How to Get Free Stocks: 10 Legit Ways to Get Free Shares

That’s why you’ll find articles on everything from how to get free Walmart gift cards to how to get free books.

Surprisingly, many legit companies give you free stock.

If you’re interested in starting your own portfolio, getting some stocks at no cost is a good way to start.

So without further delay, let’s dive in.

Where Can I Get Stocks for Free?

Here’s my list of the top investment apps, trading platforms and companies that give you stock for free.

1. Webull

• Free stock value: $2.50 to $250/$12 to $1,400 (Plus $12 to $1,400 when you refer a friend)

Webull provides a comprehensive suite of investment products, including:

• Stocks
• Options
• ETFs
• ADRs

Webull offers investments with no deposit minimums. Great, right?

Even better though is the fact that the company actually gives you stocks at no cost and getting them is super simple.

How to get free stock from Webull

There are three ways to get your complimentary stock from Webull.

Open an account

Just open up an account! It’s that simple. When you open a Webull brokerage account, you’ll get a free stock that’s valued between $2.50 and $250!

Make a deposit

That’s not all though. If you make an initial deposit of $100 or more, you can receive a second free stock that’s valued between $12 and $1,400.

Refer friends

You can earn two free stocks when you refer a friend to Webull. Each stock is valued between $12 and $1,400. Your friend must make an initial deposit of at least $100 in order for you to qualify for the complimentary stock.

2. Robinhood

• Free stock value: Up to around $200 (Plus up to $500 a year when you refer friends.)

Next on the list, we have Robinhood. It’s a really popular website and app for investing. It’s an app similar to Acorns (more on Acorns below).

It provides commission-free investing, allowing you to make unlimited commission-free trades in stocks, ETFs, and options with Robinhood Financial. You can even buy and sell cryptocurrencies with Robinhood Crypto.

How to get your stock from Robinhood

There are two ways you can get free stocks from Robinhood.

Open an account

When you sign up and link your bank account, a surprise stock appears in your Robinhood account.

Now, the term “surprise” stock is important here.

Basically, when you open your account, you’ll get free stock, but the amount varies from person to person.

The shares of free stock are chosen at random from the site’s inventory of settled shares.

Because of this, you may not get the same stock as others.

The value of the shares you get can be anywhere between $2.50 and $200 and fluctuates based on market movements. Robinhood says that you should keep in mind that there’s an approximately 98% chance of the stock bonus having a value of $2.50 and $10.00.

When I came to sign up for a Robinhood account, I had lots of examples of stocks I could get along with the odds for each particular stock.

For example, I had a 1 in 200 chance of getting Visa ($198.5), Microsoft ($209.6), or Johnson & Johnson ($149.55).

And I had a 1 in 80 chance of getting Kinder Morgan, Ford Motor, or PG&E.

Refer friends

You can also refer friends to get stocks. For each new friend that you invite to join Robinhood, you get free stock and the friend you refer gets free stock too.

The value of the stock can range from $2.50 to $200 and fluctuates based on market movements.

What’s great about the program is that you are eligible to receive up to $500 in reward stocks each calendar year.

3. M1 Finance

• Free stock value: $10

Next on the list, we have M1 Finance. It’s an investment and finance app, offering a range of financial tools. You can invest for $0 in stocks and ETFs.

How to get stocks for free from M1 Finance

M1 Finance provides $10 referral credit. All you need to do is invite your friends. You must have a funded M1 Invest account to be eligible. Just share your unique referral link with friends.

You’ll get your $10 referral bonus in your Payment Account within 14 days of your friend signing up and funding their M1 account.

A payment account must be an individual or joint taxable brokerage account. Both you and anyone you refer need to have an open brokerage account to receive referral credits. Without a valid Payment Account, you will not be able to receive referral credits.

4. Stash

• Free stock value: Get free stock when you spend money on everyday purchases. (Plus earn up to $500 a year when you refer friends)

Stash has helped millions of people to hit their financial goals. With the site, you can invest in fractional shares.

It allows you to invest in thousands of stocks and ETFs with just $1 or less. Amazing, right? If you’ve ever wanted to get into investing, then it’s certainly worth checking out.

How to earn free stock from Stash

There are two ways to get complimentary stocks from Stash.

Use Stock-Back Rewards

Stash differs to the other apps and websites on this list because it actually has a rewards program that gives you cashback on your everyday purchases.

We all know that stores have loyalty programs where you can earn cashback on purchases, like with the Target REDcard for example.

There are even cashback websites like TopCashback (review) and Mr. Rebates where you can earn cashback at literally thousands of stores online.

Drop will even give you cashback just for shopping with your linked cards.

Stash has a rewards program called Stock-Back rewards that sort of works in the same way.

It’s a debit card rewards program that lets you earn pieces of stocks and funds back on qualifying purchases.

With it, you can earn 0.125% Stock-Back rewards on all of your everyday purchases and up to 5% Stock-Back rewards at certain merchants with Stock-Back bonuses.

That’s pretty great, right?

Regular purchases, like gas, groceries, and dining will qualify for Stock-Back.

It’s an interesting program because when you spend money at companies that have stocks listed on Stash, like Amazon, Walmart, and Starbucks, you’ll earn Stock-Back rewards in those companies. If you spend anywhere else, like at your local car wash for example, you’ll be rewarded with a diversified fund instead.

