• Original review date: July 2021
• Still the latest hair dryer from GHD
• Launch price: $279.00 / £159 / AU$280
• Official price now: The same
Updated: February 2024. Rejoice, the GHD Helios is now available in the US and Australia, and remains the best hair dryer we've tested. That should come as no surprise to those familiar with the brand; in the UK, certainly, GHD has long been the champion of haircare. However, next-generation hair technology is getting better, with many companies opting for the Dyson Supersonic-esque technology, utilizing far faster and more powerful motors. The jury's out on if that technology is really worth the lofty price tag; in our opinion, the still relatively expensive GHD Helios offers better value for money. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
It’s been eight years since GHD first entered the hair dryer game – one of the original brands to bring a salon-style, professional hair dryer to the masses with the GHD Air – and a lot has changed.
There are now dozens of professional dryers from both traditional hair companies and non-traditional firms, which are more well known for vacuums than styling products (Dyson, we’re looking at you). In our GHD Air review, we explained that despite a rise in competition and an improvement in drying technology, GHD’s original hair dryer still more than holds its own and is one of best hair dryers you can buy. Yet, it was starting to show its age. A point that appears to have not gone unnoticed at GHD.
(Image credit: Future)
Taking what we loved about the GHD Air and fixing a number of the points we didn't, the hair giant has launched the GHD Helios. We’ve been using the £159 hair dryer exclusively for the past fortnight and we’d be as bold to say that we have a new favorite hair dryer – it's high price tag notwithstanding.
Design
Hair dryers have largely moved away from the black (read: boring) designs that are popular in hairdressers. They have become an accessory, rather than just a tool, and come in a range of colors from bright red to “Fuschia” and beyond. The Helios follows suit, but in a classy, elegant way that we’ve come to expect from GHD.
(Image credit: Future)
We tested the white and rose gold model and it’s absolutely stunning. It also comes in maroon and gold, black and silver, and navy and black. The different colored versions of GHD Helios’ plastic shell are additionally covered in a thin coating that feels almost like silicone to the touch and this gives the dryer a smooth, luxurious feel.
Weight-wise, the Helios is lighter than the Air tipping the scales at 780g compared to its predecessor’s 1.54kg. What’s more, where – on paper – it’s heavier than other dryers we’ve tested, the Helios is incredibly well-balanced so it doesn’t feel any more bulky and it isn’t any more difficult to use. There is a downside to this, however. The extra weight on the GHD Air made it feel expensive and sturdy, which helped us to rationalise its high price. The Helios’ light weight, by contrast, feels just like many of the other cheaper hair dryers on the market. A feeling that even its elegant colorways and smooth shell can’t quite counteract.
(Image credit: Future)
Everything else, including the placement of the two-speed and dual-temperature switches, the cold shot button and the branded grille are almost an exact copy and paste from the Air.
Performance
GHD claims its Helios is “faster, lighter and quieter” than the Air. We’ve already confirmed it’s lighter, but does it live up to the other claims? Yes – very much so! Its motor is marginally more powerful – up from 2,100w on the Air to 2,200w – and the holes in its grille have apparently been redesigned to reduce noise. It is noticeably less loud in real-world use, and when measured with a decibel meter, it’s a whole two decibels quieter than the Air.
When it comes to speed, the Helios similarly smashed it out of the park. Not just in comparison to the Air, but when pitted against the drying speeds of every hair dryer we’ve ever tested. Until the Helios, the Dyson Supersonic was the fastest dryer – taking our hair from wet from a shower to completely dry in 2 minutes 6 seconds. The Helios took an entire minute off this time. This meant our hair was rough dried in 1 minute and 6 seconds and is an absolute game changer.
(Image credit: Future)
The Helios was similarly a minute and eight seconds faster than the Supersonic at drying our hair after a swim, offering a total dry time of 1 minute and 50 seconds. With the concentrator nozzle attached to the Helios – a nozzle which has been made thinner with a curved edge designed to reduce turbulence – it took us just two minutes and 20 seconds to style our hair. Again, a minute faster than the Dyson Supersonic.
We didn’t even have to sacrifice hair quality and shine for this improved speed, either. After every use, our hair was almost frizz-free with only minimal flyaways and we never once had to resort to running straighteners over it to complete the look. Two weeks into testing and our hair definitely feels stronger and we’re seeing fewer breakages and less hair loss in the shower.
There is a but, though. Helios’ lightning speed and precision, which made our hair so smooth and shiny, left it lacking volume. It’s almost as if the flow of air is so powerful, it beats the hair into submission. This was disappointing, particularly when everything else was going so well.
Verdict
Just as cheaper rivals were starting to catch up on, and overtake, the power and performance of the original Air hair dryer, GHD has come out swinging with the Helios. A dryer that surpassed most of our, already high, expectations and one that we’ve found ourselves gravitating towards over every other hair dryer in our collection. Until the release of the GHD Helios, our go-to dryer was the Dyson Supersonic. This is now in second place.
Sadly, £159 for a hair dryer will be out of the reach of many people meaning its superior performance is out of reach, too. As a result, the Helios is unlikely to be an impulse buy and will be considered an investment. An investment we highly recommend you make.
Best hair dryer: luscious locks in seconds with these great hair dryers
CareCloud focuses on cloud based practice management, serving doctors in fifty different specialties across the US. It started back in 2009, with a headquarters in Miami, Florida, and over 240 employees.
Growth has been strong with a product entry into the remote area, and record bookings in 2022.E. It is currently used by over 40,000 medical providers, across 70+ specialties in all 50 states.
CareCloud offers their medical practice management solution under the ‘Practice Management’ banner, designed from the ground up to provide automation from routine activities, which frees up the office manager to do more important things at the practice . While it does provide a medical billing solution which can produce ‘Cleaner claims,’ and also enhances the efficiency of the workflow. It also provides real time analytics to provide information on the productivity of the practice as a business.
It starts with a comprehensive scheduling module that has a simple to use online drag-and-drop interface for patient scheduling of appointments. Incorporated is a multi-view calendar, that is designed to handle the complexities of a modern practice’s workflow in a way that a venerable Day Runner could only dream of, such as insurance verification, automated patient reminders, confirmation of appointments across multiple practice locations, and streamlined check in and out of patients- all to enhance front office staff efficiency. The views are powerful, and flexible, making it simple to see a provider’s appointments- for today, the future, or for prior dates- by the day, week or month. Insurance eligibility can be checked prior to the scheduled appointment, including the details of deductibles, copays and coinsurance, to ensure cash flow to the practice remains steady.
A significant issue at any practice is the denial of claims, which then delays payments, and takes precious time for staff to resubmit. CareCloud incorporates in their CollectiveIQ module, a comprehensive set of advanced, automated billing rules, that ensures submitted claims are ‘Clean claims,’ making them far more likely to not get rejected. Even when claims do inevitably get rejected, CareCloud has your practice covered with collections, so the practice can get paid for its work. In the Collections app, each rejected claim gets listed for the reason of denial, and even claims that were submitted and no action was taken by the payer get listed here as a reminder to followup. By listing denied claims by payer, age, and reason, trends emerge into actionable intelligence to minimize further issues, such as seeing an insurance company that takes an excessive amount to pay, and a decision can be made by the practice to no longer participate when the contract expires.
The Financial workflow app also makes things simpler for the office staff. Claims can be submitted without needing to re enter all the information, as the patient’s demographic information is used to auto-populate fields, which significantly reduces the workload. In addition, there is the ability to lookup codes by both diagnosis and CPT.
