Review
Updated
Fact Checked
Ashley Maready
Prosperi Academy is a new investing app that serves a much different purpose than the other investing apps on our radar. Instead of offering brokerage services, a robo-advisor platform, or stock picks, Prosperi Academy's focus is investor education. If you want to learn (or learn more) about the world of investing, Prosperi Academy could be a good fit for you.
Ratings Methodology
Prosperi Academy
Bottom Line
Prosperi Academy isn't a free app, even in its trial form, but it can be a great way to learn important investing concepts.
Fees:
Membership tiers: $10 for seven days, $19.99 for four weeks, $39.99 for 12 weeks of access
Account Minimum:
N/A
Alternatives to Consider
We recommend comparing brokerage options to ensure the account you're selecting is the best fit for you. To make your search easier, here's a short list of our best trading platforms of 2024.
| Account | Fees | Account Minimum | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Featured Offer
Rating image, 4.5 out of 5 stars.
4.5/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair = Poor |
$0 for stocks, ETFs, and options; $5 monthly for Robinhood Gold | $0 | |
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$0 for stocks, $0 for options contracts | $0 | |
Rating image, 5.0 out of 5 stars.
5.0/5
Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale.
5 stars equals Best.
4 stars equals Excellent.
3 stars equals Good.
2 stars equals Fair.
1 star equals Poor.
We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair = Poor |
$0 commission for online U.S. stock and ETF trades; trade fractional shares for as little as $1 | $0 |
What is Prosperi Academy?
Pros
- Excellent educational resources
- Top-rated app
- Reasonable cost
Cons
- No Android version
- Renewals can be difficult to figure out
- Only an educational app
Prosperi Academy is an investing app, but it isn't a brokerage or robo-advisor. Instead, Prosperi Academy is a learning platform that is designed to help people learn how to invest their money wisely. The app offers courses that teach complex investment concepts in an accessible manner, and users can go at their own pace. In all, Prosperi Academy offers more than 20 hours of learning content on a variety of investment topics.
Using Prosperi Academy's investment learning course, users can find out about investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies, how brokers work, various investment strategies, how stock markets work, and much more.
In addition to its educational content, Prosperi Academy also has a real-world trading simulator where new investors can practice the investment and trading strategies they learn without putting any of their real money at risk. Members are also assigned a mentor, who can help provide guidance and answer questions.
It's also worth mentioning what Prosperi Academy does not do. Prosperi Academy doesn't offer any brokerage services -- there is only a play money-trading platform. So, to actually invest money, you'll need to open a brokerage account elsewhere. And it also doesn't provide investment advice. If you're looking for stock picks or personalized portfolio suggestions, you'll need to look elsewhere.
Is Prosperi Academy legit?
Yes, Prosperi Academy is a legitimate investment education website that can teach you the ins and out of stock investing and trading. However, it's important to realize that Prosperi Academy doesn't actually offer any brokerage services or any other financial products for that matter.
At a glance
- iOS app rating: 4.7/5 stars
- Android app rating: N/A
- Cost: $10 to $39.99
Top perks of Prosperi Academy
A stand-alone investor education platform
With the surge in popularity of app-based trading platforms, there's a lack of emphasis on investor education in many cases. Prosperi Academy offers an investor education platform that only focuses on making investors better. It can teach you skills like how to generate passive income streams by investing, and how to build a diversified portfolio that is appropriate for your age and risk tolerance.
Top-rated app
Prosperi Academy is only available in app form through the App Store, with an Android version due out later in 2024. But the iOS version has an excellent 4.7 out of 5 star rating on the App Store, based on more than 8,300 reviews.
In addition, Prosperi Academy has a 4.4 out of 5-star average rating based on well over 10,000 Trustpilot reviews. Many reviews say how easy Prosperi Academy makes complex investment concepts, and the teaching methods (such as the questions to assess your progress) are highly effective.
Reasonable cost
To be sure, Prosperi Academy isn't free. Because it doesn't offer brokerage services, paid financial advice, or anything else, it has to charge for its educational content. However, paying $10-$40 to access and use the platform could end up being a long-term bargain if it helps you avoid costly investing mistakes down the road.
Of course, many brokerages have their own libraries of educational resources that can help you learn about investment concepts like options trading, etc. However, these are generally more like articles and not fully functional and interactive courses.
What could be improved
Prosperi Academy has a few drawbacks.
Not a brokerage
The biggest drawback for some people is that Prosperi Academy is only an educational platform. It isn't a brokerage or robo-advisor, so when the time comes to actually invest money, you'll need to open an account somewhere else.
