Robinhood is considered safe for investors. It's a member for the Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC), is regulated by the SEC, and has additional financial protection per customer up to certain amounts for cash and securities.

There are two main ways to make money on Robinhood: Buy and sell stocks or other assets at a higher price than you bought them for. This is known as capital gains. Earn dividends on stocks you own.

What are the disadvantages of using Robinhood? The main downside of Robinhood is that the investment selection is limited for hands-off, passive investors: The broker offers no mutual funds or index funds, which financial advisors typically suggest using as the basis of a diversified portfolio.

You'll be considered a “Pattern Day Trader” if you execute 4 or more day trades within 5 trading days, provided that the number of day trades represents more than 6% of your total trades within your margin account for that same 5 trading day period.