Empower (Personal Capital)
Wealthfront
| Feature | Empower (Personal Capital) | Wealthfront |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $0.89/mo | From $0.25/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | investors, high-net-worth-individuals, retirement-planners, wealth-builders | passive-investors, tax-conscious-investors, young-professionals, long-term-investors |
| Founded | 2009 | 2008 |
| Net Worth Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Investment Checkup | ✓ | ✗ |
| Retirement Planner | ✓ | ✗ |
| Fee Analyzer | ✓ | ✗ |
| Budgeting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cash Flow | ✓ | ✗ |
| Wealth Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Automated Investing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tax Loss Harvesting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Financial Planning | ✗ | ✓ |
| High Yield Savings | ✗ | ✓ |
| Direct Indexing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Portfolio Rebalancing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Retirement Planning | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Empower (Personal Capital) Pros
- Excellent free investment tracking and net worth dashboard
- Retirement planning calculator (Retirement Planner)
- Fee analyzer identifies hidden investment fees
- Comprehensive portfolio analysis tools
✗ Empower (Personal Capital) Cons
- Wealth management requires $100K minimum
- Sales calls after signing up for free tools
- Advisory fees higher than robo-advisors
✓ Wealthfront Pros
- Industry-leading tax-loss harvesting
- Low 0.25% advisory fee
- High-yield cash account with FDIC insurance
- Comprehensive free financial planning tools
- Direct indexing for accounts over $100K
✗ Wealthfront Cons
- No human financial advisors available
- $500 minimum investment to start
- Limited customization of portfolio allocations
The Verdict
Empower (Personal Capital) is built for investors and high net worth individuals, with a focus on net-worth-tracking and investment-checkup. Wealthfront targets passive investors and tax conscious investors and leads with automated-investing and tax-loss-harvesting.
Both tools come in at similar price points ($0.89/mo for Empower (Personal Capital), $0.25/mo for Wealthfront), so pricing won't make the decision for you.
Empower (Personal Capital) has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Wealthfront requires a paid subscription from day one.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.