Wealthsimple vs. Justwealth in 2026
Justwealth and Wealthsimple claim the top two spots in our updated guide to the best robo advisors in Canada for 2026.
While both offer automated investing, they take noticeably different approaches. Wealthsimple emphasizes a technology-driven experience, while Justwealth focuses on an investment-first philosophy. The Wealthsimple vs Justwealth battle ultimately comes down to which approach better matches your investing priorities.
While we tend to refer to them as “robo-advisors”, neither company is particularly fond of the term. Both prefer descriptions such as “automated wealth management”, arguing that this better reflects the service they provide. This is in comparison to Canada’s online brokerages, where investors are responsible for taking a DIY approach and then managing their own portfolios without any professional advice.
Both platforms make it easy to get started, requiring only a modest initial deposit, and Justwealth is currently offering an attractive introductory promotion. Below, we’ll examine how they stack up on fees, investment performance, financial planning, security, account types, and overall user experience to help you decide which platform is the better fit. With the low cost of starting, you could open an account with each to make your own comparison!
JustWealth vs. Wealthsimple: Quick Comparison
If you’re simply looking for a quick visual side-by-side comparison for Justwealth and Wealthsimple, we’ve got you. The chart below contains all the basic information from our comprehensive review.
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Available portfolios | Over 80 different portfolios engineered to either grow your wealth, generate income, or preserve wealth. | 3 standard portfolios, plus SRI and Halal options. |
| Personalized Financial Advisor | Yes - always available | Only for Generation tier clients ($500k+) |
| 5-year returns (balanced portfolio) | 8.97% |
|
| Fees | 0.40 - 0.50% | 0.20 - 0.50% |
| Target-Date RESP Funds | Available | Not Available |
| Account Minimum | $5,000 (With exceptions for RESP and FHSA accounts) | None |
| promotion | $100-$500 Instant Cash Back | $25 Sign Up Bonus |
| Sign Up | Visit Justwealth | Visit Wealthsimple |
If you want an in-depth standalone review of each robo-advisor with more context and all the details, check out our Justwealth Review and our Wealthsimple Review.
Wealthsimple vs. Justwealth: Security and Safety
Both Wealthsimple and Justwealth take their responsibilities seriously. Their custodial organizations (the companies that hold your funds) are regulated by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), and their accounts are protected by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. They both use high-level encryption to protect your information.
Basically, your money and your data are equally safe with either robo-advisor. These companies have been around for years and are both regulated and trustworthy.
Wealthsimple vs Justwealth: Fees and MER
Robo advisors all have two layers of fees:
1) The amount of money they charge you for their services.
2) The amount of money that the underlying ETFs will charge you in order to invest in them. This amount is almost always called a Management Expense Ratio (MER).
Sometimes you’ll see these two layers of fees added together and called the MER. Other times, these fees are reported separately. Both Justwealth and Wealthsimple will report only that top layer of fees (the money they charge) – which isn’t really dishonest, in that they only get to keep that money. So, when comparing fees between robo-advisors, you want to make sure you are comparing the same categories.
For the top layer of fees with Wealthsimple and Justwealth, they both have fee ranges of 0.40%-0.50% (or, if you’re holding over $10,000,000 you can get down to 0.20% with Wealthsimple). The exact fee depends on the amount of assets you hold with either:
| Justwealth | Wealthsimple |
| 0.50% for first $500,000 | 0.50% for first $100,000 |
| 0.40% for over $500,000 | 0.40% for $100,000 to $9,999,99.99 |
| 0.20% for over $10,000,000 |
The value of the second layer of fees will differ slightly depending on the specific portfolio you choose.
Justwealth vs Wealthsimple: Performance
One of the most apples-to-apples comparisons between the two is when you compare performance. However, Wealthsimple has recently made it extremely difficult for people to make this comparison. In mid-2024, Wealthsimple stopped disclosing 5-year portfolio returns on its website, while other robo advisors continued to report theirs. Why would Wealthsimple do this? What we know for sure is that their returns just weren’t keeping up… the rest of the answer would be speculation.
Our 2026 Wealthsimple Review dives deep into why Wealthsimple’s portfolio returns have been lagging compared to competitors. But, in short, Wealthsimple deviated from the proven pathway of passive index investing by choosing to add longer-term bonds, overly complicated ETFs, and gold exposure – all decisions that led to lower returns. Given that other robo advisors fared just fine over this time period, it’s clear that Wealthsimple made avoidably poor choices.
Below shows the corresponding head-to-head comparison for each of Wealthsimple’s main portfolio options vs the Justwealth option over the last five years.
