Personal Capital is well-known financial management and investment advisory platform. However, it’s possible its features and price range are not what you’re looking for. In that case, this list of Personal Capital alternatives can help you make an efficient choice.
Have you ever made intricate plans about saving money, only to face a $0 account balance as the month ends? If your answer is yes, don’t worry, you’re not alone.
With everyday necessities like food, housing, and other amenities to pay for, it gets quite challenging to save from your monthly income.
However, there are many apps like Personal Capital that can help you out with managing your finances. These apps let you keep your financial details in one place while keeping track of your spending and investments.
But, each app has its own features, price range, and management options that you’ll need to know before you sign up.
Here, I’ve listed down the best Personal Capital alternatives along with their details so you can choose the ideal platform for yourself. So let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Personal Capital Overview
If you’ve already tried out Personal Capital and know that you need another option to manage your finances, you can skip this section and move on.
However, if you’re a newbie, you should go through this section to see whether this app fits your needs or you need to assess the other Personal Capital alternatives available.
Mainly, it is an online financial advising platform where you can create your own account and invest your money.
Furthermore, Personal Capital offers various investment and financial management options that you can choose from once you’re a member. But what makes Personal Capital stand apart from its contemporary sites? Check out this overview to find out.
What is Personal Capital?
Before I start listing the alternatives to Personal Capital, here’s a brief introduction to the platform. The app is a financial management software for investors and has both paid and free versions.
If you’re wondering is Personal Capital safe, you can try it for free to see for yourself.
The good news is, you’ll get many features and tools in the free version as well, such as spending and saving analysis, portfolio performance, and retirement plans. You can sign-up for the free version with as much initial investment as you like.
On the other hand, the paid version requires you to invest a minimum of $100,000. In this version, you’ll get access to professional financial advisors to help design a tax-efficient ETF portfolio with an expense ratio of 0.8%.
As you increase your investment in Personal Capital, you’ll get more services like ETF portfolio diversification and investments in individual bonds.
Should You Use Personal Capital
I know what you’re thinking. Is Personal Capital the right option for you or not? Well, choosing the ideal finance management platform depends entirely on your needs.
Here, I have explained who Personal Finance is right for, so you should sign-up if you fall into these categories. If not, you can check out the Personal Capital alternatives I’ve listed below.
In a nutshell, if you’re interested in linking all your accounts on one platform and keeping track of all your financial activities, this app will do it for you.
Along with net worth and budget monitoring, the free version also includes retirement planning and asset allocation insights for those who don’t want the paid version.
Furthermore, if you’re looking for investment advice, the paid version of Personal Capital is the right choice for you. Although you’ll have to pay a small premium, it is way less than other dedicated investment platforms.
But, to get their wealth management services, you will need to have at least $100,000 in the bag. If you have a lesser amount and want investment advice, this platform is not for you.
Benefits of Personal Capital
To help you decide whether you want to go for Personal Capital or head over to the list of Personal Capital alternatives, here’s a list of benefits. What I love about this platform is that it has something for everyone.
Let’s say you’re a young professional looking for help with everyday budgeting. The platform’s free financial dashboard gives you all the services you need including,
- Investment Checkup
- Financial Aggregator
- Budgeting services
- Fee Analyzer
- Retirement planner
- Recession Simulator
- Retirement Readiness Score
Believe it or not, you’re getting all this for free. Now, if you’re looking for professional investment services and have at least $100,000, here are the benefits you’ll get.
- Portfolio Management services
- Human investment advisors
- Only 0.89% as a management fee
If you think Personal Capital ticks all the boxes for you at this point, you should sign-up right away. On the other hand, if you’re still unsure or want to explore other options, read along for my list of Personal Capital alternatives.
Personal Capital Alternatives
Although most of the alternatives for Personal Capital work in more or less the same way, some aspects set each platform apart. These factors include the price range, investment opportunities, and the budgeting facilities available on these platforms.
So, if you think that Personal Capital does not offer the features you need, check out these alternatives below to find the best fit for yourself.
1. You Need A Budget
The Personal Finance vs YNAB debate is one of the most heated clashes in the online finance management sector. Unlike offering high-end investing options and counseling, this platform is mainly for people like us who often wonder where all their money went.
