Home / Comparisons / Wealthfront vs Empower

Wealthfront vs Empower (2026)

Price, free plan, features and SEC status side by side, from each company's own pages and the SEC database (verified 2026-10-26).

Wealthfront

0.25%/yrstarts at
SEC-registered · CRD 148456
  • Automated portfolio: 0.25%/yr advisory fee
  • Brokerage account: No fees, $1 to start

Free plan: yes · Trial: Self-directed brokerage account has no advisory fee

Best for: Hands-off automated investing

Our take: Still one of the simplest ways to hand off investing. It's algorithmic automation more than chat AI, with a low 0.25% fee.

Try Wealthfront

Empower

Free dashboardstarts at
SEC-registered · CRD 112058
  • Personal Dashboard: Free
  • Personal Strategy (investment services, $100K–$249,999): 0.89%/yr
  • Wealth management ($250K–$999,999): 0.89%/yr
  • Private clients: 0.79% first $3M → 0.69% next $2M → 0.59% next $5M → 0.49% over $10M

Free plan: yes · Trial: n/a (dashboard is free)

Best for: Free net-worth and fee tracking

Our take: The free dashboard is excellent. The managed service at 0.89% costs more than most flat-fee AI options here.

Try Empower

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Feature by feature

WealthfrontEmpower
Starts at0.25%/yrFree dashboard
Free planyesyes
Free trialSelf-directed brokerage account has no advisory feen/a (dashboard is free)
Budgetingnot listednot listed
Planningnot listedyes
Portfolio analysisyesyes
Manages moneyyesyes
SEC-registered adviserYes, CRD 148456Yes, CRD 112058
AI featureAutomated, software-managed portfolios and tax-loss harvesting (no AI-specific feature verified)Automated portfolio management and a free tracking dashboard. No AI chatbot is listed on the pages we fetched
Last verified2026-10-262026-10-26

Which should you pick?

These picks are our editorial opinion. The facts above link to their sources on each app's page.

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