M1 Review (2026)
This review covers M1 as an automated investing option: target-weight portfolios ("pies") that invest each deposit for you, plus M1 Advisor, an AI adviser launched on September 30, 2026. The one thing to know: M1 does not manage your money the way a robo-advisor does; you choose the holdings and approve every trade, and M1 itself says it is not a robo-advisor. The advisory fee is waived through December 31, 2027, but a $3 monthly platform fee applies in any 30-day cycle in which your M1 assets never reach $10,000.
By Wealthy Pot Editorial · Facts checked October 19, 2026
Facts checked October 19, 2026 against M1's own Form ADV brochures, fee pages and fund documents (12 sources, listed below). We re-check prices about once a month. We do not earn a commission from M1.
M1 at a glance
| Advisory fee | $0: waived in full through December 31, 2027; M1 says it will give advance notice before any fee starts [2] |
|---|---|
| Fee after the waiver | The brochure allows up to 0.20% a year of assets in advisory brokerage accounts; no fee has been set [1] |
| Platform fee | $3 a month, waived in a 30-day cycle if total M1 assets reach $10,000 for at least one day, or with an active M1 Personal Loan; the advisory waiver does not cover it [3] |
| IRA fee | $3 a month for clients with only an IRA who miss the waiver; never charged together with the platform fee [3] |
| Minimum | $100 for individual, joint and custodial accounts; $500 for IRAs; $5,000 for trusts; M1 Advisor itself has no minimum [7] |
| Fund costs | No house portfolio: you choose the stocks and ETFs, so costs depend on your pie [1] |
| How advice works | M1 Advisor is an AI adviser that recommends; you decide and place trades. No phone, meeting or other human advice [1] |
| Rebalancing | New deposits go to underweight slices first (auto-invest is on by default); a full rebalance is a one-tap action you start, which can trigger taxes [5] |
| Tax-loss harvesting | Not mentioned on M1's pages or in the adviser brochure [1] |
| Trading | Orders run in scheduled trade windows, not in real time [8] |
| Cash | Brokerage cash earns 0%; the opt-in High-Yield Cash Account paid 3.35% APY in September 2026 [9] |
| Transfer-out and other fees | $100 to transfer an account out, $100 to close an IRA, $25 for a domestic wire [6] |
| Custody and SIPC | M1 Finance LLC, member FINRA and SIPC; it clears taxable accounts itself and IRAs are cleared by Apex [10] |
| Company | M1 Advisory Services LLC (CRD 249787, SEC 801-106511), Chicago; parent M1 Holdings Inc.; broker-dealer M1 Finance LLC (CRD 281242); brochure dated September 30, 2026 [1] |
What a year with M1 costs
| Balance | Advisory fee | Fund expenses | Total a year | As % of balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $36 | Depends on what you hold | $36 + your funds' costs | - |
| $25,000 | $0 | Depends on what you hold | $0 + your funds' costs | - |
| $100,000 | $0 | Depends on what you hold | $0 + your funds' costs | - |
Hypothetical, our arithmetic from M1's published fee rules and no house portfolio, so fund costs depend on what you choose, read on October 19, 2026, assuming the balance stays the same all year. M1 waives its advisory fee in full through December 31, 2027 and says it will give notice before any fee starts. The $3 monthly platform fee is waived in any 30-day cycle with $10,000 in total M1 assets (or an M1 Personal Loan). You choose the funds, so fund costs depend on your pie.
How M1 works
M1 is a brokerage first; our M1 broker review covers trading, margin and account fees in full. This page looks at the automation. You build a "pie": a list of stocks and ETFs with a target percentage for each slice. M1 fills it with fractional shares. With auto-invest, which is on by default, each deposit is split across the pie with underweight slices first, so new money nudges the portfolio back toward its targets. If you want a full rebalance, you start it with one tap, and selling to rebalance can create a taxable gain. Orders run in scheduled trade windows rather than at the moment you place them.
On September 30, 2026, M1 Advisory Services launched M1 Advisor, a conversational AI adviser that uses third-party AI models from providers including Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and Amazon. It is non-discretionary: it recommends, and you decide and place the trades. There is no human review of each client and no human advice of any kind. Its recommendations cover only what you hold or can buy at M1, not a 401(k), an outside IRA or stock options, and it will not recommend ETFs built to multiply daily index moves or to move opposite to an index. The adviser reported $1.85 billion in non-discretionary client assets and $0 discretionary as of September 30, 2026.