Drawbacks
In terms of medical practice management, CareCloud does cover plenty of needs. One deficit is it lacks the ability to handle inventory management. The medical scheduling function is missing scheduling for on call providers, and has issues with setting up recurring appointments, such as for an annual physical.
User reviews list some issues, which can be frustrating. They include frequent downtimes, and when customer support is contacted they read off a script. Others complain that the analytic reports cannot be customized, that labs are not integrated, and that some feel stuck with a multi-year contract they feel that they were pushed into.
Support
Support for CareCloud is listed on their website via a single toll free number for phone support. The hours and days of operation are not listed anymore; it was previously business hours on weekdays It is stated elsewhere that the tech support is US based.
Unfortunately, there is no listed option for an online portal or chat, which can be useful as options for communication is preferred without waiting on hold There is also an email, and a fax number.
(Image credit: CareCloud)
Pricing
CareCloud used to provide pricing for their solution, but that is no longer the case. There are no prices listed on the CareCloud website unfortunately, but rather a custom quote can be generated. While we can appreciate this stance, to customize the price to the solution, we still prefer some pricing upfront, with an idea of the tiers and the additional options available, but there is none to be found here.
The closest that we could find (and not on the website) is that for both the EMR and the Patient Experience Management the cost is $628 per month. While that may not be the current pricing, this still makes it a higher priced option than some other competing solutions.
Also realize that this is not a complete solution, with additional modules available to build this out, and that also will increase the cost. These include Telehealth, Revenue Cycle Management, and on demand remote workers via Workforce Extension.
Finally, keep in mind that it is a free demo, but there is no free tier or free trial to better test drive it prior to purchase.
Final verdict
For a medical practice management service, CareCloud ticks many of the right boxes, with robust scheduling, automated claims scrubbing, and upfront pricing. The higher price, lack of support hours and options, and user issues in reaching their support representative are some areas to be aware of. In summary, CareCloud overall is worthy of a close look, and the free demo is worth investigating how this can serve your practice’s needs.
Ally Financial is a leading U.S digital financial services company, and is also ranked 19th among the largest banks in the United States. Ally Invest is their investment trading arm, though the name is considerably new in the stockbroker space. In 2016, a service called TradeKing was bought over by the parent company and was rebranded as Ally Invest. Ever since then, new features and benefits have been added to it along with the rebranding, turning it into a professional and reliable investment services platform.
What to expect from Ally Invest?
Since Ally Invest is a full-service firm, it provides diverse options to meet the requirements of investors and industry standards.
Among the key products that it offers are:
Stocks
ETFs
Mutual funds
Bonds
Options
It also offers managed investments (robo-advice) through a service called Ally Invest Managed Portfolios. Going with the trend in the industry, Ally Invest has removed commissions from most of the U.S exchange-listed stock, options and ETF trades.
(Image credit: Future)
Mobile platform
Ally Invest comes with a browser-based trading platform and does not require you to download any application. This works best for users who work from different locations. Both bank and brokerage can be operated using a single cloud-based application.
Ally also offers apps to trade via mobile devices. These apps are known as Ally Mobile or Ally Forex. These apps are custom mobile trading platform and are available for both Android and iOS. The apps offer similar features compared to the web-based platform.
While these apps offer most of the functionalities, they are not the among the best available in the business.
Tools
Ally Invest provides a range of different tools to help traders, such as:
Streaming Charts
Market and Company Snapshots
Watch lists
Profit and loss calculator
Probability calculator
Market data and Options Chains
Accounts
As of now Ally Invest only allows users from the United States to sign up on the platform While the required minimum deposit to open an account at Ally Invest is $0, minimum deposit for various accounts can be found below:
Brokerage account $0
Managed Portfolio: $100
Forex Account $250
Margin account $2000
Ally Invest doesn't charge for trading in stocks and ETFs. For Options Trading, they have the tiered commission plans which can be availed at a slightly lesser fee based on the volume.
(Image credit: Future)
Signing up for an Ally Invest Account is easy - just go to their homepage and click Open Account. The process of signup requires that a user makes a decision on what type of account they need. The system takes you through an automated process once you decide.
The different account types that are offered include:
Accounts can be funded via check, ACH or wire transfer. Ally Invest doesn’t charge for funding an account and doesn’t offer an option of funding through wallets, credit cards or debit cards. ACH withdrawals are free but wire transfers are chargeable at $30.
Talking about trading charges, while online stock options and ETF trades are available at zero commission, Options Trades are available at $0.50 per contract. The $9.95 mutual fund trades from Ally Invest are lower when compared to any other full-service brokerage. Because of its charges, Ally Invest is not a ideal for penny stock trading.
Support
One of the highlights is that Ally Invest provides 24/7 customer support via a telephone helpline, email or live chat.
Final verdict
Since Ally Invest is a full-service online brokerage platform, you can use it as a regular trading platform or even use it’s Enhanced Managed Portfolio to manage your funds.
A wide range of services and zero fees makes Ally Invest one of the better platforms to trade on. However, negatives include that it only allows trading in US markets, and the lack of physical offices might put some users off.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is designed to crawl websites and gather crucial SEO data efficiently. This powerful software simulates how search engines crawl a site and lets you identify key SEO elements that impact website visibility and performance. It further enables the analysis of meta tags, response codes, keyword elements, and much more. Whether it's finding broken links, generating XML sitemaps, or analyzing page titles and meta descriptions, Screaming Frog offers a detailed insight into the website's architecture from an SEO perspective.
Ideal for SEO experts and digital marketers, Screaming Frog is a critical tool for enhancing website searchability and performance. In this review, we will be covering the detailed features, specifications, and offerings of Screaming Frog SEO Spider. From its advanced crawling capabilities to its integration options and reporting features, we will explore how this tool can be leveraged to conduct comprehensive SEO audits, improve website performance, and ultimately drive better search engine rankings.
The Free Plan is ideal for small-scale SEO tasks that allow up to 500 URL crawls. It includes basic features like finding broken links, errors, redirects, analyzing page titles, meta data, and generating XML sitemaps. This plan is a great starting point for beginners or small websites.
Priced at £199 /year per license, the Paid Plan offers unlimited URL crawls, subject to available memory and storage. It builds upon the Free Plan with advanced features such as JavaScript rendering for crawling complex websites, custom extraction using CSS Path, XPath, or regex, and integration with Google Analytics, Search Console, and PageSpeed Insights for deeper insights. This plan also includes AMP crawling and validation, structured data analysis, spelling and grammar checks, and the ability to crawl password-protected areas. It's designed for SEO professionals and larger websites needing comprehensive analysis and reporting tools.
Licenses are individual, meaning each user needs a separate one. Screaming Frog offers discounts for bulk purchases, making it cost-effective for teams. The licenses are valid for one year, requiring renewal thereafter. The Paid Plan is particularly beneficial for agencies and larger teams due to its advanced features and scalability.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider stands out for its ability to efficiently crawl websites of any size, from small blogs to large e-commerce sites, and provides real-time analysis of your results. This feature is crucial for identifying broken links, server errors, redirects, and security vulnerabilities, thus ensuring the site’s integrity and performance. The tool goes beyond simple error detection and offers deep insights into page titles and metadata that help spot issues, such as duplicate content or poorly optimized tags. Additionally, Screaming Frog extracts specific site data using CSS Path, XPath, or regex. This comprehensive approach to website crawling and analysis lets you pinpoint and address issues efficiently and further optimizes the site for both search engines and users.
