All offers / Investing / Stash
Examined Jul 27, 2026 Amount not published $12 a month subscription Stash will not tell you what this pays, and its own two terms pages disagree.
The current referrer-side terms put the range at $5 to $100 in cash or $20 to $100 in stock. No odds and no distribution are published, so there is nothing to tell you whether $5 or $100 is the normal outcome. Treat the floor as your planning number and anything above it as a pleasant surprise.
What the two live pages say
| Cash bonus, referrer terms dated June 25, 2025 | $5 to $100 |
|---|---|
| Cash bonus, referee terms dated May 13, 2021 | $5 to $50 |
| Stock reward, referrer terms dated June 25, 2025 | $20 to $100 |
| Stock reward, referee terms dated May 13, 2021 | $20 maximum |
| Cap, referrer terms dated June 25, 2025 | $1,000 per trailing 12 months |
| Cap, referee terms dated May 13, 2021 | $500 per calendar year |
| The subscription, either way | $12 a month |
| Published odds across the range | None |
Both documents sit on Stash's own servers, and the newer one is the version linked from Stash's public disclosure library, which is the better argument for treating the 2025 figures as current. That is an argument, not a confirmation. What both versions agree on is the floor: $5.
The subscription the bonus has to outrun
Stash now sells a single plan at $12 a month, or $108 if you pay for the year. On top of that it charges an advisory fee of 0.25% a year on Smart Portfolios holding $1,000 or more and on managed retirement accounts. That kind of fee is usually called an AUM fee, short for assets under management, meaning an annual charge calculated as a percentage of the money they manage for you rather than a flat price. A $5 reward is under half of one month's subscription, and even a $100 reward at the very top of the stated range is worth less than nine months of it.
- The reward floor, which both live terms pages agree on$5
- One month of the Stash subscription$12
Stash publishes no odds across the range, so the floor is the only figure you can plan with. The subscription is charged whatever the reward turns out to be.
Do this, in this order
- Wait for your own offer message and read the number. This is the only figure that binds. It tells you whether you are getting cash or stock, exactly how much, and what deposit is required. Do not act on a screenshot from a stranger, and do not assume you were offered the same as your friend.
- Check which account you are opening. The reward attaches to a Personal Portfolio, which is Stash's ordinary taxable brokerage account, meaning a normal investment account with no special tax treatment, unlike a retirement account. Stash Retire, Stash Custodial, and Smart Portfolio accounts are all excluded from the program. Qualifying through a Stash Banking account also works.
- Make the deposit the message asks for. The terms set the qualifying deposit anywhere between one cent and $50, with the actual figure named in your offer. There is no trade requirement, so funding is the whole job.
- If you are given stock, claim it within seven days. Stock rewards must be claimed through the in-app instructions within seven calendar days. Miss the window and that specific stock reward is forfeited; Stash substitutes a cash reward instead, which may not be worth the same.
- Leave it alone for 90 days, and know that selling does not free it. The bonus must sit in your Personal Portfolio for 90 days from the day it was first deposited. If you sell a stock reward, the sale proceeds have to stay in the account for the rest of that 90 days. Selling changes what you hold, not when you can leave.
- Do not let the invitation go stale. A referral invitation expires at the latest 90 calendar days after the new person creates their Stash login. Set up and fund the account in one sitting rather than leaving it half done.
The fine print that can still cost you the reward
Either account closing kills both rewards. If either account is closed or is not in good standing for any reason at any time, the terms say the cash bonuses or stock rewards awarded are forfeited.
Stash can change the amount whenever it likes. The terms expressly reserve the right to modify the stock reward and cash bonus amounts at Stash's discretion, to limit how much you are eligible to receive, and to refuse or recover rewards it considers wrongly or fraudulently obtained.
Who you can refer is narrower than it sounds. The program is open to US residents only. You earn nothing for referring someone who already holds a qualifying Personal Portfolio or Banking account, or who has already been referred by somebody else, and you may not refer yourself. The referrer must hold an individual taxable brokerage account advised by Stash and in good standing.
Payment is not instant. A cash bonus is deposited when the referred account qualifies. A stock reward can take up to ten business days to appear in the Personal Portfolio, and the 90-day clock runs from the day it lands.
There is no end date, and no promise of one. The program has no published expiry. Stash's own wording is that it may be cancelled at any time without notice to you.
Is it worth your time?
This is not an offer you can plan around. You cannot see the amount before you commit, there are no published odds across a range that runs twenty-fold from bottom to top, the money is stuck for 90 days whether or not you sell, and the product underneath charges $12 every month plus a quarter of a percent a year on some accounts. If Stash is the app you want and a friend has a link, take the reward as a small bonus on a decision you had already made, and read your offer message carefully. As a reason to open an account, it does not clear the bar.
