13 Legit Ways to Get Free Stocks: Earn Shares of Your Favorite Companies

What could be better than owning stock in growing companies and increasing your net worth? How about getting those stocks for free!

As crazy as it sounds, there are actually several different ways that you can get free stocks. A number of companies and apps are giving away shares of stock in order to get people to try their services, and that means you can load up on these freebies with minimal effort.

In this article, we’ll take a look at how to get free stock, which you can hold for the long-term or sell for a profit.

How to Get Free Stock

1. Robinhood

While a growing number of brokerages now offer commission-free trades, Robinhood actually started the trend. Robinhood allows you to trade stocks and ETFs for free, but Robinhood stands out from its competitors because it also allows you to trade options and cryptocurrencies.

Robinhood’s app features a clean design that is meant to be simple and easy to use, which makes it a great choice for new investors. You’ll also have no fees for opening an account with Robinhood and no minimums. In fact, Robinhood was started with the purpose of removing some of the common barriers that have historically prevented a lot of people from investing in the stock market.

Another great feature is the ability to purchase fractional shares, which means you can buy a percentage of a share of stock with a small investment.

As a Robinhood customer, you’ll also be able to take advantage of their cash management service, which is FDIC-insured and offers a high interest rate (there is currently a waitlist for this new offering).

How to Get Free Stock from Robinhood

As an incentive to encourage more people to try the service, Robinhood offers a free stock as a signup bonus. To get it, sign up here and open your account within 24 hours. When your brokerage account is approved, you’ll get the free share of stock valued between $2.50 – $200.

→ Get your free stock from Robinhood here.

2. M1 Finance

M1 Finance offers free automated investing. It has some of the features and functionality of a robo advisor, but with a twist. For starters. M1 Finance is free, unlike a typical robo advisor.

You can select the specific stocks and funds that you want in your portfolio, or you can choose from more than 80 expert portfolios. M1 Finance also allows you to buy fractional shares of any investment that they offer. You can simply deposit money and let M1 Finance invest it for you automatically based on your selections and preferences. M1 Finance will also handle automatic rebalancing to keep your investments in line with your target asset allocation.

How to Get Free Stock from M1 Finance

When you sign up through this referral link you will be eligible for a $20 bonus, which will be invested according to your preferences. You can also earn $20 for each friend that you refer.

→ Get your free bonus from M1 Finance here. 

3. Public

Public is an investing app that is similar to Robinhood in some ways. One of the most significant differences between the two apps is the social aspect of Public. You can follow other investors, share insights with your friends, and connect with new people through Public. You can even participate in group chats with other Public users.

Another interesting feature is Public’s use of themes. Themes are simply lists of companies that have something in common (for example, female CEOs). You can use themes to find companies that you might want to invest in.

Aside from those unique features, Public also offers commission-free trades of stocks and ETFs. You can purchase full shares or fractional shares and there is no minimum balance or deposit required, so it’s great for new investors. Public may not be as well-known as some of the others listed on this page, but they’re definitely worth checking out.

How to Get Free Stock from Public

When you complete the signup process (it takes just a couple of minutes), you’ll get up to $5 of free stock in a company of your choice. I chose Amazon when I signed up and I got a fractional share worth $3.

→ Get your free stock from Public here.

4. Webull

Webull is a relatively new (launched in 2018) online brokerage that offers free trades of stocks and ETFs through their mobile app or desktop app. Aside from just the free trades, Webull also provides tools and reports for in-depth analysis that can help you to make the right decisions with your investments.

Setting up a Webull account is free and there are no minimums, so it is a great choice for any investor. They also offer extended trading hours and 24/7 online help.

The downside to Webull is that they (currently) do not offer fractional shares, which means you’ll need to purchase entire shares.

To make it even more enticing, Webull frequently runs a promotion that involves a free share of stock.

How to Get a Free Stock from Webull

Right now Webull is offering new users the opportunity to get a free stock. Here’s how it works. First, sign up through this link, open your account and deposit at least $100. Following the deposit, you’ll get the free stock.

→ Get your free stock from Webull here.

5. Stash

Stash is more than an investing app. With Stash, you can learn, save, and bank, in addition to investing. Stash is focused on providing educational resources to help users manage their money better. Aside from articles, they also have some interactive tools that help you to learn how to build a diversified portfolio.

You can get a debit card from Stash that allows you to earn stock instead of cash back for your purchases.

As far as investing is concerned, you can open an IRA and choose from curated investments or set up automatic investments.

How to Get Free Stock from Stash

Right now, Stash is offering $5 for new users to invest. Create an account here and you’ll be eligible. You can also get another $20 bonus if you link a direct deposit to your Stash account.

→ Get your free bonus from Stash here.

6. Nvstr

Nvstr is a platform that offers trading with no minimums and emphasizes collective wisdom. Through Nvstr, you can see insight from leading investors as well as collaborate with the people you trust.

With Nvstr, you can allocate your portfolio with a single click. The technology is built on Nobel Prize-winning research that helps to allocate or re-allocate your portfolio efficiently.

It’s free to sign up for an account with Nvstr, and you’ll be eligible for the signup bonus (covered below).

How to Get Free Stock from Nvstr

When you create a free account with Nvstr you’ll get a free bonus chosen at random (up to $1,000). That bonus will be entered into your account if you place a trade within two months. You won’t be able to withdraw the bonus for 12 months, but during that time you may see the value of the bonus increase thanks to your investments.

→ Get your free bonus from Nvstr here.

7. Bumped

Bumped is a free app that allows you to earn fractional shares of stock from your favorite companies based on your purchases. It works very much like a cashback app like Drop or Dosh, but instead of earning cashback or points, you’ll earn free stock.

