Microinvestment accounts are good for when you’re just getting started with investing and might not have a large enough lump sum amount to invest to make the brokerage costs worth it. They also make buying and selling easy since you can buy portions of their fund rather than discrete amounts like with regular stocks or shares. This means you can invest as little or as much as you want at any time with minimal fees compared to the minimum $5/$9.50 flat fee for all trades with traditional stocks.
Spaceship Voyager
Spaceship allows you to invest in one of their three portfolios however it seems like you can’t change which one after you create your account so make sure to do your research and choose the one you want when creating the account. You can set up automatic recurring deposits into the account and withdraw fee-free whenever you want.
In my opinion, the best part is that there are no fees for balances below $5,000 so one strategy I would recommend if you can’t invest large lump sums to make brokerage worth it is to invest into your Spaceship account until you are almost at $5,000 and then withdraw it all to purchase your stock through a normal broker (See Brokerage accounts). This strategy allows you to maximise your time in the market and minimise the brokerage fee you pay. Of course you could also just keep investing through Spaceship after you reach $5,000 but that’s when their fees kick in and start reducing your gains.
Raiz
Raiz (formally Acorns and still known as Acorns in the US) allows you to invest in a number of different portfolios based on your investment objectives. You can set up recurring investments like with Spaceship however Raiz charges fees on all non-zero balances.
The feature that sets Raiz apart is the round-up feature which allows you to invest small change from your everyday card purchases. For example if you buy a $3.50 coffee, Raiz can automatically round the charge up to $4 and invest the extra 50c into the investment account. This feature essentially forces you to invest and does so without you requiring you to actively do anything.