Empower Alternative: What to Use Instead of Personal Capital
Short answer: an Empower alternative (Empower is the company formerly called Personal Capital) is worth considering if you do not want to link bank and investment accounts, or you want goal checks and what-if decisions more than an investment dashboard. Empower offers free tools for tracking net worth and projecting retirement, and it also sells paid wealth management. Alternatives include other bank-linked apps, spreadsheets and goal-first planners such as MoneyFrame, which uses figures you enter.
Key takeaways
- Empower is best known for free net worth tracking and retirement planning tools that link to your accounts. Its budgeting tools are lighter.
- It also offers paid wealth management, so expect contact from its advisor team if you have investable assets.
- Alternatives differ mainly in whether they link accounts, what they cost and what they answer.
- If you only need a net worth number and a goal check, a spreadsheet or a manual planner may be enough.
What does Empower do well?
Reviews describe Empower's free dashboard as a long-standing benchmark for tracking net worth across bank, card, loan, investment and retirement accounts, with a retirement planner that gives a likelihood of reaching your goal and tools that look at investment fees. If you have several investment accounts and want one view of allocation and fees, this is a real strength. Check the current features on Empower's own site, because they change.
Why look for something else?
- Account linking. You must share logins or connect through a data aggregator. Some people prefer not to.
- The paid service. The free tools sit alongside a paid advisory business. Some users find the follow-up contact unwelcome.
- Budgeting depth. Reviewers describe the budgeting features as more limited than a dedicated budgeting app.
- Decisions. A dashboard shows where you stand. A what-if tool shows what a choice does to your plan.
How do the options compare?
| Option | How data gets in | Strong at | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empower | Linked accounts | Net worth and investment views, free retirement planner | Lighter budgeting, paid advisory pitch |
| Bank-linked budgeting apps (for example Monarch) | Linked accounts | Daily spending, budgets, net worth | Paid subscriptions |
| Spreadsheet | You type or paste it in | Free, private, flexible | You do the upkeep |
| Open-source trackers (for example Firefly III) | Import or self-hosted | Privacy and control | Technical setup |
| MoneyFrame | You enter figures or import a CSV | Goal verdicts, what-if decisions, household view | No automatic bank link or investment tracking |
Details of other products come from public reviews and may be out of date.
Which question are you trying to answer?
- "What am I worth, and what do my funds cost me?" A linked dashboard such as Empower is a strong fit.
- "Will my goals work?" A planner that tests goals against your free money fits better. Try the free Goal check.
- "What would happen if I did X?" Use a what-if tool such as Decision Lab, or read can I afford to quit my job.
- "Am I saving enough?" See am I on track for retirement.
Many people use both: a linked dashboard for the picture and a planner for the plan. If you want to avoid linking accounts, see how to calculate your net worth and track it and the comparison of a Monarch Money alternative.
How do you decide in practice?
Think of three typical users. The first has five accounts across two brokers and an old 401(k), wants one screen showing allocation and fees, and does not mind linking accounts: a linked dashboard fits. The second has simple finances, dislikes sharing logins and wants to know whether the house deposit is on track: a spreadsheet or goal-first planner fits. The third wants both: link accounts in a dashboard for the picture, then take the numbers to a planner to test decisions. There is no wrong answer, only a mismatch between the tool and the question. Try one for a month, then keep it only if you opened it without being reminded.
How do you keep an eye on investment fees without a linked tool?
Open your fund statements and note each fund's expense ratio, then add up the weighted cost. A $200,000 portfolio at 0.05% costs $100 a year, and at 1% costs $2,000 a year, a $1,900 difference. See how fund fees add up. Do this once a year.
Sources and further reading: SEC Investor.gov has free tools for checking fees and advisors, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has guidance on sharing financial data with apps.
General education, not financial advice. Reviewed October 2026. Descriptions of other products come from public reviews and may be out of date, so check each provider's current features, pricing and data practices. MoneyFrame does not connect to bank accounts automatically.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good alternative to Empower?
It depends on the job. Bank-linked budgeting apps replace the dashboard, a spreadsheet works for privacy, and a goal-first planner such as MoneyFrame checks whether goals fit your free money without linking accounts.
Is Empower the same as Personal Capital?
Yes. Personal Capital was renamed Empower after the company's acquisition. The free net worth and retirement tools carry on under the Empower name, alongside paid wealth management.
Is there a free alternative to Empower?
Yes. Spreadsheets and some apps with free tiers can track net worth. MoneyFrame is free to use today with figures you enter yourself. Compare what each free option leaves out.
Do I need to link my accounts to track net worth?
No. You can enter balances manually in a spreadsheet or a planner and update them monthly or quarterly. Linking saves effort but means sharing access with a third party.
Does Empower charge for its tools?
The tracking and planning tools have been free, and the company earns money from paid wealth management for people with investable assets. Check the current terms on Empower's site.