How Much Does Walnut Cost? Pricing and Fees in 2026
Last updated August 2026
Short answer
Walnut is free. There is no paid plan, no subscription, and no percentage-of-assets fee. You connect a brokerage account you already have, ask questions about what you actually hold, build thematic portfolios, and approve any trade yourself at your own broker. Because Walnut never takes custody of your money, there is nothing for it to charge a percentage on. What you still pay is charged by other people: your broker's commissions, which are zero on US stocks and ETFs at most large brokers, and the expense ratios of the funds you own. For comparison, a robo-advisor such as Betterment or Wealthfront charges roughly 0.25% of assets a year, and a human financial advisor typically charges around 1%. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
Pricing pages usually bury the number. This one does not have a number to bury, so it is worth explaining the model instead: what Walnut charges, what you pay anyway, and where paying someone else is genuinely the better call. The last part matters, because a free tool that reads your existing brokerage is not a replacement for a planner or a robo-advisor if what you actually want is for someone to manage the money.
What Walnut costs
Nothing. Connecting a brokerage is free, analyzing your holdings is free, building and tracking a thematic portfolio is free, and using the assistant through Claude, ChatGPT, or the built-in chat is free. There is no trial that expires, because there is no paid tier waiting on the other side of it.
The reason is structural rather than generous. Walnut connects to the broker you already have, read-only by default, and any order you approve executes at that broker under that broker's terms. Walnut never holds your money. A fee on assets under management requires assets under management, and there are none.
What you still pay, and who charges it
- Broker commissions. Most large US brokers charge zero commission on US stock and ETF trades. Options, fractional orders, and other asset classes vary, so check your own broker's schedule.
- Fund expense ratios. Every ETF charges one, deducted inside the fund rather than billed to you. A broad index fund often charges 0.03% to 0.10%; a thematic or actively managed fund charges more.
- Spreads and, at some brokers, payment for order flow. Not a line item you see, but a real cost of trading. It is charged by the broker and the market, not by Walnut.
- Tax. Selling a holding in a taxable account can create a taxable gain. See capital gains tax on investments for how that works. This is not tax advice.
All of these exist whether or not you use Walnut. The honest framing is that Walnut adds no cost layer, not that investing through it is costless.
How that compares to the alternatives
| Option | What it charges | What you get for it |
|---|---|---|
| Walnut | Free | No fee on assets. Connect a broker, analyze holdings, build portfolios, approve trades yourself. |
| Betterment | ~0.25% of assets a year | Manages the money for you. Holds your assets rather than connecting to your broker. |
| Wealthfront | ~0.25% of assets a year | Same model: automated management of assets it custodies. |
| A human financial advisor | ~1% of assets a year, typically | Personalized planning, tax and estate work, and a fiduciary relationship. |
| A fee-only planner | Hourly or flat project fee | Advice without a percentage of assets. You implement it yourself. |
The percentage figures are the part worth translating into dollars, because a percentage of a growing balance compounds. A 0.25% fee is about $250 a year on $100,000 and about $1,250 a year on $500,000, charged every year including the ones where the account falls. A 1% advisory fee on $500,000 is about $5,000 a year.
That is not an argument that those fees are wrong. A robo-advisor buys automation and the discipline of not touching the account, and a good human advisor buys planning, tax and estate work, and a fiduciary relationship, none of which an AI assistant provides. It is an argument for knowing the dollar figure before you agree to the percentage. The tradeoff is laid out in full in AI vs a human financial advisor.
Where paying for something else is the better call
- You want the money managed, not analyzed. A robo-advisor charges roughly 0.25% precisely because it does the work. Walnut keeps you in the loop on every trade by design, which is the wrong shape if you want to set it and forget it.
- You need planning, tax, or estate work. That is a human advisor or a fee-only planner. No AI assistant, ours included, is a fiduciary or can act as one.
- You need deep primary research. Terminals and research platforms charge subscriptions because they license expensive data. Walnut reads your portfolio, not a filings archive.
