Are Robinhood Trades Instant?
Robinhood offers instant deposit and instant trade settlement, depending on the account type you select.
Aug. 3 2020, Updated 7:12 a.m. ET
The Robinhood trading platform has lowered barriers to stock market investing for everyday people. Robinhood’s greatest appeal is its commission-free trades of stocks, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs. Millions of American Millennials have embraced the free trading opportunity. Moreover, Robinhood allows you to make fractional share purchases or buy penny stocks of companies listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq. If you're new to the Robinhood platform or are considering joining, you may be wondering if Robinhood trades are instant. The short answer is yes—keep reading to see how this works.
Robinhood offers three account types: Robinhood Cash, Robinhood Instant, and Robinhood Gold. Each of these accounts is designed to suit the needs of different Robinhood investors. The various Robinhood accounts have their benefits and restrictions, such as instant trade settlement and instant deposit limits.
The Robinhood Instant account is what you receive by default
The Robinhood Instant account, introduced in 2016, is free, meaning you pay no monthly fees. There's also no minimum account balance required. When you sign up for a Robinhood account on the app or website, you’ll start with the Robinhood Instant account by default. The Robinhood Instant account offers instant trade settlements, allowing you to access proceeds from a stock sale immediately. Previously, Robinhood investors needed to wait three days to obtain funds from a stock trade. Additionally, the account offers instant bank deposits, but with deposit limits.
What's the Robinhood Instant deposit limit?
The Robinhood Instant account allows you to transfer up to $50,000 per day from the bank to the account. However, only $1,000 will deposit in your Robinhood account instantly. Any deposit amount above could take over five days to reach your account.
Instant deposit limit: Robinhood Instant versus Robinhood Gold
Both the Robinhood Instant and Robinhood Gold accounts offer instant trade settlement. However, Robinhood investors can surpass the $1,000 instant deposit limit of the standard account by upgrading to the Robinhood Gold account, which allows investors to deposit $5,000–$10,000 instantly from the bank to their account. Robinhood Gold accounts launched in 2016, and the company has continued to improve them with exclusive features.
Besides giving members larger instant deposit limits, Robinhood Gold gives them research reports—something they won't get with the Robinhood Instant account. Robinhood Gold investors have access to Morningstar's professional research reports, which cover about 1,700 stocks. Additionally, while Robinhood Instant offers loans of up to $1,000 for margin trading, Robinhood Gold investors have access to larger loans. The premium Robinhood Gold charges a $5 monthly fee, but you can try it free for 30 days.
Finally, there's the Robinhood Cash account. Unlike the Robinhood Instant and Robinhood Gold accounts, Robinhood Cash doesn’t support instant deposit or instant trade settlements. Instead, with these accounts, Robinhood investors have to wait three days for stock trades to process and settle. Additionally, Robinhood Cash accounts aren't for margin trading. Just as Robinhood allows you to upgrade to a Gold account, it also allows you to downgrade to a Cash account—whichever serves you better.