SEO Auditing and Optimization
(Image credit: Screaming Frog SEO Spider)
We found that Screaming Frog’s auditing capabilities are equally robust and focus on redirects, robots.txt, and meta-robots directives, among other elements. It can audit temporary and permanent redirects and identify complex redirect chains and loops that can harm search engine visibility and user experience. Screaming Frog also reviews robots.txt, meta robots, or X-Robots-Tag directives and delivers insights into how search engines are directed to crawl and index pages or not. This includes identifying pages blocked from indexing, which could inadvertently hide valuable content from search engines. Another key feature is the validation of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) which makes sure that these pages are free from issues and optimized for performance in mobile search results.
Integration with Google Services
Screaming Frog SEO Spider boosts its capabilities through integration with various Google services, including Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and PageSpeed Insights. This synergy improves the crawl data with crucial user behavior insights, search query data, and vital performance metrics. By combining these datasets, the tool allows for a holistic analysis that spans visibility, speed, and usability. This integration helps SEO professionals access a comprehensive overview of how users interact with their site, identify performance bottlenecks, and understand the site's presence in search results, all within a single platform. This feature underscores the importance of leveraging Google's vast data resources to inform and refine SEO strategies.
Content and Structure Analysis
If you wish to explore the structural aspects of your site, Screaming Frog offers powerful tools for site architecture analysis. It provides detailed visualizations of a site's architecture, internal linking patterns, and URL structure, making assessing and optimizing the site hierarchy easier. These visual tools help in identifying areas for improvement in site navigation, deliver a seamless user experience, and facilitate search engines' understanding of site content and relevance. You can make informed decisions to enhance the site's navigational efficiency and SEO performance by spotlighting how content is interconnected and how authority flows through internal links. This aspect of Screaming Frog is instrumental in developing a site structure that supports both user engagement and search engine indexing.
Advanced Features and Customization
Screaming Frog SEO Spider goes beyond standard SEO tools by offering advanced features and customization options. During our tests, we noticed that it generated XML Sitemaps and Image XML Sitemaps with detailed configurations that help search engines efficiently discover and index website content. Additionally, the custom source code search feature gives the precise location of specific elements or code snippets across a website which is a boon for technical SEO audits and site maintenance. Plus, Screaming Frog is available as a desktop application for Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is renowned for its comprehensive suite of features, user-friendly interface, and ease of use. This is what makes it accessible to experts and novices alike. The interface is designed to be intuitive, with a clear and organized layout that lets you easily navigate through its various features and toolset. Upon launching the tool, you see a dashboard that presents all critical functionalities at a glance, which lets you quick access to start new crawls, view reports, and analyze data.
The tool's main window displays a wealth of information in a tabulated format and categorizes data into easily digestible sections such as response codes, page titles, meta descriptions, and more. This helps you to identify areas of interest or concern swiftly and facilitates a streamlined workflow for auditing and optimization tasks. Additionally, Screaming Frog offers extensive customization options. This lets you tailor your crawl sessions based on specific needs or objectives. Even the settings can be adjusted to focus on particular aspects of a site, such as link depth, subdomains, or specific file types, giving users complete control over the scope of the analysis.
Screaming Frog has a well-structured support system to assist you in resolving any type of technical issue. You can start by utilizing self-support resources. These guides include the latest version of the SEO Spider, a starter guide, FAQs, and a user guide, available for addressing common problems and queries.
For more complex or specific issues, Screaming Frog has direct technical support. For this, you are advised to save your log files through the app ('Help > Debug > Save logs') and include detailed information about the site, the issue at hand, and any relevant screenshots or videos. This can be done by emailing support@screamingfrog.co.uk or using the 'open a support ticket' option on their website. The support team at Screaming Frog is committed to responding to queries within 24 hours during standard business hours. This dual approach to support paired with self-help resources reflects Screaming Frog's dedication to user satisfaction and problem resolution.
Screaming Frog: The competition
Priced at £149 annually, it is a cost-effective option compared to other tools. For example, SerpStat starts at $69/month, which totals over $800 annually, and it makes Screaming Frog a more budget-friendly choice. However, Screaming Frong’s alternate competitor, Yoast SEO is known for its user-friendly interface and integration with WordPress and it might turn out to be a better option for those who prioritize ease of use and immediate feedback.
However, Screaming Frog's manual configuration for tracking changes in page rankings may be a drawback for some users. This is because tools like Ahrefs offer automated alerts. It starts at $99/month and provides a range of tools in a user-friendly interface. Furthermore, its other competitor Semrush offers a variety of SEO, content marketing, competitor analysis, and PPC tools and starts at $119.95/month.
Screaming Frog: Final verdict
The Screaming Frog SEO Spider stands out in the market because of its thorough analysis and cost-effectiveness. It costs £149/year and provides a wide range of features for detailed SEO audits. This makes it a valuable asset for in-depth website analysis as it can crawl large sites and identify various issues like broken links, duplicate content, and security issues.
However, its technical interface may be challenging for those who prefer simpler, more automated tools. Competitors like Serpstat, Yoast SEO, Ahrefs, and Semrush deliver more user-friendly interfaces and a wider range of marketing tools. However, the cost of these tools is comparatively higher than Screaming Frog. In conclusion, Screaming Frog is ideal for you if you need detailed data and thorough site audits. Overall, it is particularly suitable for individuals, small teams, and agencies who want multi-functional SEO tools without a high investment.
TD Ameritrade is one of the prominent brokerages – no matter whether you are a beginner in the investment arena or even an advanced investor. It recently eliminated the commissions and has become one of the highly prominent choices for online stock, ETF trading, and other trading instruments.
Some of the features that it offers you include zero commission, an exceptional set of tools and products, comprehensive research, and a no account minimum.
What is TD Ameritrade all about?
TD Ameritrade is an online brokerage platform based out of Omaha, Nebraska. The company has grown into a considerable investment portal with a wide range of acquisitions and mergers. It does offer investments in just about every type of vehicle, and that includes stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs.
It provides a combination for both online and mobile trading platform for investors. It also has a comprehensive set of research tools that can be helpful enough in building confidence for the least experienced investors. The tool provides you access to a host of investment analysis tools.
TD Ameritrade aims to work just as well for both new investors and established ones, because of both the zero minimum account as well as the extensive array of research and guidance on how to build your portfolio.
(Image credit: Future)
Features
Some of the features offered by the AD Ameritrade include the following –
Commission-free trading – TD Ameritrade provides commission-free trading for a host of trading instruments. In 2019, the company decided to cut down the commission. Some trades, however, come under a fee format of $0.65. There are over 4100 mutual funds, and all ETFs are available for free.
Investor Education – The digital education offerings available through the service are comprehensive. There is plenty of educational content in the form of videos, articles, slideshows, and quizzes. The platform also offers you reports from resources such as Morningstar, Credit Suisse, CFRA, The Street, and many others.
Visual Trading Simulator – This is basically designed for use for the likes of advanced and frequent traders. The service is available through the mobile trader app and the other platforms offered by TD Ameritrade.
Portfolio analysis and reports – Ameritrade provides you access to highly customizable portfolio analysis. The service is available both on its trading platform and the thinkorswim platform. You can even consolidate external accounts for a good look at your assets.
Mobile Trading – TD Ameritrade offers not one, but two specialized mobile apps in tune with its two trading platforms. This can go a long way in enhancing your experience in terms of improved trading experience. Mobile trading made simple; the apps work as a perfect extension of the online platform.
The platform offers you tradability across the following securities –
Stocks
Bonds
Mutual funds
ETFs
Futures
Forex
Foreign ADRs
IPOs for qualified accounts
(Image credit: Future)
The customer support offered by TD Ameritrade is comprehensive. Being one of the promising investment organizations in the US, it has set up an extensive customer support network.
