Questrade vs Wealthsimple – Which is Better in 2026?

The Wealthsimple vs Questrade battle for Canadians’ investment dollars has become much more prominent over the last few years as each company has upped their marketing budget big time! Both companies built their reputations (and humorous ad campaigns) on a simple truth: Canadians pay far too much at the big banks.

Free trades, clean interfaces, and a race toward zero-commission investing have made both platforms easy to recommend at first glance, which helps explain why they now serve millions of Canadians.

Even though Wealthsimple and Questrade are household names, neither one is my top pick in 2026. That distinction still belongs to Qtrade, based on its reliability, account flexibility, long-term planning tools, and its move to commission-free trading on stocks and ETFs. (Plus the crazy cash-back promo you can read about in my full Qtrade review.)

Before diving into a head-to-head comparison of Wealthsimple vs Questrade, it’s important to understand that each of these companies actually has both an online brokerage platform and a robo advisor platform. Understanding the differences between those DIY investing options will be key for understanding which company best fits your needs.

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 Portfolios (formerly Wealthsimple Invest), as well as the head-to-head comparison of the online brokers: Wealthsimple Trade vs Questrade Brokerage.

DIY Online Brokerages: Low-cost platforms where you can buy and sell stocks, ETFs, and other individual investments. These tools are ideal for hands-on investors who prefer to manage their own portfolios and don’t mind doing a little reading to get started.

Robo Advisors: Each company also offers a robo-advisor platform. Sometimes referred to as automated wealth managers, these platforms are designed for investors looking for a hands-off approach. While robo-advisors charge slightly higher fees than DIY brokerages, they also provide advice and automated solutions.

If you’re unsure which approach suits you best, it’s worth learning more about the Best Canadian Robo Advisors to see if they align with your financial goals.

The Key Difference: Managed Investing vs DIY Trading

Wealthsimple was originally built for investors who want a much more hands-off experience and Questrade used to be aimed exclusively for Canadian do-it-yourself investors. At this point, both companies have grown from their roots and include both a “we’ll do it for you” option, as well as a super cheap basic brokerage option.

Wealthsimple was at its best when it was a pure robo advisor (in fact for a while, they were basically the “Kleenex” of Canadian robo advisors) and handled automated investing. They have since changed the name of this service about 7 times. The latest reincarnation is as Wealthsimple Portfolios. Questrade answers back with their Questwealth Portfolios option.

The key thing to understand is that when you choose a passive “we do it for you” option, you are selecting a managed investing path. You answer a few questions about your goals and risk tolerance, deposit your money, and the platform takes care of the rest. It builds a diversified ETF portfolio, handles rebalancing, and keeps everything running in the background.

That is obviously appealing for people who do not want to spend their evenings reading about asset allocation or deciding which ETF to buy in their TFSA.

As I stated before, both companies now also offer DIY trading platforms. Questrade has always been an online broker, while Wealthsimple joined in the game a few years ago. Using an online brokerage account instead of a robo advisor means you are the one actively making the decisions. You choose what to buy, when to buy it, and how to build your portfolio. That gives you more flexibility and more control, but it also means more responsibility.

If you’re looking for a robo advisor experience with more customization and a dedicated financial advisor, Justwealth is worth a look. It’s currently my top pick for robo advisors in Canada.

And if you’re leaning towards a DIY online brokerage but want the best combination of low fees, research tools, and customer support, Qtrade is still my #1 choice. It just does everything a little bit better than Questrade – and it has a fantastic promo going on right now.

Bottom line? Make sure you understand the type of investor you are before making a decision. Wealthsimple and Questrade are both solid platforms, but they cater to very different investing styles.

If you’re not sure which one suits you best, it might be worth reading my more detailed breakdowns on each platform or even giving both a test run. Just remember: the best platform is the one that matches your investing style, comfort level, and financial goals.

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 Portfolios

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.

May 2026 Update: I’ll always give Wealthsimple credit for helping push index investing into the Canadian mainstream. They did a lot of great educational work around robo advisors and passive investing. Their informative (yet funny) advertising ads made investing feel more approachable for a lot of Canadians.

That said, my opinion of the company has definitely gone downhill over the last few years.

As ownership has become increasingly dominated by one of Canada’s largest financial firms, the focus seems to have shifted. Instead of mostly helping everyday Canadians build simple long-term portfolios, there has been a lot more emphasis on pushing higher-margin products and more speculative trading behaviour. Crypto is probably the clearest example.

The latest “innovations” as of May 2026 have me even more upset. Crypto wasn’t enough of a profit-generator for this company, now we’re adding in risky private credit and private equity into robo advisor portfolios AND Wealthsimple is adding betting markets (a Canadian Kalshi and Polymarket) to its platform as well. That is about as far away from its initial values as possible!