The costs come in two layers. The advisory fee is waived in full through December 31, 2027; after that the brochure allows up to 0.20% a year, with advance notice. Separately, M1 Holdings charges a $3 platform fee in any 30-day cycle where your total M1 assets never reach $10,000, and the advisory waiver does not touch it. A hypothetical account that stays at $8,000 all year pays $3 x 12 = $36, or 0.45% of the balance. If the same account reaches $10,000 for one day in every cycle, it pays $0. After 2027, if M1 charged the full 0.20%, a $50,000 advisory account would pay $100 a year. The cost block below shows the platform fee only, since fund costs depend on your pie.
Leaving costs money: M1 charges $100 to transfer an account out and $100 to close an IRA. Cash left in the brokerage account earns nothing; the separate opt-in High-Yield Cash Account paid 3.35% APY in September 2026. If you want a portfolio that someone else picks, harvests losses in and rebalances by selling, a managed robo-advisor fits better; see our robo-advisor comparison.
Pros
- Advisory fee waived in full through December 31, 2027
- Deposits are invested toward your target weights automatically
- You choose every holding, down to individual stocks
- No platform fee in any 30-day cycle with $10,000 in total M1 assets
- M1 Advisor has no minimum of its own
Cons
- $3 a month in cycles where M1 assets never reach $10,000
- The advisory waiver ends December 31, 2027; up to 0.20% may follow
- No tax-loss harvesting mentioned by M1
- No human advice; M1 Advisor is AI-only and you place every trade
- $100 to transfer an account out
- Brokerage cash earns 0%
Who M1 fits, and who should skip it
A good fit if
- You want to pick your own stocks and ETFs and have each deposit invested toward target weights.
- You have $10,000 or more at M1, so the platform fee does not apply.
- You want AI suggestions for your M1 holdings with the advisory fee waived through 2027.
Look elsewhere if
- You want someone to choose and manage the portfolio for you: Vanguard Digital Advisor manages index ETFs from $100.
- You want tax-loss harvesting: Wealthfront offers it with no minimum balance.
- You hold under $10,000: Fidelity Go charges no fee at all under $25,000.
- You want a human to talk to: M1 Advisor is AI-only; Betterment Premium has CFP access from $100,000.
Limitations to know
- M1 Advisor's recommendations cover only securities held in, or available at, your M1 accounts. [1]
- M1 does not rebalance by selling on its own; a full rebalance is something you start. [5]
- Orders execute in trade windows, so you do not control the exact time or price of a trade. [8]
- IRA minimum is $500 and trust accounts need $5,000. [7]
M1 compared with alternatives
| Robo | Advisory fee | Minimum | Tax-loss harvesting | Year cost on $25,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | $0 (advisory fee waived through Dec 31, 2027) + $3/mo platform fee under $10k | $100 ($500 for IRAs) | No | $0 + funds |
| Vanguard Digital Advisor | 0.20%/yr index or 0.25% active (gross; less after fund credits); first 90 days free | $100 | Yes | $57.50 to $67.50 |
| Fidelity Go | $0 under $25k, then 0.35%/yr on the whole balance | $0 ($10 to start investing) | Yes | $87.50 |
| Wealthfront | 0.25%/yr (Bond Ladder 0.15%, S&P 500 Direct 0.09%) | $500 | Yes | $62.50 + funds |
| Schwab Intelligent Portfolios | $0 advisory fee; 6% to 30% held in cash at Schwab Bank | $5,000 | Yes | $5 to $37.50 |
- Pick Vanguard Digital Advisor if you want a managed index ETF portfolio from $100 at no more than $20 per $10,000 a year net.
- Pick Fidelity Go if you hold under $25,000 and want a managed portfolio with no advisory fee and no platform fee.
- Pick Wealthfront if you want tax-loss harvesting with no minimum balance at 0.25% a year.
- Pick Schwab Intelligent Portfolios if you have $5,000 or more and want management with no advisory fee, accepting 6% to 30% in cash.