Mainly, YNAB focuses on changing your spending and saving behavior, while other platforms simply monitor these aspects. This eventually leads you to bring some financial discipline into your life and create long-term plans to secure your future.
Pros and Cons of YNAB
To give you an honest representation of the two platforms against each other, I’ve mapped out the following points.
While you’ll get simple budget monitoring with Personal Capital, YNAB has an exclusive zero-based budgeting feature. This lets you know the details about every penny you spent, helping you eliminate unnecessary expenses.
Secondly, you can use Personal Capital for as long as you like for free unless you want to invest through the platform. However, the YNAB only offers a free trial that lasts for 34 days.
After that, you’ll either have to purchase its $84 annual plan or a monthly plan worth $12.
Lastly, while Personal Capital requires their investors to enter with at least $100,000 in their pockets, YNAB has no such requirements. You can opt for its future planning and investing options with as many savings as you have.
2. WealthSimple
WealthSimple is another Personal Capital alternative you should consider if you’re looking to regulate your finances and invest your money efficiently. Most of the other options I have listed here provide budgeting and expense analyzing services.
However, WealthSimple is the ideal platform for people who want to start investing their money and create a regular income stream for themselves.
Pros and Cons of WealthSimple
There are many benefits you’ll get by choosing WealthSimple over Personal Finance. For starters, you don’t need to have $100,000 to begin investing in the platform. You can start building your portfolio with the resources you have at hand.
Most importantly, WealthSimple lets you invest in socially-responsible investment streams. These include halal-compliant options and portfolios that cater to environmental concerns as well. Also, these facilities are available to all members regardless of their account balance.
The account management fee ranges from 0.40% for investors with less than $100,000 and 0.50% for those investing more. However, both price ranges are lower than Personal Capital.
On the downside, WealthSimple has limited tools for personal finance management as compared to Personal Capital.
3. Quicken
Simplifi by Quicken is a fantastic app for those looking for help with financial management. The app stores all your bills, expenses, and financial account details.
Eventually, it uses this information to devise efficient investing strategies and set achievable financial goals for you. You can track every penny you spent to eliminate unnecessary expenses and integrate financial discipline into your lifestyle.
But, is Quicken better than Personal Capital? Go through this Personal Capital vs Quicken comparison to find out.
Pros and Cons of Quicken
If you’re already using Quicken and want to switch to Personal Capital, you’re probably wondering can I import Quicken into Personal Capital? Well, that’s the first disadvantage.
While most of the Personal Capital alternatives in this list let you import your data to other apps, Quicken does not allow that.
Similarly, Quicken does not have a free trial option. You’ll have to go for a $4 per month package or get billed annually for $40.
As far as the features are concerned, Personal Capital is more versatile than Quicken. That’s because, along with efficient financial management tools, it offers investment advice and portfolio diversification as well.
On the other hand, Quicken only provides clear information and analysis of your spendings, savings, and net worth. If you want to move towards investing and creating a passive income, you can’t do that on Quicken.
4. Mint
If you’re looking for a free budgeting platform like Personal Capital, Mint is the ideal alternative for you. Founded back in 2006, the platform is one of the pioneering budgeting software in the industry.
Mint lets you integrate all your accounts into your profile. After that, you can check the required information about your financial situation by simply logging into the software.
Besides tracking your money and spending habits, the platform also lets you know about any pending bills or payments. This way, you’ll always be aware of your cash flow.
Pros and Cons of Mint
Although Mint offers similar financial management features as Personal Capital, this Personal Capital vs Mint comparison will put things into perspective for you.
Mint is entirely free to use, just like Personal Capital. However, it offers additional budgeting resources as well, including a credit score calculator and FICO management.
Unfortunately, if you’re looking to invest your money in the long run, Mint is not the option for you. Although it lets you monitor your investment portfolio, there are no investment advising or portfolio diversification options like Personal Capital.
However, one thing that makes Mint worth is that it carefully regulates your investments. Even if you’re investing through another platform, you can calculate the revenue against your expenses through its free investment calculator.
The calculator clearly shows all your expenses, including the advisory, brokerage, and overall investment amount, so that you can gauge the potential returns.