After you create your Bumped account, you’ll link it to your credit card. You’ll also be able to select your “loyalties” in several different categories, which determines what purchases will earn rewards.

If you select Sam’s Club as your loyalty in the club warehouse category, you’ll earn rewards equalling 1% of your purchases at Sam’s. Whenever you make a purchase at those stores/websites/restaurants and pay with your linked credit card, you’ll earn fractional shares of stock that will be added to your bumped account.

In most cases, you’ll earn stock in the company that you are purchasing from. For example, you can earn fractional shares of Netflix stock each month when your credit card is charged for your Netflix subscription. However, some of the options will reward you with fractional shares of index funds instead of the company stock.

Bumped is still a new app and it’s likely that more brands and categories will be added in the future, but already you can earn stock for purchases at places like Dunkin Donuts, McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Chipotle, Chili’s, Olive Garden, Red Robin, Uber, Lyft, Kroger, Shell, BP, Netflix, Spotify, AMC, Sam’s Club, and more.

How to Get Free Stock from Bumped

Sign up for Bumped here. When you create your free account and link your credit cards, you’ll choose your loyalties in each category. Sit back and earn fractional shares from your purchases.

→ Sign up for Bumped here.

8. MooMoo

Moomoo is an investing app that, like Webull, offers more in terms of data and research tools as compared to some competitors. Moomoo attempts to meet the needs of new investors as well as professional traders.

As a Moomoo user, you’ll benefit from commission-free trades of stocks, ETFs, Options, and ADRs (investing in foreign companies).

How to Get Free Stock from Moomoo

Like the other apps covered here, Moomoo offers free stock as a bonus, however, you’ll need to make a $500 deposit in order to be eligible for the bonus. The free stock will be valued at up to $10 – $1,000. 

→ Get your free stock from Moomoo here.

9. Acorns

Acorns is an app that will invest your spare change by rounding up your purchases to the nearest dollar. If you spend $5.25 cents on a purchase and you have automatic roundups turned on, Acorns will round it up to $6 by investing $0.75 for you.

With the help of Acorns, you can make saving and investing automatic, and with the small roundups, you’ll barely notice the difference. You’ll be able to choose from their professionally-created portfolios so the investing is automatic and diversified.

You can also sign up for an Acorns Spend checking account that will allow you to earn and save more money.

How to Get Free Stock from Acorns

Right now, Acorns is offering a $5 bonus when you sign up for a new account. After you complete the signup process, Acorns will deposit $5 into your account, which will be invested according to your set preferences.

→ Get your free bonus from Acorns here.

10. Stockpile

Stockpile allows you to start investing with as little as $5. You can purchase fractional shares of stocks and ETFs with no monthly fees and no minimums. Stockpile charges a fee of $0.99 per trade (unlike the free trades offered by Webull and Robinhood), but there are a few other factors that make Stockpile very unique.

→ Related reading: Robinhood vs. Stockpile vs. Webull

Although other investment apps and platforms have no minimum investment, in most cases you will not be able to buy fractional shares. If you want to invest in Apple but you don’t have enough money for a full share, you’re out of luck. But with Stockpile, you can purchase fractional shares.

Another unique feature of Stockpile is the option to send stock as a gift to others. You can give an e-gift card or a physical gift card that can be redeemed for stock.

How to Get Free Stock from Stockpile

For a limited time, Stockpile is offering $5 of free stock when you purchase your first stock.

→ Get your free stock from Stockpile here.

11. FirstTrade

FirstTrade is a brokerage that offers commission-free trades on stocks, ETFs, options, and thousands of mutual funds. Advanced traders will love the research tools that are available through FirstTrade.

How to Get Free Stock from FirstTrade

FirstTrade is a little bit different from many of the other sites/apps listed here. In order to get free stock, you’ll need to refer friends. You’ll earn free stock for the referral and your friends will also get free stock.

→ Sign up for FirstTrade and start referring your friends.

12. iConsumer

iConsumer is a cashback app/website similar to Rakuten and TopCashback, but with a twist. In addition to earning cashback for your purchases, you can also earn shares of iConsumer stock. In fact, when you sign up, you’ll be eligible for a significant signup bonus of stock (more on that below).

Cashback programs are a great way to save money on the things you need to buy anyway, so using a few different cashback apps or websites is an excellent decision. Just by participating in these programs and making the same purchases that you would make anyway, you can easily earn $100 or more (possibly a lot more) per year in cashback.

But none of the other cashback programs allow you to earn stock as well. To be honest, at this point the shares of iConsumer stock are not worth a lot, but it’s a very interesting concept that could take off and grow in value over a period of time.

How to Get Free Stock from iConsumer

There are three ways to free iConsumer stock:

1. Sign up for a free account here and you’ll earn 500 shares of stock (worth $90+ as of October 9, 2019) when you make your first purchase.
2. You’ll earn stock along with cashback for each qualified purchase that you make through the program.
3. You can earn an additional 250 shares of stock per referral.

→ Sign up for iConsumer here to get your free bonus of 500 shares.

13. TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade is a popular brokerage that now offers free trades on stocks and ETFs (thanks to Robinhood and Webull for leading the way). TD Ameritrade is currently offering some significant signup bonuses, but you’ll need to have a nice chunk amount of money to invest in your account in order to qualify for the bonuses.

How to Get Free Stock from TD Ameritrade

For a limited time, when you sign up for a new account you can qualify for the bonuses listed below:

• $350 bonus with a deposit of $250,000 or more
• $700 bonus with a deposit of $500,000 or more
• $1,500 bonus with a deposit of $1,000,000 or more
• $2,500 bonus with a deposit of $2,000,000 or more

→ Sign up for TD Ameritrade here to get your free bonus.

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