Vaulted vs OWNx
The better choice for US precious metals investors.
Both Vaulted and OWNx let US investors own physical gold (and silver) in insured vaults, manage from a phone, and take delivery. The product surface looks similar. The fee stacks, vault locations, product breadth, and customer-evidence base are not. This comparison works through real fee math from the Vaulted pricing page, the OWNx EDGE page, plus verified OWNx Trustpilot reviews.
Two platforms, two different buyers.
Choose OWNx if
- ✓ You want a Precious Metals IRA: Traditional, Roth, or 401(k) rollover (Vaulted does not offer one).
- ✓ You want to hold platinum alongside gold and silver on one platform.
- ✓ You buy monthly or weekly and want at-cost EDGE pricing on every purchase.
- ✓ You want a US-domestic platform with US depository custody (Delaware + Texas).
- ✓ You value 17+ years of operating history and 110+ verified Trustpilot reviews at 4.7/5.
- ✓ You want one platform across personal, IRA, monthly auto-invest, delivery, and liquidation.
Choose Vaulted if
- • You are placing a one-time buy-and-hold position in gold or silver and do not plan to add to it monthly.
- • You specifically want gold stored at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa rather than US depositories.
- • The 1.8% in / 1.8% out commission structure beats whatever premium your alternative quotes.
- • You do not need an IRA, do not want platinum, and do not plan to dollar-cost-average.
- • You prefer a mobile-first app experience over a web platform.
Bottom line: for a one-time buy-and-hold gold or silver position where the buyer never adds again, Vaulted's 1.8% structure is genuinely competitive, and at smaller sizes can beat OWNx Standard's premium tiers. For everything else, active accumulation, IRAs, multi-metal portfolios, retirement rollovers, OWNx wins on fee math, product coverage, and customer-evidence base. The two platforms answer different questions for different buyers.
OWNx vs Vaulted, feature by feature.
Four areas where Vaulted is the right call.
1.8% per buy is cheaper than OWNx Standard at one-time-buy sizes
This is the real Vaulted advantage and worth stating up front. On a one-time buy-and-hold purchase, Vaulted's 1.8% commission is lower than OWNx Standard's premium tier (1.99%-5.99% based on lifetime purchases; most first-time buyers land at the upper end of that range).
Worked example on a single $10,000 silver purchase, held for 5 years, then sold:
For a buyer placing one $10K silver position and holding to retirement, Vaulted's structure is materially cheaper than either OWNx tier. EDGE membership is built for active accumulators, its $149/yr only pays back when the saved premium on monthly purchases exceeds the membership cost. On a single one-shot buy, EDGE economics don't hold up.
Below ~$50K of one-shot purchasing, Vaulted's flat 1.8%/1.8% beats OWNx Standard. This is the buyer profile Vaulted is built for, and the page must say so honestly.
Royal Canadian Mint storage is a genuine differentiator
Vaulted stores gold directly at the Royal Canadian Mint's maximum-security vault in Ottawa. The metal is fully insured, independently audited, and stored at the same facility where it was minted, eliminating transit and intermediary handling risk.
For investors who specifically want sovereign-backed mint custody (rather than commercial depository custody), this is a differentiator no US-domiciled platform can match. OWNx's Delaware Depository Service Company (DDSC) and Texas Depository (TDS) are both insured and audited, but they are commercial bullion depositories, not a sovereign mint.
Whether this matters for your decision depends on how much weight you put on the custodian's institutional structure. Sovereign mint custody is a real factor in some HNW estate-planning conversations, just not most US retail buyers' top concern.
Mobile-first app experience
Vaulted is built app-first. iOS and Android native, with a UI optimized for tap-to-buy and tap-to-sell. For buyers who want their entire metal position to live on their phone like a brokerage account, Vaulted's experience is more polished than most precious-metals platforms.
OWNx has both a web platform and mobile apps, but the primary surface is the web platform. If app-only is a hard requirement, Vaulted's experience is purpose-built for it.
McAlvany operating heritage
Vaulted is part of the McAlvany Financial Group, the same family that founded Hard Assets Alliance in 2012. McAlvany has been guiding precious-metals investors for over fifty years and has institutional credibility in the gold-investing community. Some buyers specifically value the family-operated, multi-decade investing-house lineage.
Six advantages that flip the math at monthly accumulation.
Vaulted's structural advantage on one-time buy-and-hold inverts the moment you add monthly accumulation, IRAs, or multi-metal allocation to the picture. Here's where OWNx wins, with the math behind each.
