Questrade vs Wealthsimple – Which is Better in 2024?

For many DIY investors the Wealthsimple vs Questrade comparison comes down to fees – but there are several other points of comparison that are worth considering given how important choosing your trading platform is.

While both Questrade and Wealthsimple are both included amongst my personal rankings of the best Canadian online brokers, there are some major differences between the two platforms.

Quick Note: It’s important to understand right from the beginning that Questrade and Wealthsimple are both large companies, and that each company has two completely different types of DIY platforms. Both Wealthsimple and Questrade have low cost DIY online brokerage platforms that let customers buy and sell stocks, ETFs, and other individualized assets. 

The two companies also offer a type platform that is generally known as a robo advisor. Robo advisors are the ultimate hands-off type of investment solution, but cost a little more over the long term. Read more about the best Canadian robo advisors if you think that’s the direction you want to go. Both online brokerages and robo advisors are WAY better investment options than Canada’s traditional mutual fund industry. 

I also recommend checking out how both Wealthsimple and Questrade compare to our #1 rated DIY Canadian brokerage platform by reading our in-depth Qtrade review.

Questrade Vs Wealthsimple: Quick Comparison

Check out the table below for a side-by-side comparison of who each platform is best for to customer service and other key features.

 For additional comparison options, I recommend checking out our Qtrade vs Wealthsimple article, as well as our Qtrade vs Questrade comparison.

Questrade vs Wealthsimple Summary

You can read below to see the detailed breakdown of the two robo advisors: Questwealth Portfolios vs Wealthsimple Invest, as well as the head-to-head comparison of the online brokers: Wealthsimple Trade vs Questrade Brokerage.

If you just want the short and sweet version though, here’s the MDJ editorial 3-minute decision tree.

1) If you want the easiest and quickest way to invest – along with some solid financial advice and help using the platform – then go with Wealthsimple Invest, Wealthsimple’s Robo advisor. 

You’ll get instant diversification into index funds, and it will be the easiest app you’ll ever use.  Questwealth Portfolios is fine – but it leaves something to be desired on both the user experience and investing style.

Quick Note: If you’re looking to trade cryptocurrencies (not our thing) then Wealthsimple Crypto is the Canadian leader in this category. It is included as part of the Wealthsimple Trade platform.

2) If you’re looking to pick stocks and cut costs to the bone, then check out our constantly-updated comparison of the best online brokers in Canada.

Both Questrade and Wealthsimple Trade are mentioned. We at MDJ have found Wealthsimple Trade to be really “buggy” compared to their smooth and efficient robo advisor. Personally, we think either Questrade or Qtrade is the best fit for most of Canada’s investors.

Discount Brokerages vs Robo Advisors

To make the best choice in the Wealthsimple vs Questrade battle for investment dollars, it’s important to understand the differences between the different types of platforms that allow Canadians to invest their money.

Robo Advisors: NOT ROBOTS – but a way to automate your way to a healthy nest egg! The basic idea is that robo advisor platforms make it as easy possible to take a piece of your paycheque and turn it into an addition to your TFSA, RRSP, or non-registered account.

The added benefit is that you will still have access to a real human if you need to ask questions or are in need of general advice.

Wealthsimple is currently ranked #1 in our list of best Canadian robo advisors.

DIY Online Brokerages: If you want to cut costs to the absolute bone and are willing to do a bit of reading and math, then an online brokerage will be the right platform for you. Keep in mind that you’ll be in charge of executing all transactions, so you’ll need to be comfortable with that. Also note that with these platforms, there is no advice component available. 

It’s key to understand that Questrade started as a DIY online broker and added a robo advisor, while Wealthsimple started as a robo advisor and has added a DIY online broker.  

So your decision ultimately becomes not just Wealthsimple vs Questrade, but really Wealthsimple Trade vs Questrade Brokerage, and Wealthsimple Invest vs Questwealth Portfolios.

Questwealth Portfolios vs Wealthsimple Invest

The way that Questwealth Portfolios invests your money vs how Wealthsimple Invest puts your money to work, is the single biggest difference between these two automated investing services.

• Questwealth Portfolios = Active Investing
• Wealthsimple Invest = Passive Investing

What this active vs passive argument boils down to is that when a company actively invests your money, it means that they are trying to pick and choose which investments will create the highest investment returns. A passive investing strategy is when an investor or company simply seeks to own a small piece of every company or bond in a given market. In the case of a Wealthsimple portfolio, this means owning small pieces of thousands of companies from all around the world, as well as hundreds of bonds.

The investments in your Questwealth Portfolio are actively managed by a company named One Capital Management, based in Los Angeles, California.