No Android app
Prosperi Academy has an iOS app for its platform, but doesn't (yet) have an Android version. It anticipates rolling out an Android app sometime in the first half of 2024, but in the meantime, there is also a web-based platform that doesn't require an Apple device to use.
Subscriptions automatically renew
One important thing to point out is that Prosperi Academy's subscriptions renew automatically unless you decide to cancel. To be fair, unsubscribing is an easy process that can be done through the app or website, but it's easy to forget. In fact, while most reviews are generally positive, the most common complaint is that Prosperi Academy makes it difficult to figure out when your subscription will renew and how much the renewal will cost.
Is Prosperi Academy free?
Prosperi Academy isn't a free app. In order to access its features, you'll need to buy a membership. The membership options include:
- $10 for seven days
- $19.99 for four weeks of access
- $39.99 for 12 weeks
Alternatives to Prosperi Academy
- If you want an app that allows you to actually invest money: Once you're ready to put your newly acquired investment knowledge to work, SoFi Invest's all-in-one investment, banking, and personal finance app can be a great place to do it.
- If you want an app that is designed for active traders: If you plan to actively trade stocks or options, a high-powered platform like the Power E*TRADE trading software, which is available in both app and desktop form to E*TRADE customers could be a good choice.
Prosperi Academy might be right for you if:
The bottom line is that you shouldn't expect Prosperi Academy to be a path to getting rich quickly by trading stocks or cryptocurrencies. So if you're just looking to learn more about the basics of investing, it can be a great way to do it without any pressure to buy specific stocks or even to put any of your real money to work.
Our brokerage rating methodology
At The Motley Fool Ascent, brokerages are rated on a scale of one to five stars. We primarily focus on fees, available assets, and account types; however, we also take into account features like research, education, tax-loss harvesting, and highly rated mobile apps. Our highest-rated brokerages generally include low fees, a diverse range of assets and account types, and useful platform features.
See our full methodology here: Ratings Methodology
FAQs
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The Prosperi Academy app itself is free, but in order to access any of its investment education courses, you'll need to purchase a subscription. There's a low-cost trial subscription option, but there isn't a free trial.
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Many brokerage firms have their own collections of educational resources, and to be fair, some of them are rather extensive. But brokerages typically don't offer interactive courses like Prosperi Academy does, and many reviews indicate that the style of Prosperi Academy's courses makes it easier to learn complex investment topics.
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The short answer is both. Prosperi Academy has some excellent courses for long-term investors about portfolio management and the different types of investments, but also has courses on subjects like cryptocurrency trading.
Our Brokerages Experts
Matt is a Certified Financial Planner™ and investment advisor based in Columbia, South Carolina. He writes personal finance and investment advice for The Ascent and its parent company The Motley Fool, with more than 4,500 published articles and a 2017 SABEW Best in Business award. Matt writes a weekly investment column ("Ask a Fool") that is syndicated in USA Today, and his work has been regularly featured on CNBC, Fox Business, MSN Money, and many other major outlets. He’s a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Nova Southeastern University, and holds a graduate certificate in financial planning from Florida State University.
Fact Checked
Ashley Maready
Ashley Maready is a former history museum professional who made the leap to digital content writing and editing in 2021. She has a BA in History and Philosophy from Hood College and an MA in Applied History from Shippensburg University. Ashley loves creating content for the public and learning new things so she can teach others, whether it's information about salt mining, canal mules, or personal finance.
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Matt Frankel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Robinhood disclosure
All investments involve risk and loss of principal is possible.
Securities are offered through Robinhood Financial LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Cryptocurrency services are offered through an account with Robinhood Crypto, LLC (NMLS ID 1702840). Robinhood Crypto is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Cryptocurrency held through Robinhood Crypto is not FDIC insured or SIPC protected. For more information see the Robinhood Crypto Risk Disclosure.
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Fractional shares are illiquid outside of Robinhood and are not transferable. Not all securities available through Robinhood are eligible for fractional share orders. For a complete explanation of conditions, restrictions and limitations associated with fractional shares, see the Fractional Shares section of our Customer Agreement.
Robinhood Gold is an account offering premium services available for a $5 monthly fee. Not all investors will be eligible to trade on Margin. Margin investing involves the risk of greater investment losses. Additional interest charges may apply depending on the amount of margin used. Bigger Instant Deposits are only available if your Instant Deposits status is in good standing.
Fidelity disclosure
Fractional share quantities can be entered out to 3 decimal places (.001) as long as the value of the order is at least $1.00. Dollar-based trades can be entered out to 2 decimal places (e.g. $250.00)