Precious Metals IRA
EDGE 0% commission
Platinum coverage
US-domiciled custody
17 years + 110 reviews
One full-lifecycle platform
1. Precious Metals IRA is only available on OWNx
Vaulted does not offer a Precious Metals IRA. Full stop. There is no Traditional, Roth, or 401(k)-rollover product on Vaulted's platform.
OWNx does: Traditional + Roth, $249/year all-in, no minimum balance, storage at 0.5%/yr (lower than the standard 0.6% OWNx rate), and the IRA sits inside the same platform you already use for personal buying.
For any US investor whose precious-metals plan involves retirement money, and that's most precious-metals plans, Vaulted is structurally not a candidate. The IRA versus no-IRA decision rewrites the comparison entirely:
- ✓ 401(k) or Traditional IRA rollover buyer ($50K to $1M+): OWNx is the only choice between these two.
- ✓ Roth IRA builder adding metals to a diversified portfolio: OWNx is the only choice.
- ✓ Buyer with both a personal holding and an IRA position: OWNx is a single platform; Vaulted handles half of that and you'd need a second provider for the other half.
OWNx's $249/yr flat IRA fee with zero minimum is one of the more aggressive terms in the whole Gold IRA category, significantly below the typical $180-$350 setup fees + $80-$200 annual fees + 0.5-1% storage that large gold-IRA operators charge.
2. EDGE 0% commission flips the math at any monthly purchase volume
Vaulted's 1.8% per-buy commission applies on every transaction, regardless of frequency. For a buyer accumulating monthly, say $1,000/mo of silver via VaultPlan, that's 12 separate 1.8% commissions per year, or $216 in fees on $12,000 deployed.
OWNx EDGE removes the buy premium entirely:
The breakeven sits around $700/mo. Above $5K+/mo, OWNx EDGE saves over $900/yr versus Vaulted, and the gap compounds over multi-year holding periods. This is the inverse of the one-time-buy case: the more you buy, the more decisively OWNx wins.
3. Multi-metal coverage — platinum is OWNx-only
Vaulted is gold + silver only. There is no platinum product on the platform.
OWNx supports gold, silver, and platinum across Standard, EDGE, and IRA. For investors building a diversified precious-metals position (which platinum often factors into for industrial-demand-correlated allocation), OWNx is the only platform on this comparison that covers all three on one allocated account.
If platinum is part of your allocation strategy, Vaulted is structurally not a candidate.
4. US-domiciled custody (Delaware + Texas) for US tax simplicity
Vaulted's gold is stored at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa, Canada. Vaulted's silver is stored at HSBC London. Both are reputable institutional custodians, but neither is in the United States.
For US investors, this introduces a foreign-asset wrinkle that doesn't exist with US depository custody. Specifically:
- ✓ US tax reporting on gains held in foreign-vaulted, foreign-administered platforms requires care (consult a tax professional, including FBAR and Form 8938 considerations on non-US precious-metals holdings above relevant thresholds).
- ✓ Cross-border logistics on physical delivery: Vaulted passes through Royal Canadian Mint shipping fees, which include customs and international carrier costs that US-domiciled platforms don't incur.
OWNx is US-based with custody at Delaware Depository Service Company (DDSC) and Texas Depository (TDS). ACH from any US bank into OWNx clears in 1-3 business days at zero transfer cost. US regulatory jurisdiction applies end-to-end. Customer service is in US business hours. Insured delivery is domestic. IRA custodians, depositories, and tax reporting are all US-domestic.
For US buyers, the jurisdictional alignment removes meaningful friction. For non-US buyers, this analysis flips, Vaulted's RCM storage may be the right answer.
5. 17+ years operating history and 110 Trustpilot reviews vs Vaulted's claimed-but-empty profile
OWNx (founded 2008 as SilverSaver.com) carries 17+ years of operating history through multiple precious-metals bull and bear cycles. Its Trustpilot profile holds 110 verified reviews at 4.7/5, with multiple reviewers citing 10+ year customer tenures.
Vaulted's Trustpilot profile is claimed by the company but, as of this writing, holds zero reviews. This isn't a reliability claim against Vaulted, the platform is operationally sound, well-funded, and family-backed by McAlvany. It's a customer-evidence-base observation: there is currently no third-party review base to validate the customer experience the way OWNx's 110 reviews validate theirs.
Investors making large allocations frequently want to read other customers' multi-year experience reports before committing. That option exists on OWNx today; on Vaulted, it doesn't yet.
6. One platform across the entire precious metals lifecycle
OWNx covers: personal buying (Standard or EDGE), monthly Auto-Investing, instant trade execution, insured storage, Precious Metals IRA, insured delivery, and liquidation, all in one account. You move between these without paperwork, without a second provider, without a second set of fees.
