Empower Personal Dashboard is the strongest free whole-net-worth tool in the US market: it pulls your entire American financial life into one net-worth view and runs a genuinely serious retirement planner and 401(k) fee analyzer on top, at zero cost. This honest 2026 comparison covers exactly what it does best, where it stops, and who is better served switching to a multi-currency, trade-level portfolio tracker instead.
What is Empower Personal Dashboard, and what does it do best?
Empower Personal Dashboard is a free whole-net-worth aggregator with a serious retirement planner built on top. It links your entire US financial life into one screen: 401(k)s, IRAs, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, mortgages, loans and credit cards, then runs scenario-based retirement projections and a 401(k) fee analyzer on the combined picture. All of it costs $0.
This is genuinely best-in-class for what it is. NerdWallet ranked it "Best budget app for tracking wealth and spending" (January 2026, on their own tools page), and it carries a 4.8 rating on the Apple App Store. If you are a US resident who wants the full financial picture rather than trade-by-trade portfolio tracking, this is the strongest free product available.
Everything you get on the free dashboard
There is no paid tier of the dashboard at all, and no feature gates were stated. The free experience includes the entire consumer product. Empower's own /tools FAQ answers "What does it cost?" with "Nothing! The dashboard experience and financial tools are completely free."
- Net worth tracking with 365-day history
- Account aggregation across banks, brokerages, 401(k)/IRA, mortgages, loans and cards
- Retirement Planner with a scenario "test-drive" for projections
- Portfolio Analysis, Budgeting & Cash Flow, and Transactions
- Savings Planner, Debt Paydown and Emergency Fund tools
- A retirement Fee Analyzer to surface hidden 401(k) costs
- Tax filing through a Taxfyle partnership
It runs on web, iOS and Android, all linked from empower.com/tools. Support docs also reference a separate iPad application with feature differences from web. There is no desktop app.
How does Empower actually make money if the dashboard is free?
Empower monetizes through human managed-money advisory, not through the dashboard. The free product doubles as the funnel for advisory sales calls. You cannot buy more dashboard features; the only upsell is a managed-money service with wealth minimums.
As of August 2026, the advisory fee schedule (billed annually on assets Empower manages) is:
- Personal Strategy Investment Services, $100,000 to $249,999: 0.89%/yr
- Wealth Management, $250,000 to $999,999: 0.89%/yr
- Private Client ($1M+ minimum): 0.79% on the first $3M, 0.69% from $3M to $5M, 0.59% from $5M to $10M, and 0.49% over $10M
On top of the advisory fee, underlying ETF expense ratios average 0.06%. Empower describes the service as having "no hidden fees, no trailing fees, and no trade commissions." Note that some third-party roundups still quote the older 0.89%-on-first-$1M schedule; the live page's Private Client tiering starts at 0.79% on the first $3M.
Where does Empower Personal Dashboard stop?
Empower Personal Dashboard is US-only, aggregation-first, and has no self-serve paid tier. None of these are flaws for its target user. They are simply the concrete reasons a different kind of investor outgrows it.
1. US-only, USD-only
Empower supports only US-based financial institutions in USD. Their support article states plainly: "We currently only support U.S based financial institutions (currency in USD)," and "you will need a valid U.S. phone number to sign up."
- International or non-USD accounts can only be added as manually updated entries
- There is no multi-currency support anywhere in the product
- An expat, a dual-market investor, or anyone holding EMAAR.AE on the Dubai Financial Market alongside US names hits this wall immediately
2. It is an aggregator, not a trader's tracker
Holdings arrive through account linking, not trade-by-trade entry. That is exactly right for a net-worth view, but it means there is no per-lot cost-basis control for manually tracked assets. If you care about which specific lot you bought and when, the aggregator model does not capture it.
There are also no price or movement alerts on the tools or feature pages. The "alerts" referenced in Empower's support docs are login-security emails, not market notifications. If you want to know when a holding reaches a level you set, the dashboard does not do that. This is the same trade-level gap that separates a portfolio tracker from a spreadsheet for active investors.
3. No paid self-serve tier
You cannot pay Empower for more dashboard capability. The only path beyond the free product is human advisory, which gates by wealth at $100k, $250k and $1M minimums. If you want more powerful tracking without handing over assets to be managed, there is no product to buy.
