Empower

Portfolio Manager — Freemium

A hybrid robo-advisor pairing AI portfolio tools with human advisors plus free net-worth and planning dashboards.

Free net-worth planning

Overview

Empower, formerly known as Personal Capital, is a hybrid portfolio manager built for investors who want AI-driven portfolio tools paired with an actual human advisor instead of picking one or the other. This Empower review focuses on the split between what's free and what requires a managed account, since that line matters for whether the platform is worth using. It's built for people who want automation plus a real person to call, not just an algorithm making every decision. It fits investors with larger balances better than someone just starting out.

The free side is genuinely useful on its own. Free planning dashboards let anyone track net worth, analyze the fees buried in their existing accounts, and plan for retirement without paying a cent. The hybrid model of AI plus advisors means paid users get tax-optimized portfolios and a dedicated advisor on top of the automation, rather than software alone. Net-worth tracking across linked accounts gives a full financial picture in one place, the feature most people actually open the app for.

The costs show up once you move from the free tools to actual management. The managed fee runs higher than a pure robo-advisor, and there's a high minimum required to access human advisor management at all, which prices out smaller accounts. That combination means the paid tier only makes sense once a portfolio is large enough to justify the fee.

Empower covers US stocks, ETFs, and bonds, built for long-term investing with a semi-automated approach that blends algorithmic management with human oversight. Pricing is listed as Free tools / 0.89% managed, so the free dashboards cost nothing while managed portfolios carry that fee. Skip it if your balance is too small to clear the management minimum, or if you just want free tracking without ever paying for advice. It's a strong fit for intermediate investors with larger portfolios who want automation backed by a human advisor relationship.

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