M1 Finance Review for 2026

The investment craze is at its peak, and everyone wants to cash in on the chance to create wealth for themselves. But navigating the sea of investment options can be a challenging task to handle.

For starters, you need to be constantly ahead of the curve and build a diversified portfolio. It’s a type of work that requires full-time attention. 

That’s why a resource or tool to automate the investment process is indispensable. One of the most efficient providers of that type of service is M1 Finance.

M1 Finance Overview

Our review begins with founder Brian Barnes, who started investing at a young age. Over the years, Barnes realized there weren’t many automated resources that could execute the tasks of advising, automatic deposits, and portfolio building.

He sought to create an investment space where investors could have their investment activities run on an automatic basis.

So, in 2015, he launched M1 Finance, a money-management resource that lets investors run automated processes while exercising complete control over their money.

M1 gives investors the ability to build portfolios with stocks, ETFs, and crypto, automate contributions, and rebalance holdings through its signature pie-based system.

It should be noted that M1 Finance doesn’t offer the services of financial advisors. Rather, it provides the tools necessary for wealth creation through portfolio building. There is a range of features that come with the package, so let’s take a look at them.

Key Features

Here are the main features you can expect with M1 Finance:

M1 Borrow

Through the M1 Borrow feature, users can borrow against their M1 Invest account securities to access loans with low interest. The purpose of these margin loans can range from medical expenses to repairs to motor vehicles or homes. Whatever securities lie in the accounts count as collateral for the loan.

The interest rates are lower in comparison to the interest rates for traditional loans since your assets are backing this loan. This means that if you don’t pay off the loan, M1 Finance keeps your assets and sells them to repay it. Additionally, the loan application process is much simpler, as is the repayment process.

Investors with extensive expertise have used the feature to increase their portfolios’ returns when they invest through margin accounts.

Investors with a higher risk tolerance can adopt this method, but if you generally prefer to stay on the safe side, the regular process is already set up to optimize activities and build portfolios that contribute to the holders’ wealth.

M1 also offers unsecured personal loans, with loan amounts from $2,500 to $50,000, fixed APRs from 7.99% to 21.75%, and no origination or prepayment fees.

M1 Finance

When you create an account, you are given a pie with various slices you need to fill up. The pie represents your investment portfolio, and each slice stands for an investment option, from individual stocks to ETFs.

Through the pie, M1 Finance helps you with portfolio management. There are over 60 pie templates to choose from, such as passive investing and socially responsible investing, whereas users can also create their own pies from options on the stock market.

Once all selections have been made, you are ready to start investing: The platform automatically disburses financial resources based on pie proportions. The financial resources available to each account consist of initial deposits and additional cash. The minimum order size is $1, which makes it easier to build a portfolio one slice at a time.

M1 Finance Plus

While signing up with M1 Finance gives you access to its tools and services with no commission or annual fee, the platform does have a paid service listing. It’s called M1 Plus and comes with the reimbursement of four monthly ATM fees, 1% cash back, and 1% APY.

In addition, this premium offer gives users an M1 Borrow loan rate lower than the rate for free subscribers, interest on the balance of your M1 Spend account, and access to an extra M1 trading window for accounts with $25,000 or more. Some users prefer to have a basic plan, and that’s understandable. However, the Plus plan is like VIP treatment in everything you already get with the basic plan.

Even though the pricing is a little over-the-top for yearly access, in retrospect, the available features are well worth the amount paid for the Plus plan. Not to mention that the chances of making a more profitable portfolio pie are inherent when you subscribe to M1 Plus.

Pricing

While the platform still offers commission-free trading for self-directed brokerage accounts, users with less than $10,000 in M1 assets and no active M1 Personal Loan may be charged a $3 monthly platform fee.

Retirement account holders may also face a $3 monthly IRA fee, although M1 waives that charge for clients who already pay the platform fee, maintain more than $10,000 on the platform, or have an active personal loan.

That means M1 is still a low-cost option, but it is no longer accurate to describe it as a completely free investing platform for everyone. If you meet the waiver conditions, the platform remains highly affordable. If you don’t, those monthly fees need to be factored into the total cost.

Account Minimums

M1 requires an initial deposit to open most accounts. Individual, joint, custodial, and crypto accounts require $100 to get started. Traditional, Roth, and SEP IRAs require $500, while trust accounts require $5,000. After the first deposit, additional deposits can be made in smaller amounts.

M1 High-Yield Cash Account

M1 also offers a high-yield cash product for investors who want their uninvested money to keep earning.

The current stated APY is 3.10%, and M1 says there is no minimum balance required to earn that rate.

The account is offered through partner banks and comes with expanded FDIC coverage through the program structure.

M1 Finance Retirement Plans

Retirement investment accounts on the M1 platform can be traditional, Roth, or SEP IRAs. These accounts give investors control over portfolio construction and automated investing, much like standard taxable accounts.

The difference between them lies in tax treatment, with traditional IRAs generally using pretax contributions and Roth IRAs using after-tax contributions.

M1 still offers retirement accounts, but the old claim that there are no fees involved no longer tells the whole story. Some users may be charged the $3 monthly IRA fee unless they qualify for a waiver.