees
$0 balance transfer fees
Ancillary perks, including an auto rental collision damage waiver and trip interruption protection
The card, available in stainless steel and a special 10-karat gold version for top-tier users, is currently accessible only through a waitlist that has attracted over one million users.(3) Robinhood began rolling out the card to waitlisted users in April 2024, though a specific timeline for when all applicants will receive their cards remains uncertain.
You can add seven authorized user accounts, with no age restrictions for cardholders, so family members can build credit. However, one more detail bears mentioning — the card’s APR ranges from 19.99% to 29.99%, making it crucial to pay off balances each month to avoid high interest charges.(4)
Redeem for lounge passes at participating airports
Robinhood merch
Varies
Redeem your points for exclusive Robinhood merch
Brokerage cash back
$0.01 per point redemption rate
Convert points to brokerage cash to earn 4% APY
Gift cards
$0.01 per point redemption rate
Redeem your points to purchase gift cards to select merchants
Travel
$0.01 per point redemption rate
Redeem your points for travel purchases
Shopping (Ending July 22, 2025)
$0.01 per point redemption rate
Shop and pay using points
Amazon Shop with Points
Any amount
Redeem your points directly when shopping on Amazon
Upcoming Robinhood Gold perks
Use Robinhood Gold Card rewards to purchase crypto. Coming fall of 2025, customers can use their rewards to purchase crypto automatically.
Robinhood Cortex. An AI-powered digital assistant that will provide real-time analysis and insights, including for crypto. Cortex will become available to Gold members first later in 2025.
Upgrading to Robinhood Gold is a straightforward process. Simply open the Robinhood app, navigate to the account menu and select Robinhood Gold. Follow the prompts to begin your 30-day free trial, which allows you to explore all the premium features before committing to the $5 monthly subscription.
Can I cancel my Gold subscription at any time?
Yes, you can cancel your Robinhood Gold subscription at any time. If you decide that Gold isn’t meeting your needs, go to the account menu in the Robinhood app, select Robinhood Gold and choose the option to cancel.
Your benefits will continue through the end of your current billing cycle, after which your account will revert to a standard Robinhood account with no additional charges.
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Matt Miczulski is an investments editor at Finder. With over 450 bylines, Matt dissects and reviews brokers and investing platforms to expose perks and pain points, explores investment products and concepts and covers market news, making investing more accessible and helping readers to make informed financial decisions.
Before joining Finder in 2021, Matt covered everything from finance news and banking to debt and travel for FinanceBuzz. His expertise and analysis on investing and other financial topics has been featured on CBS, MSN, Best Company and Consolidated Credit, among others. Matt holds a BA in history from William Paterson University. See full bio
Matt's expertise
Matt has written 201 Finder guides across topics including:
Shane's career started with the US Department of Defense where he performed research for 8 years. He then studied philosophy and became fascinated by the ways in which technology and finance can consolidate to impact the world's socio-economic order. To date, he has written hundreds of articles with various insights into digital assets, trading, investing, and the ways in which technology can be used to further optimize the stock trading and settlement processes. His work has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq, Bitcoin Magazine, Investing.com, Tokenist, and others. See full bio
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