Front review: Free investing insights for brokerage, crypto, and personal investment accounts

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Overall rating

*Front Finance doesn't offer investments. It offers stock analysis and portfolio insights.

Is Front right for you?

Front is a registered investment advisor (RIA) offering free financial analysis to help investors make smarter investment choices. Front's founders are co-founder and CEO Bam Azizi and co-founder and COO Adam Israel.

The app provides investment insights for individuals who actively trade with crypto exchanges and brokerages such as TD Ameritrade, and you can use a basic version of the platform even if you haven't connected an external brokerage account.

It also employs its own AI-powered algorithm (also known as the Front score) that evaluates both individual stocks and the overall health of your portfolio.

Front offers mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.

Front vs. Stock Rover

Min. Investment $0	Min. Investment $0
Fees 0%	Fees 0% free plan; Monthly fees range from $7.99 – $27.99/month (see fee schedule here)
Investment choices N/A	Investment choices N/A
Front investing	Stock Rover

Both Front and Stock Rover focus solely on providing investment analysis and research for traders. The difference between the two platforms is that Stock Rover is better for more experienced traders. Like Front, it allows you to connect external brokerage accounts to monitor investment progress, but it offers a wider range of tools and resources.

For instance, Stock Rover currently offers more than 130 pre-built screeners that let you compare thounsands of stocks and ETFs. Plus, it offers research reports on more than 7,000 stocks.

While Front doesn't offer as many research resources or securities analysis tools, it's a more suitable choice for beginners, thanks to its combination of community features and easy-to-use interfaces. In addition, it also lets you conect crypto accounts to the platform.

Front vs. Betterment

Min. Investment $0	Min. Investment $0 or $100,000, depending on plan
Fees 0%	Fees 0.25% (0.40% for premium plan)
Investment choices N/A	Investment choices Stock ETFs and bond ETFs
Front investing	Betterment

Just as with Stock Rover, Front is a better choice if you want to research different investments before trading them on your own in external brokerage accounts. Betterment, however, is best for hands-off investors who want automated and personalized portfolio management for personal investment accounts and IRAs.

Ways to invest with Front

External brokerage and trading accounts

You won't be able to directly invest with Front since the platform primarily specializes in investing insights. Front connects to brokerage and crypto apps, though, so you can use its personalized portfolio analysis and community investing features to inform your trading decisions.

Plus, Front's asset allocation capabilities also allow you to track all of your investments — including stocks, funds, and cryptocurrencies — in one place.

Front also offers real-time connections to investment platforms like Robinhood, Coinbase, TD Ameritrade, Webull, and STASH. If you don't have accounts with any of those platforms, Front uses Plaid to let you connect to other investing apps that aren't immediately available through its app. (Plaid is a financial services company based in San Francisco.) 

Once you connect your brokerage account, Front uses a proprietary investment rating model (the Front score) to evaluate how healthy or how risky your investment portfolio is. The score falls within a numerical range — scores can span from 300 to 850 — that Front uses both for portfolios and stocks. However, the app doesn't offer stock trading recommendations; it merely offers insights for stocks and portfolios.

Front says this score also considers factors like stock performance, company financials, diversification, and risk. A score closer to 300 indicates that a portfolio is on the riskier side. A higher score, however, suggests that a portfolio is generally healthy.

You can also select a stock through the platform (and you can do this even if you haven't yet connected your brokerage account) to find both its Front score, market statistics, and related news. In addition, on the home page of the app, Front has a "Market Movers" section that shows which investments have had the highest percentage value increase, and it regularly offers a list of the five stocks that have the highest Front score.

But the Front score isn't constant, though. The app regularly keeps up with market news and companies to make sure that your portfolio's Front score is accurate.

Social trading features

Front also lets you follow friends, investing experts, and other industry leaders to stay on top of the markets. Plus, Front regularly posts updates on top stocks. 

The home page also compiles investment news and market updates both from investing publications and investing pros. And if you want some extra motivation, Front has a weekly stock challenge that pays winners $200 if they connect their brokerage with at least $500 and maintain a Front Portfolio Score of at least 600. It says it gives this prize to the top five investors with the best returns for the week.

Front Finance: Is it trustworthy?

Personal Finance Insider assesses trustworthiness by evaluating each company's Better Business Bureau profile. BBB ratings reflect the bureau's opinion of how well a company interacts with its customers, but Front doesn't have a profile at this time.

It's important to do your own research before setting up an account with any platform. While the BBB's ratings consider things like customer complaint history and government actions, its ratings don't guarantee a company's performance or reliability.

Front Finance — Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What is Front Finance?

Front offers stock and portfolio analysis to help traders make more informed investment decisions. While you can use the app without linking to external accounts, Front also connects to brokerage accounts, crypto exchanges, and investing apps.

Is Front legitimate?

Yes. Front Financial Inc. is an SEC-registered investment advisor, meaning it must comply with the commission's requirements to remain in business. You can find more information by reviewing its investment advisor disclosure here.

Is Front a good investment?

This depends on both what type of investor you are and which investments you're interesting in trading. Front is best for active traders who want to use automated insights to make better market moves. However, you can still use the platform even if you're more of a buy-and-hold type of investor. The free app offers insights for securities that you can hold for short- or long-term periods, depending on your investment preferences.