The customer service can be reached through the chat option on mobile and online platforms. The 300 branches across all states will ensure the option of in-person assistance in case your issues are not addressed by the phone, email, or chat support. Support is also available on the following channels Monday to Friday 7 am to 6 pm: text, Facebook Messenger, Twitter direct message, Apple Business Chat, and Amazon Alexa.
As stated before, TD Ameritrade provides you access to two mobile apps – the TD Ameritrade Mobile app and TD Ameritrade Trader app. These are designed for standard and thinkorswim platforms. However, note that TD Ameritrade Mobile apps are only available on iOS. The mobile apps mimic each of the desktop features and offer practical functionality on the go.
(Image credit: Future)
You can opt for a multiplicity of accounts with the platform. Each of the account types is formatted for your exact requirements
Standard accounts – You can have both individual and joint accounts with TD Ameritrade and gain access to comprehensive products
Retirement accounts – These would include IRA, Roth IRA, or Rollover IRA accounts. They can be well suited for taking care of your retirement goals
Education Accounts – Want to save for education? You can opt for state qualified 529 plans and similar
Managed Portfolios – A highly tailored investment portfolio managed by the professionals. The plans are backed by the experience of TD Ameritrade Investment Management
The above accounts apart, you can also have access to Specialty accounts and margin trading as well.
Who is TD Ameritrade suitable for?
Well, the online brokerage platform is suitable for a wide range of investors. No matter what level of experience you have, the platform offers something for you :
Beginner investors
Advanced traders
Investor education/advice
Commission-free trades
Fund investors
Final verdict
With no commission on stock, ETF, and other trades, it does offer an impressive set of tools for investors. The portfolio building guidance, courses, and high-end research are a few great features that should make it especially useful to learn the basics of investment.
Robinhood was the first mobile-investing app to offer commission-free investment in the US. Almost every other company followed them to make the investment process easier and affordable for all.
Even though it was founded in 2013, Robinhood has been able to create a solid base of over 10 million users transacting on its platform. Its biggest USP is the fact that it allows free trading in stocks, options and ETFs via a smartphone-based platform.
It allows users to trade in over 3500 US stocks including the likes of Apple, Nike, Coca Cola, Netflix and many more. It has access to stocks listed on Nasdaq and NYSE.
Robinhood also plans to offer savings accounts to the customers along with a higher interest rate, all this again for free.
While Robinhood aims to be a mobile-first company, investors can use the web platform as well to invest in their preferred options. It offers a wide variety of investment options such as stocks, ETFs, Gold and Crypto. The best part is that trading in all these options is absolutely free, including Options trading, which normally is chargeable with other platforms. However, you cannot invest in mutual funds, bonds or even futures trading at the moment.
Among other features, Robinhood doesn’t charge you for selling your investments or even transferring the money to your bank account. It does, however, charge a fee of $75 to let you transfer your account to some other broker or platform. This fee is not uncommon and most brokers levy such a charge to demotivate you from switching.
Adding funds to your Robinhood account is simple and quick too. You can add funds the moment your account is activated. It offers instant verification with the bank to facilitate quicker transfer of funds. Up to $1000 can be added to your account instantly while any amount more than that takes a few days to process.
Since the service is targeted at digital natives, there is no limitation of minimum amount to get started with. To open a margin trading account, you need to have a minimum portfolio of $2000, a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority regulation applicable on all traders.
One of the most unique parts here is that Robinhood offers yield on the amount lying in your account. This can be compared to the interest offered by the banks in savings accounts. Although the rate fluctuates based on the interest rates, it is indeed a bonus for keeping some extra funds in your account.
(Image credit: RobinHood)
As mentioned earlier, Robinhood offers Options trading without any fees or contracts or any commissions. This is generally for experienced traders and Robinhood offers filters and trade strategies to help traders.
Another program that the company offers is called Robinhood Gold. It allows you to invest in securities using borrowed money or margin. Under this program, the broker offers research and exclusive quotes on over 1700 companies and access to margin loans. This is a paid-for service and is available at a monthly fee of $5.
This fee includes the interest of the first $1000 borrowed from Robinhood. Any loan amount beyond $1000 is charged at 5% annual interest rate. To get upgraded to Robinhood Gold you need to have a deposit of minimum $2000 in your account.
Since Robinhood offers almost every thing for free, it does cut some corners which might impact users, especially the ones who are just starting. Limited research information or investor education is one such factor which might be a big trade-off for a starter. Though an experienced investor might not have to worry much about self education.
Robinhood Snack is the company blog that you can subscribe to in case you want to read some interesting editorials, which have some easy to understand daily market summaries.
Trading on Robinhood
The Robinhood mobile app is easy to use and offers everything that you need from any basic trading application. You get a watch list, charts, quotes, charts and analyst rating apart from news. Since this is a no-frills trading option, the features are fairly simple and offers you very limited information like last price and change in percentage, etc. Unlike other platforms, users are allowed to create just one watch list.
The mobile app does not support horizontal layout, thus limiting the information available to you in one glance while using it in a vertical layout. The next biggest drawback of the application is that until you put money into a particular stock, you can’t set price alerts for that stock. This is not the most ideal way to monitor stocks.
Users will find similar options on both the mobile app or the website. Since the service targets young users, the layout is minimal and easy to understand.
(Image credit: Future)
Support
Robinhood offers support via email only. Users are expected to use the self-help resources that are available via the FAQs listed on the website. Should you still need a human response to a query, then you can send an email to the support team. The lack of telephone support is almost certainly because of the service being free.
However, on that point, one way Robinhood does make money includes selling some of your data, as well as paid gold membership, rebates from market makers and trading venues, income generated from cash and other mediums like a stock loan, and Interchange fees. Many seasoned traders may have an issue with their information getting sold to companies.
Final verdict
Robinhood is able to attract the young and new investors with its zero-charge model. However, like all no-frills service come with some compromises, and Robinhood is no exception.
Netpeak Spider is an SEO tool that performs SEO audits and website analysis. During this, it highlights many critical errors, such as broken links, duplicate content, and issues with titles and meta descriptions. Plus, its comprehensive reporting capabilities make it an essential tool for SEO audits, competitor analysis, and routine website maintenance.
Netpeak has distinguished its services in two broad categories. First, the Netpeak Spider is responsible for running SEO audits and generating crawling results within minutes. Next, the Netpeak Crawler does an in-depth check on any given URL. It runs various parameters on the website by integrating different industry services, including Moz, SimilarWeb, Ahrefs, Serpstat, Google Analytics, and many more.
But is it going to help you during your SEO studies? Will it justify its cost? Does it stand tall against its competitors in the crowded SEO market? Don’t worry. We’ll answer all of these and many more queries in this detailed review of Netpeak Spider. So, let’s get started.
Netpeak Spider’s paid plans provide powerful instruments for SEO audit, crawling, scraping, sitemap validation, research, analysis, and more, making it a valuable tool for a wide range of SEO tasks and projects. It offers three main subscription plans to meet the needs and budgets of different users. These plans are available for both Windows and macOS (currently in beta).
Starter Plan
This plan starts from $7 per month (billed annually at $84) and is ideal for freelancers and marketers working with small websites. This plan allows you to crawl websites and check for over 100 technical issues, delivering comprehensive SEO audits. It supports JavaScript rendering for accurate page analysis, quick search for efficient data navigation, and data filtering & segmentation for detailed analysis. You can even save and copy data for reporting purposes, utilize a multi-window mode for multitasking, and access built-in tools for custom website scraping and data extraction.
