Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

thinkorswim vs Robinhood

thinkorswim 4.7★ · Free to download 75
Winner thinkorswim
Robinhood 4.3★ · Free to download 60

For serious traders seeking advanced tools, thinkorswim offers a powerful platform, while Robinhood is better suited for beginners due to its ease of use.

Full reviews: thinkorswim · Robinhood

thinkorswim provides a feature-rich trading experience, highly valued by experienced users, but faces significant criticism for app compatibility issues and performance. Robinhood excels in user-friendliness for new investors but is often criticized for limited features and customer support.

Head to head

Features and Tools edge: thinkorswimR2R9R18R26
thinkorswim thinkorswim is praised for being a full-featured and powerful trading platform, offering extensive tools for tracking the market, monitoring portfolios, and making trade adjustments R2R26. Users appreciate the free indicators and streaming CNBC with muted commercials R9. However, some users note that the mobile app lacks parity with the desktop version, particularly for options trading and custom indicators R18.
Robinhood Robinhood is generally seen as easy to use and understand for basic investments . However, users frequently complain about its limited trading options, especially for advanced strategies like options trading in certain regions R96R99R105. Some find the interface too basic compared to other platforms .
Ease of Use edge: RobinhoodR18R25R56R65
thinkorswim thinkorswim is considered a powerful platform, but some users find its interface confusing, especially for those who are not sophisticated or full-time users R25. While some praise its intuitive nature R56, others note it can be clunky for options and lacks integration for placing exit orders with charts R18.
Robinhood Robinhood is widely praised for its user-friendly interface and ease of use, making it accessible for beginners and light trading R65. However, some users find specific functions, like setting stop-loss orders or options trading, to be confusing or not intuitive .
Reliability and Performance tieR1R3R4R5
thinkorswim thinkorswim has significant recent issues with app compatibility, with many users unable to log in or use the app due to forced iOS updates that render older devices incompatible R1R5R8R11. Users also report the app being slow, lagging, crashing frequently, and experiencing glitches with order management and cost basis R3R4.
Robinhood Robinhood generally runs smoothly for most users . However, there are reports of login issues and verification bugs R64R114. Some users have experienced problems with order fills, leading to lost money, and issues with funds being held for several days R66R82R103. The app has also been criticized for freezing trading during volatile market events R88.
Price and Value tieR9R35R50R61
thinkorswim thinkorswim is free to download, and users appreciate the free indicators R9. However, some users mention high commissions for trading R50 and long fund settlement times compared to other brokers R35.
Robinhood Robinhood is free to download, but users complain about being tricked into signing up for Robinhood Gold, which involves mandatory charges R61. There are also complaints about high transfer fees and limitations on daily deposit amounts .
Customer Support edge: thinkorswimR21R64R70R114
thinkorswim While specific reviews on customer support are limited, one user mentions that the people working for Schwab are great and super helpful R21.
Robinhood Robinhood receives strong criticism for its customer support, with users reporting difficulty reaching support without app access and issues with identity verification R64R70R114.
Pick thinkorswim if

Pick thinkorswim if you are an experienced trader who needs a full-featured, powerful platform with advanced charting and analytical tools, and you are willing to overlook recent app compatibility and performance issues R2R26.

Pick Robinhood if

Pick Robinhood if you are a new investor looking for an easy-to-use platform for basic stock investments and are comfortable with its limited advanced features R65.

Evidence note: Recent reviews for thinkorswim are heavily skewed by app compatibility issues, which significantly impacts its perceived reliability. Robinhood's large number of ratings includes many positive but generic reviews, while negative reviews often highlight critical issues like customer support and trading freezes.

