Robinhood is a popular stock trading app that charges absolutely no commissions. You can read our full review of Robinhood to get a better idea of what they do.
I have an account with them and have zero complaints.
They recently raised $110 million at a $1.3 billion valuation and are looking to blowing the doors off their promotional efforts.
They've started rolling out different promotions for referring new accounts and I'll try to include them all here.
The most exciting of which is a free share of stock for new accounts. (once you have an account, then you can refer your friends!)
Companies like:
- Robinhood - free stock valued $3 - $150
- Webull - 1 share of stock, plus free stock for deposits
- SoFi Invest - $50
- NVSTR - $10 to $1,000 cash
Open Account, Get Free Stock
The most exciting of the referral promotions is the free stock promotion. When you refer a friend, they get a chance of getting a share of stock valued between $3 and $150 – the average is $10. The stock is awarded when they fund their account.
(another broker that does this is Webull!)
When you refer a friend, you also get a share of stock too – valued between $3 and $150. You won't necessarily get the same stock but you could.
The stock is not automatically deposited into your account. You will get a notification (or look in your history/past invites screen) and you have 60 days to claim the reward.
You can sell the stock after 2 trading days but you have to keep the cash value of the stock in your account for 30 days. That value will be reported on a 1099-MISC.
Get Your Free Stock from Robinhood
What Robinhood sent me about their free stock promotion!
According to Robinhood, here are the probabilities (based on when they acquired the shares, the market fluctuates so award could be different):
- ~80% chance the stock has a value of $3-$10;
- ~18% chance the stock has a value of $10-$50;
- ~2% chance the stock has a value of $50-$150.
Once they open an account and transfer, you'll see a notification on your phone. Click through to the person and claim your prize:
(if you look carefully, the list of invites will tell you the stock ticker of what you won – I realized this on the second referral, which you see above)
Then you get to a screen where you “pick” three stocks:
Oooohhh the suspense!
There's some intermediate “scratcher” screen but then you see this:
Yipee!!!
Fun! Now I can sell in 2 business days (how long it probably takes to settle).
Here are a few high watermarks I've seen:
Open Account, Get Cash
The other promotions for referring friends are either $10 or $5 for new accounts. This promotion is available to a select group of users for a limited time too.
The 30-day rule still applies, you can't withdraw the bonus amount for 30 days and it will be reported on a 1099-MISC.
It looks like the free stock the ongoing promotion currently, if one is offered on your account.
How Robinhood Promotions Work
The best part about Robinhood promotions is that your referral link never changes. It's the same invite link you've always been using.
The only difference is the incentive you get, the incentive your friend gets, and the rules regarding withdrawals. So what you will see above is a listing of all the different promotions they're actively running. As a startup, they mix it up all the time so what you see will vary based on your account.
Free trades, free money, this is what disruption looks like — if you get a free share of stock through this, let us know what you got! 🙂
Ms. Frugal Asian Finance says
May 2, 2017 at 9:09 pmInteresting app. I’ll give it more thought before trying. Thanks for sharing!
mike says
May 28, 2019 at 11:07 pmi got sprint
Jake says
May 3, 2017 at 2:21 pmI just got at&t NYSE:T and my friend got the sought after Apple NASDAQ:APPL :0
Jim Wang says
May 3, 2017 at 3:46 pmWhaaaaat??? T and AAPL!? Nice. ~$150 for AAPL is great but ~$38 for AT&T is a solid get too.
So far I’ve only gotten the $3-10 stocks (usually around $7-8).
Chris Loftus says
February 2, 2019 at 12:10 pmThe first one I got was brk-b (Berkshire b) and I’ve also gotten 2 groupons, 2 zegna, 1 sunpower, and another I can’t think of. I love this app. I started with 0 dollars and have already made over 300 in a month. Thank you for reading.
Joe says
May 8, 2017 at 12:52 pmI got Sprint! $7 is better than nothing. 🙂 Thanks!
Jim Wang says
May 8, 2017 at 3:51 pmYeaaaah! $7 is better than nothing! 🙂
Frugal Price says
May 10, 2017 at 10:31 amDoes Robinhood allow accounts for minors yet? I really want to get nieces and nephews to learn about investing using this, but I can’t until they allow some sort of custodial accounts.
Jim Wang says
May 10, 2017 at 10:54 amThey don’t have custodial accounts yet, right now it’s just straight up cash accounts.
Kerry says
May 10, 2017 at 4:13 pmHi Jim, can we tap into this outside the US?
Jim Wang says
May 10, 2017 at 9:05 pmAs far as I know, to open an account you must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, or have a valid U.S. visa – and have a U.S. residential address.