Vaulted covers: personal buying, VaultPlan auto-investing, RCM/HSBC storage, delivery, and liquidation. It does not cover IRAs. It does not cover platinum.
For investors who want simplicity, one login, one statement, one tax summary, one customer relationship, OWNx is structurally simpler. For an investor running a $250K personal stack plus a $300K IRA plus monthly accumulation, OWNx is one platform; Vaulted plus a separate IRA custodian plus a separate platinum platform is three.
Zero Trustpilot reviews, but positive press coverage.
Vaulted's Trustpilot profile is claimed but currently holds zero reviews. There is no aggregate sentiment summary to cite. Press and analyst coverage of Vaulted is broadly positive on usability and fee transparency:
With Vaulted, buying and selling gold is easier, safer, and more affordable than ever.
An excellent choice for investors who want to own actual gold, but don't want to worry about physically storing the gold.
Offers a unique method of investing in ‘the yellow metal.’
These are editorial reviews, not aggregated customer voice. For a customer-experience signal at the depth that informs allocations, the third-party evidence base on Vaulted is currently thin. OWNx's 110-review Trustpilot profile is the more useful comparator for buyers who weight that evidence.
4.7/5 across 110 reviews.
Consistent themes: long-term customer tenure (10+ years), simple execution, fast liquidity, customer service that responds quickly.
“I've been a customer of OwnX before it was OwnX. Never had any issues with buying or selling. Received proceeds from selling very quickly. Very liquid and secure way of owning precious metals, in my opinion.”
“I have been a client since OWNX was SilverSaver, so more than 10 years, and have never had cause to go elsewhere for monthly savings in bullion. The rare issue has been taken care of expediently and personably. Change is inevitable and OWNX has proactively prepared clients and walked with us through that progression.”
“Been using OWNx for years. Moved money in and out easily without hassle. Surprisingly easy. I feel confident that my physical metals are secure and accessible when needed.”
“The recent support from the customer service helped me with my transfer to a new trust for my IRA account. The support was greatly appreciated.”
“OWNX makes it so simple to invest in precious metals. Whether you want to just make a one time purchase or setup a recurring purchase, OWNX makes it possible and very easy to do. They also make it lightning fast to sell of some of your precious metals when the time comes.”
“I purchased the edge deal you guys had and am super excited about it. Then I saw you guys were offering free edge for military veterans like myself.... Your staff was super helpful getting me the military discount on the edge plan. Been with own x for a long time and have always been helpful.”
The clean two-list version.
Choose OWNx if
- ✓ You are a US investor and want US-domiciled depository custody (Delaware + Texas).
- ✓ You want a Precious Metals IRA: Traditional, Roth, or 401(k) rollover.
- ✓ You will buy monthly or weekly via auto-invest (EDGE eliminates the per-transaction cost that hits Vaulted users every buy).
- ✓ You want platinum in your allocation, not just gold and silver.
- ✓ You want a single platform for personal + IRA + delivery + monthly auto-invest.
- ✓ You value 17+ years of operating history and a 110-review verified customer evidence base.
- ✓ You buy and sell often enough that 3.6% round-trip commissions add up.
Choose Vaulted if
- • You are placing a one-time gold or silver position under ~$50K and never plan to add to it.
- • You specifically want gold stored at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa rather than US depositories.
- • The 1.8% structure is meaningfully cheaper than the alternative you're comparing against.
- • You do not need an IRA, do not need platinum, and do not plan to dollar-cost-average.
- • A mobile-first app experience is a hard requirement for you.
- • The McAlvany operating lineage matters to you specifically.
Two platforms, two different questions.
For most US precious-metals investors, the kind running monthly accumulation, building an IRA position, or holding a multi-metal allocation across personal and retirement accounts, OWNx is the structurally better fit. The IRA availability, EDGE 0% commissions on active buying, multi-metal coverage, US-domiciled custody, no-minimum storage, and 17-year customer-evidence base are advantages that hold for the typical buyer profile.
For a narrower buyer, placing a one-time buy-and-hold position in gold or silver, valuing the Royal Canadian Mint's sovereign-mint custody, and running their entire metal life from a phone, Vaulted is genuinely competitive on cost and offers a polished mobile experience. Vaulted is not a worse platform. It is a different platform, optimized for a different use case.
If your question is “how do I run my full precious-metals life on one US platform with the longest customer track record I can find,” the answer is OWNx. If your question is “I have $20K, I want it in gold at the Royal Canadian Mint, and I never plan to touch it again,” Vaulted is a credible answer.
Open an account. Run one transaction. See if the fit is right.
