Micro Investing comparison
Sharesies vs Spaceship Voyager
Sharesies and Spaceship Voyager both let you start small, but they work completely differently. Sharesies is a brokerage — you buy actual ASX and US shares, with fractional ownership and a pay-as-you-go fee structure. Spaceship Voyager is a managed-fund platform built around its own themed portfolios, with a flat $3/month fee and no transaction costs. The real fork in the road: do you want to pick individual stocks (Sharesies), or hand over the reins to a pre-built fund (Spaceship)?
Choose
Sharesies
if…
- ›You want to buy and sell individual ASX shares and ETFs (Sharesies supports them; Spaceship doesn't offer ASX at all)
- ›You prefer a pay-as-you-go brokerage model with capped fees rather than a flat monthly subscription
- ›You want a kids / minor account to invest on behalf of children
- ›You need limit orders, stop-loss orders or conditional orders for more control over trade execution
- ›You want to hold US dollars in a dedicated USD account to minimise FX conversion costs
Choose
Spaceship Voyager
if…
- ›You want a true set-and-forget experience with professionally managed portfolios and zero transaction fees
- ›You'd rather pay a flat $3/month than worry about per-trade costs eating into small regular investments
- ›You want to invest in themed managed funds (e.g. 'Universe', 'Earth', 'Future') without picking individual stocks
- ›You prefer phone and live chat support over email-only customer service
- ›You want to start with no minimum deposit and no minimum subsequent purchase amount
Where they differ
| Fact | Sharesies | Spaceship Voyager |
|---|---|---|
| Fee model | Pay-as-you-go (1.9% capped at $6 ASX) or monthly plans from $5/mo | Flat $3/mo platform fee, zero transaction fees |
| ASX shares & ETFs | Supported (CHESS-custodian, fractional shares available) | Not supported |
| Managed funds | Not offered | Core offering — five themed Voyager portfolios |
| Kids account | Available ($2/mo plan) | Not available |
| CHESS sponsorship | Custodian model (no individual HIN) | Custodian model (no individual HIN) |
Verdict
Choose Sharesies to pick your own stocks (especially ASX); choose Spaceship Voyager to outsource investing to managed portfolios for $3/month.
Cost calculator
What would Sharesies vs Spaceship Voyager actually cost you?
Punch in your trade size and frequency. We'll do the full brokerage + FX + fees maths.
All data points side-by-side
Every verified fact for both platforms. Differences are highlighted.
| Field | Sharesies | Spaceship Voyager |
|---|---|---|
| account structure | ||
| CHESS sponsorship model | custodian | custodian |
| Individual HIN | No | — |
| Individual account | Yes | Yes |
| Joint account | No | No |
| Company account | No | No |
| Trust account | No | No |
| SMSF account | No | No |
| Kids / minor account | Yes | No |
| asset coverage | ||
| ASX shares supported | Yes | No |
| ASX ETFs supported | Yes | No |
| US shares supported | Yes | Yes |
| US ETFs supported | Yes | Yes |
| Other markets supported | NZ | |
| Fractional shares (ASX) | Yes | No |
| Fractional shares (US) | Yes | Yes |
| Options trading | No | No |
| CFDs supported | No | No |
| Managed funds | No | Yes |
| Bonds supported | No | No |
| IPO access | No | No |
| costs hidden | ||
| FX spread (AUD/USD) | 0.6% | 0.7% |
| FX spread (other currencies) | 0.6% | — |
| Holds USD account | Yes | No |
| FX currency switch trick | No | No |
| Market data fees | $0/month | $0/month |
| Conditional order fees | $0 | $0 |
| Phone trade surcharge | — | $0 |
| Corporate action fees | No fee for receiving DRP shares ('You don't pay a Sharesies transaction fee when you receive shares through a DRP'). Sharesies handles corporate actions via the Voting & Corporate Actions Policy; specific fees for rights issues, SPP, takeovers not separately listed in pricing schedule. | Voyager: managed fund structure means corporate actions are handled inside the fund — no investor-level corporate action fees. US Investing: voting and mandatory corporate actions including dividends are free; Voluntary Corporate Actions (VCA) fee of US$100 per action processed. |
| costs visible | ||
| ASX brokerage minimum | $0 | $0 |
| ASX brokerage percentage | 1.9% | 0% |
| ASX brokerage threshold | $315.79 | — |
| ASX free trade conditions | Pay-as-you-go: 1.9% per buy/sell order, capped at AU$6 for ASX, US$5 for US, NZ$25 for NZ. Monthly plans cover transaction fees on a set volume: $5/mo plan ($54/yr) covers $500 AUD buy/sell + $1,000 AUD auto-invest; $10/mo plan ($108/yr) covers $1,000 AUD buy/sell + $3,000 AUD auto-invest; $20/mo plan ($216/yr) covers $3,000 AUD buy/sell + $8,000 AUD auto-invest. Kids plan $2/mo covers $500 buy/sell + $1,000 auto-invest. Once monthly cover used up, pay-as-you-go applies. No truly free trade option. | No brokerage applies to Voyager portfolios; investments are made via unit-trust managed funds with no transactional fees, regardless of order size. |
| US brokerage minimum | US$0 | US$0 |
| US brokerage percentage | 1.9% | 0% |
| Monthly platform fee | $0/month | $3/month |
| Annual platform fee | $0/year | $36/year |
| Inactivity fee | $0 | $0 |
| Withdrawal fee (AUD) | $0 | $0 |
| Off-market transfer fee | $50 | $0 |
| identity and trust | ||
| Legal entity name | Sharesies Australia Limited | Spaceship Capital Limited |
| AFSL number | 529,893 | 501,605 |
| Year founded | 2,021 | 2,017 |
| Parent / ownership | Sharesies Group Limited (New Zealand) | eToro Group Limited (acquired Spaceship 2024, fully owned subsidiary) |
| Country of incorporation | AU | AU |
| Public company status | private | public |
| money movement | ||
| Minimum initial deposit | $1 | $0 |
| Minimum subsequent purchase | $1 | $0 |
| Deposit methods | PayID, OSKO, direct credit, card | Direct debit, PayTo |
| Settlement period | T+2 ASX/NZX, T+1 US | Voyager: T+1/T+2 unit pricing (managed fund). US Investing: T+1 (US standard). |
| Withdrawal time | 1-2 business days for settled funds; longer if recently sold (T+2 settlement plus 1-2 days reconciliation plus 1-2 days bank transfer) | 1-2 business days from redemption request to funds in available money balance; additional bank transfer time to external account. |
| platform ux | ||
| iOS app | Yes | Yes |
| Android app | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop platform | No | No |
| Demo account | No | No |
| Free real-time market data | No | No |
| Free research reports | No | No |
| 2FA support | authenticator_app | SMS + PIN |
| Customer support channels | email, in_app | Email, Phone, Live chat, In-app chat |
| Support hours (AU time) | Monday to Friday, 6 AM to 4 PM AEST | Monday to Friday 8:30am - 5:30pm Sydney time (business days only) |
| Education content | basic_articles | basic articles |
| tax and reporting | ||
| Australian tax statement | Yes | Yes |
| Distribution component breakdown | Yes | Yes |
| CGT calculator / report | Yes | Yes |
| Sharesight / Navexa integration | No | No |
| trading mechanics | ||
| Market orders | Yes | Yes |
| Limit orders | Yes | — |
| Stop loss orders | Yes | No |
| Conditional orders | Yes | No |
| Auto-invest / DCA | Yes | Yes |
| Auto-invest sophistication | multiple_assets | weighted |
| DRP (dividend reinvestment) | Yes | No |
| After-hours / overnight trading | Yes | No |