Security and privacy
- M1 Finance LLC is a member of FINRA and SIPC. SIPC covers missing assets if a member firm fails, not market losses. [10]
- M1 Advisory Services reported no material legal or disciplinary events in Item 9 of its September 30, 2026 brochure. [1]
- The sister broker-dealer, M1 Finance LLC, has FINRA history: a $500,000 fine (December 5, 2023) over supervision of its fully paid securities lending program, an $850,000 fine (March 15, 2024) over paid social media influencer posts that were not fair and balanced, and a $400,000 fine (May 6, 2024) over Regulation SHO violations. These were actions against the broker-dealer, not the adviser. [12]
- We did not read M1's security pages for this review, so two-factor options are not listed here. [4]
Recent changes
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | M1 Advisory Services launched M1 Advisor, an AI adviser with a fee of up to 0.20% waived through December 31, 2027. [1] |
| May 15, 2024 | M1 Plus ended and the $3 monthly platform fee began. [11] |
M1 FAQ
How much does M1 cost?
No advisory fee through December 31, 2027, after which the brochure allows up to 0.20% a year with advance notice. A $3 monthly platform fee applies in any 30-day cycle in which total M1 assets never reach $10,000, unless you have an active M1 Personal Loan. Moving an account out costs $100.
Is M1 safe?
M1 Finance LLC is a FINRA member and SIPC member, and the adviser reported no material disciplinary events. The broker-dealer paid FINRA fines of $500,000, $850,000 and $400,000 between December 2023 and May 2024. SIPC does not cover market losses.
Does M1 do tax-loss harvesting?
M1's pages and the M1 Advisory brochure do not mention tax-loss harvesting, so do not expect it. Rebalancing by selling is something you start, and it can create taxable gains.
What is the minimum for M1?
$100 for individual, joint and custodial accounts, $500 for IRAs and $5,000 for trusts. M1 Advisor has no minimum of its own.
M1 vs Betterment?
M1 lets you pick each holding and invests deposits toward your targets; you place trades and get AI suggestions, with no human advice. <a href="/robo-advisors/betterment/">Betterment</a> picks and manages the portfolio and harvests losses, for $5 a month under $24,000 without $200+ monthly deposits or 0.25% a year otherwise. At $50,000, hypothetically, Betterment costs $125 a year in advisory fees and M1 $0 through 2027.
Is M1 worth it?
On fees, with $10,000 or more at M1 you pay no platform fee and no advisory fee through 2027, so your cost is the expense ratios of the funds you choose. Under $10,000 the $3 monthly fee is $36 a year, 0.72% of a $5,000 balance. It suits people who want to choose their own holdings; it does not manage them for you.
How we researched this review
We did not get paid or receive a free account for this page. We read M1's own pricing page, help center, security and privacy pages and app-store listing on October 19, 2026, quoted each fact from those pages, and link every one below. We did not run a long-term hands-on test, so we do not score the app; where a point rests on what the company says rather than something we can check, we attribute it to M1. Cost figures are our own arithmetic. We re-check prices and plans about once a month and log changes in the table above.
Sources
- M1 Advisory Services LLC, Form ADV Part 2A brochure (September 30, 2026), checked October 19, 2026.
- M1 Advisory Services LLC, Form CRS, checked October 19, 2026.
- M1, Platform fee disclosure, checked October 19, 2026.
- M1, Home page, checked October 19, 2026.
- M1, Automated investing, checked October 19, 2026.
- M1, Miscellaneous fees schedule (PDF), checked October 19, 2026.
- M1 Help, Investment account types available at M1, checked October 19, 2026.
- M1 Help, How trade windows work at M1, checked October 19, 2026.
- M1, High-Yield Cash Account, checked October 19, 2026.
- M1 Finance LLC, Form CRS, checked October 19, 2026.
- M1 Help, Historical M1 Plus billing, checked October 19, 2026.
- FINRA BrokerCheck, M1 Finance LLC detailed report (CRD 281242), checked October 19, 2026.
Head-to-head comparisons
This review is general information, not investment advice. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal; past performance does not predict future results. Fees change; check the firm's Form ADV brochure and pricing page before you enroll.