Best Empower (Personal Capital) Alternative
Empower (formerly Personal Capital) pairs free financial tracking tools with a paid wealth management advisory service that charges AUM fees. Clarity focuses purely on self-directed tracking across banks, brokerages, and crypto without advisory upsells.
Why People Look for Empower (Personal Capital) Alternatives
- Advisory fees are high (0.49-0.89% AUM)
- Minimal budgeting features
- Aggressive upselling to advisory services
- No crypto exchange connections
- Interface feels dated
Clarity as Your Empower (Personal Capital) Alternative
Self-directed investors who want transparent, flat-fee tracking across traditional and crypto assets without advisory pressure.
- Banks + crypto exchanges + on-chain wallets in one dashboard
- AI-powered transaction categorization
- Automatic recurring subscription detection
- FIFO cost basis tracking for crypto
- 10,000+ merchant normalizations
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criterion | Clarity | Empower (Personal Capital) |
|---|---|---|
Account Coverage Range of financial accounts and asset types supported. | 5/5 Banks, brokerages, crypto exchanges, and on-chain wallets all supported. Internal | |
Sync Reliability How consistently account data syncs without errors or manual intervention. | 4/5 Queue-based sync with automatic retries. Plaid-backed for traditional accounts. Internal | 4/5 Mature platform with reliable Plaid and Yodlee connections. Occasional sync delays reported for smaller institutions. Docs |
Setup Time Time from sign-up to a fully connected, useful dashboard. | 4/5 Web-based onboarding with Plaid Link. Crypto setup requires API keys. Internal | 3/5 Account linking works well but onboarding includes advisory service prompts that slow down the pure tracking setup. Docs |
Pricing Predictability How transparent and stable the pricing is over time. | 4/5 Flat subscription fee regardless of account count or asset value. Internal | 2/5 Free dashboard tools, but advisory service charges 0.49%-0.89% AUM. The free tier exists to funnel users toward paid advisory. Pricing |
Data Freshness How quickly new transactions and price changes appear. | 4/5 On-demand and scheduled syncs. Crypto prices update in near real-time. Internal | 3/5 Daily sync for most accounts. Investment prices update with market hours but can lag for less common holdings. Docs |
Historical Depth How far back transaction and portfolio history extends. | 3/5 Daily net worth snapshots and full transaction history from connected accounts. Internal | 4/5 Years of net worth history with detailed investment performance charts. One of the stronger legacy tracking platforms for historical data. Docs |
Export & Reporting Ability to export data and generate financial reports. | 4/5 CSV and PDF exports. Crypto cost-basis tracking included. Internal | 3/5 Investment performance reports and spending summaries available. CSV export options are limited compared to dedicated tools. Docs |
Privacy & Security Data protection practices, encryption, and privacy controls. | 4/5 Read-only connections, encrypted at rest, no data selling. Internal | 4/5 SEC-registered advisor with institutional-grade security. Data is used to personalize advisory recommendations. Docs |
Developer Experience API access, webhooks, and extensibility for power users. | N/A Consumer product. No public API. Internal |
Who Should Switch (and Who Shouldn't)
Switch to Clarity if...
- Hybrid investors with both traditional and crypto assets
- People who want automated categorization over manual budgeting
- Users who need a single net worth view across all accounts
- Crypto holders who need cost basis tracking for taxes
Stay with Empower (Personal Capital) if...
- Pre-retirees and retirees focused on retirement planning
- High-net-worth individuals who want human advisory
- Users who want free investment tracking without budgeting
How to Switch
Switching from Empower (Personal Capital)
- 1Sign up for Clarity and connect your bank and brokerage accounts via Plaid Link.
- 2Add crypto exchanges using read-only API keys if applicable.
- 3Compare net worth totals between Clarity and Empower to verify accuracy.
- 4Keep Empower's free tools as long as you like since there is no cost to maintain both.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Empower really free?
Empower's dashboard tools for tracking net worth, spending, and investments are genuinely free. The paid component is their wealth management advisory service, which charges 0.49% to 0.89% of assets under management annually.
Does Clarity offer retirement planning tools like Empower?
Clarity focuses on asset tracking and net worth visibility rather than retirement projections. If you need Monte Carlo simulations and retirement income planning, Empower's free tools are strong in that area.
Can I use both Clarity and Empower at the same time?
Yes. Since Empower's tracking tools are free and both use read-only connections, there is no conflict in running them side by side. Many users keep Empower for retirement planning while using Clarity for day-to-day tracking.
Does Clarity track crypto like Empower does?
Clarity has native crypto exchange and wallet integrations, while Empower has no crypto support. If you hold digital assets, Clarity provides a unified view that Empower cannot match.
Ready to Replace Empower (Personal Capital)?
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