TradeUP is a free stock trading app similar to Robinhood or Webull that allows you to buy and sell stocks with no fees or commissions. They are currently offering a signup bonus of up to 5 free stocks if you fund your account with $100 to $5,000. There are different tiers, so you’ll get more free stocks depending on how much you deposit into your TradeUP account. Here’s how you can earn your TradeUP Referral Bonus:
- Open a TradeUP account using a referral link (here is my TradeUP referral link).
- As soon as you open your TradeUP account, you’ll receive one free stock valued at $2-$15.
- You’ll receive up to 4 additional free stocks valued at $15-$1,000 each if you deposit $100 to $5,000 (more details on this requirement are in this post).
- After you get your free stocks, you can sell them and withdraw all of your funds after 15 business days.
In this post, I’m going to walk through the exact process for you to follow to earn your TradeUP referral bonus, as well as explain why this bonus is worth your time.
It’s important to note that while TradeUP is an investing app, you don’t actually have to invest the money that you deposit into your TradeUP account. This makes TradeUP an easy way to earn free stocks, which you can then keep or sell depending on which you prefer.
What Is TradeUP?
TradeUP is an free investing app that allows you to buy and sell stocks and ETFs commission-free. It’s very similar to Robinhood, Webull, and Public, all of which are investing apps that also allow you to buy and sell stocks for free via your phone.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of these stock trading apps because I think they tend to promote the wrong habits when it comes to investing. I believe the correct investing philosophy is to invest in broadly diversified, passively managed index funds and to buy and hold for the long term. In contrast with that philosophy, I think a lot of these stock trading apps promote day trading among people that don’t really understand what they are doing. It also makes people think that investing is about hitting home runs, rather than a slow and steady habit of saving consistently.
That said, these apps do have some value because they give people access to investing without the fees that often come with it.
One big question you probably have is whether an app like TradeUP is safe to use. This is a new app, so I don’t blame you if you’re wary. That said, TradeUP offers its trading through Marsco Investment Corporation, which is a member of FINRA and is regulated by the SEC. I looked up their information via the FINRA BrokerCheck tool and it appears that Marsco Investment Corporation has been registered with the SEC since 1986.
In short, I’m comfortable with TradeUP given that Marsco Investment Corporation is a FINRA member and regulated by the SEC. A lot of people have also used this app, so if there were any issues, I think we’d have heard about it by now. But of course, as with any fintech product, whether or not you want to use it is going to be determined by your comfort level.
TradeUP Referral Bonus Step-By-Step Directions
Here are the step-by-step instructions to earn your TradeUP referral bonus. My general recommendation is to complete these steps using your phone. It’s not a requirement per se, but it seems like it’s easier and tracks better when you use your phone to open your account, rather than doing it on your computer.
1. Open Your TradeUP Account Using A Referral Link
The first thing you’ll need to do is open a TradeUP account using a referral link. Here is my TradeUP referral link that you can use to open your account and earn your free stocks.
The referral link will bring you to a page with the referral bonus terms. The page will also have a button that will allow you to open your account and earn your free stocks. There’s only one type of TradeUP account available, so it should be pretty straightforward. The one thing I would recommend is that when you open your account, make sure to pick the cash account and not the version of the account that lets you trade on margin (it’s not worth it to mess with margin trading, so just keep things simple here).
After you open your TradeUP account, you’ll immediately receive one free stock valued between $2 and $15. You’re guaranteed to get the free stock, but the value of the stock is random. Below is a table from TradeUP that shows you the different probabilities of getting each stock:
As you can see, you’re very likely to end up with a stock valued between $2 and $5. When I opened my account, I somehow got lucky and ended up with a stock valued at a little over $8. Meanwhile, my wife ended up with a stock valued at $3. Either way, it’s still free money that you earn without having to do anything other than open an account, so that’s a good start.
2. Fund Your Account With At Least $100 (Fund With $5,000 To Maximize Your Free Stocks)
Once you’ve opened your account, you’ll need to fund your account to earn up to 4 free stocks. The number of additional free stocks you’ll get is based on how much you deposit into your TradeUP account. Here are the terms:
To get the maximum number of free stocks, you’ll need to fund your account with at least $5,000. This is what I did when I opened my account, but $5,000 is obviously a lot of money, so if you can’t do that, you may want to consider depositing a smaller amount that will earn you fewer free stocks.
