6 Empower Alternatives for 2026, Compared by Use Case

Empower (formerly Personal Capital) still has a useful free dashboard for investment tracking, net worth, and retirement planning. Keeping it may be the right answer if those are the only jobs you need it to do.

The alternatives become more useful when you want a real budget, automated investing, help finding bills, tax analysis, or a shared place to coordinate work with professionals. Those are different jobs, and no single replacement wins all of them.

Start with the part of Empower you want to replace, then compare the price and tradeoff for that job.

Last reviewed: August 30, 2026.

Key takeaways

• Empower's free dashboard is still good for investment tracking and net worth. The alternatives matter when you need more.
• If you want better budgeting, Monarch Money or Copilot are the clearest upgrades.
• If you want a robo-advisor without the sales calls, Betterment is more transparent.
• If you've outgrown dashboards entirely (taxes, estate, advisor coordination), that's a different category.

Quick verdict

Best overall replacement: Monarch Money ($99.99/year). Investment tracking and budgeting in one dashboard, no advisory upsell.

Best for Apple users: Copilot ($95/year). Polished design, strong auto- categorization, Apple FinanceKit integration.

Best robo-advisor alternative: Betterment ($5/month or 0.25% AUM). Transparent automated investing without the sales pitch.

Best for reducing bills: Rocket Money (typically $84-168/year). Subscription detection and bill negotiation that actually saves money.

Best for tax and portfolio analysis: Mezzi (free to $149/month). Portfolio monitoring and tax tools built for investors and high earners.

Best for complex financial situations: X1 Wealth ($97/month). Tax strategy, estate planning, and advisor coordination in one system.

Quick comparison table

Pick the job before the product

Why people leave Empower

Based on user feedback across Reddit, app reviews, and financial forums, the most common reasons people look for Empower alternatives:

1. Sales calls. Connect accounts with $100k+ and the advisory team will call. Repeatedly. The dashboard is the top of their sales funnel.

2. Limited budgeting. Empower can show spending categories, but there are no budget targets, no envelope tracking, no spending rules. If you came from Mint expecting real budgeting, this isn't it.

3. Advisory fees aren't cheap. If you do sign up for advisory services, fees start around 0.49% and go up to 0.89% AUM, competitive for a human advisor, but expensive compared to robo-advisors.

4. No tax or estate planning. The dashboard tracks investments. It doesn't help with entity structuring, tax strategy, estate plan gaps, or coordinating between your CPA and attorney.

5. Sync issues. Persistent connection problems with specific institutions (Vanguard and Ascensus are frequently mentioned in app reviews).

None of these make Empower a bad product. The free dashboard works well for what it does. But if any of these frustrations sound familiar, here's what to consider instead.

How to choose (decision framework)

If you want a better version of the Empower dashboard

Choose Monarch Money or Copilot. Both offer investment tracking and net worth monitoring with stronger budgeting, no advisory upsell, and modern interfaces. Monarch has the edge on features and cross-platform support. Copilot wins on design for Apple users.

If you want automated investing without the sales pitch

Choose Betterment. Similar investment management to Empower's advisory service, but with transparent pricing (0.25% AUM or $5/month for basic), strong tax-loss harvesting, and no cold calls.

If you want active cost reduction

Choose Rocket Money. It finds subscriptions you forgot, cancels them, and negotiates lower rates on bills. Its value comes from lowering recurring expenses.

If your finances are too complex for a dashboard

Choose X1 Wealth. If you're earning $250k+ and the real questions are about tax strategy, estate planning gaps, and whether your CPA and attorney are coordinated, tracking only gets you so far. X1 keeps the source documents, decisions, and professional follow-up together.

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1. Monarch Money: Best Overall Empower Alternative

Price: $14.99/month or $99.99/year (7-day trial) Platforms: iOS, Android, Web

Monarch is the most direct Empower replacement if you want investment tracking and real budgeting in one app. Founded by a former Mint product manager, it was built to combine the account view people liked in Mint with a real budget.

What makes it stand out:

• Uses three data aggregators (Plaid, Finicity, MX); if one fails, try another
• Investment tracking with performance analytics and asset allocation views
• Real budgeting: spending categories, targets, and budget vs. actual
• Shared access for couples at no extra cost
• AI assistant for asking questions about your financial data

Pros:

• Investment tracking comparable to Empower, budgeting far superior
• No advisory upsell or sales calls
• Modern interface with active development
• Subscription revenue instead of an advisory sales funnel

Cons:

• No free tier (7-day trial only)
• $99.99/year vs Empower's free dashboard
• Limited crypto support
• Some sync delays with smaller banks

Best for: Anyone who likes Empower's investment tracking but wants actual budgeting, without the advisory sales funnel.

