Wealthfront charges its clients one advisory fee and no commissions, and it has no salespeople, but it doesn’t fit the strict meaning of fee-only. Its filings say its affiliates also earn from clients’ cash, from a Wealthfront money market fund and from lending clients’ securities. On $1 million, the main Wealthfront Portfolio costs $2,500 a year, against a median $4,500 for a flat-fee planner who also gives advice.
Fee-only means the client is the only one paying: no commissions and no other payments tied to the products or accounts you use, to the firm or its related companies. Wealthfront’s advisory fee is simple. The rest of its income sits with its affiliates, and its filings name each source.
How Wealthfront is paid
The advice comes from Wealthfront Advisers LLC (CRD 148456), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Its Form ADV Part 1, filed October 15, 2026, reports pay as a percentage of assets and one other kind it describes as “revenue share with affiliate - BD” (Item 5E). Commissions aren’t checked, and under other business (Item 6A) the adviser isn’t a broker-dealer or an insurance agent. Item 7A reports a related broker-dealer and a related investment adviser.
The broker is Wealthfront Brokerage LLC, which holds client accounts and only trades on the adviser’s instructions. The related adviser is Wealthfront Strategies LLC, which manages a money market fund. The brochure describes Wealthfront Strategies as an affiliate of the adviser.
Most accounts are wrap fee accounts: one fee covers advice, trading and custody, with no account, trading or transfer fees. The Form CRS (October 15, 2026) says expense ratios on the funds you hold are separate, and “Wealthfront Advisers does not receive any compensation related to expense ratios.”
On the people: “Our investment advisory services are managed by software. We do not pay financial professionals or advisors sales or asset-based compensation.”
What else the filings disclose
Cash. The Wealthfront Cash Account, run by Wealthfront Brokerage, sweeps deposits to program banks or to the Wealthfront Treasury Money Market Fund. The brochure says Wealthfront Brokerage earns a net interest margin on Cash Account funds. Wealthfront Strategies receives “an annual 0.25% fee on Fund assets” for managing the money market fund, though the CRS notes clients choose how much goes there.
Stock Investing Accounts. These carry no advisory fee. Instead, Wealthfront Brokerage pays Wealthfront Advisers up to 10% of the net interest margin it earns on the Cash Account these clients must keep. Wealthfront stopped accepting new Stock Investing Accounts on October 15, 2026.
Securities lending. Clients who opt in lend shares through Wealthfront Brokerage. Clients receive 50% or more of the net lending income, and Wealthfront Advisers and Wealthfront Brokerage each receive 25%. The CRS calls this a “financial incentive to approve Participants.”
Borrowing. Wealthfront Brokerage charges interest on its Portfolio Line of Credit, a margin loan against your portfolio.
A regulator’s order. On December 21, 2018, the SEC found that from October 2012 through mid-May 2016, Wealthfront’s tax-loss harvesting white paper falsely said it monitored all client accounts to avoid wash sales, and that it posted client testimonials and paid bloggers for referrals without the required disclosures. Without admitting or denying the findings, Wealthfront Advisers was censured and paid a $250,000 penalty.
What Wealthfront costs
The published fees, from the Form CRS:
| Account | Minimum | Advisory fee per year |
|---|---|---|
| Wealthfront Portfolio (stocks and bonds, ETFs) | $500 | 0.25% |
| Automated Bond Portfolio | $500 | 0.25% |
| Bond Ladder (Treasuries) | $500 | 0.15% |
| S&P 500 Direct | $5,000 | 0.09% |
| Nasdaq-100 Direct | $5,000 | 0.12% |
| Brokerage Account (you choose) | $1 | None |
Fund expense ratios come on top of the Wealthfront Portfolio fee. The fee doesn’t fall as your balance grows. Clients can lower it by referring friends and family. Wealthfront also advises a 529 college savings plan run with the state of Nevada; Nevada residents pay the 0.25% fee only on 529 assets above $15,000, and the plan adds program fees of 0.06% a year.
Worked out on those rates, before fund expenses:
- $500,000: Wealthfront Portfolio $1,250, S&P 500 Direct $450.
- $1 million: Wealthfront Portfolio $2,500, S&P 500 Direct $900.
- $2 million: Wealthfront Portfolio $5,000, S&P 500 Direct $1,800.
These aren’t the same service. Wealthfront runs a portfolio. A fee-only planner charging a median $4,500 a year (middle half $2,400 to $7,200) works with you on taxes, retirement income, equity pay and insurance, and often manages the money too. At 0.25%, Wealthfront’s fee reaches the median flat planning fee at about $1.8 million, worked out from the $4,500 median. Our guide to robo-advisors vs financial advisors explains when software is enough.
Who Wealthfront may suit
- Investors who want an automated, low-cost portfolio with tax-loss harvesting, and don’t need to talk to anyone.
- Taxable investors with $5,000 or more who want to own the S&P 500 stocks directly at 0.09%, to harvest losses on individual stocks.
- People who want their savings, cash and investing in one app.
It fits less well if you want a person to advise you, since Wealthfront has none, or a firm whose only income is your fee. Many people pair a robo-advisor with a fee-only planner: a one-time plan has a median of $2,000, and hourly advice $300 an hour.
How to check it yourself
- Read Wealthfront’s Form CRS, which covers both the adviser and the broker, on the SEC’s adviser search. The “How else does your firm make money” section lists the conflicts.
- In Form ADV Part 1, check Item 5E (how it’s paid), Item 6A (other businesses) and Item 7A (related companies). Our guide to telling whether an advisor is fee-only shows where each one is.
- Look up Wealthfront Brokerage on BrokerCheck.
- Ask: “Where does my cash sit, what does it earn, and what do Wealthfront’s affiliates earn on it?” More in our questions to ask a financial advisor.
To compare with other options, see virtual financial advisors, is Betterment fee-only and is Schwab fee-only.
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