What is Empower (Personal Capital)?

Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is a free wealth management platform that tracks investments, analyzes fees, monitors net worth, and offers retirement planning tools. It also has paid wealth management services.

Does Empower require bank connection?

Yes, Empower requires connecting your financial accounts to provide its features. Subcut never needs bank access — it finds subscriptions from email receipts.

Subcut vs Empower (2026) | Subscription Tracker vs Wealth Management

Q: Is Subcut better than Empower?

For subscription tracking specifically, Subcut is simpler and more focused. Empower is better if you want full wealth management including investment tracking, retirement planning, and net worth monitoring.

Q: Is Empower really free?

Yes, Empower's financial dashboard is free. They make money from their wealth management advisory services (for accounts $100K+). Subcut is $1.99/month for premium features.

TL;DR - Different Leagues 🏆

Choose Subcut if: You want simple subscription tracking. AI finds your recurring charges, calendar shows when they renew. No investment tracking, no retirement planning. Just subscriptions. $1.99/mo.

Choose Empower if: You want to track your entire financial life — investments, retirement accounts, net worth, fee analysis. It's free but requires linking ALL your accounts. They'll also try to sell you wealth management.

Feature-by-Feature Breakdown

Feature	Subcut	Empower
Primary Focus	Subscriptions	Wealth Mgmt
Privacy (No Bank)	✓ Yes	✗ Required
AI Subscription Detection	✓ From Email	From Bank
Investment Tracking	—	✓ Full
Retirement Planning	—	✓ Yes
Fee Analyzer	—	✓ Yes
Calendar View	✓ Beautiful	—
Price	$1.99/mo	Free*

*Empower's dashboard is free. Wealth management services cost 0.49-0.89% of assets annually.

The Honest Take 🎯

Where Subcut Wins

Complete privacy — No bank or investment accounts
Simple & focused — Just subscriptions
No sales calls — Won't try to manage your money
Great calendar — Visual renewal timeline

Where Empower Wins

Investment tracking — All accounts in one place
Retirement planner — See if you're on track
Free dashboard — Powerful tools at no cost
Fee analyzer — Find hidden investment fees

The Scale Question 📊

This comparison is almost unfair — they're solving completely different problems.

Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is for wealth management. Track your 401k, IRAs, brokerage accounts, and net worth. See if you're on track for retirement. Analyze investment fees. It's genuinely powerful if you have significant assets.

Subcut is for subscription management. Netflix, Spotify, cloud storage, gym memberships. The recurring charges that slip through the cracks. Different scale entirely.

The real question: Are you trying to optimize your investment portfolio, or just figure out why $200/month is disappearing on subscriptions you forgot about? These tools serve different needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Subcut better than Empower?

For subscription tracking specifically, yes. Subcut is simpler and focused. For investment and wealth tracking, Empower is the better choice.

Is Empower really free?

Yes, the financial dashboard is free. They make money from wealth management services (for accounts $100K+). Expect sales calls if you have significant assets.

What happened to Personal Capital?

Personal Capital was acquired by Empower Retirement and rebranded to Empower. Same tools, new name.

Can I use both?

Absolutely! Use Empower for investment and retirement tracking, Subcut for subscription management. They solve different problems and complement each other.