Rob S. says
June 20, 2017 at 3:08 pmAustralia now…
Fred says
May 12, 2017 at 12:48 amHey Jim, it sounded like a great deal so I signed up as soon as you posted this. However, I am still waiting. It keeps saying Pending Application Approval. Should it take more than a couple weeks for the account to set up?
Chris Loftus says
February 2, 2019 at 12:11 pmYou need to go to email and verify your email. Then go to your home page of robinhood and there will be a notification saying claim your free stock.
Mike says
May 16, 2017 at 11:30 amI am already signed up with Robinhood. I don’t see the option for me to get stock for referring people. Did you have to do something special?
Chris Loftus says
February 2, 2019 at 12:13 pmGo to personal info on robinhood. Then friend invites. As soon as your friends sign up properly, you’ll get a notification saying claim your free stock.
Joseph Rather says
June 25, 2017 at 4:18 pmI already signed up for Robinhood. Is there a way I can still get the free stock that you would get for signing up?
Jim Wang says
June 26, 2017 at 4:10 amYou’d have to check with them.
Danny says
August 9, 2017 at 2:38 pmJust got FB for $170… seems too good to be true?
Jim Wang says
August 9, 2017 at 2:56 pmIt’s true! 🙂
Mike says
August 9, 2017 at 3:00 pmI have referred 2 people. They both got Zynga & I got a Zynga and a Groupon (~$4 a pop).
Chris Ward says
August 15, 2017 at 3:06 amI’ve gotten 3 shares of Chesapeake Energy, 2 shares of Groupon, and 2 shares of Zynga so far.
Rhod says
April 11, 2018 at 9:25 pmGot Apple for $168.38 just now. the other in past 3 were all Sprint lol
Crystal says
April 19, 2018 at 1:24 pmI got a FB stock valued at $166!
Jim Wang says
April 19, 2018 at 5:13 pmThat’s awesome!
Andrew says
May 18, 2018 at 1:18 pmDoes the person being referred need to deposit any money into their account before I can receive the free stock?
Jim Wang says
May 21, 2018 at 11:59 amThere does not appear to be a deposit requirement according to their terms & conditions.
Taija says
October 24, 2018 at 10:43 amI got Microsoft as my free one!! It was $108 at that point!
Joseph R Barker says
November 17, 2018 at 3:24 amIt says that there is a $500 total limit. Is this just at any given time, or is this forever?
Jim Wang says
November 17, 2018 at 7:10 amThat’s a lifetime account referral limit.
Erik says
November 27, 2018 at 6:52 pmI got sprint as well, meh
Leslie says
November 28, 2018 at 2:27 pmHi Eric.
Perhaps Sprint’s interest in merging with T-mobile in order to provide meaningful competition against AT&T & Verizon will give it a boost in its Interest or ‘X’ Factor?
I hope so for both of us & others. I received Sprint as well.
Best wishes,
Leslie
Andrew J Cooper says
January 25, 2019 at 9:54 amI joined with a referral from my friend in October 2018, neither of us ever received a free stock.
Jim Wang says
January 26, 2019 at 8:39 amI’d reach out to Robinhood’s support to get that fixed, they’re pretty good about that.
Cole Howard says
February 25, 2019 at 2:04 pmgot a berkshire hathaway for free a few months back when it was priced at 194$
Dee says
March 12, 2019 at 2:37 pmDoes my friend have to deposit money into Robinhood to get a free stock?
Jim Wang says
March 13, 2019 at 7:48 amNo, I don’t believe so.
Patricia Carhart says
March 13, 2019 at 12:58 pmI signed up for Robinhood….however I did not receive a free share of stock, nor did the person that invited me. What needs to happen for us to receive the free stock share?
Jim Wang says
March 13, 2019 at 2:52 pmI would contact customer service to get that sorted out.
Kendra Jackson says
April 14, 2019 at 6:36 amThe free stock I got was Microsoft! I wasn’t expecting that.
Brandy says
April 21, 2019 at 1:55 pmAAPL for $203.77
Who woulda thunk I’d be a 2%er
My Mom will be so proud
Lol
David says
May 3, 2019 at 1:02 pmI got a Sprint stock when I signed up for $5.77 which was cool. Just today signed up my first friend and got Apple at $211!!!! That was super cool. Created a pretty big buzz around the office and now have several people jumping on board. Great advertising by Robinhood. Meanwhile, I’ve enjoyed the App. Very simple and user friendly. Can’t beat free trades. Will enjoy this while it lasts. Free is hard to maintain.