One thing to remember is that the terms do not require you to invest the money that you deposit. Instead, you can simply deposit the funds to earn your free stock, then withdraw your deposit later. There is a holding period of up to 15 business days, so at most, you’ll have to tie up your initial deposit for a few weeks.
Note that just like your initial free stock, the value of your free additional stocks is random. Here are the different probabilities for the value of each stock:
You’re guaranteed a minimum of $15 for each stock, and as you can see, your free stocks will likely be between $15 and $30. I received four shares of Funko stock, with each valued at about $21. In total, the value of my free stocks was approximately $92, with my initial free stock valued at $8 and my four additional free stocks valued at $21.
3. Claim Your Free Stocks In The TradeUP App
You’ll instantly receive your free stock(s) after you’ve funded your account with $100 to $5,000. Be patient – it can take a few days for your initial deposit to make it into your account (I think it took about 3 days for my initial $5,000 deposit to clear).
To get your free stocks, you have to claim them in the app, which can be a bit confusing because the app isn’t very intuitive. To claim your free stocks, click the profile button at the bottom corner of the app, then click “Rewards Center” in the menu that appears.
Next, you should end up on a screen that will allow you to claim your free stocks. It should look like the screenshot below.
The screen will show you which steps you’ve completed, as well as how many free stocks you’ve earned. Claim your free stocks by clicking the “Claim” button.
The free stocks will take a few weeks to clear and go into your account. Once you receive your free stocks, you can sell them immediately or keep them if you want.
4. Withdraw Your Initial Deposit
After you’ve received your free stocks, you’ll likely want to sell your free stocks and withdraw your initial deposit unless you actually plan to use TradeUP to invest. I think it’s a fine app if you want to use it that way, but I personally only signed up to get my free stocks.
Be aware that there is a holding period of up to 15 business days, so you’ll have to wait a few weeks before you’re able to withdraw your funds. In the app, it says you’ll need to wait 11 days after the accounting date.
One other thing to note is that some folks report that if you withdraw your funds without making a trade, TradeUP will send you an email asking you to explain why you’re withdrawing your money without making any trades. I believe this is a regulatory thing they have to do, but in any event, you can simply say you need the money or state any other reason you want.
To avoid the administrative hassle of having to explain why you’re withdrawing your funds without doing any trades, it might make sense to make one trade before you withdraw your funds. One easy thing you can do is purchase a non-volatile asset, then sell it a day or two later. I purchased a Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Bond ETF (VGSH), then sold it a few days later. The price of this ETF should only change by a few cents at most over the course of a few days, so it’s easy enough to buy one share of it, then sell it a day or two later.
Is The TradeUP Referral Bonus Worth It?
In my experience, it’s sometimes unclear whether these free stocks bonuses are worth going for or not. Depending on your financial situation, locking up $5,000, even for just a few weeks, can be a tall order.
Here’s how I think about it. Opening a TradeUP account and getting your initial free stock is simple enough to do. You won’t get much money for that initial free stock, but it’s still free money (even if not much free money).
Getting the additional free stock does seem worth it to me. For example, let’s say you’re only able to fund your account with $100 to earn one additional free stock worth at least $15. If you get a free stock worth $15, plus your initial free stock for opening your account worth $2, you’ll end up with $17 of free stock in exchange for a $100 deposit into your account. That’s a 17% return on your money in 15 business days (about three weeks). It’s obviously not a lot of money in absolute terms, but it’s still a 17% return on your money without much work.
The value proposition makes sense even with larger sums. Here’s how it breaks down:
- $1,000 deposit equals a minimum of $32 of free stock (1 free stock + 2 additional free stocks). That’s a 3.2% return in 15 business days.
- $2,500 deposit equals a minimum of $47 of free stock (1 free stock + 3 additional free stocks). That’s a 1.8% return in 15 business days.
- $5,000 deposit equals a minimum of $62 of free stock (1 free stock + 4 additional free stocks). That’s a 1.2% return in 15 business days.
