The basic steps to buy a stock on Robinhood
To buy a stock on Robinhood, you fund your account, search for the stock by ticker symbol or company name, enter the number of shares you want, and confirm the order. The entire process takes about two minutes once your account is set up and funded. Robinhood executes the order during market hours (9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time on weekdays) or queues it for the next market open if you place it after hours.
You do not need to own a full share to start. Robinhood lets you buy fractional shares, meaning you can invest $50 in a stock that costs $200 per share by owning 0.25 shares. This removes the barrier of needing hundreds of dollars to own certain stocks.
Key Takeaways
- You must fund your Robinhood account with cash before you can buy any stock, and the money must settle (usually one to three business days) before it is available to trade.
- Search for stocks by their ticker symbol (like AAPL for Apple) rather than company name, because the ticker is faster and more precise.
- You can buy fractional shares on Robinhood, so you do not need to save up for a full share price.
- Orders placed during market hours execute when ready at the current price; orders placed after hours execute at the next market open.
- Robinhood charges no commission on stock trades, but the price you pay includes a small spread that Robinhood keeps.
Setting up your account and adding money
Before you can buy a stock, you need a funded Robinhood account. read the Robinhood app or go to robinhood.com, create an account with your email and password, and complete identity verification by providing your Social Security number and date of birth. This step takes about 10 minutes.
Once your account is verified, link a bank account. Tap the account icon (usually in the bottom right), select "Add Funds" or "Transfer," and follow the prompts to connect your checking or savings account. Robinhood will ask you to confirm two small deposits that appear in your bank account within one to two business days. Confirm those amounts in the Robinhood app to verify the connection.
After your bank account is linked, transfer money into Robinhood. The amount you transfer becomes your buying power — the cash available to buy stocks. Transfers typically settle within one to three business days, though some transfers settle the same day. You cannot buy stocks until the money has settled.
Finding and selecting the stock you want to buy
Open the Robinhood app and tap the search icon (usually a magnifying glass at the bottom). Type the stock's ticker symbol — a one- to five-letter code that identifies the stock. For example, AAPL is Apple, MSFT is Microsoft, and TSLA is Tesla. If you do not know the ticker, you can type the company name, but the ticker is faster.
The stock's page will appear, showing the current price, a price chart, and company information. Scroll down to see recent news and details about the company. This page is where you confirm you have found the right stock before you buy.
Entering your order and choosing how many shares to buy
On the stock's page, tap the "Buy" button (usually green). A window will open asking how many shares you want to buy. You can enter a whole number (like 5 shares) or a decimal (like 2.5 shares for a fractional purchase). You can also enter a dollar amount — for example, typing "$500" will calculate how many shares that buys at the current price.
As you enter the number, Robinhood shows you the total cost at the bottom of the screen. This is the amount of buying power the order will use. Make sure you have enough cash in your account. If you do not, the "Buy" button will be grayed out.
Robinhood also shows you the order type at the top of the window. The default is Market Order, which buys at the current market price. You can tap this to change it to a Limit Order, which lets you set a maximum price you are willing to pay — useful if you want to wait for the stock to drop to a certain level.
Confirming and placing your order
Review the order summary: the stock ticker, the number of shares, and the total cost. Tap "Review Order" or the equivalent button (wording varies slightly by app version). A final confirmation screen appears showing the same details. Tap "Place Order" or "Buy" to execute the trade.
If you placed the order during market hours (9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday), it executes when ready and you own the shares. If you placed it after hours or on a weekend, Robinhood queues it and executes it at the next market open. You will see a confirmation message and the order will appear in your "Stocks" or "Portfolio" section.
What happens after you buy
Once the order executes, the shares appear in your account and the cash is deducted from your buying power. You now own those shares. Robinhood shows your position in the app — the number of shares, the price you paid per share (your average cost), and the current value of your position.
You can hold the stock as long as you want, sell it whenever you choose, or buy more shares of the same stock. If the stock pays a dividend, Robinhood deposits it into your account automatically. You can see all your holdings in the "Stocks" or "Portfolio" tab.
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 at the current market price. Orders placed outside these hours — before 9:30 a.m., after 4 p.m., on weekends, or on market holidays — are queued and execute at the next market open.
If you place an order after hours and the stock price changes before the market opens, your order will execute at the new price, not the price you saw when you placed it. This is why some traders avoid after-hours orders for volatile stocks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to buy a whole share?
No. Robinhood lets you buy fractional shares, so you can invest any dollar amount. If a stock costs $300 per share and you have $100, you can buy 0.33 shares. This makes it possible to own stocks that would otherwise be too expensive.
What if I place an order and change my mind before it executes?
If the order has not yet executed, you can cancel it. Open the order in your app (usually in a "Pending Orders" or "Orders" section), tap it, and select "Cancel." If the order has already executed, you own the shares and would need to sell them to reverse the trade.
Why is the price I paid different from the price shown when I placed the order?
Stock prices change constantly during market hours. If you placed a market order, you agreed to buy at whatever the current price is when the order executes, which may be slightly higher or lower than the price displayed when you tapped "Buy." This difference is called slippage and is usually small but can be larger for stocks that trade infrequently.
Can I buy stocks before the market opens?
You can place an order before the market opens, but it will not execute until 9:30 a.m. Eastern. Robinhood queues the order and executes it at market open, which means the price may be different from what you see when you place it. Some brokers offer extended-hours trading, but Robinhood does not.
What fees does Robinhood charge to buy a stock?
Robinhood charges no commission on stock trades. However, the price you pay includes a small spread — the difference between what Robinhood pays for the stock and what it charges you. This spread is how Robinhood makes money. The spread is usually small but can be larger for less-popular stocks.