As you can see, Justwealth is pretty dominant in this category.
| Portfolio Type | Justwealth | Wealthsimple |
| Moderate | 6.44% | 2.46% |
| Balanced | 8.97% | 6.43% |
| Aggressive | 13.37% | 10.96% |
That 3-4% difference in performance is absolutely massive. I’d argue that even a .50% difference would be pretty big when you think about how fast that will compound over the years.
As outlined above, Wealthsimple has made some very questionable investment decisions when it comes to their fixed income products, and this has led to significant underperformance – no way around that reality. And we can’t say we approve of their lack of transparency with the discontinuation of their 5-year portfolio return data.
Massive Winner: Justwealth
Justwealth vs Wealthsimple: Financial Advice
While both of these robo advisors offer some form of financial advice via online chat, phone calls, or chat sessions using Zoom (or other video platforms), the big difference here is that every single Justwealth customer is assigned a personalized financial advisor when they sign up. That point person offers a single point of contact throughout your investment journey, and is another massive advantage for Justwealth.
It’s also important to mention that both of these leading robo advisors are legally classified as portfolio managers. That means they have fiduciary duty to act in your best interest. That’s a very important distinction from the “financial advisors” at your local bank, credit union, or strip mall investment company.
It means that both Wealthsimple and Justwealth can be held legally liable for giving you advice that benefits their company at your expense. That same standard is not met by companies who do not have a fiduciary responsibility. Make sure to ask about this if you’re still unsure, as it’s possibly the most important detail when discussing the best financial advisors in Canada and the best wealth management companies in Canada.
Winner: Justwealth
Account and Portfolio Options
Both Justwealth and Wealthsimple offer the full range of Canadian investment accounts including:
*You can also open a US dollar account for some of these options.
One area where Justwealth has a bit of an advantage is in their Education Target Date RESP Portfolios. They are the only Canadian robo advisor to offer this unique product. They are designed to grow with your child and automatically rebalance as the target date approaches. This means that by the time your child graduates, the money will be ready for them. Another perk of the Justwealth RESP is that there is no minimum requirement to open this type of account.
Now, Wealthsimple has an advantage when it comes to accounts outside the scope of a robo advisor. For example, if you want to trade crypto, Wealthsimple can do that – but Justwealth can’t. Wealthsimple Tax also offers an interesting add-on service that Justwealth doesn’t have the equivalent of.
So far, I’d say that when it comes to account and investing options it looks pretty close, with a slight edge to Wealthsimple. But then we have to factor in actual investable portfolios that we can put our money into within those accounts.
Wealthsimple has three standard portfolios, plus SRI and Halal portfolios.
Justwealth, on the other hand, has over 80 portfolios to choose from – by far the most when it comes to Canadian robo advisors.
Not only that, but all of the other big robos (including Wealthsimple) have some sort of a deal or interest with specific ETF companies. That means that even if the ETF isn’t really the perfect fit for what they want exposure to in a portfolio – they’re going to make it fit. Meanwhile, an unencumbered Justwealth is free to select whichever ETF offers the most advantages at a given time.
Plus, if I’m being honest, I have a personal bias against investing in gold and investing in cryptocurrency. Wealthsimple really pushes these products and I think it completely goes against the founding principles of the company.
Winner: Justwealth
Wealthsimple vs Justwealth: User Experience
Both Wealthsimple and Justwealth have similar sign-up processes.
You start by inputting your personal information, including your social insurance number. You answer a questionnaire about your finances and investment goals. Then you’re matched with a portfolio that matches your goals, timeline, and level of risk aversion.
Where Wealthsimple really shines is how much tech work they put into their product. Their website is beautiful, and their app has long been the best one amongst the robo advisors. I’d argue that while the Justwealth customer service has higher ratings amongst our readers, the quality of Wealthsimple’s mobile app gives it an edge in this area – but it really comes down to what you want out of your robo.
If you want a slick online experience, then Wealthsimple has you covered. If you value a prompt email reply or a short conversation with a personalized financial advisor, then Justwealth would be the better bet.
Slight Winner: Wealthsimple
Wealthsimple vs Justwealth: Mobile App and Web Platforms
Being digital platforms, we expect both Wealthsimple and Justwealth to have intuitive and functional mobile apps and websites for clients to perform actions on.
The Justwealth and Wealthsimple apps allow you to:
- Check the current value of your portfolio/monitor performance
- Add or withdraw funds
- See your holdings and transactions
- Set up automatic contributions
- Open additional accounts
Justwealth’s mobile app (launched in 2023) may not be the sleekest of them all, but according to user ratings, clients are satisfied (4.5 stars on the Apple App Store and 4.3 stars on Google Play). It gets the job done.
