Robinhood lets people trade without commissions and earns from the firms handling their orders and from interest on customer money. In the third quarter of 2026, its costs grew faster than its revenue, and profit fell.
Buying a few shares by tapping a button on a phone used to come with a fee. Robinhood was the first US broker for ordinary investors to drop that commission and the account minimum. Its app now serves everyone from beginners to active traders. Customers held about $396 billion on the platform at September 30, 2026. Because trades are free, Robinhood gets paid in other ways.
Suppose someone buys a handful of shares in the app. They pay Robinhood nothing. The trading firm that fills the order (a market maker) pays Robinhood for sending it. This income rises and falls with trading activity. The second engine is interest. Robinhood earns it on customers' spare cash, on loans to customers who borrow to invest (margin loans), on lending out customers' shares and on credit card balances. It depends on how much customers keep and borrow, and on interest rates. A paid subscription, Robinhood Gold, adds a regular fee. The costs that matter are technology, staff, marketing and pay in shares. Because the platform is software, once those costs are covered, extra trades and balances add revenue at little extra cost.
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