Three products get named in the same breath. They are not the same job.
Empower is the free dashboard most people already know — aggregation and tracking, with optional AUM wealth management if you want a firm to run the money.
Boldin is a retirement planner. Scenario modeling, Social Security, Roth tools, the question “does this plan hold.”
WealthFluent is a personalized financial decision-making platform for self-directed and strategic investors: the whole balance sheet (assets and liabilities), Lifetime Wealth Planning, a cross-account portfolio optimizer, and Magpie — an AI that already has your books.
This page is a comparison, not a verdict. Prices and plan names change. Check theirs, and check ours. WealthFluent is not a financial advisor. Nothing here is advice or a recommendation.
For the wider 2026 field (Boldin, Empower, ProjectionLab, MaxiFi), see Best Retirement Planning Software in 2026.
At a glance
| WealthFluent | Boldin | Empower | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Essentials, Premium, Lifetime | Basic, PlannerPlus, optional Advisors | Free Personal Dashboard; optional AUM wealth management |
| Best for | Self-directed investors who want one system for the books, the lifetime plan, and the trades that close the gap | Households whose main job is retirement math: scenarios, Social Security, Roth conversions, spend | People who want free tracking — or who want a human team to manage investments |
| Price | Essentials ~$72/year ($15/month); Premium $144/year ($30/month); Lifetime $1,200 once (60-day money-back) | PlannerPlus $144/year — same list price as our Premium. Advisors is a separate flat fee; check their current plan | Dashboard is free. Wealth management is commonly 0.89% AUM on the first $1M — about $4,450 a year on $500K, as we show on our pricing page |
| Aggregation | Assets and liabilities, read-only | Account linking on paid plans. Complete net-worth tracking is not Boldin’s center of gravity; check their current plan | Strong. Aggregation and tracking are the free product |
| Planning | Lifetime Wealth Planning: probability distributions and a personalized, investable benchmark from your plan | Retirement planning and scenario modeling, including Social Security and Roth tools | Dashboard planning/budget tools; deeper planning if you hire them |
| Portfolio action | Simulate, then recommend specific trades across accounts (AI Portfolio Optimizer) | Planning-first. Not a cross-account trade optimizer. Check their current plan | Tracking on the free dashboard. Portfolio management if you pay AUM |
| AI | Magpie: knows your actual accounts, goals, liabilities, and plan — not a generic chatbot | An AI assistant exists on Boldin’s plans (limits vary by tier). Check their current plan | No Magpie-class companion on your books. Check their current plan |
| Advisor upsell | None. We are not an advisor. Subscription only | Optional flat-fee advisors. Check their current plan | Optional AUM wealth management. That is the paid product |
14-day free trial on WealthFluent. Web and the Apple App Store.
Who each is for
Choose Empower if…
You want a free place to see accounts, spending, and net worth, and you are fine with a dashboard that is also a front door to AUM advice. Empower is good at aggregation. That is a real job. It is not the same job as building a lifetime plan and then generating the trades that move the portfolio toward it, across every account you own, while you stay in control.
If you want someone else to manage the portfolio, Empower’s wealth-management offering is built for that. You will pay a percent of assets. On $500K, the 0.89% figure we show on our pricing page is about $4,450 a year. Confirm their current schedule and minimums before you treat that as a quote.
Choose Boldin if…
Your question is a retirement-plan question. Will the plan hold. What if I delay Social Security. What if I convert to Roth this year. What if spending changes. Boldin is built for that modeling. PlannerPlus is $144 a year — the same annual price as WealthFluent Premium.
That price comparison is honest only if you need the same job. Boldin is not trying to be a whole-balance-sheet operating system with a cross-account optimizer. If that is what you need, $144 at Boldin and $144 at WealthFluent buy different machines.
Choose WealthFluent if…
You are self-directed. You want assets and liabilities in one place. You want a lifetime plan that produces a personalized benchmark — not a risk bucket. You want to simulate a change, then see recommended trades across the 401(k), the old rollover, the IRAs, and taxable. And you want to ask an AI that already has that file.
We founded WealthFluent in 2020 in Edwards, Colorado. David J. Kon (CEO, formerly CDO at NISA, $500B+), Dr. Stanley J. Kon (Chairman), and Joshua P. Kon (CTO). Frank J. Fabozzi, PhD, sits on the advisory board.
On the optimizer and assist tools, Fabozzi has said: “Say goodbye to spreadsheets! WealthFluent’s unique product combines electronic access to fundamental security data with all your assets and liabilities and a set of tools for managing customized portfolios. Enormous productivity is achieved with its Optimizer and Assist tools for wealth portfolio management.”
The Magpie wedge: your Roth, not a Roth
Generic AI can explain a Roth. Magpie can explain yours.
That is the difference versus ChatGPT, and it is the difference versus an AI that only knows the plan you typed in.
Magpie is connected to the accounts, goals, liabilities, and personalized benchmark you already keep in WealthFluent. It answers with share counts, dollar amounts, and real allocations. It is hosted on Amazon Bedrock. Inputs are not used for training, not stored persistently, and do not leave Bedrock to reach the underlying model provider.
Magpie is not a financial advisor. It informs and educates. It does not trade.
The product URL is wealthfluent.com/financial-intelligence/. Do not use /meet-magpie/ — that is a stale beta announcement.
Boldin has its own AI on the plan. Empower’s dashboard is not Magpie. If the question you care about is “given my accounts and my liabilities, what is true,” that is the Magpie job.
