Empower Review (2026)
Empower Personal Dashboard, formerly Personal Capital, is a free net-worth and investment tracker with a basic spending view. It suits investors who want all their accounts in one place and a retirement projection at no cost. If you need real category budgets, look elsewhere: the dashboard tracks one monthly budget figure.
By Wealthy Pot Editorial · Facts checked October 18, 2026
Facts checked October 18, 2026 against Empower's own pricing, help and policy pages (7 sources, listed below). We re-check prices about once a month. We do not earn a commission from Empower.
Empower at a glance
| Price | Free [1] |
|---|---|
| Paid advisory (optional) | 0.89% a year on $100,000 to $999,999 managed; $100,000 minimum [3] |
| Platforms | Web, iPhone, Android [1] |
| Bank connections | Yodlee (Fastlink); you accept Yodlee's terms when linking [2] |
| Budgeting | One monthly budget figure vs. the last 30 days of spending; no specific budgeting goals [4] |
| Tools | Net worth, retirement planner, portfolio analysis, savings planner, debt paydown, emergency fund [1] |
| CSV export | Transactions, from the web app [5] |
| Security | Encryption, multifactor authentication, fraud protection (Empower's description) [1] |
| Provider | Empower Personal Wealth, LLC, owned by Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America [2] |
| History | Empower bought Personal Capital in August 2020 [7] |
What Empower costs
| Plan | Paying monthly, 1 year | Annual plan, 1 year | 3 years (cheapest way) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Dashboard | $0 | - | $0 |
Our arithmetic from the listed prices, before sales tax, assuming today's prices hold; subscriptions can renew at a different rate. The dashboard is free. Empower Advisory Group sells optional investment management (Personal Strategy) for a yearly fee of 0.89% of assets in the $100,000 to $249,999 and $250,000 to $999,999 tiers. On $200,000 that is $1,780 a year by our math. You do not need it to use the dashboard.
How Empower works
You link checking, savings, credit card, mortgage, investment and retirement accounts through Yodlee. Empower adds them up into a net worth figure, sorts transactions into categories automatically and runs planning tools over the same data: a retirement planner, portfolio allocation analysis, a savings planner and debt paydown and emergency fund tools.
Budgeting lives in a single widget. You set one monthly budget figure; an outer ring shows what you spent in the past 30 days and turns red when you pass the budget, an inner ring compares with this time last month, and a table lists your expense categories by amount. Hypothetical example: with a $4,000 monthly budget and $4,300 spent in the last 30 days, the outer ring turns red, and the table lists where the money went by category. You cannot set a target per category.
Empower's terms say the dashboard is free and that wealth management from Empower Advisory Group is a separate, optional service that may carry a fee.
Pros
- Completely free dashboard
- Net worth, investments and retirement planning in one place
- Portfolio analysis across all linked accounts
- CSV export of transactions on the web
Cons
- Budgeting is one monthly number, not category budgets
- Part of a company that sells advisory services at 0.89% a year
- Uses advertising cookies; some state laws treat that as a data "sale"
- No household sharing documented on Empower's pages
Who Empower fits, and who should skip it
A good fit if
- You invest and want every account, including retirement accounts, in one free net-worth view.
- You want a retirement projection built from your real balances.
- You want spending trends without keeping a detailed budget.
Look elsewhere if
- You want a budget with a limit for each category: Monarch Money or YNAB.
- You want to share one view with a partner under separate logins: Empower does not document that, while Monarch Money does.
- You want your financial data kept on your own computer rather than in a cloud service: Quicken Classic stores its data file locally.
Limitations to know
- Empower's help center says it is not possible to set specific budgeting goals. [4]
- The CSV export covers only the date range and account type you have selected. [5]
- Account linking depends on Yodlee; you must accept Yodlee's Fastlink terms. [2]
Empower compared with alternatives
| App | Price | Free plan | Bank sync | Platforms | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empower | Free dashboard; paid advisory from 0.89% a year ($100k min) | Yes | Yes (Yodlee) | iOS, Android, Web | Aggregation / net worth |
| Monarch Money | No free tier; Core $14.99/mo · $99.99/yr; Plus $199/yr (US & Canada only) | No | Yes (Plaid, Finicity, MX) | iOS, Android, Web | Flexible / aggregation |
| Copilot Money | No free tier; $13/mo · $95/yr (1-month trial; iPhone/iPad/Mac/web, no Android) | No | Yes (Plaid, plus MX, Mastercard, Akoya) | iOS, Web, Desktop | AI-assisted flexible |
| Quicken Classic | Deluxe $6.99/mo billed annually; Premier $8.99/mo ($7.99 first year to Nov 13, 2026); renews at then-current rates | No | Yes (bank download) | Desktop | Traditional PFM |
| Rocket Money | Free tier; Premium pay-what-you-want (typically $7–$14/mo); Premium+ $15/mo | Yes | Yes (Plaid; US banks only) | iOS, Android, Web | Flexible + subscription tracking |
- Pick Monarch Money if you want net worth and investments plus real category budgets for a household.
- Pick Copilot Money if you use Apple devices and want budgets and investments in one polished app.
- Pick Quicken Classic if you want detailed investment and tax records stored on your own computer.
- Pick Rocket Money if you want a free app aimed at bills and subscriptions instead of investments.
Security and privacy
- Empower says it uses industry-standard encryption, multifactor authentication and fraud protection. [1]
- Account aggregation runs through Yodlee's Fastlink platform. [2]
- Empower says it does not share personal information for monetary gain, but it and its advertising partners use cookies and advertising identifiers, which some state laws count as a "sale" or "share". [6]
Recent changes
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| Aug 1, 2025 | Personal Dashboard terms of use updated. [2] |
| Aug 18, 2020 | Empower Retirement completed its purchase of Personal Capital, later renamed Empower Personal Dashboard. [7] |
Empower FAQ
Is Empower Personal Dashboard really free?
Yes. The dashboard and its tools are free. Empower makes money from optional investment management, which starts at 0.89% a year with a $100,000 minimum.
Is Empower the same as Personal Capital?
Yes. Empower Retirement bought Personal Capital in August 2020, and the free tools are now called Empower Personal Dashboard.
Can I make a category budget in Empower?
No. You set one monthly budget figure and see spending by category, but Empower's help center says specific budgeting goals are not possible.
How does Empower connect to my accounts?
Through Yodlee's Fastlink platform. You agree to Yodlee's terms of use when you link an account.
How we researched this review
We did not get paid or receive a free account for this page. We read Empower's own pricing page, help center, security and privacy pages and app-store listing on October 18, 2026, quoted each fact from those pages, and link every one below. We did not run a long-term hands-on test, so we do not score the app; where a point rests on what the company says rather than something we can check, we attribute it to Empower. Cost figures are our own arithmetic. We re-check prices and plans about once a month and log changes in the table above.
Sources
- Empower, Personal Dashboard tools, checked October 18, 2026.
- Empower, Personal Dashboard terms of use (updated August 1, 2025), checked October 18, 2026.
- Empower, Personal Strategy (advisory fees), checked October 18, 2026.
- Empower Dashboard Support, Using the Budgeting Widget, checked October 18, 2026.
- Empower Dashboard Support, Export transactions to a CSV file through our web application, checked October 18, 2026.
- Empower, Privacy policy, checked October 18, 2026.
- Empower press release, Empower Retirement completes Personal Capital acquisition (August 2020), checked October 18, 2026.
Head-to-head comparisons
See every option in our budgeting apps comparison, and set your category targets with the free budget calculator.
This review is for general information, not financial advice. Prices and features change; check the vendor's site before you subscribe.