Empower Personal Dashboard vs PortfolioTrackr: side by side
These two tools solve different problems. Empower is a free US net-worth aggregator with retirement planning. PortfolioTrackr is a real-time, multi-currency, trade-level portfolio tracker. Here is a fair comparison using only verified facts.
| Capability | Empower Personal Dashboard | PortfolioTrackr |
|---|---|---|
| Core focus | US net worth + retirement planning | Trade-level portfolio tracking |
| Geography | US institutions only, USD only | 95 stock exchanges, 67 display currencies |
| Broker linking | Account aggregation | 35 brokers via SnapTrade, plus Alpaca, Bybit and Interactive Brokers direct (optional) |
| Manual / voice / CSV entry | Manual entries (no per-lot cost basis) | Manual, voice, text, CSV, broker screenshots on every plan |
| Price alerts | None (only login-security emails) | Levels monitored continuously through market hours |
| Retirement planner / net worth | Yes, scenario-based, free | Not a retirement planner |
| Crypto | Via linked US accounts | Stocks and crypto in one view |
| Cost | $0 dashboard (as of August 2026) | See pricing page |
PortfolioTrackr does not try to be a net-worth aggregator or a retirement planner, and it does not give investment advice. It reports status against your own levels, such as still below target, Target 1 reached, or stop-loss level reached. For a broader view of the category, our real-data comparison of six trackers lays out where each tool fits.
Who should stay with Empower Personal Dashboard?
Most US-based, single-currency wealth-planners should stay with Empower. It is free, well-rated, and does its job better than anything else in its lane. Switching away would be a downgrade for these people:
- US residents with only US accounts who want one net-worth screen
- Retirement-focused planners who value scenario projections and the 401(k) Fee Analyzer
- Budget-and-spending trackers who want cash flow, savings and debt tools alongside investments
- Anyone who wants a $0 tool and is comfortable with the occasional advisory sales call
- Higher-net-worth users who may eventually want human managed money and like keeping the funnel in one place
If that describes you, there is no good reason to leave. Honesty is the point: Empower is the strongest free whole-net-worth product for the US market, full stop.
Who should switch, and why?
You outgrow Empower the moment your investing crosses a border, needs multiple currencies, or demands trade-level control. These are the concrete triggers.
You hold non-US or multi-currency assets
Empower supports only US institutions in USD. If you hold UAE names on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange or Dubai Financial Market, London-listed shares, or crypto priced outside USD, Empower can only track them as manual USD entries. PortfolioTrackr covers 95 stock exchanges and converts across 67 currencies natively.
You want alerts and per-lot cost basis
Empower has no market alerts and no per-lot cost-basis control for manual assets. If you want a level you set to be watched continuously through market hours, or you track specific lots with their own entry prices, that is a trade-level job. Learn how connecting a broker to a tracker automates this, though broker linking always stays optional.
You mix stocks and crypto across many accounts
An aggregator built around US bank and brokerage links strains once your holdings scatter. If you run several accounts across venues, a tool designed for that is a better fit. Our guides on tracking multiple accounts and tracking stocks and crypto together cover the practical setup.
The bottom line
Empower Personal Dashboard and PortfolioTrackr are not really competitors; they answer different questions. Empower answers "What is my whole US net worth and am I on track to retire?" and it does that for free, better than anyone. PortfolioTrackr answers "How are my holdings doing right now, across every currency and market, at the level of individual trades?"
- Stay with Empower if you are a US-only, USD-only wealth-and-retirement planner. It is free and excellent at that.
- Switch to PortfolioTrackr if you need multi-currency coverage, non-US markets, price-level monitoring, or per-lot cost basis.
- Some people run both: Empower for net worth and retirement, a dedicated tracker for active positions.
Neither tool decides anything for you. Choose the one that matches the question you actually need answered.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Empower Personal Dashboard really free?
Yes. As of August 2026 the entire Personal Dashboard, including net worth tracking, account aggregation, the Retirement Planner and the Fee Analyzer, costs $0 with no paid tier. Empower makes money through separate human advisory services that carry wealth minimums starting at $100,000.
Does Empower Personal Dashboard support international or non-USD accounts?
No. Empower supports only US-based financial institutions in USD and requires a valid US phone number to sign up. International or non-USD holdings can only be added as manually updated entries, and there is no multi-currency support anywhere in the product.
What is the best Empower alternative for multi-currency investors?
PortfolioTrackr is a strong alternative for investors who hold assets outside the US or in multiple currencies. It covers 95 stock exchanges, displays and converts across 67 currencies, and tracks stocks and crypto together, none of which Empower's US-only dashboard does.
Does Empower Personal Dashboard have price alerts?
No. The alerts referenced in Empower's support documents are login-security emails, not market notifications. There are no price or movement alerts on its tools or feature pages. PortfolioTrackr monitors the levels you set continuously through market hours and reports status against your own targets.
Can I control cost basis per lot in Empower Personal Dashboard?
No. Empower brings in holdings through account aggregation rather than trade-by-trade entry, so there is no per-lot cost-basis control for manually tracked assets. Investors who need lot-level detail generally use a dedicated trade-level portfolio tracker instead.