Your average savings account earns 0.5% interest these days, which means that with a $5,000 balance, you’d be looking at $25 of interest in a year. As you can see, depositing $5,000 and earning $62 of free stock means you’ll get more than what you’d get in a savings account for an entire year – all in about three weeks. If you annualized your rates of return with this referral bonus, you’d be looking at a minimum 21% rate of return.
In short, if you have the money sitting around, the math says this bonus is worth doing.
Refer Your Friends To TradeUP For Additional Bonuses
You can dramatically increase your earnings as well by referring friends and family members using your own referral link. The person you refer will also get free stocks, so they have a reason to use your referral link. Whenever I get open these accounts, I always immediately refer my wife and my brother, both of whom are always willing to do these types of signup offers.
Currently, the referral gives you a free stock valued at $2-$15 as soon as your referral opens an account with your referral link. You’ll then get an additional free stock valued at $15-$1,000 once they deposit at least $100 into their account.
So, here’s how much in free stock you could earn if you open an account using a referral link, then refer a spouse or partner.
- First, you open a TradeUP account using a referral link, fund your account with $5,000, and get a total of 5 free stocks valued at $62.
- Next, you refer your spouse or partner and have them fund their account with $5,000. They’ll get 5 free stocks valued at $62. You’ll get two free stocks valued at $17.
- In total, your household will get $141 of free stocks, all for just a few minutes of your time.
Final Thoughts
TradeUP seems to be a fine investing app, although I personally won’t use it beyond getting my free stocks. It does offer commission-free trades, so if you wanted to use it as your investing app, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. I think the app does feel a bit clunky, however, and I prefer using an app like M1 Finance, which also offers free trades and has a more intuitive and easy-to-use interface.
That said, TradeUP is offering a good signup bonus right now and I think it’s worth jumping on these offers while they’re available. I have no idea how long this type of promotion will last, but you have to imagine that at some point, they’ll have to stop giving away free stocks or dramatically reduce the value of the free stocks. My thinking is – get these bonuses while you can.
If you’re looking for additional apps you can use to earn free stocks, you may also want to check out Webull. They have a similar promotion going on that will allow you to earn free stocks after depositing $100 into your account.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks and 1 stock of Tesla or Google) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 3 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (12 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 12 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Chime ($150) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Upgrade ($150) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $150 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $150 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- US Bank Business ($800) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($100) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $100 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Netspend ($40 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $40 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $40 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($20) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.25% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $800 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Yours is the best post on this I have seen. That up to 5 free stocks offer is set to expire 6/30/21 right now. If you’re approved for an account by that date after following any incentive-backed referral link that goes to the 5 free stocks offer, you are supposed to get that minimum $62 in stock value. I got $392 on mine. There is also an up to $200 transfer fee reimbursement on top of the up to 5 free stocks that only applies to ACAT of $3k+, but you can only see this after you sign up in the help chat in-app. Promotional code I know works for both is O8HVZA. Terms and conditions are here:
https://www.itradeup.com/statement/USA-Open%20A%20Live%20Account(Marsco)
I did find out conform with them that the “initial deposit” is checked only once within the first 30 days after the account is opened, so you cannot use multiple deposits to qualify at different thresholds and only the first deposit applies automatically. Fees and commissions on the Cash/Margin account types are found here:
https://tradeup.marsco.com/pricing/commissions-us
For me, there was no soft or hard pull on any credit reports for my Cash account. No IRA accounts available yet. If you deposit up to or more than $1000 on your initial deposit, they credit you with a temporary match of available funds up to $1000 for immediate trading until your deposit actually clears, so don’t look for the deposit reward stocks until after the deposit actually clears (should be within 5 business days after your deposit). With my bank verified through Plaid, my account was approved in less than 12 hours and $1000 of $5000 was made available immediately for trading. I received $392 in stocks after sign up and deposits in 5 business days as well. Hope this extra information helps someone!
I’m not a huge fan of brokerages that make trading super easy either. However, there has to be a better solution after Robinhood’s debacle a couple months ago (they still haven’t fixed it, it happens here and there still).
TradeUp will be on the list of brokerages to look out for. I always thought it was just WeBull and Robinhood but many others are popping up!
The big ones are Robinhood, Webull, Public, and now TradeUp.