Merrill Guided Investing vs Schwab Intelligent Portfolios: Which Is Better in 2026?

Figures and features are point-in-time and change; treat the table as a starting map, not a live quote.

Merrill's automated investing service, built on Bank of America research, with an optional tier that adds an advisor.

How it works: A questionnaire sets a goal and risk level, and Merrill invests in model portfolios built by its investment office, rebalancing automatically. A higher-priced tier adds access to a financial advisor. Preferred Rewards status at Bank of America can reduce the fee, which is the main reason existing customers choose it.

In practice, Merrill Guided Investing’s AI automates a research-driven model portfolio. It falls under hands-off automated investing (robo-advisors), which makes it best suited to bank of america customers who want managed portfolios in the same app. On connecting an account it is “No (holds your money at Merrill)”, and on execution it is “Automated”. It is priced as percentage of assets, higher with an advisor (verify current).

One honest limitation: Priced above the cheapest automated services, and the portfolios lean on Merrill's own research and funds.

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 falls under hands-off automated investing (robo-advisors), which makes it best suited to hands-off investing with no advisory fee, if you accept the cash allocation. On connecting an account it is “No (holds your money at Schwab)”, and on execution it is “Automated”. It is priced as no advisory fee; etf expenses apply (verify current).

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

The core difference is category. Merrill Guided Investing focuses on bank of america customers who want managed portfolios in the same app (automates a research-driven model 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: Merrill Guided Investing is “No (holds your money at Merrill)” 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. Here is the honest give-and-take on each, so you can weigh the specific strengths against the limitations that come with them rather than judging on the headline category alone.

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.

• Merrill Guided Investing: manages a separate account it holds. Merrill Guided Investing 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 Merrill Guided Investing.
• 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.

There is no universal winner here; the right pick depends on the job you are hiring the tool for. Match the category to your intent rather than chasing a single “best.”

• Choose Merrill Guided Investing if you want bank of america customers who want managed portfolios in the same app. Its AI automates a research-driven model portfolio, it is priced as percentage of assets, higher with an advisor (verify current), and it fits hands-off automated investing (robo-advisors). It is built for an existing Bank of America customer whose rewards tier makes the pricing competitive and who values everything in one app. Keep in mind that priced above the cheapest automated services, and the portfolios lean on merrill's own research and funds.
• 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, it is priced as no advisory fee; etf expenses apply (verify current), and it fits hands-off automated investing (robo-advisors). 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 that it requires a meaningful cash allocation that earns schwab's rate, which is the real cost of the zero advisory fee.

Because both sit in the same category, the choice comes down to the finer details above rather than a fundamental difference in approach.

Cost is easy to misread when two tools charge in different shapes, so compare the model, not just the number. Merrill Guided Investing is priced as percentage of assets, higher with an advisor (verify current), while Schwab Intelligent Portfolios is priced as no advisory fee; etf expenses apply (verify current). 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.

Pricing and tiers change often. Confirm the current numbers on each provider’s own site before you decide; the framing above is point-in-time.

If neither quite fits, Walnut sits in a third category: chat-driven management of your own brokerage. It connects the brokerage you already use through SnapTrade, lets you analyze and manage it by talking through Claude or ChatGPT, build thematic portfolios around a thesis, and place trades you approve. Read-only by default. See Walnut vs Merrill Guided Investing and Walnut vs Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. Walnut is not an investment adviser.