Learn more about Monarch Money →

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2. Copilot: Best for Apple Users

Price: $13/month or $95/year (30-day trial) Platforms: iOS, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, Web

Copilot is the alternative for people who care about design as much as data. It's the most visually polished finance app available, with deep Apple ecosystem integration that Empower doesn't match.

What makes it stand out:

• Apple FinanceKit integration for real-time Apple Card and Apple Cash tracking
• AI categorization that's ~90% accurate out of the box
• Investment tracking and net worth monitoring
• Learns from your corrections instantly
• Apple Watch companion app

Pros:

• Best-looking financial app on the market (Apple Editor's Choice)
• Auto-categorization is measurably better than Empower's
• Privacy-focused (no ads, no data selling, no advisory upsell)
• Web version now available as of 2026

Cons:

• No Android support
• Limited collaboration features for couples
• Budget tracking thinner than Monarch or YNAB
• $95/year vs Empower's free

Best for: Apple users who want investment tracking and budgeting with modern design, no sales pitch.

Learn more about Copilot →

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3. Betterment: Best Robo-Advisor Alternative

Price: $5/month below $24,000 without $200 in monthly deposits, or 0.25% AUM for digital investing; Premium is 0.65% AUM with a $100,000 minimum Platforms: iOS, Android, Web

If you're considering Empower's advisory service, Betterment is the transparent alternative. Similar automated investing, lower fees, and no cold calls. You get portfolio management, tax-loss harvesting, and goal-based planning without the dashboard-to-advisory-upsell experience.

What makes it stand out:

• Tax-loss harvesting that runs daily (vs annually for most advisors)
• Tax-coordinated portfolio across taxable and retirement accounts
• Direct indexing available at higher tiers
• Goal-based planning with clear progress tracking
• Human advisor access available (Premium + tier)

Pros:

• Lower fees than Empower's advisory (0.25% vs 0.49-0.89%)
• Transparent pricing, no sales calls
• Strong tax optimization features
• Clean, modern interface

Cons:

• No free tier for just tracking (Betterment manages your money)
• Limited account aggregation (sees Betterment accounts only by default)
• No budgeting features
• Direct indexing requires $100k+

Best for: People who want what Empower's advisory offers but with lower fees, more transparency, and no sales pressure.

Learn more about Betterment →

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4. Rocket Money: Best for Reducing Bills

Price: Free tier available; Premium typically $7-14/month ($84-168/year) Platforms: iOS, Android, Web

Rocket Money focuses on recurring expenses. It finds forgotten subscriptions, can cancel them, and offers to negotiate lower rates on eligible bills.

What makes it stand out:

• Automatic subscription detection across all connected accounts
• Cancellation service (they cancel subscriptions for you)
• Bill negotiation for internet, phone, cable, average 20% savings reported
• Spending insights and basic budgeting
• "Pay what you want" premium pricing

Pros:

• Can lower recurring expenses when it finds a useful cancellation or negotiation
• Free tier includes basic tracking and subscription detection
• Bill negotiation requires no effort from you
• Good complement to a separate investment tracker

Cons:

• Bill negotiation takes 35-60% of first year's savings as fee
• Core budgeting is basic compared to Monarch or YNAB
• No investment tracking at Empower's level
• Savings estimates in the app can appear inflated relative to actual negotiated results

Best for: People who care more about reducing expenses than tracking investments. Works well as a complement to another tool.

Learn more about Rocket Money →

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5. Mezzi: Best for Tax Optimization

Price: Free; Core $29/month; Plus $49/month; White Glove $149/month. Annual billing lowers the monthly equivalent. Platforms: Web, iOS

Mezzi fills a gap that Empower doesn't touch at all: tax optimization for high earners. If your primary frustration with Empower is that it tracks your portfolio but doesn't help you minimize your tax bill, Mezzi is worth evaluating.

What makes it stand out:

• AI-powered tax deduction identification
• Built for high earners with complex tax situations
• Finds deductions and credits that generalist tools miss
• Multi-entity and multi-state awareness

Pros:

• Addresses the tax blind spot that Empower ignores
• Purpose-built for high-income households
• AI analysis goes deeper than ChatGPT prompts

Cons:

• Narrower scope than Empower because its focus is tax and portfolio analysis
• Relatively newer platform, less established track record
• Doesn't replace investment tracking
• The useful features depend heavily on the plan

Best for: High earners ($250k+) who care more about tax analysis than a general-purpose spending dashboard.