Frequently asked

Why are thinkorswim users unable to use the app?
Many thinkorswim users are unable to use the app because of forced mandatory updates that require newer iOS versions, making their older iPhones and iPads incompatible R1R5R8R11.
Does Robinhood offer options trading in the UK?
No, Robinhood does not currently offer options trading for users in the UK, which is a significant disappointment for many potential users R96R99R105R108.
What are common complaints about Robinhood's reliability?
Common complaints about Robinhood's reliability include issues with order fills leading to lost money, funds being held for several days, and the app freezing trading during volatile market events R66R82R88R103.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R2] thinkorswim 5/5 · US Unbelievable.: A full-featured trading platform on my iPhone. Holy cow. Really: what more needs to be said?
  2. [R9] thinkorswim 3/5 · US Outdated: Think swim platform is becoming dated in comparison to the likes of Trading View for example. I use both platforms and in terms of clarity of indicators on screen and availability. Trading View is hands down the winner. Thinkswwim though has the edge with free indicators on display. But to me the look and feel is now dated
  3. [R18] thinkorswim 3/5 · US Better than others but frustrating details: Still impossible to trade while looking at chart or even P/L. Still super Clunky for options. Still no parity with desktop on trading button functions. Alarm sounds not customizable. Alarms do not sound on time. Placing exit orders should be integrated with the chart.
  4. [R26] thinkorswim 5/5 · US Use it all day for years: I have used this all day long for years to track the market, monitor portfolio positions, and make trade adjustments. I can not run the desktop app most of the time (when working or away from home). When needed or available I use the desktop for analyze tab, setting alerts with studies (wish they would add MA trendline crossover alert creation to the app), or when I can
  5. [R25] thinkorswim 1/5 · US Not everybody likes thicker swim: Briefly: the interface for thinker swim is confusing unless you’re a broker or a very sophisticated full-time user of thinkorswim and all of its multiple options. If you want simple, this is not it. I’d like to talk to those that seem to love it. I would like to know what I’m missing.
  6. [R56] thinkorswim 5/5 · GB Good for beginners: I love the app, very intuitive and the charts are quite good. It has less technical indicators than some other platforms, but definitely enough to keep the noobie busy.
  7. [R65] Robinhood 5/5 · US Not bad: User-friendly, very little issues.
  8. [R1] thinkorswim 1/5 · US Forced mandatory updates: Think or swim have a bad habit of forced mandatory updates that will make your older iPhone and iPad not compatible. They should have an option where you can update to the latest compatible version instead of not being compatible at all and now you have to buy new devices. Or maybe that’s the point maybe they have some type of agreement with Apple I’m not sure but it’s no
  9. [R3] thinkorswim 3/5 · US Lagging: Recent update has made the app very slow. This is at least in the options trading portion of the app. I get the re-establishing connection quite often than before. I don’t have this issue in the desktop app or on my android device.
  10. [R4] thinkorswim 1/5 · US Absurdly Slow: You will literally lose money as you wait for charts and other views to load.
  11. [R5] thinkorswim 5/5 · US Can’t use app anymore😤: My phone is not compatible for the latest iOS update and now I cannot use the app. This is not OK! Do something.
  12. [R35] thinkorswim 1/5 · US Fund settle time too long: I really don’t like the way this broker takes too long to settle the funds, other brokers takes hours but this broker takes days .
  13. [R50] thinkorswim 4/5 · US Attention: The app is very good but if you do traiding is the worst because the commission is to high, and the change to Charles the client attention got worse and when the volatility is very high some time freeze and leave out of market
  14. [R61] Robinhood 1/5 · US SCAMMER BEWARE: They tricked me into signing up for Robinhood gold by making a popup appear on my screen and signing me up when I accidentally clicked on it. They gave me a very hard time getting my$5 back, forcing me to accept a credit to my Robinhood account which won’t appear for 10 days and only then will I be able to transfer to my bank and wait another 5 days for to get the money back. This
  15. [R21] thinkorswim 3/5 · US Okay but could be great.: Long story short Schwab needs work. The people that work for the company are great and super helpful as was the case before but we lost a great app when TD Ameritrade sold. This app works for brand new investors. I would recommend it over say robinhood or webull but it quickly has flaws that ruin it as you learn and grow. First every update has caused problems since Schwa
  16. [R64] Robinhood 1/5 · US Can’t login: Hope they fix asap. It logged me out and now the verify software is bugged. Support is out of the question to reach without the app to where I CAN’T GET IN
  17. [R70] Robinhood 1/5 · US 10 years later do NOT trust Robinhood with your money.: UPDATE: I responded to Robinhoods request for information and they told me to kick rocks. Delete your accounts. Guys as a 10 year long Robinhood user I will never recommend them again after being burned TWICE. they are not for serious investors or traders. They exist to skim your trades. They will wait for you to have a large active trade t
  18. [R114] Robinhood 1/5 · US Still can’t log in: So much hacking on Robin Hood I been 3 month and I suppose spoke to agent got a reference number and still can’t log in don’t waist your time or money on them my $$) gone I guess
  19. [R8] thinkorswim 4/5 · US The App for IPad don’t let me login: Thinkorswim works very well on the desktop platform, and I have had a good experience using it on my computer. Unfortunately, the iPad app is currently unusable for me because it will not allow me to log in. Every time I try, I receive a message saying that I must update to the latest version of the app, but this prevents access altogether. The desktop version
  20. [R11] thinkorswim 5/5 · US Unable to use app: Like the app and the features. Can’t use it anymore however due to updates that I also can’t apply on the phone. Hopefully I can workaround it but not as of now.
  21. [R96] Robinhood 3/5 · GB Love Robinhood, but needs ..: Love Robinhood, but we need UK ISA’s, SIPP’s, Crypto and options trading next
  22. [R99] Robinhood 3/5 · GB No option trading: - I thought you give new breeze to bring option trading to UK. Why you skip it? Also why the candlestick chart isn’t show in real time? the only option is per hour. It takes 2 working days if you withdraw money. But takes seconds to transfer money into it. + plus side, has no fx fee because your money going to exchanged to usd once you fund the account. Also got small amount of
  23. [R105] Robinhood 3/5 · GB Option trading: I don’t think there is options trading for uk users which is so disappointing I had so much high expectations for the app, just to have it crashed. Not just that but I feel like this app is playing games with me. I hope their add that option trading soon.
  24. [R108] Robinhood 3/5 · GB Options trading in UK?: Any possibility of starting options trading in the UK and the expected timeline?
  25. [R66] Robinhood 3/5 · US Love to dislike it: Any time I buy any options contract, the value is immediately messed up and I can’t sell it, yes I know about the Greeks
  26. [R82] Robinhood 1/5 · US Holding my funds: It’s crazy how they hold your funds for 5 days to do a review
  27. [R88] Robinhood 1/5 · US Do you remember when they froze trading on GameStop?: There are way better trading sites they aren’t helping you and are locking stocks to protect the hedgefunds
  28. [R103] Robinhood 2/5 · US Poor order fills and event contract fills: I have lost money three times now because Robinhood will not sell my orders when I push them through. Avoid this app at all cost. It’s the same company from the GameStop saga. They’re just clever and better about hiding how they screw over retail.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store