The bottom line on Walnut's pricing
Walnut is free, with no paid plan and no fee on assets, because it connects the brokerage you already have rather than taking custody of your money. The costs that remain are your broker's and your funds', and they exist regardless. Compare it to a robo-advisor at roughly 0.25% a year or an advisor at roughly 1% not on price alone but on what you actually want: analysis and control, or management and delegation. Walnut is informational and is not an investment adviser.
Get a recommendation for your situation
Walnut is the AI that knows your portfolio: ask anything in plain English, research any fund, and get an honest second opinion. On the broker you already use, read-only, and you approve every trade. Walnut is not a registered investment adviser.
FAQ
How much does Walnut cost?
Walnut is free to use. There is no paid plan, no subscription, and no percentage-of-assets fee. You connect a brokerage account you already have, analyze what you hold, and place trades through your own broker, so Walnut never takes custody of your money and does not charge on it. Costs you still pay are charged by other parties: your broker's commissions and the expense ratios of the funds you own.
Does Walnut charge a percentage of my assets?
No. That model belongs to robo-advisors and human advisors, who manage or custody your money and charge roughly 0.25% and roughly 1% of assets a year respectively. Walnut sits on top of the brokerage account you already have, read-only by default, so there are no assets under management to charge a percentage of.
Is Walnut free forever?
It is free today and there is no paid plan. We are not going to promise permanence on a pricing page, because no honest product can. What we can say is what is true now: no subscription, no fee on assets, and no charge to connect a broker or use the assistant. If that changes, it will be stated here rather than buried.
What do I actually pay when I use Walnut?
Whatever your broker and your funds charge. Most large US brokers now charge zero commission on US stock and ETF trades, though some charge on options, on fractional orders, or on other asset classes. Every ETF you own charges an expense ratio, deducted inside the fund. Those costs exist whether or not you use Walnut, and Walnut does not add to them.
Is there a minimum account size?
Walnut has no minimum. Your broker may have one, and individual funds have a minimum of one share unless your broker supports fractional trading. One practical floor worth knowing: some brokers set a minimum order size on fractional trades, so a portfolio split across many holdings needs enough money for each individual leg to clear that minimum.
What does a 0.25% robo-advisor fee actually cost?
On $100,000 it is about $250 a year, and it is charged every year on the whole balance, including years the account falls. That is the figure worth comparing, rather than the percentage, because a percentage of a growing balance compounds into a large number: the same 0.25% on a portfolio that grows to $500,000 is $1,250 a year. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on whether you want the money managed for you.
When is paying for an investing tool actually worth it?
When it does something you genuinely will not do yourself. Paying a robo-advisor buys automation and the discipline of not touching it. Paying a human advisor buys planning, tax and estate work, and someone accountable to you. Paying for a research terminal buys data depth. A free tool that reads your existing account is a complement to those, not a substitute for the ones you need.
Does Walnut charge to connect my brokerage?
No. Connecting a broker is free, and the connection is read-only by default, so Walnut can see your holdings but cannot move money unless you explicitly approve an order. The connection runs through a regulated aggregator, so your broker login stays with your broker.
Does Walnut make money from my trades?
No. Walnut does not route your orders for payment, does not take a spread, and does not receive a commission on trades you approve. Trades execute at your own broker under your own broker's terms. Walnut is not an investment adviser and does not charge advisory fees.
How does Walnut's cost compare to Magnifi, PortfolioPilot, or Mezzi?
Those are subscription products, typically charged monthly or annually regardless of your balance, and each publishes its own current rate. Walnut has no subscription. The more useful comparison is not price but model: a subscription tool you pay for should be doing something a free one cannot, so compare what each actually does with your real holdings before comparing the price tags.
Walnut is informational and is not an investment adviser. Competitor fees are published headline rates and change; verify current pricing on each provider's own site. Broker commissions, fund expense ratios, and account minimums are set by those providers, not by Walnut. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or to use any particular product.