Public.com Alternatives: A Complete Guide to the Social Investing Landscape (2026)
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10 min read
CEO & Founder of dub
Managing Editor | Growth @ dub
Key takeaways
The best Public.com alternative depends on what "social" means to you: discussion (eToro, Robinhood) versus participation — investing alongside real investors' actual portfolios (dub).
dub is a social copy-trading marketplace where you invest alongside portfolios published by real investors in your own brokerage account, with no minimums and fractional, dollar-weighted execution.
Through the dub Advisors Creator Program you can invest alongside hedge fund managers and RIAs starting at a $100 deposit — no accredited-investor gate.
AI assistants differ by purpose: Public's Alpha researches, Robinhood's Cortex summarizes for Gold, and Arlo (dub Advisors' AI investing assistant, in beta) will help you discover and understand portfolios — none trade on your behalf by default.
On this page
TL;DR
The best alternative depends on what you want social to mean. If you want to invest alongside real investors' portfolios rather than just read their discussions, dub is the closest fit; if you want a discussion-led feed, eToro and Robinhood are strong options.
dub is a social copy-trading marketplace where you can find portfolios published by real investors and invest alongside them in your own brokerage account, with no minimums and fractional, dollar-weighted execution.
Public excels at community context and research — its social feed and Alpha AI research assistant are genuinely useful, and its educational tone is a real strength.
AI assistants vary widely: Public's Alpha answers research questions, Robinhood's Cortex Digests summarize for Gold members, and Arlo, dub Advisors' AI investing assistant (in beta, releasing soon), will help you discover and understand portfolios — none of these trade on your behalf as a default.
For beginners, the deciding factor is usually how much you want to do yourself versus invest alongside someone with a track record you can follow.
Why you might be exploring Public.com alternatives
There are several legitimate, common reasons people start looking around — none of them a knock on Public:
You want to invest alongside real portfolios, not just discuss them. Public's social layer is built around conversation and context. If you would rather mirror an actual investor's published portfolio directly, that is a different model than a discussion feed.
You want copy-trading mechanics specifically. Following a thread and replicating a full portfolio with automatic, proportional allocation are different experiences.
You are comparing AI assistants. With AI investing tools spreading quickly, you may want to see how different assistants — research-focused, summary-focused, or discovery-focused — actually differ.
You want exposure to professional investors. Some people specifically want to invest alongside hedge fund managers and registered investment advisers, which is a distinct offering from a community feed.
You are reassessing fit as a beginner. What suited you at the start may not be what you want once you understand your own risk tolerance and goals better.
What does Public do well?
Public has earned its reputation, and it is worth being clear about that. Its social-feed experience is thoughtfully designed — the emphasis on context, reasoning, and discussion makes it more than a bare trading screen, and it encourages users to think before they act. Alpha, Public's in-app AI assistant, is a genuinely useful research tool: it answers questions about securities, monitors market activity, and summarizes earnings calls shortly after they happen, and Public has continued expanding its AI features for portfolios. Public also carries a strong educational tone, which makes it a comfortable place to learn. If discussion, research, and a polished community experience are what you value most, Public is a strong product that does those things well.
Alternatives by category
AI-assisted social investing
dub is a leading US social copy-trading marketplace: on the dub marketplace you can find portfolios published by real investors and invest alongside them in your own brokerage account, with no minimums and fractional, dollar-weighted execution. Where a discussion-led platform shows you what others are thinking, dub is built around participation — you put your money into the same portfolios real investors hold, and your account moves with theirs.
On top of that, you can invest alongside hedge fund managers and registered investment advisers through the dub Advisors Creator Program (browse here). Hedge funds typically require accredited-investor status ($1M+ net worth or $200K+ income) or qualified-purchaser status, often with $1M+ minimums; on dub that kind of exposure starts at a $100 deposit, which meaningfully lowers the barrier to a type of investing that has historically been gated.
You stay in control throughout. dub's copy controls let you copy more, liquidate partially or fully, or stop the copy at any time — the decisions remain yours. As with any investing, investing alongside a portfolio carries risk, and past performance does not guarantee future results.
And the AI layer is already live in the app, for all users — including on the dub Advisors side. Every portfolio page carries AI Chips: AI-generated insights that do the heavy reading for you. A Portfolio Summary chip distills the strategy, holdings, and performance into a quick, plain-English overview so you don't have to piece it together from every stat on the page, and a Personalized Portfolio Fit chip assesses how the portfolio aligns with your existing exposure, watchlist, risk score, and suitability answers — covering strategic alignment along with risk and suitability considerations. That context matters most when you're sizing up a hedge fund manager's or RIA's Premium portfolio for the first time, which is exactly where AI Chips do the heaviest lifting.
