Cashy vs Empower (2026): Net Worth Tool vs Daily Tracker
Wealth dashboard vs everyday budgeting AI app.
Empower (formerly Personal Capital) built its reputation as a free net worth and investment tracker, monetized by upselling wealth management. Cashy is a privacy-first AI budget tracker for iPhone — focused on day-to-day money management, not portfolio analysis.
They overlap less than you might think. Many people use both: Empower for the long-term wealth picture, Cashy for the daily and monthly grind.
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Cashy | Empower |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | Free (with wealth-mgmt upsell) |
| Lifetime option | $60 one-time | N/A |
| Core focus | Daily budgeting + AI | Net worth + investments |
| Investment tracking | Manual accounts | Auto-synced, deep |
| Retirement planning | No | Yes — strong tools |
| Daily budgeting depth | Strong | Light |
| AI voice entry | Yes — 3 seconds | No |
| Receipt scanning | Yes — Gemini AI | No |
| Bank linking | Not required | Required |
| Privacy | On-device, no upsell | Cloud + sales calls |
| iPhone widgets | 11 widgets | Limited |
| Multi-currency | 150+ currencies | USD-focused |
The honest verdict
Empower wins for net worth and investment tracking, especially if you have multiple brokerage accounts and want one dashboard. The retirement planner is genuinely useful. Just be ready to say "no thanks" to the wealth management sales calls.
Cashy wins for the everyday: budgets, savings goals, voice-logged transactions, subscription tracking. Most users will benefit from running both — Empower once a quarter for the wealth view, Cashy daily for the budget.
Daily budgeting, expense tracking, and savings goals
Net worth, investment portfolio, and retirement planning
Common questions
Is Cashy an Empower alternative for budgeting?
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Yes. Cashy covers daily budgets, savings goals, expense tracking, and subscription monitoring — areas where Empower is light. Cashy does not replace Empower for investment portfolio tracking.
Does Cashy track investments like Empower?
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Cashy supports manual investment accounts and includes them in net worth. Empower offers automatic portfolio sync, asset allocation analysis, and a retirement planner — these are Empower's strengths.
Should I use both apps?
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Many users do. Empower once a quarter for the long-term wealth view; Cashy daily for budgeting, voice-logged spending, and goal tracking.
Does Empower really call you to sell wealth management?
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Yes. Empower's "free" model is funded by upselling wealth management. If you cross certain asset thresholds, you will get sales calls. Cashy has no upsell of any kind.
Is Cashy more private than Empower?
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Yes. Cashy stores everything on your device with no bank linking required. Empower requires bank credentials for auto-sync and uses your data to qualify you for sales calls.