Getting “experts” to pick the best investments to put in a portfolio might sound good in theory. The problem is that most of the time “experts” are really bad at actually selecting the best investments for their clients. There are many reasons for this fact, but what it comes down to is that it’s really, really hard to get an edge on everyone else in the stock or bond market. This shouldn’t be a surprise considering who is involved in trying to outdo each other in these markets.  

Remember that for every share or bond you sell, there is someone on the other end who thinks they got the better deal.  

These companies compete against each other every day using brilliant brains from Ivy League schools, supercomputers that should probably be used at NASA, insider information gleaned from their paid “consultants” who are former politicians or staffers, etc. As soon as one of these money managers or companies gain an edge, it is often quickly copied by the others. Consequently, to be “above average” at picking the best investments is quite difficult, and the people who can do it usually run relatively small hedge funds for the world’s wealthy – not investments aimed at the average retail investor.

Study after study has shown that passive investment’s strategy of “owning the entire market” and guaranteeing yourself the average overall return is far and away a better strategy than hiring someone to “beat the market” for you!

If you want more insights on why passive investing has fared much better than active investing, please read these articles (or just trust that I read them).

1) Here’s why Warren Buffett (one of the world’s best stock pickers) says that you should passively invest your money.

2) Here’s an example of Buffett actually winning a $1 Million bet that an index fund would beat an elite hedge fund.

3) Here’s another example of how active management has lost for the last 9+ years.

Both Questwealth Portfolios and Wealthsimple Invest also include Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) options, but only Wealthismple has Halal Investing options for Islamic investors.

Additionally, in 2020 Wealthsimple launched their own socially responsible investing funds rather than relying on third party responsible investing ETFs which they have been doing since 2016.

Wealthsimple noticed that investors were showing an increased interest in having their investments match their values and, on June 16th, 2020, two new Wealthsimple funds hit the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The first is Wealthsimple North America Socially Responsible Index ETF which invests primarily in Canadian and US equity services (management fee is 0.2%). The second is Wealthsimple Developed Markets ex-North American Social Responsible Index ETF and focuses on European, Asian, and Australian equity services (management fee is 0.25%)

As mentioned earlier, Questrade also has SRI with similar fees (0.25% for under $99,999 and 0.2% above $100,000), however, the fact that Wealthsimple is taking the steps to become more invested in socially responsible investing will give them a step up in the eyes of many Canadian investors.

Big Winner: Wealthsimple Invest

Questwealth Fees vs Wealthsimple Fees

If you want to see what a robo advisor is all about, or are just getting started with investing, then Wealthsimple has a fantastic promotional offer which includes getting a $50 bonus on a $500 or more deposit.

Questwealth Portfolio has no such introductory offer at this time.  However, there is no denying the long-term edge that Questwealth Portfolios have when it comes to a pure comparison of MER.  For smaller portfolios (less than $100,000) Questwealth Portfolios charge .25% MER + the cost of the underlying ETFs. Wealthsimple Invest charges .50% MER + the cost of underlying ETFs.  For larger portfolios, the costs come down to .20% MER vs .40% MER respectively.

That said, I remain very skeptical that this relatively small difference in fees (.2% MER comes out to about $16 per month on a $100,000 portfolio) is enough to justify the shortcomings of active management.

Winner: Smaller Portfolios = Wealthsimple, Larger Portfolios = Questwealth

Robo Advisor Features

While I’m not a big fan of Wealthsimple’s brokerage platform, there is no denying that the bundle of features they have put together to go with the Wealthsimple Invest robo advisor service is excellent (and has continually grown).

Because Power Corporation has invested so much money into Wealthsimple, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it has been able to really lead when it comes to fintech (“financial technology”) innovation.

Both Wealthsimple Invest and Questrade Portfolios will allow Canadian investors to open and use the most common Canadian accounts such as the RRSP, TFSA, RESP, FHSA, Non-registered, and corporate accounts. Both platforms offer limited help and advising services. Ultimately, both of these robo advisors are great at providing a super quick and easy way to build a diversified investment portfolio.

But Wealthsimple really shines when it comes to the following “extras” that they’re able to provide for Wealthsimple Invest customers.

1) When you invest $500,000 with Wealthsimple Invest, you hit their top tier – called “generation” – and get little perks like a personalized financial plan and ten free airport lounge passes.

2) All investors can make use of Wealthsimple Tax that allows clients to quickly and easily file their own tax returns for FREE each year. It’s sort of like an in-house Turbo Tax.