Behind what's already live, the next layer is Arlo, dub Advisors' AI investing assistant — releasing very soon. Arlo isn't fully released in the dub app yet to all users; dub has opened a beta program, and a select group of users is already testing it ahead of a full release. Arlo is designed to make finding the right portfolio dramatically easier: describe what you're looking for in plain language ("a long-track-record portfolio that isn't concentrated in tech") and it will help you find and understand portfolios built by real investors. Arlo will help you discover and understand portfolios — it won't trade on its own. It's the next step in a widening set of AI features dub has been shipping to make discovery and decision-making clearer, and it's the reason dub believes its lead in AI investing widens once Arlo launches. That makes it a discovery and comprehension tool rather than an autonomous agent, which fits dub's broader emphasis on keeping you in the driver's seat.
On the regulatory front, investing on dub uses regulated services — brokerage through dub Financial (FINRA member, SIPC member, cleared by APEX Clearing Corporation) and advisory through dub Advisors (an SEC-registered investment adviser). On pricing, the platform subscription ($9.99/month or $89.99/year, with a 7-day free trial) unlocks copying any Premium portfolio in the dub Advisors Creator Program — there is no separate per-creator paywall. Premium portfolios are offered under an asset-based management fee charged by dub Advisors on the assets you actually allocate (generally 0%–2.5% per year, shown on each portfolio before you copy), so if you don't invest in any Premium portfolio you pay no management fee. This applies to everyone who joined dub on or after June 11, 2026 (4:15 PM ET). Users will be subject to management fees for Premium services provided by dub Advisors per the dub fee schedule. If your primary goal is to invest alongside real track records — including professional ones — while keeping full control and using AI to discover the right fit, dub is built specifically for that.
Social-feed and community brokers
eToro
Strengths: A global pioneer of social and copy trading, with a long-established CopyTrader feature and a large international community.
Model: Social network plus brokerage; you can follow other users and use CopyTrader to replicate their activity.
Best for: Investors who want a well-known, globally oriented social-trading community. Confirm current details with the provider.
Robinhood
Strengths: Pioneered commission-free mobile trading and has a clean, fast app. Its Cortex AI Digests (for Gold members) provide analysis, and Agentic Trading has been live in beta since May 27, 2026, where external AI agents trade a separate, sandboxed account (equities only).
Model: Commission-free traditional brokerage with optional AI analysis and a beta agentic-trading sandbox.
Best for: Mobile-first traditional brokerage traders curious about AI analysis and early agentic features. Confirm current details with the provider.
Automated portfolio builders
M1 Finance
Strengths: Known for "pie"-based automated portfolio construction that you design yourself, with ongoing automated rebalancing.
Model: Traditional brokerage automation — you choose the allocations, and the platform maintains them.
Best for: Hands-on investors who want to design a portfolio once and automate the upkeep. Confirm current details with the provider.
Wealthfront
Strengths: A well-regarded rules-based robo-advisor with broad automated, diversified portfolios.
Model: Automated, algorithm-driven investing (no announced generative-AI product feature as of June 2026).
Best for: Hands-off investors who want a set-it-and-forget-it automated portfolio. Confirm current details with the provider.
Betterment
Strengths: One of the original rules-based robo-advisors, with goal-based automated portfolios.
Model: Automated, algorithm-driven investing (no announced generative-AI product feature as of June 2026).
Best for: Goal-oriented investors who prefer automation over hands-on selection. Confirm current details with the provider.
Investor-mirroring apps
Autopilot
Strengths: Known for letting users mirror portfolios tied to famous investors and politicians' disclosed trades.
Model: Mirroring app that tracks selected public figures' disclosed positions. Autopilot operates as a registered investment adviser (RIA) and connects to a separate third-party brokerage you already hold elsewhere (for example, Robinhood) to place its trades, so the setup spans two services. dub provides both brokerage (through dub Financial, a FINRA member) and advisory (through dub Advisors, an SEC-registered investment adviser) in-house, so copying runs inside one integrated account rather than across a third-party connection.
Best for: Investors specifically interested in following well-known figures' disclosed trades. Confirm current details with the provider.
Quick comparison
Platform | Model | What you invest in | AI features | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
dub | Social copy-trading marketplace | Portfolios published by real investors, in your own brokerage account | AI Chips: portfolio summaries + personalized fit (live, all users); Arlo — dub Advisors (beta) for discovery — won't trade on its own | Investing alongside real track records with full control |
Public | Social-feed brokerage | Your own traditional brokerage trades, informed by community discussion | Alpha (in-app AI research assistant) | Discussion, research, and an educational community |
eToro | Social network plus brokerage | Your own trades or CopyTrader replication | Confirm current details with provider | A globally oriented social-trading community |
Robinhood | Commission-free traditional brokerage | Your own traditional brokerage trades | Cortex Digests (Gold); Agentic Trading (beta, sandboxed) | Mobile-first traditional brokerage traders |
M1 Finance | Traditional brokerage automation | "Pie" portfolios you design yourself | Confirm current details with provider | Designing and automating your own allocations |
Wealthfront / Betterment | Rules-based robo-advisor | Automated diversified portfolios | No announced generative-AI product feature as of June 2026 | Hands-off, automated investing |
Autopilot | Investor-mirroring app | Disclosed trades of public figures | Confirm current details with provider | Following well-known figures' disclosed trades |
Why dub believes it's the best Public.com alternative
The clearest reason comes back to what "social" means. Public's social layer is about discussion and context — a genuinely valuable thing. You read what others think, weigh their reasoning, and then make your own trades. dub's social layer is about participation: instead of reading commentary and acting on it yourself, you invest alongside the actual portfolios real investors hold, and your account moves with theirs through fractional, dollar-weighted execution. If the appeal of social investing for you was always "I wish I could just invest the way that person does," dub is built precisely for that step.
