SoFi Plus vs. Robinhood Gold Subscription Comparison Guide

Consideration Guidelines

Evaluate Your Core Priorities: Financial subscriptions generally target either everyday banking and broad wealth planning or focus on active investing and brokerage accounts.

Calculate Net Return vs. Fees: Financial membership rewards programs typically cost $5 to $10 monthly. Ensure your usage of cash-back boosts, deposit matches, or lending perks consistently outweighs the annual fee.

Check Yield Limits and Caps: High APY perks generate passive income, but review the fine print. Platforms may cap rates at specific balances or limit them to uninvested brokerage cash.

Leverage Calculators Before Committing: Avoid guessing if a rewards ecosystem pays off. Input your exact monthly spending, savings, and deposits into tracking tools to project net value.

Evaluate Retention and Commitment Terms: With any membership program, review the fine print for hidden maintenance requirements. Some premium perks vanish if you fail to maintain recurring direct deposits or minimum account balances.

What Is SoFi Plus?

SoFi Plus is a membership program that can provide $1,000 or more in annual value with qualifying activities¹, with dozens of perks to support your financial growth. There’s a $10 subscription fee every 30 days.² In return, members get exclusive benefits such as high APYs, matching eligible deposits into a non-retirement investment account, personalized financial planning, and a credit card cash back boost in rewards points.

Instead of just relying on a bank to offer a rewards checking account or credit card rewards, SoFi Plus offers an ecosystem of incentives. Some, like high APYs, can be used all the time. Others, such as rate discounts on financing products, are ready and waiting for when you need them.

Benefits of SoFi Plus

What exactly comes with SoFi Plus? Here’s a breakdown of the perks.

•   Extra savings: Earn 4.50% APY on up to $20,000 in a SoFi Bank savings account³

•   High APY for additional balances: Get 3.10% on all other savings balances

•   Investing match: Receive an unlimited 1% match on eligible deposits into non-retirement investment accounts from SoFi⁴

•   Stock up: Get up to $2,000 in stock with SoFi Invest⁵

•   Planning: Receive unlimited, personalized sessions with SoFi Wealth financial planners⁶

•   Credit card perks: Get a 10% boost on SoFi credit card to maximize cash back rewards⁷

•   Savings at home: Qualify for a $1,000 discount on a home mortgage and a $400 discount on home equity loans⁸

•   Relationship rates: Apply for eligible SoFi financing products to receive rate discounts

•   Pay less: Get discounts on financial products like Hello Privacy, Trust & Will, TurboTax, and more

What Is Robinhood Gold?

A Robinhood Gold subscription is a similar membership program with benefits that feature investments, including earning interest on brokerage cash, lower fees and greater trading flexibility. While standard Robinhood users get a 1% match on their retirement contributions, Gold members receive a 3% match on eligible individual retirement account (IRA) contributions. Gold members also get a mortgage closing credit and cash back when you open a Robinhood rewards credit card. The fee is $5 per month or $50 per year.

Benefits of Robinhood Gold

•   Brokerage account working cash: Earn 3.35% APY on eligible brokerage cash

•   Retirement boost: Get a 3% match on IRA contributions each year

•   Investor perks: Trade instantly with deposits up to 3x your portfolio

•   Market data: Active investors receive a real-time feed of the complete order book directly from Nasdaq

•   Reduce costs: Access no management fee once your portfolio balance reaches $100,000

•   Cheaper trades: Qualify for lower fees for futures and index options contracts

•   Move up: Get a $500 closing credit on mortgages and refinances

•   Deposit Boost: A flat 1% bonus paid out on all incoming eligible brokerage deposits.

SoFi Plus vs. Robinhood Gold Subscription

How do all of these features stack up when comparing SoFi vs. Robinhood membership programs? Here’s a side-by-side look.

SoFi Plus Benefits

SoFi Plus stands out in that it offers a balance between general banking perks and investment-related ones. That means you may be more likely to utilize more of the benefits over the course of your membership, especially considering the discounts on multiple types of financing.

Instead of just saving on rates when you buy a house or refinance, you’ll also get a lower quote on personal loans and student loans. So if you decide to go back to school, finance some of your child’s college tuition, or borrow funds for another major expense, you could get a more competitive rate as a SoFi Plus member.

You also get an APY rate on FDIC-insured savings.

Is SoFi Plus Best for You?

Any paid membership program only makes sense when the benefits exceed the cost. The best way to find out is to use the SoFi Plus calculator to see how much you could save based on your real numbers.

Consider the following inputs:

•   Savings balance: Find out how much you’ll earn in annual interest with your expected balance.

•   Investment deposits: Estimate your monthly non-retirement investments to calculate your match. Unlimited 1% match on eligible deposits into non-retirement SoFi Invest® accounts

•   Credit card spending: Input your monthly credit card spend to see how much you’ll earn with the 10% SoFi credit card boost.

•   Financial planning needs: If you take advantage of financial planning, your membership could save you even more.

Beyond the calculator, also think about whether or not you would use any of the non-banking benefits of SoFi Plus. Product discounts, extra credit card points on SoFi Travel bookings, and unique live events through SoFi Plus Experiences could also add to the overall value of your membership if you love traveling and going out.¹⁰

Tips to Maximize SoFi Plus Benefits

To maximize your SoFi Plus benefits, take advantage of the biggest perks that result in free money. For starters, the 4.50% APY is much higher than the 0.38% national average for savings accounts. Transfer at least $20,000 to make the most of that higher APY, then compare other bank rates to see if they exceed SoFi’s 3.10% on balances above $20k.³ If not, consider parking the rest of your money in your SoFi savings account.

Also consider using your SoFi credit card as your primary card to get the 10% boost. Instead of churning credit cards to constantly activate new bonus offers, preserve your credit and sanity by establishing a longer credit history with a card that delivers both cash back and travel perks.

Recommended: Advantages of Credit Cards

The Takeaway

SoFi Plus and Robinhood Gold are membership rewards programs that offer premium banking and investment services for a monthly fee. Both subscriptions provide a range of banking and investment perks. Prospective members of either one are encouraged to compare features against their own anticipated usage. Tools like the SoFi Plus calculator can help determine the program’s benefits.

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