Advanced Plan
Next up is the advanced plan which starts at $12 per month (billed annually at $144) and is ideal for SEO professionals working with larger websites. The Advanced Plan includes everything present in the starter plan. It further increases the number of crawling threads to 20, which significantly boosts your website audit speed. Plus, it supports unlimited URLs that would help you conduct extensive SEO analysis across larger websites.
Pro Bundle
The Pro bundle is $22 per month (billed annually at $264) and is ideal for SEO agencies and in-house teams. The Pro Bundle maximizes SEO analysis and crawling capabilities with up to 200 crawling threads that give you rapid audits of very large websites or multiple projects simultaneously. It also offers usage on two devices for a single user account, improving the flexibility of the package and making collaborations easier during analysis. This bundle includes all the features available in the Advanced plan, such as unlimited URL support, comprehensive SEO audit tools, custom scraping, and data extraction capabilities, making it the most comprehensive package for SEO agencies and in-house teams.
Netpeak Spider: Features
Netpeak Spider offers many valuable features for website auditing and crawling. Let’s examine them in more detail.
Integration with Google
The integration of Netpeak Spider with Google Analytics and Search Console is an impressive feature. It adds valuable user behavior metrics from Google Analytics to website audit data. This means that you not only identify technical SEO issues but also gain insights into traffic, goals, and conversions. Plus, if you run an e-commerce store, it even includes dedicated parameters that can help you audit such websites.
Similarly, its integration with Google Drive and Sheets lets you effortlessly export reports directly to Google Sheets. This is very useful if you wish to share them with your team members or clients. For this, conduct a website audit, export the report as a PDF to Google Drive, and then simply share its link. This feature simplifies the report-sharing process, eliminates unnecessary steps, and enhances collaboration, as team members can access and edit the data in real-time.
Simplified Source Code and HTTP Headers Check-Up
Netpeak makes it much easier to inspect a page's backend details. Generally, users had to open a page in a browser to examine its source code. But with Netpeak Spider's built-in feature, you can now check a link's HTTP request and response headers, redirects, and extracted text without HTML code, and that too with just a few clicks. This is especially useful for quickly identifying redirect chains or server response issues, all of which are vital for SEO.
Enhanced Internal PageRank Calculator
Another impressive feature of Netpeak is its internal PageRank calculator. It provides in-depth insights into a website's internal linking structure. You can analyze how link equity is distributed among pages, identify pages with high link value, and find those that are being overlooked. This will help you optimize your internal linking strategies.
PDF Optimization Quality Audit
The SEO audit software from Netpeak Spider is highly effective. It quickly analyzes a website's optimization quality and presents the results in a clear and easy-to-read PDF format. The software goes beyond just providing raw data; it also visualizes the data through diagrams and charts, making it easy to understand the report at a glance.
SEO Audit Reports with White Labelling
The white-label reporting feature lets you generate comprehensive SEO audit reports with a personalized touch. These reports can include your company's logo, contact details, and even customized recommendations from experts. This feature is powerful for pre-sales, as it not only demonstrates your analytical capabilities but also strengthens your brand identity. It adds a level of professionalism and customization to your service offering, making it perfect for client presentations and reports.
Personalized Website Data Scraping and Extraction
The website scraping tool in Netpeak Spider is highly adaptable, letting you extract specific data from websites. You can set up to 15 different conditions and choose from four search types, including contains, Regexp, XPath, and CSS. You can customize the scraper to gather various data, such as contact details, social media metrics, competitor prices, and content. This feature is beneficial for market analysis, competitor research, and content strategy.
Complex Site Structure Analysis
Netpeak Spider provides a comprehensive breakdown of the site's structure based on link segments, giving valuable insights into the distribution of URLs across different levels. What sets this tool apart is its ability to filter data by specific site areas, enabling targeted analysis. Plus, it’s extremely useful for identifying structural issues or opportunities within a website. Whether the site is small or a complex multi-level platform, Netpeak offers a clear overview of the architectural layout, which is crucial for strategic planning.
Working with Heavy Data and Export
Netpeak Spider excels in using RAM efficiently. With JavaScript rendering turned on, it uses 3x less RAM than other tools, and without rendering, it uses an impressive 8x less RAM. This efficiency is crucial for handling huge datasets without slowing down your system. Likewise, the process of exporting data is simple and flexible. After crawling a website, you can export the reports in various formats like CSV, XLSX, and PDF with just a few clicks. This feature provides versatility and ease for analyzing or presenting data to clients.
Furthermore, the tool's internal database manages a large number of URLs, making it ideal for SEO professionals working with extensive websites. You can even analyze links, redirects, images, and more directly within the tool, eliminating the need for external exports. This will save you time and enhance the tool's ability to handle heavy data loads effectively.
Netpeak Spider: Interface and in-use
(Image credit: Netpeak Software)
Netpeak Spider is designed to make SEO analysis efficient and customizable. Its data filters and segmentation capabilities are exceptional and let you analyze large amounts of data with accuracy. This segmentation is vital for targeted analysis and makes the tool adaptable to different SEO needs. Additionally, the real-time interactive dashboard provides a dynamic overview of crawling data, keeping you informed and engaged.
Plus, the crawling settings management feature gives you full control over the crawling process, allowing you to optimize each crawl according to specific site requirements. Lastly, the inclusion of templates for filters, parameters, and segments saves a significant amount of time and ensures consistent standards across projects. Overall, Netspeak’s interface is super user-friendly and is quite efficient in delivering its toolset in a very neat layout.
Netpeak Spider: Support
(Image credit: Netpeak Spider)
Unfortunately, you don’t get any call support or live chat support with Netpeak. All you get is a chatbot that simply googles your queries and is not very useful. However, they have ticket support where you can raise your query, and Netspeak’s team will revert with a solution. During our tests, we got a response from their team after a couple of hours. However, if you want instant support, you can contact their team via mail at customercare@netpeaksoftware.com. Moreover, they have an extensive Knowledge Base that has plenty of information about Netpeak Spider. It covers everything from basic functions to advanced features, making it an essential resource for both beginners and experienced users.
Netpeak Spider: The competition
As an SEO crawler, Netpeak Spider faces tough competition from established agencies. Screaming Frog, for example, provides many of the same features in its free plan, while its Premium plan is still more affordable than the cheapest Netpeak Spider subscription at £149 (roughly $195) per year.
Data segmentation is the main advantage of Netpeak Spider over similar applications. It’s one of the only SEO crawlers with powerful segmentation tools that narrow down reporting and gather more valuable data.
Netspeak Spider: Final verdict
The thing we love about Netpeak Spider is that it keeps updating its suite. The users can now own a lifetime license, apart from their subscription plans. Plus, now it supports both Mac (Beta) and Windows. Moreover, it also integrates seamlessly with Google Analytics and Search Console. And, even after adaptability and UI issues, features like organized data display and customization options remain a plus point. Similarly, despite being a bit pricier, its ability to provide detailed competitor analysis and compare backlink statistics in a single glance impressed us. Overall, we find Netpeak Spider a solid choice for individuals looking to enhance their SEO toolkit with advanced website auditing and crawling.
In our Shopify review, we’ll dive deep into one of the best website builders and most popular e-commerce platforms on the market.
So, if you're thinking about using Shopify for your online store, you're in the right place. It's an all-in-one platform crafted to assist users in efficiently creating and managing their online stores, even if they have no coding or design background.
As trusted experts in website builders and e-commerce platforms, we've rigorously tested Shopify's features, performance, and user-friendliness to offer you reliable insights and recommendations. Whether you're a small business owner, international seller, or new to e-commerce, our Shopify review is here to guide you towards making an informed decision.
