My Empower Story: Free Tools, Endless Upsells
I signed up for Empower (formerly Personal Capital) because I'd heard it was the gold standard for free investment tracking. And honestly? The dashboard is genuinely impressive. Beautiful charts, automatic account aggregation, sophisticated portfolio analysis tools.
Then came the phone calls.
First call: A week after connecting my investment accounts. A friendly advisor wanted to "review my portfolio allocation and discuss optimization strategies." I politely declined.
Second call: A month later. This time offering a "complimentary retirement planning consultation." I declined again, more firmly.
Third call: Caught me on a stressful workday. Let's just say I was... less diplomatic.
Then I realized: Empower's free tools aren't really free. They're lead generation for a wealth management business that charges 0.89% of your assets annually. On a $500K portfolio, that's $4,450 per year. Every feature, every email, every dashboard improvement is designed to nudge you toward becoming an advisory client.
Empower vs BankSync: Complete Comparison
Here's an honest comparison between Empower and BankSync:
Empower vs BankSync Feature Comparison
| Feature |
|---|
Pricing: 'Free' vs Transparent
Let's break down the real costs:
Pricing Comparison
What you'll actually pay
Empower Free
Free tools (you're the product)
- Account aggregation
- Net worth tracking
- Investment checkup
- Fee analyzer
- Retirement planner
- Constant advisor calls
- Email marketing
- Upsell prompts everywhere
Empower Advisory
If you convert ($4,450/yr on $500K)
- All free features
- Dedicated financial advisor
- Tax optimization
- Estate planning
- Priority support
- $100K minimum investment
- Long-term commitment
- AUM-based fees compound
BankSync
Transparent pricing, no surprises
- All account types supported
- Unlimited bank connections
- Notion, Sheets, Airtable sync
- Automatic daily syncs
- Full data ownership
- Zero sales calls ever
- No upsells or advisory
- Cancel anytime
Why Users Are Switching
What Empower Does Well
Let me be fair - Empower has genuinely excellent features:
Free Investment Tracking
Comprehensive portfolio analysis with allocation breakdowns and performance tracking across all your accounts
Net Worth Calculator
Automatic aggregation of all assets and liabilities with beautiful visualizations and trend tracking
Fee Analyzer
Identifies hidden fees in your investments and shows how they impact long-term returns
Retirement Planning
Monte Carlo simulations and retirement projections based on your current savings rate
What I Actually Wanted (And Built with BankSync)
Beyond the sales calls, I had real frustrations with Empower:
No Dashboard Customization
Showed me what THEY thought was important, not what I cared about
Data Trapped in Their App
Couldn't integrate with my other productivity tools or systems
Analysis Designed to Worry You
'Your allocation is 3% off optimal!' - classic sales tactic
Limited Export Options
Basic CSV exports, clunky process, no real-time sync
BankSync Integrations
With BankSync, your financial data goes where YOU want it:
Sync Your Data To
Notion
Build beautiful investment dashboards with databases, charts, and custom views. Perfect for visual portfolio tracking.
Google Sheets
Create sophisticated analysis with formulas, pivot tables, and custom charts. Ideal for data-driven investors.
Airtable
Relational databases for complex portfolio tracking. Connect accounts, positions, and performance metrics.
Building My Own Net Worth Dashboard
When I switched to BankSync, I replicated Empower's best features in Google Sheets - but better:
Only Metrics I Care About
Not what their algorithm thinks I should worry about
Unlimited Historical Data
Track net worth over years, not just the recent months they show
Combined With Other Data
Income projections, debt payoff timelines, all in one place
Zero Sales Pressure
Data just sits there, ready when I need it, no agenda
Frequently Asked Questions
What Users Say
"I loved Empower's dashboard but hated the constant advisor calls. With BankSync, I built the same net worth tracker in Notion - but now it's truly mine. No calls, no emails trying to sell me advisory services. Just my data, updated daily, in a tool I already use."
Who Should Stick with Empower?
I'm not going to pretend Empower is bad - it's genuinely excellent for certain people:
- You want a ready-made dashboard with zero setup
- You're actually considering hiring a financial advisor
- "Free" matters more than data ownership
- You don't mind occasional sales outreach
The Numbers Don't Lie
The Bottom Line
Empower taught me something valuable: if you're not paying for the product, you are the product. Their excellent free dashboard exists to convert you into an advisory client paying 0.89% of your assets annually.
I'd rather pay $7/month for a tool that:
- Respects my boundaries
- Puts my data where I want it
- Never tries to sell me anything else
That's BankSync. Try it free for 14 days - and I promise, we won't call you.