9 Best 529 Plans of 2026

The NY 529 Direct Plan ranks first because it removes both entry barriers at once: its site states no minimums and no fees, and it adds no extra fees for nonresidents. That makes it usable for a family in any state, not only New Yorkers. Vanguard is the investment manager and Ascensus runs the accounts, and you choose between Target Enrollment Portfolios that shift from stocks toward bonds and reserves as the enrollment year nears, or Individual Portfolios you combine yourself. New York taxpayers can deduct up to $5,000 a year, or $10,000 if married filing jointly. The READYSAVE 529 app handles balance checks and contributions, and the plan accepts payroll deduction, bank transfers and checks. If the beneficiary skips college, up to $35K may go into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary under federal rules. The trade-off is that portfolio expense ratios sit in the Disclosure Booklet rather than on the homepage, and the separate Advisor-Guided Plan costs more, so open the Direct Plan.

MESP earns its high value score on cost alone. Its site cites ISS Market Intelligence for an average annual asset-based fee of 0.09% across all portfolios, against 0.46% for all 529 plans, and its fee table shows enrollment year options at 0.06% to 0.09% all in, made up of a 0.01% program manager fee, a 0.025% state administrative fee and the underlying fund costs. You can start with $25 in about 10 minutes, and choose from enrollment year, multi-fund, single fund or a guaranteed option. Michigan taxpayers can reduce state taxable income by up to $10,000 if married filing jointly. The plan is open to nonresidents. Two caveats come from MESP's own pages: withdrawals for K-12 tuition lead to recapture of the Michigan deduction and state tax on earnings, and Michigan has not settled how it treats a 529 to Roth IRA rollover for state tax. For pure low cost, it is hard to beat.

Invest529 has the most transparent fee page in this list: every portfolio is broken into an asset management fee and a 0.042% administrative fee, with totals dated 10/31/2026. Total Stock Market Index and Total Bond Market Index both come to 0.062% a year, target risk index portfolios run 0.067% to 0.072%, and target enrollment portfolios range up to about 0.30%. The plan charges no fee for online applications, annual maintenance, qualified withdrawals or changing investments, and you can start with $10. Virginia taxpayers can deduct up to $4,000 per account per year, carry any excess forward without limit, and deduct the full amount once they reach age 70. The menu also includes principal protected choices such as Tuition Track and an FDIC-Insured portfolio at 0.000%. What keeps it out of first place are service fees: $50 for a paper application, $25 to roll over to another 529 and $10 to change the account owner.

The Schwab 529 Education Savings Plan is sponsored by Kansas and administered by the Kansas State Treasurer, and Schwab says you can open it with as little as one dollar. Costs are layered simply: a 0.01% plan management fee and a 0.01% state administrative fee on every portfolio, plus underlying fund expenses that Schwab estimates at 0.05% to 0.10% for enrollment year portfolios. Static allocation portfolios list 0.12% for Aggressive, 0.10% for Moderate and 0.04% for Conservative, and the individual fund lineup includes a U.S. Equity Index Portfolio at 0.03%. Schwab adds dedicated 529 specialists and a state tax calculator to help you check whether your own state's plan would give a better deduction. One change to note: effective March 2, 2026, TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing became the plan manager. Outside Kansas there is no state tax benefit, and a few individual portfolios, like U.S. Large Company Index at 0.25%, cost more than the core options.

Fidelity is a manager rather than a single plan: it runs 529 plans for Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and points savers in other states to the New Hampshire UNIQUE College Investing Plan, which is open nationally to US residents. Its overview page states there is no minimum and no account fees to open a Fidelity-managed 529 account, and earnings grow federal income tax deferred with tax-free withdrawals for qualified education costs. Residents of a Fidelity-managed state can pick that state's plan for any local tax break; Fidelity notes the MEFA U.Fund gives Massachusetts married couples a deduction of up to $2,000. A comparison tool lines up your home state's plan against UNIQUE. The main advantage is convenience: the 529 sits next to your Fidelity brokerage or IRA under one login. The weak point for a cost comparison is that the overview page does not publish portfolio expense ratios, so you have to open the plan documents to compare them with MESP or Invest529.

The Vanguard 529 Plan is a Nevada trust administered by the Nevada State Treasurer, with Vanguard as investment manager and portfolios that invest in Vanguard mutual funds. Vanguard says it managed about $212 billion in 529 plan assets as of December 31, 2025, and the page includes a state picker that compares your home state's plan with Vanguard's before you decide. It also spells out the rules most buyers ask about: no annual contribution limit, $19,000 per year ($38,000 for married couples) in 2026 without triggering federal gift tax, and a lifetime Roth IRA rollover of up to $35,000 for the beneficiary. Vanguard itself suggests New York residents use the NY 529 Direct Plan, which uses Vanguard investments and has a state deduction. We could not confirm a fee figure: the expense ratio text on Vanguard's page loads by script and did not appear in the copy our source checker reads, so pricing is marked pending. That uncertainty, plus no Nevada tax benefit, places it sixth.

ScholarShare 529 is California's plan, and its fee page shows why it competes nationally: passive enrollment portfolios charge 0.07% in total annual asset-based fees, built from a 0.01% plan manager fee, 0.00% board fee and about 0.06% in underlying fund costs. Across all portfolios, including active ones, the plan cites ISS Market Intelligence for a 0.21% average, against 0.46% for all 529 plans. Choices span enrollment year, risk-based, ESG and guaranteed options, and ScholarShare says it takes about 15 minutes to open. It manages more than $20.97 billion for over 509,000 accounts as of 6/30/26. The catch for California residents is tax: California does not offer a deduction for 529 contributions, as Schwab's 529 FAQ also notes, and non-qualified withdrawals can carry an additional 2.5% California tax on earnings. That means Californians have no tax reason to stay in-state, and should compare ScholarShare's passive portfolios against NY 529 or MESP on cost alone.

Bright Start 529 offers the largest home-state tax break among the plans here: an Illinois individual filer can deduct up to $10,000 a year, and married couples filing jointly up to $20,000, across its combined Illinois 529 contributions. Its homepage shows it as a Gold Medalist in Morningstar's 2025 review of 529 plans. On cost, the plan cites ISS Market Intelligence for a 0.24% average across all portfolios, against 0.49% for all 529 plans, while its fee table shows aggressive enrollment year portfolios at 0.09% all in, with a 0.06% plan manager fee and no Treasurer administrative fee. The menu covers enrollment year, static allocation and individual portfolios. For Illinois families the deduction outweighs the small cost gap with cheaper plans. For everyone else, the 0.24% average sits above MESP's 0.09% and Invest529's index portfolios, and Illinois's deduction recapture on non-qualified withdrawals only matters to Illinois filers.

Ohio CollegeAdvantage is the most gift-friendly plan in this list. Ohio taxpayers can deduct up to $4,000 per beneficiary per year and carry the excess forward, and because the cap is per beneficiary, a grandparent who opens an account for each grandchild gets a separate deduction for each one, even when the grandchildren live in other states. You can open online with as little as $25, which is also the minimum per deposit, and choose ready-made target enrollment or risk-based portfolios. A Fifth Third Certificate of Deposit option is available for savers who want bank protection, with a $500 minimum. The maximum account size is $555,000 per beneficiary across all accounts. Relatives can contribute through a Ugift code without opening their own account. It ranks last here because its fee table loads in a format our checker could not read, so we could not confirm a single fee figure, and the $4,000 cap is smaller than Illinois's or New York's deductions.