We'll delve into everything from Shopify's sales features to its ease of use, pricing, design options, and marketing tools. You'll discover Shopify's strengths, like its integrated tools for customer communication and sales optimization, as well as any potential drawbacks, such as transaction fees and feature limitations.
So, let's explore what Shopify brings to the table and determine if it's the perfect fit for your online store dreams.
Shopify stores: Selling online
Getting started on Shopify is a simple process. (Image credit: Shopify)
You’ve decided to take the plunge into the world of e-commerce and you're considering Shopify as your platform of choice, right? Let’s go through the process of creating your online store and explore the suite of e-commerce features that Shopify has to offer.
Right from the start, we’ve appreciated how Shopify simplifies the process of setting up an online store. With its intuitive interface and beginner-friendly website design tools, getting started is a breeze. Once you’ve selected one of over 160 professional-looking themes, you can easily customize your site to your liking with Shopify's drag-and-drop editor.
Next, it's time to add your products or services. Shopify makes this process super simple, allowing you to upload product images, set prices, and write compelling descriptions with ease. We found Shopify Magic particularly helpful here as this AI tool generates product descriptions for you, saving you time and energy.
As keeping track of inventory becomes crucial, Shopify offers robust inventory management tools to help you stay organized. We like the ability to assign inventory to multiple locations, including retail stores and warehouses, and track inventory levels for product variants.
Arranging shipping for your products is made simple with Shopify's shipping solutions. It’s easy to set up shipping options, whether you're offering flat-rate, free, or calculated shipping. Plus, Shopify integrates seamlessly with popular shipping apps and carriers, ensuring competitive shipping rates.
Another essential for converting visitors into customers is a seamless checkout experience and Shopify delivers with its customizable checkout process. You can personalize the checkout cart with your brand colors and fonts, creating a more consistent shopping experience for your customers.
Thinking about embracing a point-of-sale (POS) system? Shopify's POS app can turn any mobile device into a sales tool, allowing us to accept payments, issue refunds, and manage inventory on the go. Whether at a pop-up event or a retail store, Shopify POS keeps the sales and inventory synced across all channels.
Being able to pick from a host of payment providers makes it easy for your customers to buy from you. (Image credit: Shopify)
To simplify the online payment process you can utilize Shopify Payments, Shopify's own payment service. Plus, by using Shopify Payments, you can avoid transaction fees and support multiple currencies, providing a hassle-free checkout experience for your customers.
All in all, Shopify equips online sellers with everything they need to succeed in the competitive e-commerce landscape. Now, let’s take a look at other important Shopify features and tools.
Other Shopify features and tools
As you probably suspect by now, when you start your online store journey with Shopify, you're not just getting a simple website builder. Instead, you're tapping into a toolbox filled with powerful features and tools that can make running your e-commerce store smoother and supercharge your online presence.
Shopify themes
Shopify has a large range of stunning templates, but only a handful are free to use. (Image credit: Shopify)
Shopify offers a rich collection of themes tailored to enhance your brand's identity and engage your audience. Whether you choose one of the 12 free themes or invest in one of over 160 premium options, which range in price from $140 to $400 each, you're bound to find one that aligns with your vision. What's more, if you don't find exactly what you're looking for, each Shopify theme is customizable, allowing you to tweak everything from colors and fonts to layout and buttons.
Furthermore, Shopify themes aren't just visually appealing - they're also highly functional. Each theme is designed to be mobile-responsive, ensuring that your store looks and performs flawlessly on any device, whether it's a smartphone, tablet, or desktop.
However, it's important to note that while Shopify offers a wide variety of themes, the selection tends to favor premium options. While there are free themes available that can certainly kickstart your e-commerce journey, the choices are somewhat limited compared to the paid options.
Shopify website editor
Although your website will be structured around a template, Shopify's website editor makes it easy to customize it, making it your own. (Image credit: Shopify)
Crafting your store's design is simplified with Shopify's intuitive drag-and-drop website editor. Whether you're adjusting images, editing text, or featuring your logo, the editing interface provides the flexibility and control you need to create a captivating storefront. The drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to rearrange elements on your site, allowing for swift and seamless customization.
In terms of ease of use, Shopify website builder is generally straightforward and accessible to users of all experience levels. The drag-and-drop interface eliminates the need for coding or technical know-how, making it easy for beginners to build professional-looking websites.
However, some users may find navigating through the separate dashboard for managing product listings and other backend tasks slightly awkward, specifically when transitioning between different aspects of store management.
Despite any minor awkwardness, the Shopify website editor offers a range of helpful and useful features to enhance your online store.
Domains
When you start your Shopify store, you automatically get a Shopify-branded domain like “yourstorename.myshopify.com”. It's functional, but if you want to step up your game and look like a pro, you'll probably want a custom domain. Also, Shopify charges $15 per year for the domain, which is pretty pocket-friendly. Likewise, domains with extensions like “.store” or “.shop” are also affordable compared to competitors.
Upgrading to a dedicated domain will help build trust amongst your visitors. (Image credit: Shopify)
Getting a custom domain for Shopify stores is straightforward. You can purchase one straight from the Shopify platform by going to your dashboard, navigating to settings, selecting domains, and choosing to buy a new domain. Once you've got your domain, you'll just need to connect it to your Shopify store.
With a custom domain, you'll boost your brand more easily and build trust with your customers.
AI tools: Shopify Magic and Sidekick
AI tools are a great way to automate repetitive tasks such as creating descriptions. (Image credit: Shopify)
Expanding on Shopify's latest AI innovations, let's dive into the world of Shopify Magic and Sidekick. These AI-powered tools are designed to revolutionize the way you manage your store and engage with your customers.
First up, Shopify Magic. This AI-powered tool takes the headache out of crafting compelling product descriptions. By simply inputting a few product details, Shopify Magic works its magic to generate captivating descriptions, saving you time and effort in content creation.
Now, you can think of Sidekick as your AI assistant, ready to support you with a wide range of tasks, helping you streamline your business operations. From setting up discounts and promotions to creating insightful reports, Sidekick is there to lend a helping hand. Want to analyze sales data to identify trends and opportunities? Sidekick has you covered.
Shopify Magic and Sidekick are designed to streamline tasks, potentially saving you precious time while helping you make smart decisions to fuel business growth. However, it's worth noting that, like any technology, these tools may not be perfect right off the bat and will need some tweaking along the way.
Shopify app store
Shopify's app store makes it easy to extend the functionality of your online store. (Image credit: Shopify)
The Shopify App Store provides a vast collection of apps and third-party extensions to enhance your store's capabilities. With over 8,000 apps available, you'll surely find solutions for every aspect of your e-commerce business, from marketing and promotion to inventory management and customer support.
The strength of the Shopify App Store lies in its diversity. Whether you're looking to streamline your checkout process, implement loyalty programs, or integrate with popular marketing platforms, there's an app to fit your needs.
Exploring the app store, we found a treasure trove of checkout apps, each offering unique ways to elevate your store's checkout experience. With almost 30 options available, we were thrilled to discover features such as upsell and cross-sell suggestions, age verification tools, and post-purchase surveys.
We were also impressed by Shopify's seamless integration with popular marketing apps like Mailchimp and Klaviyo, offering a robust set of tools to boost your marketing efforts. From crafting compelling email campaigns to running targeted social media ads and analyzing customer insights, these apps can aid in engaging with your audience effectively.
However, while many apps in the Shopify App Store come with no upfront costs, as we delved deeper into the ecosystem, we found that the cumulative costs of paid features can accumulate swiftly.
Website security
When it comes to keeping your online store safe and secure, Shopify has you covered. All Shopify plans come with SSL security, which encrypts data passing between your customer and your website. This is crucial for protecting sensitive information, such as payment details, from hackers.