Price math, without the slide-deck voice
AUM fees are not a moral failing. They are a different contract: someone else manages the money, and the fee scales with the pot.
A subscription is a software contract. It does not scale with your net worth.
Using the comparison we publish on wealthfluent.com/pricing/, annual cost on a $500,000 portfolio:
| Product | How it is priced | Annual cost on $500K |
|---|---|---|
| WealthFluent Premium | Flat subscription | $144 |
| Boldin PlannerPlus | Flat subscription | $144 |
| Vanguard (as we list it) | 0.30% AUM | $1,500 |
| Fidelity (as we list it) | 0.35% AUM | $1,750 |
| Schwab (as we list it) | 0.40% AUM | $2,000 |
| Empower wealth management (as we list it) | 0.89% AUM | $4,450 |
| A 1% AUM advisor | 1.00% AUM | $5,000 |
WealthFluent Lifetime is $1,200 once, with a 60-day money-back guarantee. That is less than one year of the Empower AUM line we show on $500K. It is not an argument for Lifetime if what you wanted was a human manager. It is an argument for noticing that “dashboard + AUM” and “tools you run yourself” are not interchangeable.
Premium stays $144 a year as the portfolio grows. A 1% fee on $500K is $5,000. On $1M it is $10,000. The software does not get more expensive because you did the job.
For the full fee math against a percentage-of-assets advisor, see WealthFluent vs a 1% Advisor.
Advisory schedules change. Confirm Empower, Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, and Boldin on their sites before you decide. Our figures are the ones on our pricing page as of August 16, 2026.
What you actually get on WealthFluent
If you are comparing line items, this is the stack — not a feature dump.
- Account aggregation — assets and liabilities, read-only.
- Financial Wellness Score — plus debt-health and related scores on current plans.
- Lifetime Wealth Planning — milestones, probability distributions, a personalized benchmark.
- Portfolio Optimization — simulate, then recommended trades. The AI Portfolio Optimizer works across accounts, with tax-aware placement.
- Magpie — on your actual file. Financial Intelligence (Magpie Companion + optimizer) is Premium and Lifetime.
Essentials is $15/month or about $72/year: planning and scores, with a Magpie AI Assistant listed on pricing. Premium adds the optimizer, Magpie Companion, and spouse/partner login. Lifetime is Premium, paid once.
FAQ
Is WealthFluent cheaper than Empower?
The free Empower dashboard is $0. WealthFluent is not trying to beat free tracking. Empower wealth management is AUM. On $500K, the 0.89% line we publish is about $4,450 a year versus $144 for Premium. If you want them to manage the money, the AUM fee may be the right product. If you want to stay self-directed, do not compare our subscription to their free dashboard and call it a tie.
WealthFluent vs Boldin — which should I use?
If the work is retirement scenario modeling — Social Security timing, Roth conversions, spend paths — Boldin is built for that. If the work is whole-balance-sheet planning plus getting the portfolio to the plan across accounts, with an AI that has the books, that is WealthFluent. Both list $144 a year at the paid-software tier. Same price, different machine. Some households will reasonably use both.
Does Empower’s free dashboard replace WealthFluent?
No. Aggregation is necessary and not sufficient. A dashboard that shows the accounts is not a lifetime plan with a personalized benchmark, and it is not a cross-account optimizer that outputs trades you can execute. Empower’s paid path is advice and management, not a DIY optimizer.
Why would I pay $144 for WealthFluent if Boldin is also $144?
You wouldn’t, if Boldin already does the job you have. You would if you need liabilities on the same sheet as assets, a plan that produces an investable benchmark, recommended trades across accounts, and Magpie on that file. Read the table. Do not buy a second $144 because a comparison page told you to.
Does WealthFluent replace a 1% AUM advisor?
Only if you were going to do the work yourself anyway. We do not take discretion. We do not stand in a fiduciary relationship. A 1% fee on $500K is $5,000 a year; Premium is $144. That math is real and incomplete. Advice, implementation, and someone to call are what the 1% is supposed to buy. If you need those, hire them. If you don’t, don’t pay for them.
Can I use more than one of these?
Yes. Plenty of self-directed investors keep a free Empower (or similar) dashboard, run retirement scenarios in a planner, and still need a system that optimizes across accounts. We don’t need you to delete the others. We need the job we actually do to be the one you came for.
Is this financial advice?
No. WealthFluent is not a financial advisor. Magpie is not a financial advisor. Boldin and Empower have their own disclosures; read them. This page is information for a buying decision about software, not about securities.
What’s included in the 14-day trial?
A 14-day free trial of WealthFluent so you can connect accounts and use the tools before you pay. Financial Intelligence (Magpie Companion + AI Portfolio Optimizer) is on Premium and Lifetime. Confirm current trial terms on the site.
Start a 14-day free trial
If the job is your whole file — plan, books, and the trades that close the gap — start there. If the job is a free dashboard or a human manager, use Empower. If the job is retirement scenarios, use Boldin.
Start your free trial · Pricing · Financial Intelligence / Magpie
Disclosure
WealthFluent is not a financial advisor and does not provide investment advice. Magpie is not a financial advisor. Platform analytics and AI output are tools for informed decision-making. They are not recommendations. Competitor features and fees are summarized from publicly stated, commonly reported terms and from the comparison on our pricing page. They change. Verify on each firm’s site before you buy. This page is for information only.
Page copy dated August 16, 2026.