Acorns vs. Citi Self Invest and J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing
Highlights:
• Brokerage accounts can be opened at Citi Self Invest and J.P. Morgan Investing.
• Automated accounts are available through Acorns and Citi Wealth Builder.
• The best trading software will be found at J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing.
If you need to open an investing account to beat whatever your bank account is doing, be sure to consider Citi Self Invest, Acorns, and J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing. Here’s the lowdown on these three securities firms:
Cost
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Options
Commission |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
|
Acorns
|
na
|
na
|
na
|
$3, $6, or $12 per month
|
$3, $6, or $12 per month
|
|
Chase
|
$0
|
$0
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Citibank
|
$0
|
$0
|
na
|
$0
|
$0
|
Services
| Broker Review |
Cost |
Investment Products |
Trading Tools |
Customer Service |
Research |
Overall Rating |
|
Acorns
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chase
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Citibank
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Promotions
Acorns:
Get $20 when you open an Acorns account with this referral link.
J.P. Morgan Chase: none right now.
Citibank: none right now.
Investment Services
Traders at Citi Self Invest and J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing can open brokerage accounts that provide access to these securities:
Exchange-traded funds
Stocks
Mutual funds
Real Estate Investment Trusts
American Depository Receipts
J.P. Morgan Investing customers also get option contracts and bonds.
Acorns doesn’t offer any type of self-directed trading service, although it does have robo accounts. These accounts get a small list of ETFs. Acorns has rolled out an add-on service that lets clients add individual stocks to their automated accounts.
J.P. Morgan Investing has closed its robo service, so there is no automated-investing option there anymore. Citi, on the other hand, does offer robo accounts through Citi Wealth Builder, a sister company to Citi Self Invest. These advisory accounts cost 0.25% per annum. Acorns, by comparison, has a flat monthly fee that ranges from $3 to $12.
Both Citi and J.P. Morgan offer full-service investment accounts with human financial planners. These programs are available at local branch offices.
Winner: Citi
Margin Trading
Margin accounts are available at Citi Self Invest and J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing. Since Acorns is a robo advisor, its accounts are cash only.
A brokerage account at J.P. Morgan Investing only needs $2,000 to start trading with margin. Citi Self Invest, on the other hand, requires $7,500. Every account opened at Citi Self Invest starts on a cash basis. After it reaches the minimum funding level, it can upgrade to margin on the Citi site.
As for the cost of borrowing, Citi customers pay interest on a sliding scale that starts at 11.75% and drops to 5.25%. Traders at J.P. Morgan Investing, by comparison, pay between 12.25% and 6.18%.
Winner: Draw between Citi Self Invest and J.P. Morgan Investing
Websites
Websites begin the journey into software. The Acorns site has no trading tools due to the lack of any self-directed feature with the firm.
Citi Self Invest customers, on the other hand, get an order ticket with the following trade types:
Market
Limit
Stop
Stop limit
Obviously, it’s not a pro-level order ticket, but it’s an improvement over Acorns. Stock profiles have brief details, such as volume, shares outstanding, and recent EPS history. Graphs have 10 years of price history but nothing else.
Thankfully, things improve a bit over at J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing. This time, a graph comes with drawing tools, indicators, and several plot styles. Alerts and multiple watchlists make appearances, and the order ticket has one more order type for us: market on close.
Winner: J.P. Morgan Investing
Mobile Apps
Mobile apps continue the digital experience. The Acorns app has resources for account management, including links to other parts of the company, such as banking. But there are no trading resources.
The Citi Self Invest app is the same app that Citibank customers get. The trading hub has digital tools for investing, and here we find stock profiles, the same order ticket the website has, and very simple charting. The watchlist syncs with the website.
The Chase Bank app serves as the mother platform for the J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing app. The trading section delivers brief market news, including the day’s major movers. The order ticket has the same five order types the website has. A graph can be rotated horizontally, and the same tools we found on the website reappear, resulting in an advanced feel.
Winner: J.P. Morgan Investing
Added Services
Citi Self Invest and J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing both provide recurring mutual fund purchases.
Investors can enable Dividend Reinvestment Plans at all three firms.
Brokerage customers at Citi Self Invest can engage in fractional-share trading.
Not one of the three investment firms in this survey provides access to Initial Public Offerings.
All three securities firms offer Individual Retirement Accounts. Citi Self Invest charges $95 to close an IRA, while J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing has a $75 termination fee.
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing offers extended hours.
Traditional advisory accounts at J.P. Morgan (but not at the self-directed branch) can use fully-paid securities lending.
Winner: J.P. Morgan
Our Recommendations
Out of the three, we defend J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing for frequent equity trading. Interactive Brokers would be even better.
For retirement planning & long-term investing, Acorns is the best of the three.
Investors with small amounts to deposit should head to Citi Self Invest for taxable brokerage accounts. For IRAs and/or automated accounts, we would skip all three and go with Fidelity.
We recommend an investment-advisory account at Acorns or Citi Wealth Builder for beginners.
For mutual funds, J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing gets the endorsement.
Result
Do-it-yourself folks should find much of what they’re looking for at J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing. For investment advice and financial planning, Citi seems like the best choice.
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Updated on 12/28/2025.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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