Another important aspect of security is PCI compliance, and Shopify is Level 1 PCI DDS compliant. This might sound like a mouthful of legal jargon, but it essentially means that your store meets the necessary security standards for processing credit and debit card details.
One of the advantages of using a hosted solution like Shopify is that keeping your site secure is largely Shopify's responsibility, not yours. Unlike self-hosted platforms where you have to manage core software and plugin updates yourself, Shopify takes care of these updates in the background. This means you can be at ease knowing that your site is always up-to-date with the latest security patches.
What's more, Shopify has a strong fraud detection system in place to prevent card testing and account takeover fraud. They also use an alert system to notify customers and account managers of potential security threats, allowing you to take prompt action to secure your accounts.
Shopify pricing: Is Shopify good value for money?
Shopify offers several packages to pick from, which is right for you will depend on the size of your store. (Image credit: Shopify)
When it comes to Shopify pricing, you might be wondering if there's a free option or at least a trial period to test things out. Well, while Shopify doesn't offer a forever-free plan, they do give you a 3-day free trial to get a feel for the platform before committing.
As for Shopify plans, there are three main ones: “Basic”, “Shopify”, and “Advanced”, where each plan has its own set of features and price points, catering to different needs and budgets.
Starting with the “Basic” plan at $29 per month (billed yearly), it's great for those just setting up their first online store. Despite the name, it gives you everything you need to get up and running smoothly, like unlimited products and basic reporting.
If you're ready to take things up a notch, the “Shopify” plan at $79 per month (billed yearly) might be more your speed. It offers lower transaction fees, better reporting tools, and more staff accounts, making it perfect for small businesses and international sellers looking to spring up.
Now, if you're running a bigger operation with an established customer base, the “Advanced” plan at $299 (billed yearly) per month could be the way to go. It comes with all the features of the Shopify plan, plus some extras like custom reporting and more staff accounts.
Moreover, Shopify offers four additional specialized plans tailored to suit specific types of businesses:
The "Starter" plan at just $5 per month (billed yearly) is perfect for sellers who have already established their audience on social media platforms or messaging apps. With this plan, you can instantly start selling through these channels or set up a small online store hassle-free.
Next up, we have the "Retail" plan priced at $89 per month (billed yearly), specially crafted for businesses focusing on in-person selling. This plan comes packed with advanced staff, inventory, and loyalty features, making it the go-to choice for businesses with physical storefronts.
Looking for exceptional value and growth opportunities? "Shopify Plus" starts at $2300 per month (billed yearly) and is tailored for high-growth businesses. Offering advanced features and personalized support, Shopify Plus is your key to efficiently scaling your business to new heights.
Lastly, "Enterprise commerce" offers custom pricing plans designed to meet the unique needs of large-scale operations. With a focus on agility, deployment speed, and performance, this plan ensures seamless support for your enterprise-level business.
Sure, Shopify's pricing might seem a bit steep compared to some other options out there, but when you consider all the features and support you're getting, it's worth it. Plus, they offer additional add-ons for in-person sales and high-volume stores with specialized needs. And if you want more detailed info on Shopify's pricing and plans, you can check out their pricing page.
Shopify help and support
With Shopify, you'll find a solid range of support options. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced e-commerce entrepreneur, Shopify offers comprehensive support channels to ensure you have the help you need when you need it.
One of the main selling points of Shopify's support system is its round-the-clock availability. Regardless of the time zone you're in, you can access support 24/7 through various channels, including phone support, live chat, social media, and email. This means you'll get much-needed assistance promptly, even during weekends or late at night when you're burning the midnight oil to work on your store.
24/7 support is helpful for online stores that sell 24/7. (Image credit: Shopify)
At the Shopify Help Center, you'll find an abundance of information from step-by-step guides to troubleshooting articles - a wide range of topics to address common questions and concerns. However, some users may find the step-by-step instructions a bit confusing, especially when directed to the app store without further guidance.
For those seeking more personalized assistance, Shopify offers advanced specialist support, particularly beneficial for “Shopify Plus” users. With this level of support, you'll have your own dedicated support agent who will help you address any specific needs and challenges.
It's worth noting that Shopify's customer support extends across multiple languages, ensuring accessibility for users worldwide, although the availability of support in other languages may vary depending on your location.
Shopify's support services are pretty good, but it can sometimes be a bit of a hassle to get in touch with their support team. You often have to search through their help pages to find a solution to your problem before you can even access their contact details. While this approach is common, it can be a bit annoying for those who need help right away.
Shopify: What’s not included? What could be better?
While Shopify is a superb choice for setting up online stores, there are a few areas where it could be even better.
For starters, Shopify relies quite a bit on third-party apps to add extra features. Unlike some other platforms like Wix, which come with more built-in tools, you might find yourself adding several apps to match your store's needs. While this gives you flexibility, it can also mean more costs since many apps come with a price tag.
Another thing to consider is Shopify's transaction fees. Unless you use Shopify Payments, which they prefer, you'll end up paying extra on top of your regular payment gateway fees. This can eat into your profits, particularly if you're just starting out. So, while Shopify plans might seem affordable at first, don't forget about those extra expenses. Transaction fees and the cost of third-party apps can add up swiftly, making Shopify potentially pricier than you bargained for.
Plus, there aren't as many free themes on Shopify compared to the paid ones. It'd be nice to see more free options, especially if you're on a budget or just starting your ecommerce journey.
When you look at Shopify compared to Squarespace and Wix, each has its pros and cons. Squarespace has sleek designs, Wix offers a free plan and lots of templates, but Shopify shines with its e-commerce focus and tons of integrations.
So, while Shopify is a top choice for many, there's still room for improvement, especially in making things more affordable and less dependent on extra apps.
Shopify review: Final thoughts
As we wrap up our Shopify review, this all-in-one solution emerges as one of the best website builders for agencies and entrepreneurs venturing into the e-commerce realm. Throughout our journey, we've come to appreciate Shopify's dedication to customer support, ensuring that a helping hand is always just a click away. We've also found the platform's commitment to website security reassuring, with features like SSL encryption and PCI compliance providing peace of mind for both businesses and their customers.
However, we must mention a few areas where Shopify could improve. While it offers a wealth of features, we found that relying on third-party apps for certain functionalities can lead to higher costs. Additionally, transaction fees may eat into your profits, especially if you opt for non-Shopify payment gateways. Despite these drawbacks, we believe that Shopify's benefits far outweigh its limitations.
To recap, our experience with Shopify has been overpoweringly positive. We were impressed by its user-friendly interface, extensive theme collection, and the wide array of apps available to boost store functionality. If you're considering Shopify for your e-commerce venture, we encourage you to take advantage of the free trial to explore its features firsthand. Once you've had a chance to delve deeper into Shopify's offerings, you can choose the plan that best suits your business needs and budget.
Shopify review: FAQs
Is Shopify good for agencies?
Yes, Shopify is one of the best website builders for agencies. Its robust e-commerce platform offers a wide range of features and customization options, making it suitable for building and managing online stores for clients. Additionally, Shopify's partner program provides agencies with resources and tools to streamline client management and boost their businesses.
Is Shopify best for building online stores?
We've found Shopify to be one of the top choices for creating online stores.
It's easy-to-navigate interface, wide selection of apps, and robust e-commerce capabilities make it a go-to platform for anyone looking to start or grow their online business. Whether you're just kicking off your small business, pushing forward as an entrepreneur, or running a large enterprise, Shopify delivers the kind of scalability and flexibility you’ll want to thrive online.