5. Betterment
Betterment is an excellent alternative to Personal Capital for those looking for investment management facilities. However, it does not offer any personal budgeting or financial aggregation facilities.
You can invest your money in various portfolios through the site, including high-revenue and socially responsible options. Also, you can diversify your portfolio using ETFs and bonds recommended by the robot-advisors on the platform.
Pros and Cons of Betterment
The biggest con of Betterment is that it does not provide any budgeting or financial management services. So if you only want to track your expenses, this isn’t the platform for you.
However, Personal Capital vs Betterment’s main debate lies in the investment management facilities both have to offer.
On the plus side, Betterment has impeccable portfolio diversification options without any minimum investing limit. This makes it a better choice than Personal Capital for beginners in the investment world.
Similarly, the platform also offers tax-loss harvesting systems on taxables accounts so that you can manage your taxes efficiently.
Most importantly, the advisory fee for portfolios is way lower than Personal Capital. Personal Capital charges an introductory fee of 0.89% for managing portfolios from $100,000 to $200,000.
On the other hand, Betterment only charges 0.25% for your portfolio regardless of its size. You can also try out its Premium option worth 0.40%, but it comes with a limitation of at least $100,000 to begin with.
6. Robinhood
Robinhood is another efficient software for those who need help with managing their finances. What sets Robinhood apart from Personal Capital is that it does not provide many budgeting or expense tracking features.
Instead, the platform focuses solely on investment advisory and portfolio management for beginning investors. You can start on the platform for free and request upgrades to access its premium investing features and resources.
Pros and Cons of Robinhood
The most notable drawback of Robinhood is that it does not link your accounts or analyze your incoming or outgoing cash. If you want these services, you will have to sign-up for another app simultaneously, while Personal Capital offers both services in one spot.
However, the benefit of Robinhood is that it requires no minimum stock limitation for participating in an investment option. You can start with zero stock and view their in-depth market data and details to streamline your approach.
Besides that, another advantage of investing with Robinhood is its essential notifications. This means the platform alerts you if a government report or law amendment is in process, which might affect your investing portfolio.
7. PocketGuard Personal Finance
PocketGuard is one of the best Personal Capital alternatives for you if you’re looking for a budgeting and financial tracking app. The platforms link to all your accounts to give all your incoming and outgoing cash details on a single dashboard.
Besides your accounts, you can also link the platform to your billing authorities and subscriptions. This way, you’ll always know where your money went and never default on your payments.
Pros and Cons of PocketGuard
The best part about PocketGuard is that you can use it for free for as long as you want. However, you can upgrade to the premium version to access advanced tools.
The monthly premium package costs $5 per month and $35 yearly if you go for the annual subscription.
However, if you’re looking for investment advice or portfolio diversification, PocketGuard does not offer any of these facilities. If you want an app that deals with both financial management and investment aspects, you should stick with Personal Capital.
Another benefit of PocketGuard is its clear and readable presentation. For those who want to track their expenses, the app displays your data in a colorful graph form.
This way, you can easily monitor your income, expenditure, and savings at a glance.
8. Facet Wealth
For high-scale investors whose primary motive is to increase their wealth, Facet Wealth is the ultimate Personal Capital alternative.
Just like Personal Capital, Facet Wealth offers both financial management and investment advice. This way, you can monitor, save, invest, and earn revenue, all using a single platform.
However, many aspects set Facet Wealth apart from Personal Capital which you should know before deciding.
Pros and Cons of Facet Wealth
The pricing format is perhaps the most attractive attribute of Facet Wealth. Unlike Personal Capital and other investment platforms that charge a percentage from your investment returns, this platform charges a flat rate.
However, the fee is relatively high, ranging from $100 to $500 per month. This means although the platform does not have a cap on the investment amount, you cannot join until your portfolio is worth more than $100,000.
Another benefit of joining Facet Wealth is that it connects investors to certified financial and investment planners. That’s why you know you’re getting good services for your money.
Facet Wealth invests your money through several brokerage firms using mutual funds, ETFs, and bonds.
It also offers commendable financial management services for retirement, education plans, tax management, and legacy planning. Nevertheless, despite its attractive features, the platform is only affordable for large investors.
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