The fastest way to understand the fit is to open a free OWNx account and run a single transaction. There is no minimum, no monthly fee on Standard, and no sell fee at any time. Already have an IRA you want to roll over? Ask the OWNx team about Traditional + Roth Precious Metals IRA setup at $249/year all-in.
Get started with OWNxCommon questions, direct answers.
Does Vaulted offer a Gold IRA or Precious Metals IRA for US investors?
No. Vaulted does not offer a Precious Metals IRA product. If you want metals inside a Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or 401(k) rollover, OWNx offers it at $249/yr all-in with no minimum balance and storage at 0.5%/yr. This is the single biggest structural difference between the two platforms for US buyers planning retirement allocation.
Is OWNx cheaper than Vaulted?
It depends on holding pattern. For one-time buy-and-hold positions under ~$50K, Vaulted's 1.8% commission is genuinely cheaper than OWNx Standard's premium tier. For active accumulation above ~$700/mo, OWNx EDGE's 0% buy commission beats Vaulted's per-transaction 1.8%, at $5K/mo deployed annually, OWNx EDGE saves over $900/yr. For IRA accounts and multi-metal portfolios, Vaulted is not a candidate at all. The right answer depends on whether your buying pattern is one-shot or recurring, and whether retirement money is involved.
Where does each platform store the metals?
Vaulted stores gold at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa, Canada, and silver at HSBC London. Both are reputable institutional custodians. OWNx stores in insured US depositories: Delaware Depository Service Company (DDSC) and Texas Depository (TDS).
Can I buy monthly on Vaulted?
Yes, VaultPlan is Vaulted's recurring-purchase product. Each scheduled buy still incurs the 1.8% per-buy commission, however, so monthly accumulation costs scale linearly with deployed dollars. OWNx Smart Auto-Investing from $25/mo combined with EDGE membership eliminates the per-buy commission entirely, which is why active accumulators land on OWNx.
Can I buy platinum on Vaulted?
No. Vaulted offers gold and silver only. OWNx supports gold, silver, and platinum across Standard, EDGE, and IRA tiers. For investors who include platinum in their precious-metals allocation, OWNx is the only one of the two that covers it.
Does Vaulted charge an ongoing storage fee?
Vaulted's published structure is a 0.4%/yr maintenance fee deducted semi-annually (January and July) from your cash balance, not your metal balance. If you convert all your cash to metal at purchase and don't keep cash idle in the account, the practical maintenance fee is close to zero. OWNx charges 0.6%/yr storage on the metal value (0.5%/yr inside an IRA), which is a more conventional metal-storage model. Buyers who keep substantial cash idle on Vaulted will pay more than the headline 0.4% suggests; buyers who convert immediately to metal will pay less.
How does physical delivery compare?
Both platforms support delivery. OWNx delivers to US addresses via insured carrier shipping at the actual cost of fabrication, packaging, and shipping for the item. Vaulted passes through delivery fees from the Royal Canadian Mint and the international shipping carrier, costs that include cross-border logistics and customs handling. For US buyers, OWNx's domestic delivery is structurally simpler and typically cheaper.
Is Vaulted safe?
Vaulted is operationally sound. The platform is family-backed by McAlvany Financial Group (also behind Hard Assets Alliance), gold sits at the Royal Canadian Mint, silver sits at HSBC London, and storage is insured. The customer-evidence-base limitation is the missing piece, Vaulted's Trustpilot profile is claimed but currently shows zero reviews, so there is no aggregated customer voice yet at the depth that informs large allocations. OWNx's 110 verified Trustpilot reviews at 4.7/5 fill that gap on the OWNx side. Safety is not the differentiator between OWNx and Vaulted; product breadth, IRA availability, and customer-evidence base are.
Why would I pick OWNx over Vaulted for an active monthly accumulation strategy?
Three reasons. First, EDGE's 0% buy commission eliminates the 1.8%-per-buy fee that hits Vaulted users on every monthly purchase, at $5K/mo, that saves over $900/yr. Second, EDGE's economics improve as you scale; Vaulted's 1.8% is fixed regardless of frequency or volume. Third, OWNx covers gold, silver, and platinum across the same auto-invest schedule, so a multi-metal monthly plan runs on one platform rather than two.
What about a one-time $20,000 silver buy-and-hold position?
For that specific use case, Vaulted is genuinely competitive. The 1.8% buy ($360 at $20K) plus 1.8% sell ($360 at the same dollar value) is cheaper than OWNx Standard's 3.49% mid-tier premium ($698) plus 0.6%/yr storage. If retirement structure isn't a factor and you don't plan to add to the position, Vaulted's structure fits this buyer well.