What can you sell on Shopify?
Shopify supports the sale of a wide variety of products and services, ranging from physical goods like clothing, electronics, and home decor to digital products such as ebooks, software, and online courses. In addition to this, Shopify allows merchants to sell services, subscriptions, memberships, and even event tickets. With its all-purpose platform and integrated payment solutions, Shopify provides the tools and resources you’ll need to sell virtually anything online.
E*TRADE is a New York-based financial corporation which was founded in 1982 and is one of the first firms to set up online trading.
E*TRADE offers multiple platforms for quick and easy trading. It lets you trade in a wide variety of financial assets including common stocks, preferred stocks, futures contracts, exchange-traded funds, options, mutual funds, and fixed-income investments. There are Android and iOS apps as well as a fully featured website, too.
Morgan Stanley has announced that it is acquiring E*TRADE for an amount of $13 billion by the end of the year 2020. While the deal is subject to regulatory approvals, E*TRADE will continue to serve new and existing users in the interim.
E*TRADE gives several choices after logging into their website. It offers you a variety of options, such as to launch Power E*TRADE or download the E*TRADE Pro app, among other things.
The main website is aimed at users who are just getting started, whereas E*TRADE Pro is designed for experienced traders. The website offers real-time streaming data, as well as chart and track your investments.
E*TRADE also offers a library of helpful educational resources for investors of all levels to reference. There are also advanced tools to manage risk expectations.
Also, E*TRADE doesn't charge any commission for all company stock, ETFs and other options trades performed through the platform.
Users based in the U.S. open an account with E*TRADE directly via the website. However, users from Australia, China or Western Europe must open the account via a paper-based application form.
(Image credit: Future)
Trading platforms
E*TRADE offers three different trading platforms on the web. Namely:
E*TRADE Web: Runs live market commentary. Offers free real time quotes and market trends, Analyst predictions, etc which allows users to create watch lists and track their preferred trades;
Power E*TRADE: Fully functional desktop platform which comes with special tools like Strategy Scanner and more;
E*TRADE Pro: This is for the active users users and offers them with tools to help improve their trading experiences. These tools include real-time data, technical studies, trade tickets, drawing tools, customizable options chain views, trading ladders and more.
(Image credit: E*TRADE)
The users who maintain an account balance of $250,000 or more or place at least 30 stock/options trades each quarter, are eligible to get upgraded to E*TRADE Pro. The PRO version rewards active users with timely bonuses as well.
E*TRADE does not have a minimum amount to open an account. However, once opened, you need to fund your account within 30 days.
Platforms
E*TRADE has a great and robust trading platform for active trading. It offers a full-featured web-based trading dashboard, as well as iOS and Android mobile applications, in case you prefer trading on the go.
The website may be slightly tricky at times when it comes to searching basic information, and FAQ's are not always so easy to find.
(Image credit: E*TRADE)
The mobile app offers a simple yet a clean layout. It lets you quickly, manage the account, get stock quotes, place trades, view charts and trade while you're on the move. There are multiple apps .i.e. E*TRADE Mobile and Power E*TRADE, each offering a customized trading experience based on your account type
Charges
E*TRADE offers you a zero commission model for line stock, options and ETF trades. It does charge for Options, where the user is billed at $.065 per contract. There is a discount for volume traders, and this fee can come down to $0.50 per contract.
It also doesn't charge a management fee or an annual charge. Unlike other platforms, it doesn't even penalize users for inactivity. However, they do bill you $25 for a partial transfer and $75 in the case of an account transfer.
(Image credit: E*TRADE)
Support
The company has 30 support branches where staff can help users with their queries. Apart from these brick and mortar offices, it offers multiple point of contacts for customers which include 24/7 phone, email and live chat support.
Final verdict
E*TRADE is an industry-leading trading service brand in its mobile and options trading offerings. Power E*TRADE is rich in features for almost all kinds of traders, and the mobile apps are easy to use. The lack of a minimum opening balance is welcome, as is the 24/7 support.
M1 Finance is a Chicago based online financial services company. It is also known as Robo-advisor. It is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a broker-dealer and is also a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Founded in 2015, it offered services like Investing, Asset Management, Lending, and other financial services. In 2016, they introduced the ability to automate monthly deposits and maintain a preset portfolio allocation to make the funds withdrawal with ease.
Also, the good thing about M1 Finance is they are available on all modern platforms. M1 Finance has a web-based trading dashboard along with both iOS and Android applications available for a quick download.
M1 Finance offers automated investing with a high level of customization and a unique combination of automated investing allowing customers to create a portfolio as per their specifications. A user can create portfolios containing low-cost ETFs or use individual stocks or both in the same. M1 Finance offers low-cost alternatives that allow fractional share transactions and control over these portfolio contents.
For the new users, it is quite easy and straightforward to sign up for the M1 Finance account. All the user needs to do is to enter the email address and choose the password, just after this the user will get a pie-building feature where the user can build the pie or choose the made up of ETFs or individual stocks. For help, there are tutorials on the site alongside to guide how the site works.
M1 Finance is also expanding to offer a digital bank along with its investment service. They are also looking forward to launching a service that will sweep your excess cash into a paying 1.5% per year, it includes a debit card that earns 1% cashback on different purchases. The service will be named as M1 Spend.
The M1 Standard limited for the long term users. If the user is looking forward to investing in long term usage then the user will get decent cashback. That’s one of the reasons to go with M1 finance. There are better-paying places to park your funds, also there is a no-fee savings account or a user investment portfolio.
(Image credit: M1 Finance)
Few of the expert pies available for the user are:
General investing: The user can set this one up to reflect your risk tolerance and create a diversified portfolio to protect yourself
Plan for retirement: This pie is just for the target retirement date
Responsible investing: If you are a responsible investor then only you need this pie
Income earnings: This pie only works for dividends and income returns
Hedge fund followers: This one follows the strategies of reputable and acclaimed investors
Industries and sectors: This option lets you invest in certain industries that interest only the user
(Image credit: Future)
There is a no-risk assessment questionnaire that helps you answer the understand the process better. The offers you Individual, joint accounts, ITAs and trust accounts.
A user can also set up automatic deposits in part of the initial account setup which you can edit whenever you please. Margin loans are allowed and M1 Borrow service lets you borrow up to 35% of the account value at a 4.00% interest for non-investing purposes.
Fees and charges
M1 Finance does not charge for trading fees. Well, that’s a piece of great news for the user that they don’t need to pay for the custom pies. There is something they charge for, that’s the termination fees.
Also, there are two versions of spend that you can choose, the free one is M1 Standard and M1 Plus which comes with an annual fee of $100 fee for the first year and $125 per year thereafter. There is also an inactivity fee if the user stays offline for more than 180 days, the platform penalizes a user with $20 for the same.
(Image credit: M1 Finance)
Support
Customer support is one of the important features on any trading platform. Here you can sort yourself from the issues that you may face during trading. From their Support Center you can go through manage account, transfers, invest, spend and borrow specific queries. Users from across the globe can sign up for trading on M1 Finance.
Solo Investors get the benefits from both of the worlds. The user can customize the portfolio and invest in any stocks and ETFs s/he wishes. M1 Finance will manage the same for the user. For the medium experienced investors, the company does not provide any advice or recommendations. This service is recommended for experienced users. For the long-term investors, M1 Finance allows trading only once a day.
Final Verdict
This tool is best fit for the starters. If you want to start the active investment portfolios then this may be the best space to start with. M1 finance does automatic maintenance of proportional investment allocation. It offers more control over the investments and provides a fine balance between automation and manual control on the investment, depending on each user.
