How to buy a stock on Robinhood
To buy a stock on Robinhood, you open the app, search for the company by name or ticker symbol, tap the stock, and then tap the "Buy" button. You enter the number of shares you want, review the order, and confirm. The shares appear in your account within seconds to a few minutes, depending on market hours. The whole process takes less than two minutes once you have an account set up and money in it.
Robinhood is a brokerage app — a platform that connects you to stock exchanges where shares trade. When you buy a stock through Robinhood, you own a piece of that company. Robinhood does not charge a commission (a fee per trade), which is why many people use it to buy small numbers of shares without worrying about fees eating into their investment.
Key Takeaways
- You need a Robinhood account with money deposited before you can buy any stock; the account takes a few minutes to open but deposits take one to three business days to clear.
- Search for a stock by company name or ticker symbol, tap "Buy," enter the number of shares, and confirm the order in the app.
- Robinhood charges no commission per trade, but you pay the market price for the stock at the moment you buy, which changes throughout the trading day.
- Orders placed during market hours (9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays) execute at the current price; orders placed outside market hours are queued and execute when the market opens.
- Once you own shares, you can sell them anytime the market is open by tapping "Sell" on that stock in your portfolio.
Setting up your Robinhood account and funding it
read the Robinhood app from the App Store or Google Play. Tap "Sign Up" and enter your email, create a password, and verify your identity with your Social Security number and date of birth. Robinhood will ask for your legal name, address, and phone number. This information is required by law — all brokerages must verify who you are.
Once your account is open, you need to add money to it. Tap the account icon, then "Transfers," then "Add Cash." Link a bank account by entering your routing number and account number, or use your debit card. Robinhood will deposit the money into your brokerage account. Bank transfers usually take one to three business days; debit card deposits are faster but may have lower limits. You cannot buy stocks until the money has cleared into your Robinhood account.
Finding and selecting a stock to buy
Open the Robinhood app and tap the search icon at the bottom. Type the company name (like "Apple") or its ticker symbol (like "AAPL"). Ticker symbols are one to five letters that uniquely identify a stock on an exchange. If you are not sure of the ticker, typing the company name will show you the right one.
Tap the stock from the search results. You will see a detail page showing the current price, a price chart, news about the company, and other information. This page does not tell you whether the stock is a good investment — it just shows you the facts. Take time to read about the company if you are new to it, but know that Robinhood is a trading platform, not an investment advisor.
Placing your first buy order
On the stock detail page, tap the green "Buy" button. Robinhood will ask you how many shares you want to buy. Enter the number — you can buy fractional shares (like 0.5 shares) if you want to invest a specific dollar amount rather than a whole number of shares. Tap "Review Order."
The review screen shows the stock name, number of shares, the current price per share, and the total cost. Check that everything is correct. The price shown may be slightly different from the price you saw moments before, because stock prices move constantly during market hours. Tap "Confirm" to place the order.
Your order is now live. If you placed it during market hours (9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays), it executes almost when ready at the current market price. If you placed it before the market opens or after it closes, your order waits in a queue and executes when the market opens the next trading day, at whatever price the stock is trading at that moment — not necessarily the price you saw when you placed the order.
Understanding market hours and order timing
The stock market is open Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time. Orders placed during these hours execute right away at the current price. Orders placed outside these hours — before 9:30 a.m., after 4 p.m., on weekends, or on holidays when the market is closed — are held and execute when the market opens.
Robinhood also offers extended-hours trading, which lets you place orders before 9:30 a.m. (starting at 8 a.m.) and after 4 p.m. (until 8 p.m.). Extended-hours trading has wider price swings and less volume, meaning fewer buyers and sellers, so prices can move more dramatically. Most new investors stick to regular market hours until they are comfortable with how trading works.
What happens after you buy
Once your order executes, the shares appear in your Robinhood account under the "Stocks" or "Investing" tab. You now own those shares. Robinhood shows you the price you paid per share, the total number of shares, and the current value of your position (what those shares are worth right now). The value changes throughout each trading day as the stock price moves.
You do not have to do anything with the shares once you own them. If the company pays a dividend (a cash payment to shareholders), it will be deposited into your account automatically. If you want to sell the shares later, tap "Sell" on that stock, enter how many shares to sell, review the order, and confirm. You can sell anytime the market is open.
Common mistakes to avoid
Do not place an order and then assume it executed if you placed it outside market hours. Your order will sit until the market opens, and the price may be very different. Check your account the next morning to confirm the order went through and at what price.
Do not confuse the stock price with the total cost. If a stock costs $100 per share and you buy 10 shares, you are spending $1,000, not $100. Robinhood shows both the per-share price and the total cost on the review screen, so read carefully before confirming.
Do not buy a stock just because you saw it mentioned somewhere or because the price went up recently. Stock prices move for many reasons, and past performance does not predict future results. Take time to understand what the company does and why you want to own it before you buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to buy a whole share, or can I buy a fraction?
Robinhood lets you buy fractional shares, so you can invest any dollar amount you want. If a stock costs $500 per share and you have $100, you can buy 0.2 shares. This makes it easier to own stocks that would otherwise be too expensive to buy one share at a time.
What if I change my mind right after I place an order?
If your order has not executed yet, you can cancel it. Tap the order in your account, and if it shows a "Cancel" button, tap it. Once the order executes, you own the shares and cannot undo the purchase through cancellation — you would have to sell them instead. Orders during market hours execute so fast that cancellation is rarely possible.
Why is the price I paid different from the price shown when I searched?
Stock prices change constantly during market hours. The price you see when you search is a snapshot from a moment ago. By the time you tap "Buy" and confirm the order, the price may have moved up or down. This is called slippage, and it is normal. The difference is usually small, but it can be larger during fast-moving markets or if you are trading stocks with low volume.
Can I set up an automatic purchase plan, like buying the same stock every month?
Robinhood does not offer automatic recurring purchases. You have to place each buy order manually through the app. Some other brokerages offer this feature, but Robinhood requires you to initiate each trade yourself.
What fees does Robinhood charge when I buy a stock?
Robinhood charges no commission per trade. You pay only the market price of the stock itself. Robinhood makes money through other means, like lending out shares you own or earning interest on cash in your account, but you do not see a separate fee on your buy orders.