Wealthsimple, on the other hand, was the first app of its kind, launched back in 2014. They’ve had a lot of time to finesse the product and are now considered one of the best finance apps in Canada.
It is also highly rated with 4.6 stars on the Apple App Store and 4.1 stars on Google Play.
Because Wealthsimple is more than just its robo-advisor platform (Wealthsimple Invest), if you are a client of other products (for example, Wealthsimple Trade, or a chequings account), you will find those integrated into the same interface.
When it comes to the web platforms, you’ll again find both websites to be straightforward and functional. However, once again, Wealthsimple has more years under its belt and offers more features. Whether that matters to you or not, however, is a personal decision. Justwealth is still highly usable while taking a straight-to-the-point approach.
Winner: Wealthsimple
Account Minimums and Special Promotions
While this is probably the least important comparison point when choosing an investing product for the long-term, it is a legitimate point of difference, especially when getting started.
Wealthsimple really promotes the fact that anyone can get started with them, even if they have only one dollar.
Justwealth on the other hand, is going to require you to deposit $5K in order to get started. I’d argue that if you have less than that, it should just be in a low risk investment anyway, but that’s just me. Now, Justwealth does have two exceptions to their 5K rule: The FHSA and the RESP. Clearly they’re making a real effort here to attract young people! There are no minimums to open an FHSA or an RESP with Justwealth.
Now, when it comes to promotions, Justwealth clearly has the edge, as they are currently offering up to $500 to get started with them, whereas Wealthsimple just has a twenty-five dollar promotion going on. Click below to take advantage of the new Justwealth deal.
Slight Winner: Justwealth
The Rise of Prediction Markets in Canada
I couldn’t complete this article without mentioning prediction markets, with Wealthsimple now expanding in this direction. This is something we at Million Dollar Journey have been keeping our eye on as it becomes available to Canadians.
What is a prediction market? A prediction market allows investors to make predictions about whether specific real-world events will happen. If that sounds a bit like gambling and more than a little risky, that’s because it is. It is essentially a form of online gambling, and it definitely runs in the opposite direction to boring old reliable index funds.
Wealthsimple has now added the ability for investors to trade prediction markets in a new app called Wealthsimple Predict. Our concern, shared by others in the field, such as Justwealth CEO James Gauthier, is that the presence of prediction markets interferes with the fiduciary duty of portfolio managers to act in their clients’ best interests and should therefore not be mixed within investment platforms.
You’ll also find a lot of discussion online by current Wealthsimple clients who are appalled by this addition of gamification, some to the point of wanting to move their investments elsewhere because they don’t want to support a company that offers “online gambling.”
All in all, the addition of prediction markets to Wealthsimple seems like the company pulling clients in yet another direction and enticing them to take unnecessary risks. From our point of view, it’s another move by Wealthsimple that has us wondering about their vision for the long term. Do they want to offer highly speculative and risky investment opportunities, or do they want to stick to the course of becoming a tier one bank? It seems they are trying to go in all directions when they’d be better off choosing one direction.
So Which One Is Better for Me?
In my opinion, Justwealth has the edge for a few important reasons:
- Stronger long-term performance. Their portfolios have consistently delivered impressive returns relative to many competitors.
- Dedicated financial advice. Every client is paired with a personal advisor they can contact whenever they need guidance.
- Exceptional portfolio selection. With more than 80 portfolio options, Justwealth offers the widest range of investment strategies available from any Canadian robo-advisor.
- Unique target-date RESP portfolios. One of the most compelling RESP solutions in Canada, and Justwealth is the only platform to offer it to Canadians! It’s the platform I most often recommend to friends and family who want professional portfolio management instead of building and maintaining their own Canadian ETF portfolio through an online brokerage.
- A clear vision. Justwealth is focusing on passive index investing and not jumping around in different directions, enticing investors with gold, cryptocurrencies, etc., like Wealthsimple is.
That said, Wealthsimple remains Canada’s largest automated investing platform for good reason. Its intuitive app, polished user experience, and strong brand recognition have made it the go-to choice for many Canadian investors.
If you’d like a more detailed breakdown of each platform, be sure to read our comprehensive Wealthsimple Review and Justwealth Review before deciding which one is the best fit for your investing goals.
“Now, when it comes to promotions, Justwealth clearly has the edge”. I disagree, Wealthsimple has aggressive customer acquisition promotions. They currently offer 1% match on transfers, which can far exceed the $500 offered by Justwealth. Recently Wealthsimple also had a 1/2/3% match promo so you could receive up to 3% of your portfolio value.
Really great article Meg! Appreciate your review of these two and will share with a friend looking to start investing. Appreciate the time it tool to compile all this.