Empower Review (2026): Cost, Features, and Who It Suits
Last updated August 2026
Short answer
Free account aggregation and portfolio analysis tools, alongside a percentage-fee wealth management service for larger balances. On cost, it is free tools; managed accounts charge a percentage (verify current), and on the question that decides most of the day-to-day experience, whether it works with the brokerage account you already have, the answer is: Yes, for tracking (aggregates held-away accounts). It suits someone who wants a free, honest view of accounts spread across providers and is comfortable declining the follow-up call. Where it falls short: The free tools are a lead source for a high-fee managed service, and the sales contact is persistent. This review is published by Walnut, which competes with Empower, and is written from public information rather than collected user ratings.
What Empower is and how it works
You link accounts from across providers and Empower shows net worth, allocation, and a fee analyser that surfaces expense ratios you may not have noticed. That tier is free. Separately, Empower runs a managed wealth service with human advisors at a percentage of assets, with minimums, and the free tools are the funnel into it.
In category terms it is hands-off automated investing (robo-advisors), and the AI component specifically aggregates accounts and analyses them. That phrase is worth reading literally: across this market, "AI" covers everything from a rebalancing rule to a conversational assistant, and the products are not interchangeable just because they share the label.
What Empower does well
- Genuinely useful free aggregation across accounts no single provider sees
- The fee analyser routinely surfaces fund costs people did not know they were paying
- Managed tier includes access to human advisors rather than software alone
These are real advantages, and if they describe what you want, Empower is a reasonable choice regardless of what any competitor including us has to say about it.
Where Empower falls short
The free tools are a lead source for a high-fee managed service, and the sales contact is persistent.
- Expect sales contact after linking accounts. The free product exists to source clients for the managed one
- The managed service is priced at the higher end of the market for what is largely ETF portfolio management
What Empower costs
Free tools; managed accounts charge a percentage (verify current). Because it is not charged as a percentage of assets, the cost does not scale with your balance. That makes it proportionally cheaper as an account grows and relatively expensive on a small one, which is the opposite of how a robo-advisor fee behaves.
Fees change. The figure above is a guide rather than a quote, and the Empower pricing breakdown goes into what else you pay on top. Confirm current pricing on Empower's own site.
How Empower compares with the alternatives
| Product | Cost | Connects your broker? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empower | Free tools; managed accounts charge a percentage (verify current) | Yes, for tracking (aggregates held-away accounts) | Free portfolio tracking; the paid advice is a separate decision |
| Betterment | ~0.25%/yr | No (holds your money) | Set-and-forget automated investing |
| Wealthfront | ~0.25%/yr | No (holds your money) | Hands-off investing with planning built in |
| SoFi | Free automated investing | No (holds your money) | Beginners in one money app |
| Schwab Intelligent Portfolios | No advisory fee; ETF expenses apply (verify current) | No (holds your money at Schwab) | Hands-off investing with no advisory fee, if you accept the cash allocation |
Within hands-off automated investing (robo-advisors), the products differ less on capability than the marketing suggests. Cost and whether your money has to move are the two variables that actually change your experience.
Where Walnut fits, and where it does not
To be upfront, since this is our site: the one factual difference worth knowing is that Empower and Walnut both work with an account you already hold, so the difference is what happens next: Walnut answers questions about your real positions through Claude or ChatGPT rather than inside its own app. Walnut is free, with no paid plan and no fee on assets.
Where Walnut is the wrong choice: it will not manage money for you, it is not a registered investment adviser, it does no tax or estate planning, and it needs a brokerage account you already hold. If what you want is delegation rather than analysis, a robo-advisor or a human planner is the better answer and Empower may well be it. The full self-assessment is on the Walnut review.
The bottom line on Empower
Empower: Free account aggregation and portfolio analysis tools, alongside a percentage-fee wealth management service for larger balances, at free tools; managed accounts charge a percentage (verify current). It fits someone who wants a free, honest view of accounts spread across providers and is comfortable declining the follow-up call. The trade-off to accept: The free tools are a lead source for a high-fee managed service, and the sales contact is persistent. If that trade-off is one you are happy with, it is a sound choice.
FAQ
What is Empower?
Free account aggregation and portfolio analysis tools, alongside a percentage-fee wealth management service for larger balances. It sits in the hands-off automated investing (robo-advisors) category, costs free tools; managed accounts charge a percentage (verify current), and is best suited to free portfolio tracking; the paid advice is a separate decision.
How much does Empower cost?
Free tools; managed accounts charge a percentage (verify current). Because that is not a percentage of assets, the cost does not scale with your balance the way a robo-advisor fee does, which makes it cheaper proportionally as the account grows and more expensive on a small one. Verify current pricing on Empower's own site.
Does Empower connect to my existing brokerage account?
Yes, for tracking (aggregates held-away accounts). This is the distinction that decides most of the practical experience: a product that holds your money manages it inside its own account, while one that connects to your broker leaves your assets where they are. Neither is better in the abstract, but moving money has tax consequences in a taxable account that connecting does not.
What does the AI in Empower actually do?
Aggregates accounts and analyses them. That is worth reading literally rather than as marketing, because "AI" spans everything from an automated rebalancing rule to a conversational assistant that reads your holdings. What matters is whether it does the specific job you want done.
What is the biggest drawback of Empower?
The free tools are a lead source for a high-fee managed service, and the sales contact is persistent. Beyond that: expect sales contact after linking accounts. The free product exists to source clients for the managed one.
Who is Empower best for?
It fits someone who wants a free, honest view of accounts spread across providers and is comfortable declining the follow-up call. If that does not describe you, the mismatch will show up quickly, because Empower is built around that use case rather than trying to serve everyone.
Empower vs Betterment: which is better?
They compete in the same category, so the deciding factors are cost and model rather than capability. Empower costs Free tools; managed accounts charge a percentage (verify current) and works with an account you already have; Betterment costs ~0.25%/yr. Betterment leads on set-and-forget automated investing. Compare those before assuming they are interchangeable.
Is this an independent review of Empower?
No. Walnut publishes it and competes with Empower, so treat it as an informed assessment rather than a neutral one. It is built from public information about the product and carries no star rating, because we have not surveyed Empower's customers. The strengths listed above are genuine, and the section on where Walnut fits is limited to one factual difference rather than a pitch.
Walnut publishes this page and competes with Empower, so read it as an informed assessment rather than an independent one. It is built from publicly available information about the product, not from collected user reviews, and it carries no star rating because we have not surveyed Empower's customers. Pricing, features and availability change; verify current details on Empower's own site before deciding. Walnut is informational and is not an investment adviser. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or to use any particular product.