3) Access to Wealthsimple Save, which is a High Interest Savings Account option. Canadians could open up an EQ Bank Account outside of their Questwealth Portfolios account and get access to a better online banking option than Wealthsimple Save – but some folks just like have everything “under one financial roof.”

4) The other ground-breaking area that Wealthsimple has staked out within the Canadian market is Wealthsimple Crypto. Now, I personally think crypto trading is a quick way to make your money disappear, and several of the cryptocurrencies that Wealthsimple Crypto used to trade have basically gone up in smoke. That said, if you want to gamble in these markets, Wealthsimple will let you trade more than 60 types of cryptocurrencies including:

0x (ZRX), Aave (AAVE), ApeCoin (APE), Amp (AMP), Ankr (ANKR), Avalanche (AVAX), Axie Infinity (AXS), Balancer (BAL), Band (BAND), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), Compound (COMP), Curve (CRV), Decentraland (MANA), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum (ETH), Fantom (FTM), Filecoin (FIL), Kyber Network (KNC), Litecoin (LTC), Maker (MKR), Ox (ZRX), Polkadot (DOT), Polygon (MATIC), Ren (REN), Steller (XLM), SushiSwap (SUSHI), Synthetix (SNX), Uma (UMA), Uniswap (UNI), Yearn.Finance (YFI) and 1inch (1INCH).

Questwealth Portfolios doesn’t offer these types of perks and cross-selling of products that Wealthsimple has put together. Their value proposition is simply that they have the lowest fees in the Canadian robo advisor world.

It’s also worth mentioning that Wealthsimple is another level when it comes to design. Ever since their founding a decade ago, the company has really prioritized flawless user experience, and making things as easy as possible for customers. Their design team has won several awards, and there is no question that everyone else in Canada’s fintech universe has been playing catch up when it comes to looking pretty on both a mobile app and on a desktop. 

Personally, a pretty app isn’t my first prioritize when I pick a platform to manage my money, but I’m always surprised at how positively folks react to superior design. If it motivates you to stay consistent with your investing, there is certainly a good argument for it!

Clear Winner: Wealthsimple 

Quick Compare: Wealthsimple Invest vs Questrade Robo Advisor (Questwealth)

Feature	Wealthsimple Invest	Questwealth Portfolios
Management Fees	0.5% (below $100k), 0.4% (above $100k)	0.25% (below $100k), 0.20% (above $100k)
Investment Strategy	Passive	Active
Minimum Deposit	$0	$1,000
ETFs MER	0.12% to 0.15%	0.10% to 0.14% (ETFs), 0.21% to 0.35% (SRI)
Rough Total Annual Fees on a $100,000 Portfolio	$650	$400
Rough Total Annual Fees on a $500,000 Portfolio	$3,250	$1,800
Account Types	RRSP, RRIF, LIRA, RESP, TFSA, FHSA, Personal, Joint, Business	RESP, RRSP, RRIF, LIRA, LIF, TFSA, FHSA, Cash, Corporate Cash
Currency Exchange Fee	1.5%	1%
Tax-Loss Harvesting	Yes	Yes
SIPF Protection	Yes	Yes
Investment Products	Stocks and ETFs	Stocks, Options, ETFs, Bonds, IPOs, GICs, Precious Metals, Mutual Funds
Trading Fees	Free	$4.95 to $9.95 for stocks, $9.95 + $1/contract for options
Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)	Yes	Yes
Promotions/Offers	$25 bonus (with $500 deposit), $150 account transfer fee reimbursement	Referral rewards ($25 per referral, $50 every third referral)

Conclusion: Wealthsimple is Canada’s Top Robo Advisor

Despite giving up a couple of MER points in fees, the combination of unsurpassed features, superior passive investing strategy, and award-winning user experience, leave Wealthsimple standing alone atop the mountain in the Questrade Portfolios vs Wealthsimple Invest robo advisor battle.

Questrade Brokerage vs Wealthsimple Trade

Questrade Fees vs Wealthsimple Trade Fees

In some ways, the Questrade discount brokerage product vs the Wealthsimple Trade online brokerage platform are the mirror image of the robo advisor battle.  

Here we see that it is Wealthsimple that has cut fees to the absolute bone. It’s literally FREE to invest with Wealthsimple Trade.

However – you are getting the absolute minimum product with that $0 cost structure.  

With Wealthsimple Trade you pay $0 to either buy or sell any ETF or stock. If you’re wondering if this is too good to be true, remember how pared down this platform is AND keep in mind that Wealthsimple may simply be using this as a loss leader in order to bring you into their overall ecosystem, which now includes tax preparation, robo advisor services, high interest savings accounts, and chequing accounts.  

