Free Portfolio Tools: Wealthfront vs. Empower vs. Mezzi

Updated September 25, 2026.

For a broad free financial dashboard, start with Empower. For free automated planning connected to a Wealthfront financial picture, consider Wealthfront's planning tools. For account aggregation, Exposure X-Ray, family collaboration, and a limited introduction to AI guidance, consider Mezzi Free.

All three can be useful without treating their paid services as equivalent. Wealthfront Automated Investing is a managed-investing product with a fee. Empower's professional advisory services are separate from its free dashboard. Mezzi's paid plans expand advice and monitoring while you retain implementation responsibility.

This comparison focuses first on what is free, then explains when the paid offerings become relevant.

Method: Published by Mezzi, based on inspection of Mezzi's app and review of official Wealthfront and Empower documentation. We did not conduct matched connection or performance tests. US plan information was checked September 24, 2026.

What is actually free?

Sources: Wealthfront planning, Wealthfront fees, Empower tools, and Mezzi plans.

Free does not mean every service the company offers is free. Equally, a paid managed-investment offer does not mean you must buy it to benefit from the company's free planning tools.

Wealthfront: planning and managed investing are separate capabilities

Wealthfront's planning experience uses linked financial information to build projections and explore goals. External accounts can contribute to that picture; Wealthfront is not restricted to showing assets held within its own investing service. Wealthfront planning

Its support documentation explains how to link outside bank or brokerage accounts and states that linking does not itself allow Wealthfront to manage or transfer those assets. That distinction is important: an external account can inform a plan without becoming a managed Wealthfront account. Outside-account linking

What the free planning workflow is good for

It is relevant when you want a projected financial path informed by connected accounts rather than repeatedly filling in a standalone calculator. Retirement inputs can include both Wealthfront and linked external accounts. The resulting projection is still a model based on assumptions, not a guarantee. Retirement-goal account inputs

For someone already using Wealthfront, the planning experience may be a convenient starting point. Evaluate whether the accounts and assumptions needed for your goal are present before adding another tool.

When the paid service matters

Automated Investing is a different decision. Wealthfront's published advisory fee is 0.25% annually, with automated investment management features including rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting where applicable. Underlying fund expenses are separate. Wealthfront fee and service overview

That service may appeal to someone who wants implementation handled in the managed account. It should not be compared with Mezzi as though both execute the same work. Nor should a marketing example of tax savings be treated as a promised result for your account.

Best fit: a reader who wants connected planning, particularly within an existing Wealthfront workflow, or who separately wants automated portfolio management. Less direct fit: someone choosing primarily for open-ended, ongoing discussion of household financial decisions.

Empower: a broad free dashboard with planning tools

Empower Personal Dashboard, formerly Personal Capital, combines a household overview with budgeting, retirement, savings, and investment tools. It can be enough for a reader who wants to see where finances stand and perform periodic checkups without a subscription. Empower financial tools

What the free workflow is good for

A consolidated view can help you notice that accounts which look diversified separately create a more concentrated combined portfolio. Cash-flow and savings views add another dimension: whether the household's behavior supports its goals, regardless of recent market returns.

Empower’s Investment Checkup adds portfolio analysis to its account dashboard. Empower portfolio analysis

The useful recurring routine is to confirm account data, inspect allocation and fees, and revisit planning assumptions after a life change. If that routine answers your questions, paying for another app may add little.

When the paid service matters

Empower's Personal Strategy is a separate professional-advice and management relationship. Its eligibility and fees do not describe the cost of the free dashboard. Review the current service terms if you want someone to manage investments rather than simply provide tools. Empower Personal Strategy

Best fit: a reader who wants broad household and retirement visibility for free. Reason to explore Mezzi as well: you understand the dashboard but want to discuss what its findings mean for a specific decision.

Mezzi Free: a connected picture and an introduction to guidance

Mezzi Free includes connected assets and liabilities, family collaboration, Exposure X-Ray, and limited AI insights. It lets you begin with the financial picture before deciding whether a paid advice plan is useful. Mezzi pricing

The account scope extends beyond investing. Mezzi includes checking and savings, credit cards and other liabilities, and additional assets such as real estate. The property workflow we inspected accepts a manually maintained value, so it should not be confused with an automatic appraisal service.

