Empower vs Monarch Money (2026): Fees, Features, Verdict

TL;DR verdict: Empower's dashboard is genuinely free and has the stronger investment and retirement analytics — but the dashboard is a lead magnet for an advisory service that charges 0.89% per year, and once you link $100,000+ you should expect a sales call. Monarch Money ($99.99/year Core) is the better budgeting and couples app. Pick Empower for portfolio depth at $0, Monarch for day-to-day money management. Neither one calculates a FIRE date.

These two apps get compared constantly, and for good reason: after Mint shut down, Empower and Monarch became the two most common landing spots — one free, one paid. I've used both with my own money, and the honest answer to "which is better?" is they're not trying to be the same product.

Prices and features in this article were verified on June 12, 2026 against the sources linked below.

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Empower vs Monarch Money: the comparison table

	Empower	Monarch Money
Price	Free dashboard; advisory service 0.89%/yr	$99.99/yr Core, $14.99 month-to-month, $199/yr Plus
Business model	Free tools funnel users to paid wealth management ($100K minimum)	Straight subscription — you are the customer, not the lead
Budgeting	Basic spending/cash-flow tracking	Core strength: flexible categories, rules, rollovers
Investment tracking	Core strength: allocation, performance, fee analyzer	Good, deeper analysis in the $199 Plus tier
Retirement planning	Scenario-based Retirement Planner (free)	Goal tracking and cash-flow projections; no retirement simulator
Couples / sharing	Designed around a single user	Household sharing included in Core
Bank sync	✓ (aggregation is the product's core)	✓ (Plaid, MX, Finicity)
Mobile apps	✓ iOS + Android	✓ iOS + Android
Free trial	Not needed — dashboard is free	7 days, card required
The catch	Sales calls once you link ~$100K+	$100+/year, forever

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Is Empower actually free?

Yes — the dashboard and tools cost nothing. Empower's own FAQ answers "What does it cost?" with: "Nothing! The dashboard experience and financial tools are completely free." That includes net worth tracking, a spending/cash-flow view, a scenario-based Retirement Planner, portfolio allocation analysis, and a 401(k) fee analyzer.

The honest part most reviews skip: the dashboard is a marketing channel. Empower (formerly Personal Capital) makes money on wealth management, which NerdWallet's review pins at a $100,000 minimum and a tiered fee of 0.89% on your first $1 million, stepping down to 0.49% above $10 million. On a $500K portfolio that's ~$4,450 every year.

Do Empower advisors really call you?

Yes. Rob Berger's review (updated March 2026) puts it plainly: "They use the financial dashboard as a marketing tool. I've spoken with their advisors in the past." He also notes the calls stop if you ask: "If you don't want them to call you, just tell them. They honored my request."

So the trade is explicit: you get genuinely excellent free analytics, and you pay with your phone number. If you can say "no thanks" once, it's a good trade.

What does Monarch Money cost in 2026?

Three numbers matter:

• Core: $99.99/year (works out to ~$8.33/month) — unlimited account syncing, budgeting, AI categorization, and shared Household access for partners (FinCompareLab's 2026 pricing guide, corroborated by CostBench).
• Month-to-month: $14.99/month — same features, no annual commitment.
• Plus: $199/year — the premium tier Monarch launched in 2026, aimed at "optimizers," with advanced forecasting and deeper investment analysis.

The official pricing page runs a 7-day free trial ("Your first week is on us") — card required, so set a reminder — and at the time of writing offers 30% off the first year with code WELCOME.

There is no free tier. Monarch's pitch is the opposite of Empower's: you pay the subscription, so nobody calls to sell you anything.

Which is better for budgeting?

Monarch, clearly. It was founded in 2018 by Mint's first product manager, Val Agostino, and budgeting is the product's center of gravity: flexible categories, custom rules, rollover budgets, and clean reports. It's also the Wall Street Journal's budgeting-app pick.

Empower has a spending view and cash-flow tracking, but budgeting is plainly a secondary feature — there's no real category management depth, and you can't shape it around a method. If budgeting is the job, Empower will frustrate you.

Which is better for investments and retirement?

Empower, clearly. The allocation breakdowns, performance tracking, fee analyzer, and Retirement Planner scenarios are stronger than anything in Monarch's Core tier — and they're free. Monarch's $199/year Plus tier narrows the gap with deeper investment analysis, but paying $199 to approach what Empower gives away makes little sense if investments are your main concern.