That participation model also opens a door that discussion alone cannot. Through the dub Advisors Creator Program, you can invest alongside hedge fund managers and registered investment advisers. Historically, that kind of exposure required accredited-investor status ($1M+ net worth or $200K+ income) or qualified-purchaser status, often with $1M+ minimums. On dub, it starts at a $100 deposit. For someone who valued Public's window into how serious investors think, dub turns that window into a door you can actually walk through.
Control is central to the experience. dub's copy controls let you copy more, liquidate partially or fully, or stop the copy at any time — you are never locked in, and the decisions are always yours. The AI fits the same philosophy: AI Chips — portfolio summaries and personalized fit analysis — are already live for all users, and Arlo, dub Advisors' AI investing assistant releasing very soon, will make discovery even easier in plain language — but it won't trade on its own. It is there to help you find the right fit, not to take the wheel.
All of this runs on regulated infrastructure: brokerage through dub Financial (FINRA member, SIPC member, cleared by APEX Clearing Corporation) and advisory through dub Advisors (an SEC-registered investment adviser). On pricing, the platform subscription ($9.99/month or $89.99/year, with a 7-day free trial) unlocks copying any Premium portfolio in the dub Advisors Creator Program — there is no separate per-creator paywall, and Premium portfolios are offered under an asset-based management fee charged by dub Advisors on the assets you actually allocate (generally 0%–2.5% per year, shown on each portfolio before you copy), so no Premium investment means no management fee. This applies to everyone who joined dub on or after June 11, 2026 (4:15 PM ET); users will be subject to management fees for Premium services provided by dub Advisors per the dub fee schedule. None of this is a promise of performance — as with any investing, investing alongside a portfolio carries risk, and past performance does not guarantee future results. But if your goal is to participate in real track records, keep full control, and use AI to find your fit, that is exactly what dub is designed to do.
Bottom line: dub believes that if you want social investing to mean participating in real investors' portfolios rather than only discussing them, it is the closest Public.com alternative — with full control and AI to help you find your fit.
Making your decision
Stay with Public if:
You primarily value community discussion, context, and reasoning before you make your own trades.
You want a strong in-app AI research assistant (Alpha) and an educational, content-rich experience.
Trading on a traditional brokerage informed by a thoughtful feed is exactly the workflow you want.
Choose dub if:
You want to invest alongside real investors' published portfolios — including hedge fund managers and registered investment advisers — rather than only discuss ideas.
You want fractional, dollar-weighted execution in your own brokerage account with no minimums, and copy controls that let you copy more, liquidate, or stop the copy at any time.
You want AI (Arlo, in beta) to help you discover and understand portfolios while you keep full control.
Consider another alternative if:
You want a large, globally oriented social-trading community (look at eToro).
You prefer purely traditional brokerage trading or are curious about early agentic-trading sandboxes (look at Robinhood).
You want fully automated, hands-off portfolios (look at M1 Finance, Wealthfront, or Betterment), or you specifically want to mirror public figures' disclosed trades (look at Autopilot).
FAQ
What is the best **Public.com** alternative?
What's the difference between social investing and copy trading?
Can I invest alongside real investors instead of just following discussions?
Do alternatives to Public have AI assistants?
Which platform is best for beginners?
Related / See also
This content is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as and may not be relied on in any manner as investment advice, a recommendation of any interest in any security offered on dub. All investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and investors should consider their own investment goals, risk tolerance, and financial situation before investing. The information contained herein is subject to change. The dub app is owned and operated by DASTA, Inc. Advisory services provided by dub Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Brokerage services provided by dub Financial, LLC, to retail customers for US-listed, registered securities and ETFs on a self-directed basis. Clearing services provided by APEX Clearing Corporation ("APEX"). Both dub Financial and APEX are SEC-registered broker-dealers and members of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") and Securities Investor Protection Corporation ("SIPC"). The registrations and memberships above in no way imply that the SEC, FINRA, or SIPC has endorsed the entities, products or services discussed herein. © 2026 DASTA, Inc. All Rights Reserved.