What the workflow is good for

Exposure X-Ray helps investigate underlying holdings in supported funds. AI Personalization supplies context about goals, preferences, and household circumstances that a balance feed cannot explain.

For example, a household may have cash earmarked for a purchase while also wondering whether to increase retirement contributions. The useful question connects the purpose of the cash to the investment decision. A large bank balance alone does not reveal whether the money is available to invest.

Mezzi's account-group update describes Investments, Banking, Other Assets, and Liabilities as parts of the same picture.

What requires a paid plan

Advisory is $399 annually and includes unlimited advice and five active Delegations. Concierge is $999 annually and includes unlimited active Delegations, advanced AI, setup assistance, and quarterly coaching check-ins. Free AI access is limited.

Mezzi does not place trades or file returns. A Delegation supports monitoring, while implementation remains yours. Saved AI Personalization context is not automatically an active monitoring task or a rule that moves money.

Best fit: someone who wants to evaluate account-connected guidance while remaining self-directed. Less suitable: someone whose primary requirement is discretionary investment management or a full transaction-reporting ledger.

Compare costs without comparing different jobs

For the free features described here, subscription cost is zero. The relevant question is whether those features satisfy the need within their limits.

For paid services, scope matters. At an unchanged $100,000 managed balance, a 0.25% annual advisory rate is $250 before fund expenses. Mezzi Advisory is $399 annually regardless of that balance. The lower number in this example does not establish better value, because one is a managed-investing service and the other leaves implementation with you.

Similarly, the mathematical point at which a 0.25% fee equals $399 is $159,600. That is a fee comparison only. It ignores differences in service, account eligibility, fund expenses, taxes, and any professional help you retain. It is not a recommendation to change services at that balance.

Do not include referral offers or introductory waivers as permanent terms unless they apply to your actual account. Compare standard pricing and your expected renewal arrangement.

Free software does not remove investment expenses

Consider a hypothetical $100,000 holding in a fund with a 0.50% annual expense ratio. The corresponding annual expense is approximately $500 at an unchanged balance. At 0.05%, it would be approximately $50. The $450 difference concerns fund expenses, not the price of a dashboard or proof that changing funds is appropriate.

A decision about switching also needs to consider differences in exposure, transaction costs, and any tax consequences. The example shows why a free tool that helps you understand existing costs can be useful, while avoiding the claim that every lower-fee alternative is automatically better for your situation.

Keep three cost lines separate: software subscription, investment-management fee, and underlying investment expenses. Then add any professional services you need. Mixing those lines can make an inexpensive tool look costly or make a managed service appear to do the same work as a free dashboard.

How to choose without overcomplicating your finances

Pick the unresolved job first. If you need a household overview, evaluate Empower's free dashboard. If you want connected projections, inspect Wealthfront's planning experience. If you want to explore a question using household context, begin with Mezzi Free and note the limits on advice.

Use the same accounts and assumptions when comparing. Check at least one balance and holding against the institution's records. If tax analysis is involved, verify that the necessary transaction and ownership information is present. A connected account is not proof of complete tax records.

Then decide whether a paid service solves a separate problem. Unlimited advice, managed trading, and human professional support are different purchases. Paying should be tied to a recurring need, not to the assumption that free tools must be inadequate.

Common questions

Can Wealthfront see accounts held elsewhere?

Yes. Wealthfront supports linked external accounts for its financial picture and planning. Linking alone does not authorize management or transfer of those assets.

Is Empower's dashboard free without its advisory service?

Yes. Its free Personal Dashboard is distinct from the paid advisory relationship.

Is Mezzi Free the same as unlimited AI advice?

No. Free includes limited AI insights. Paid plans expand advice and active Delegations.

Which tool automatically trades for me?

Wealthfront Automated Investing manages investments under that service. Empower separately offers managed advice. Mezzi provides guidance while you implement decisions. Do not infer trading authority simply from an account connection.

For specialist research and reporting options, see our ten portfolio analyzers.