Questrade on the other hand continues to solidly clip along with their extremely low per-trade fee of $5.00 plus ECN fees. For more on what this means, check out our Questrade Review. It is also worth mentioning that Questrade offers free purchases of most ETFs.  However, the $5 + ECN fees are still in play when it comes to selling those ETFs.

The bottom line is that Questrade has long been the fee leader when it comes to discount brokerage investing in Canada. Their fees are still very low, but there is no denying the math that FREE beats “low fee”. 

That said, the MDJ editorial team has been really disappointed in the lack of innovation that Wealthsimple has produced when it comes to their brokerage accounts relative to other areas of their business. The Wealthsimple Trade platform just lacks so many parts of key infrastructure that we take for granted at other online brokers.

It’s clear that the free platform will never be a major focus for the company. You can read this Wealthsimple Trade review to see why we don’t like it as much.

Winner: Questrade

Features

Here’s what you get with Wealthsimple Trade:

• $0 TRADES without any restrictions or exceptions
• Basic RRSP, TFSA, and non-registered accounts
• $0 Monthly or annual fees
• Simple mobile app

You can quickly see that Wealthsimple Trade is building its case on a sheer value basis.  

Here’s what the Questrade Discount Brokerage brings to the table:

• Stock trades and ETF sales for $5.00 + ECN fees (which are usually minimal)
• Excellent initial promo offer – Click here to get $50 in Free Trades
• ETF purchases for $0
• Almost any type of account you can imagine (RRSP, TFSA, RESP, Non-Registered – which they call a margin account, LIRA, RIF, LIF, Joint Accounts, and Corporate Accounts)
• $1,000 Account Minimum
• **check on monthly/yearly fees
• Ability to hold USD
• Access to elite data platforms for active traders, watchlists, news, and various types of investor information services
• Access to stock exchanges other than the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

Questrade and Qtrade have been the gold standard for Canadian online discount brokerage options for a long time now – and it’s clear to see why. Their newly-improved desktop platform and mobile app are excellent, their fees are very low, and they provide unparalleled features at this price point.

Plus, we can’t forget about the outstanding promotional offer shown below.

Winner: Questrade Discount Brokerage

How to Transfer Stocks from Wealthsimple Trade to Questrade?

With all the hiccups in the Wealthsimple Trade platform over the last couple of years (any with cryptocurrency taking such a nose dive in 2022) we thought we’d explain how to go about transferring your stocks from Wealthsimple to Questrade’s online brokerage.

The basic idea here is to allow Questrade to help you do the work!

Open a Questrade online broker account (decide ahead of time if you want an RRSP, TFSA, and/or basic non-registered margin account).

Once it’s open, get in touch with a Questrade representative, and not only will they help you transfer your stocks from Wealthsimple to Questrade, they’ll even pay your transfer costs and give you a $50 promotion.

Questrade vs Wealthsimple Cryptocurrency Buying and Selling

While Questrade offers the same cryptocurrency ETFs as every other online broker, Wealthsimple Trade has really doubled down on its quiet to be the primary way that people trade crypto in Canada.

With over fifty cryptocurrencies currently available (and more being added all the time), Wealthsimple has distinguished itself in this area. Be prepared to pay for the privilege of trading and selling within this niche though, as Wealthsimple will charge you up to 2% per transaction in currency spreads. There are no account minimums or additional fees apart from that however.

Wealthsimple Trade also makes it easy to import or export your crypto from various wallets or other trading platforms.  

In the Questrade vs Wealthsimple war, the crypto battle decisively goes to Wealthsimple.

Wealthsimple vs Questrade FAQ

Wealthsimple vs Questrade: What’s Right for YOU

So, you now have all the details you need when it comes to Questrade vs. Wealthsimple, but if you’re thirsty for more, we recommend taking a deeper dive into Canada’s best robo advisors and Canada’s best online brokerages.

As an investor, it’s important to decide on how involved you want to be in the process. For some, the robo advisor will be the best option, as you can literally automate each part of the process and never have to think about it if you prefer not to. If this sounds appealing to you, Wealthsimple would likely be the best choice for you.

Right now, you can sign up for a Wealthsimple account and get a $50 bonus when you fund your account with $500 or more.

If you are looking to get into the active trader game, having a bit more control and more features, Questrade would likely be a better fit when purely looking at the Questrade vs. Wealthsimple comparison.

While Questrade is a strong contender when it comes to the best brokerages in Canada, there is an even better option in our books-Qtrade. Qtrade’s superior platform and customer service trumps both Questrade and Wealthsimple. To see why it’s our pick for best Canadian online brokerage, check out our full Qtrade vs Questrade comparison.