Even the branding tells part of the story. The robo advisor platform used to be the entire company. It was simply called “Wealthsimple.” Perfect – easy to describe to folks and it was indeed… simple. But then we started adding all kinds of bells and whistles that muddled the waters and we had to call the robo “Wealthsimple Invest.” Ok… I can go along with that, fair enough.

Then we quickly pivoted to Wealthsimple Managed Investing. Before the ink was dry on that one, we’re now Wealthsimple portfolios and we’re barely mentioned in ads anymore. That’s such a vague name it could mean anything. I think this constant rebranding and moving the robo advisor platform to the background is a pretty clear indicator of where the focus is these days. 

The biggest issue, though, is the portfolio management and overall investment returns. Over the last few years, Wealthsimple repeatedly changed the makeup of what were supposed to be passive investment portfolios. That is not really passive investing in any meaningful sense, and several of those calls turned out poorly. Ben Felix and Rob Carrick have both written in detail about those decisions, and I think their criticism was well deserved. These constant changes have led to Wealthsimple investors losing out compared to other robo advisors.

For more information on my choice for top robo advisor in 2026, I recommend checking out my Justwealth Review.

Winner: Maybe Wealthsimple? Truthfully, I’m not a big fan of either robo advisor at this point.

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 three out of 10 of their Milestone Rewards which include UberOne, DINR and Globe and Mail subscriptions.

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) 3) Access to Wealthsimple Chequing, which is a High Interest Chequing 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 Chequing – 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	0-1.5%	1%
Tax-Loss Harvesting	Yes	Yes
SIPF Protection	Yes	Yes
Investment Products	Stocks, ETFs, Options, Margin, and Bonds	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: Justwealth Beats Wealthsimple AND Questrade as Canada’s Best Robo Advisor

Even after accounting for slightly higher MERs, Wealthsimple still does a lot of things very well. The interface is clean and the user experience works as well as advertised. For Canadians who want a hands-off, passive investing setup without any friction at all, it remains one of the easiest platforms to get started with.

When you line it up directly against Questrade Portfolios, Wealthsimple still comes out ahead on overall user experience. The platform feels more polished, and the investing process is just easier from start to finish.

That said, this isn’t a ringing endorsement. Wealthsimple has been harder to love over the last few years. Some of their product pivots, add-ons, and upselling experiments have rubbed long-time users the wrong way (myself included). When they stick to what they originally did best – clean, boring, low-cost index investing – the platform shines. When they drift from that, the value proposition suffers.

In the Wealthsimple vs Questrade robo advisor matchup,I’d still give Wealthsimple the edge.

But here’s the big robo advisor takeaway in 2026: Neither Wealthsimple nor Questrade Portfolios is Canada’s best option right now.

That distinction still belongs to Justwealth. Justwealth doesn’t have flashy ads or big brand recognition. What they do have, is thoughtful portfolio construction, strong personalized advice, and a level of customization that the larger platforms don’t come close to matching. Investment performance has been excellent, and the overall structure feels more like a disciplined investment firm than a fintech growth experiment.

Add in their current $100 to $500 cash-back promotion, and it’s hard to argue with the value.

If you want the slickest interface, Wealthsimple makes sense. If you want the strongest overall robo advisor offering in Canada today, Justwealth is still the quiet winner. Click the link below to see if they’re a good fit, and to take advantage of that $500 cash back. 

Questrade Brokerage vs Wealthsimple Trade

A few years ago, the battle between Questrade and Wealthsimple Trade was all about fees. Wealthsimple was the disruptor with the bold “$0 trades” promise, while Questrade and Qtrade still charged a small per-trade fee. 

But that world is gone.

As of 2026, both Questrade and Qtrade now offer completely free trades on stocks and ETFs, which means Wealthsimple’s old advantage has basically evaporated. With everyone at $0 commissions, the comparison shifts from “Who’s cheapest?” to “Who actually gives you the better brokerage experience?”

And this is where Wealthsimple Trade’s limitations start to show.

Yes, Wealthsimple Trade is still free and very easy to use. But you’re getting the bare-bones version of what a modern brokerage should be. The platform is missing many features that Canadian DIY investors take for granted — from robust research tools to a full range of account types to proper USD functionality.

It’s intentionally simple, and while that works for casual, small-balance investors, it’s a ceiling for everyone else. Wealthsimple has also made it pretty clear through their product roadmap that the brokerage isn’t the centre of their long-term strategic focus. (Our Wealthsimple Trade review goes deeper on this.)

Questrade, on the other hand, now pairs zero commissions with the more complete infrastructure they were already known for. If you’re shopping for the best Canadian online brokerage, I highly recommend checking out our Qtrade vs Questrade battle.

The bottom line is that free trades used to be Wealthsimple Trade’s big competitive edge. Now that Questrade (and Qtrade) have matched them on cost, the spotlight shifts to usability, flexibility, and overall investor experience. Questrade wins that matchup comfortably.

Winner: Questrade

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.