E*Trade Core Portfolios vs Schwab Intelligent Portfolios: Which Is Better in 2026?

Prices checked October 2026. A price marked (Oct 2026) was read on the vendor's own pricing page; others are described without a number because we could not verify one.

E*Trade's automated investing service, offering managed ETF portfolios alongside its self-directed brokerage, now under Morgan Stanley.

How it works: A questionnaire sets a risk level and E*Trade invests in a diversified ETF portfolio with automatic rebalancing, including socially responsible and smart-beta variants. It sits alongside E*Trade's self-directed brokerage, so a managed portfolio and an account you trade yourself live under one login.

In practice, E*Trade Core Portfolios’s AI automates a diversified ETF portfolio. It is a robo-advisor (hands-off automated investing), best suited to e*Trade customers wanting a managed portfolio alongside self-directed trading. On connecting an account: no (holds your money at E*Trade). On execution: automated. Cost: 0.30%/yr, $500 minimum (Oct 2026).

One real limitation: A conventional service whose main advantage is sitting next to an E*Trade brokerage account.

Schwab's automated portfolio service with no advisory fee, funded partly by a required cash allocation. Best for people already at Schwab who want it handled.

How it works: You answer a risk questionnaire, fund a Schwab account, and Schwab builds a diversified ETF portfolio it rebalances automatically. Tax-loss harvesting is available on taxable accounts above a stated balance. The distinguishing feature is the pricing: there is no advisory fee, and every portfolio holds a required allocation to cash on which Schwab earns the spread.

In practice, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios’s AI automates a diversified ETF portfolio. It is a robo-advisor (hands-off automated investing), best suited to hands-off investing with no advisory fee, if you accept the cash allocation. On connecting an account: no (holds your money at Schwab). On execution: automated. Cost: no advisory fee, $5,000 minimum (Oct 2026).

One real limitation: It requires a meaningful cash allocation that earns Schwab's rate, which is the real cost of the zero advisory fee.

Category comes first. E*Trade Core Portfolios focuses on e*Trade customers wanting a managed portfolio alongside self-directed trading (automates a diversified ETF portfolio), and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios on hands-off investing with no advisory fee, if you accept the cash allocation (automates a diversified ETF portfolio). On broker connection they differ too: E*Trade Core Portfolios is “No (holds your money at E*Trade)” versus Schwab Intelligent Portfolios at “No (holds your money at Schwab)”. That shapes everything downstream: how personal the answers are, where trades settle, and how much control you keep over individual positions.

Every tool gives something up for what it does well. Below is the give-and-take on each, so you can weigh the specific strengths against the limitations that come with them, beyond the headline category.

For AI investing tools, the distinction that matters most is whether the tool works from your actual, connected positions or reasons from something else: a separate account it manages for you, or the tickers and numbers you feed it. It decides how personal the answers can be, and where your money physically lives.

• E*Trade Core Portfolios: manages a separate account it holds. E*Trade Core Portfolios does not read the brokerage you already use. It opens and holds a new account, then invests the money you move into it, so its view is limited to what sits inside E*Trade Core Portfolios.
• Schwab Intelligent Portfolios: manages a separate account it holds. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios does not read the brokerage you already use. It opens and holds a new account, then invests the money you move into it, so its view is limited to what sits inside Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.

On this specific question the two land on the same side, so the deciding factors between them are elsewhere: category, cost, and who each is built for. This holdings-aware angle is the one Walnut is built around: it connects the brokerage you already use and reasons from your live positions, read-only by default, with any trades left for you to approve.

Each one wins a different job, so the answer depends on which job you need done.

• Choose E*Trade Core Portfolios if you want e*Trade customers wanting a managed portfolio alongside self-directed trading. Its AI automates a diversified ETF portfolio, and it costs 0.30%/yr, $500 minimum (Oct 2026). It is built for an existing E*Trade customer who wants part of the money handled automatically and part self-directed. Keep in mind: a conventional service whose main advantage is sitting next to an E*Trade brokerage account.
• Choose Schwab Intelligent Portfolios if you want hands-off investing with no advisory fee, if you accept the cash allocation. Its AI automates a diversified ETF portfolio, and it costs no advisory fee, $5,000 minimum (Oct 2026). It is built for someone already banking at Schwab who wants automation and would rather pay through the cash allocation than a visible percentage. Keep in mind: it requires a meaningful cash allocation that earns Schwab's rate, which is the real cost of the zero advisory fee.
• Choose Walnut if you want a keep, trim or exit read on the stocks you already own, and placing the trades you approve. It is an AI investing app that connects the broker you already use, and it costs free; Walnut Plus $9.99/mo on the web; no fee on assets.

Because both sit in the same category, the choice comes down to the finer details above. Their basic approach is the same.

Cost is easy to misread when two tools charge in different shapes, so compare the model, not just the number. E*Trade Core Portfolios: 0.30%/yr, $500 minimum (Oct 2026). Schwab Intelligent Portfolios: no advisory fee, $5,000 minimum (Oct 2026). A percentage-of-assets fee scales with your balance, a flat subscription does not, and a “free” tier usually earns elsewhere (on cash, order flow, or premium upgrades), so the cheapest headline is not always the cheapest outcome for your situation.

Prices checked October 2026. Pricing and tiers change, so confirm the current numbers on each provider’s own site before you decide.

Walnut is an AI investing app, and it is the pick for a keep, trim or exit read on the stocks you already own, and placing the trades you approve (free; Walnut Plus $9.99/mo on the web; no fee on assets). It connects the brokerage you already use, read-only by default, gives each holding a keep, trim or exit read against the S&P 500, flags any position above a quarter of the portfolio, and places the trades you approve. You use it through its own assistant, or inside Claude or ChatGPT. See Walnut vs E*Trade Core Portfolios and Walnut vs Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.