Comparison

Stack Investment vs Understudy

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Stack Investment

Features
Read full description

Track your investments, view detailed performance reports, and stay updated on your monthly returns all in one place.

About

Understudy

Features
Read full description

Understudy is an educational investing simulator. It uses practice money only โ€” no real accounts, no real trades, and nothing in it is investment advice. Most people learn investing the expensive way: with real money, on a real day, with no idea what a limit order or settled cash actually means until it costs them. Understudy lets you rehearse first. There's no phone number to give and no brokerage account to open. Understudy starts on its own with an anonymous session, and nobody on the other end is trying to move you into real trades. HOW IT WORKS โ€ข Open a practice brokerage account funded with simulated cash. โ€ข Browse real fund names and fictional stocks at simulated prices. โ€ข Place real-style orders โ€” market, limit, stop, stop-limit โ€” and watch them fill, partially fill, or get rejected, with a plain-English explanation of why. โ€ข Advance time a day, a week, or a month. Cash settles, dividends land, markets drop โ€” and when something needs you, the clock stops and tells you what it means for you. โ€ข Learn each concept the moment you meet it: bid and ask, buying power, settlement, slippage, cost basis, holding periods, wash sales. REAL ESTATE, START TO FINISH (PREMIUM) โ€ข Pick one of 25 real metros. Home prices follow each metro's published house price index; the listings are fictional. โ€ข Get pre-approved from your own income and savings, then make an offer: the price, the earnest money, which contingencies to keep, and how fast to close. The seller can accept, counter, or turn you down. โ€ข Escrow stops at the inspection, the appraisal, and the closing disclosure. Then own the home month by month, and see what owning returned against renting and investing the difference. THE INTERFACE GROWS WITH YOU Your first order ticket asks three things: buy or sell, how much, and what kind of order. As you learn, timing and the fine print appear โ€” until you're reading the same seven-field ticket a real brokerage shows. YOUR NUMBERS, YOUR SIMULATION Enter your own income, savings, and expenses (self-reported) so every scenario runs against figures that mean something to you. Nothing is verified, and no real account is ever connected. Your figures and progress are kept with your Understudy account so they survive a reinstall. Sign in with Apple or Google to take them to another device, and delete them any time in Settings. WHAT'S FREE โ€ข The Stocks path in calm and volatile markets, one practice session at a time โ€ข Market and limit orders โ€ข Every Stocks lesson, with each term explained when you meet it โ€ข Your Activity dashboard and session history โ€ข Sync across devices when you sign in PREMIUM UNLOCKS โ€ข The Real Estate rehearsal, plus the business and bond paths โ€ข Historical replays โ€” practice through 2008 and 2020 โ€ข Stop and stop-limit orders โ€ข Advance straight to a date โ€ข Several sessions running at once โ€ข The full Outcome Dashboard: key decisions and alternative timelines Premium is available as a weekly or annual subscription (the annual plan includes a 7-day free trial) or as a one-time lifetime purchase. Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period and are managed in your Apple Account settings. Every price in Understudy is simulated. Bond funds follow the shape of published Treasury yield history, and home prices follow published house price indexes; everything else is generated from calibrated statistics or is fictional. Past or simulated performance never predicts real results. Understudy is not a broker, adviser, or bank, and it can never place a real trade. Terms of Use: https://bertolabs.com/understudy/terms Privacy Policy: https://bertolabs.com/understudy/privacy

Screenshots

Stack Investment4 screens
Understudy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Stack Investment at none against Understudy's 3. Stack Investment also leads on iOS requirement (18 vs 26). Understudy's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 11 days). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Understudy sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days. Stack Investment asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stack Investment ships an update every 11 days, Understudy daily. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Stack Investment versus Understudy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStack InvestmentUnderstudy
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 11 daysDaily โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS18 โ€” better26
Further details โ€” not scored
Size43 MB43 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperIbrahim AzzamBerto Labs LLC

In-app purchases

None

Stack Investment

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Understudy

Subscriptions2
  • Understudy Premium Weekly$7.997 Days
  • Understudy Premium Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Understudy Premium Lifetime$99.99

Questions

Is Stack Investment free?
Stack Investment is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Understudy free?
Understudy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Stack Investment or Understudy have ads?
Neither Stack Investment nor Understudy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stack Investment or Understudy?
Stack Investment ships an update every 11 days, and Understudy daily. Most recently, Stack Investment was updated on October 28, 2026 and Understudy on October 25, 2026.

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