It’s such an interesting way to earn free stock. You’re shopping anyway, so you may as well get some free stock out of it.

• Learn more about the Stash Stock-Back program here.

Refer friends

Another way to get stocks from Stash at no cost is through the Stash Referral Program. Every time you refer a friend to Stash, you get a referral credit. You can earn up to $500 per anniversary year – this is based on the date that you joined Stash.

Your bonus will be added to your personal portfolio as cash to invest.

You can use it to invest in any of the 1500+ stocks or 200 ETFs on the site. But you cannot transfer the money out of your Stash Invest account for 90 days.

So it’s a good way to get your hands on some stocks at no cost.

5. Acorns

• Free stock value: $5 for referring a friend

Acorns is a website and app that allows you to invest your spare change.

You can set aside leftover change from everyday purchases by turning on Round-Ups.

More than 7 million people use the site, making it an incredibly popular micro-investment platform.

How to get your stocks from Acorns

You can get free stocks from Acorns when you refer a friend. With the site’s referral program, you can earn money when you invite friends.

Your friend will be sent an invitation link form from Acorns, and if they use your link, both you and your friend will be rewarded with $5. Your friend must invest at least $5 into their new Acorns Invest account in order for you to get the bonus in your account.

It’s not the biggest bonus ever, but it’s a good way to get some free cash to invest.

Read my detailed Acorns review to learn more.

6. Nvstr

• Free stock value: Up to $1,000

Nvstr says that its technology is based on “independent, Noble Prize-winning research and years of investing experience at hedge funds.”

You can use the site to invest and optimize your portfolio.

It’s a brokerage website with 1-click portfolio optimization. It guides you on how many shares you should purchase, and takes the guesswork out of managing your portfolio.

It’s a community focused website, that can also help you to discover investment ideas from your friends and community of smart investors.

How to get your complimentary stocks from Nvstr

So how do you go about getting your complimentary stock from Nvstr?

Well, it’s another website that’ll give you free cash just for signing up. Sign up, and you can get up to $1,000 free cash to invest. Your reward is selected at random.

7. Public

• Free stock value: Up to $20

Next on the list, we have Public. With this site, you can invest in the stock market, and see what stocks other people invest in. The best part is that you can start with any amount of money and invest commission-free.

You can choose to invest in full shares or fractional shares. And you can get started with investing for as little as $5. It’s another community focused site.

How to get free stock from Public

This site provides complimentary stock and getting it is pretty easy. Just sign up using the link above and you can get stock that’s worth up to $20. The amount designated for each redemption is random.

It’s limited to one redemption per person and your account must be approved and active to qualify for and receive the stock.

8. Stockpile

• Free stock value: $5

Stockpile is an interesting site, because it actually allows you to give gift cards that are redeemable for stock. And of course, it’s a brokerage platform that allows you to invest in more than 1,000 stocks and ETFs.

You can start investing with just $5! You can invest in fractional shares, which is great.

How to get stocks for free from Stockpile

You can get $5 of free stock when you purchase your first stock or give your first e-gift card of $10 or more.

9. Firstrade Securities

• Free stock value: Up to $500

Firstrade Securities is a discount broker that you can use to invest in a variety of products, like ETFs and options.

How to get complimentary from Firstrade Securities

You can get your hands on some stocks for free from Firstrade Securities when you refer friends.

Every time you refer a friend to Firstrade, the site will award you and your friend a free stock. Once your friend’s account is approved, the complimentary stock will be ready to claim in both of your accounts.

The free stock is one share that’s selected randomly and determined by an algorithm.

The value of the share can range from $3 to $200 and fluctuates based on market movements.

Every eligible account can have up to $500 in free stocks.

You have a 100% guaranteed chance to get a complimentary stock for each friend that successfully opens an account at Firstrade.

There’s a 1 in 100 chance of getting free stock from Apple, Facebook, Bank of America, or Advanced Micro Devices every time a friend opens an account at Firstrade.

10. iConsumer

• Free stock value: Varies

Finally, we have iConsumer. Now, this one works in a totally different way to the other websites on this list.

It’s not really a brokerage platform specifically, like Robinhood or Stash. Instead, it’s a cashback website that lets you earn shares of iConsumer stock.

It’s sort of like Rakuten (formerly Ebates) or Topcashback where you can shop and get cashback except you’re also earning free stocks as you do so.

Interesting, right?

You can shop at more than 2,000 retailers through the site, including places like Target, Staples, and Expedia.

How to get free stocks from iConsumer

You get stocks, as well as cashback, when you shop with iConsumer. How much you get will vary.

Your first qualifying purchase will earn you at least 100 shares.

Also, you get to earn 150 shares and $10 cash when you refer a new member who makes a qualifying purchase that earns them at least 10 shares.

iConsumer offers a range of bonus programs, which often change. So I’d recommend having a read of this page to learn which ones are available at the time you come to sign up.

Get Your Free Stocks

Getting stocks in a company like Apple, Visa, Microsoft, or Facebook for free would be great, right?

Well, as you can see from the list above, it’s totally possible.

Whether you’re looking to hold onto these stocks for the long-term or sell them for a quick profit, it’s good to know that there are plenty of websites out there that are giving away stocks at no cost.

If you want free stocks, give the companies above a try.