Which is better for couples?

Monarch. Household sharing is included in Core, and the shared-view experience is the best of any mainstream finance app. Empower is built around a single user; there's no comparable shared experience.

Choose Empower if…

• Your main question is "how are my investments doing and what am I paying in fees?"
• You want a free retirement scenario planner
• You can politely decline a sales call (or take it — the advice conversation itself is free)
• You're a single user, or your partner doesn't need their own login

Choose Monarch Money if…

• Your main question is "where does our money go every month?"
• You manage money with a partner and want true shared access
• You want AI-assisted categorization and budgeting rules that stick
• You'd rather pay $99.99/year than be a sales lead

Can you just use both?

Yes, and plenty of people do exactly that: Monarch for budgeting and the shared household view, Empower for the free investment and retirement analytics. The cost is one $99.99 subscription plus tolerating Empower's onboarding call. The downside is maintaining two sets of account connections.

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And if you want a manual-first alternative

Full disclosure up front: My Financial Freedom Tracker (MFFT) is my own product — I build it and run it. It's not trying to beat Empower or Monarch at their own game, so here's the honest positioning:

	Empower	Monarch Money	MFFT
Price	Free (advisory upsell)	$99.99/yr	Free until Aug 2026
Bank sync	✓	✓	✗ — manual-first; you import statements instead
Mobile apps	✓	✓	✗ — responsive web only
Couples	✗	✓	✗ — single-user today
Budgeting	Basic	Excellent	✓ categories that learn your patterns
Net worth tracking	✓	✓	✓ incl. crypto and real estate
FIRE date calculator	Partial (retirement scenarios)	✗	✓ — built around it

If bank sync and mobile apps are dealbreakers, MFFT loses — pick one of the two above. But if you'd rather not hand an aggregator your bank credentials, and you want budgeting, net worth tracking, and an actual "when can I stop working?" answer in one tool, that's the exact gap I built it for. You upload a bank statement once a month; it categorizes transactions and projects your path to financial independence with a FIRE planner. It's free to use until August 2026; after that a small upkeep subscription keeps it running and your data private — never sold, never a lead magnet like Empower's dashboard.

For the wider field — YNAB and Rocket Money included — see my full budgeting app comparison and its head-to-head verdicts like YNAB vs Monarch. If the subscription itself is what bothers you, I've also rounded up YNAB alternatives that are actually free and net worth trackers that don't link to your bank.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Empower or Monarch Money better in 2026?

It depends on the job. Empower is better for free investment tracking, fee analysis, and retirement scenario planning — but its free dashboard exists to sell a 0.89%/year advisory service, with sales calls once you link about $100K. Monarch Money ($99.99/year Core) is better for budgeting, AI categorization, and shared couples finances. Neither app calculates a FIRE date.

Is Empower really free, or is there a catch?

The dashboard and all its tools are genuinely free — Empower says so explicitly. The catch is the business model: Empower sells wealth management (0.89% on your first $1M, $100,000 minimum per NerdWallet), and linked users with larger balances get sales calls. Reviewers report the calls stop if you ask.

How much does Monarch Money cost in 2026?

Monarch Core costs $99.99/year (or $14.99 month-to-month), and the Plus tier launched in 2026 costs $199/year with advanced forecasting and deeper investment analysis. There's a 7-day free trial that requires a card, and no permanent free tier.

Can I use Empower and Monarch Money together?

Yes — a common setup is Monarch for budgeting and shared household views plus Empower's free dashboard for investment and retirement analytics. You'll pay Monarch's $99.99/year and maintain two sets of account connections.

Is there a free alternative that doesn't link to my bank?

Yes. My Financial Freedom Tracker (my own product) is manual-first: you upload bank statements instead of sharing credentials, and it combines budgeting, net worth tracking, and FIRE projections. It's free to use until August 2026, then a small upkeep subscription that keeps your data private and never sold. The trade-off is no automatic sync and no native mobile apps. If you want a permanently free option, spreadsheets and open-source tools like GnuCash work too.

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What's next?

• Compare the whole field: YNAB vs Monarch vs Rocket Money vs Mint
• Want your FIRE date, not just a budget? Try the FIRE planner
• Questions? Email me at vymerd@gmail.com.