Learn more about Mezzi →

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6. X1 Wealth: Best for Complex Financial Situations

Price: $97/month or $997/year Platforms: Web, iOS

Here's the uncomfortable truth about Empower alternatives: if you've outgrown Empower, you might have also outgrown what any dashboard can do.

When you're earning $250k+, the real money isn't in tracking investments. It's in the $10k-$50k you're leaving on the table through suboptimal entity structuring, missed tax strategies, estate plan gaps, and advisors who aren't coordinated.

X1 isn't a dashboard replacement. It's the planning and coordination layer that sits above dashboards.

What X1 does:

• Tax Strategy Discovery: AI analysis finds S-corp optimization, entity structuring, and deductions that your CPA isn't proactively recommending
• Estate Plan Analysis: Upload trust documents and get plain-English explanations, gap identification, and next steps
• Advisor Coordination: Single source of truth for your CPA, attorney, and financial advisor with decision tracking and handoff artifacts
• Family Governance: Decision frameworks, values articulation, and planning tools previously reserved for $25M+ family offices
• Play Builder: financial strategies aligned to your values and risk profile

Pros:

• Addresses the gap Empower (and every other dashboard) ignores: coordination
• Tax and estate analysis that goes beyond tracking into strategy
• Advisor workspace keeps your professional team aligned
• Family governance tools previously only available through family offices

Cons:

• $97/month is significantly more than free Empower
• Not designed for basic budgeting (use Monarch or Copilot for that)
• Built for complex households, overkill if you just need a dashboard
• Newer platform (growing feature set)

Best for: Professionals and business owners earning $250k+ who've outgrown dashboards and want to optimize the next $50k-$100k in tax savings, estate planning, and advisor coordination.

See how X1 works →

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Migration checklist (moving from Empower)

If you're switching from Empower, do this in order:

1. Screenshot your current net worth and asset allocation. Empower's historical data won't transfer. Save your baseline.

2. Export transactions. Download whatever Empower lets you export (CSV format, typically).

3. Note your connected accounts. Make a list of every institution you have linked. You'll need to reconnect them in the new app.

4. Connect accounts in the new tool and verify balances. Expect some accounts to take a day or two to sync. Spot-check totals against Empower.

5. Run both tools for 30 days. Don't close Empower until you've verified the new tool matches on balances, holdings, and net worth.

6. Cancel Empower advisory (if applicable). If you're paying for advisory services and switching to Betterment or self-managing, initiate the transfer through the receiving institution.

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How Empower appears in our other content

Empower is also reviewed in our Best AI Tools for Personal Finance (2026) guide, where it appears alongside other AI-powered finance tools. That page answers a different question.

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Methodology

This guide is based on:

• Feature comparison using official product documentation and pricing pages
• User feedback patterns from Reddit, App Store reviews, and financial forums
• Pricing reviewed March 2026 (always verify on official sites)

Sources

• Empower official site: https://www.empower.com
• Monarch Money pricing: https://www.monarchmoney.com/pricing
• Betterment pricing: https://www.betterment.com/pricing
• Copilot pricing: https://copilot.money
• Rocket Money pricing: https://www.rocketmoney.com

We have no affiliate relationships with any of these apps.

Compliance note

This comparison is for general information. Pricing and features reflect public information reviewed on August 30, 2026, and may change. Check the provider's current terms and talk with a qualified professional before making a financial, investment, or tax decision.

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Outgrown Budgeting Apps?

If you're comparing budgeting tools, you may have already outgrown them. When your finances involve multiple entities, trusts, rental properties, or a team of advisors who don't talk to each other, a budgeting app can't solve the coordination problem.

A virtual family office gives you the planning infrastructure that used to require $25M+ in assets, now available through technology. Think: unified household view, document intelligence, advisor coordination, and a weekly operating rhythm that keeps everyone aligned.

Explore the Family Office Blueprint →

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Looking for more comparisons? See our guides to Copilot vs Monarch Money, Monarch Money Alternatives, Empower vs Betterment, Mint Alternatives, and Monarch Money vs YNAB. Beyond budgeting: Advisor Fees Guide and Family Office Software Comparison 2026.

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