Alternatives
An Empower alternative that isn't selling you anything
Empower's dashboard is free because it's a funnel for its wealth-management service. If you want the planning without the sales motive — or the account linking — Meridary takes the opposite approach.
Updated July 21, 2026
What Empower does well
Empower Personal Dashboard is a polished, free net-worth and retirement dashboard, and its account aggregation is best-in-class — pulling all your accounts together is the whole point of the product.
If a free dashboard that aggregates everything is what you want, and you don't mind how it's paid for, Empower is a capable tool. We'd rather say that than pretend otherwise.
Where Meridary is different
Empower is free because it's monetized by assets under management — the planner is the top of a funnel toward a paid advisory relationship, and linking your accounts triggers sales outreach. Meridary has no sales motive: you pay once for the tool, and there's nothing else to sell you.
Empower's planner is also light on the tax detail that decides a retirement answer — there's no Roth-conversion optimizer and no IRMAA or ACA-cliff modeling. Meridary curates exactly those interactions — federal tax plus a flat state rate, RMDs, Social Security taxation, and Roth conversions — so the projection reflects your real after-tax cash flow.
And Meridary doesn't connect to your bank. There are no credentials to hand over and no accounts to link — you enter what you have, and the plan is yours.
Which one is right for you
Choose Empower if you want a free, aggregated net-worth dashboard and you're comfortable linking your accounts and hearing from an advisor.
Choose Meridary if you want an independent, tax-aware answer to “will my money last” that you own outright — with no account linking and no sales calls.
Meridary vs Empower, at a glance
| Feature | Meridary | Empower |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $149–$199 once, lifetime license | Free — monetized by assets under management |
| Business model | You pay for the tool; nothing else to sell | Free dashboard funnels to paid advisory |
| Account linking | None — you enter your accounts | Required — linking is the product |
| Tax modeling | Federal + flat state, RMDs, SS, Roth conversions | Minimal — no Roth / IRMAA / ACA modeling |
| Sales outreach | None | Advisor outreach after you link |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | Free (n/a) |
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Frequently asked
- Is Empower really free?
- The dashboard is free to use. Empower makes money by managing assets — its planning tools are the entry point to a paid advisory service, and linking your accounts typically leads to sales outreach.
- Does Meridary link to my accounts like Empower?
- No. Meridary has no account aggregation by design — you enter your accounts yourself, so there are no credentials to share and no linking required.
- Does Meridary model taxes better than Empower?
- It models the tax interactions that decide a retirement answer — federal tax plus a flat state rate, RMDs, Social Security taxation, and Roth conversions — which Empower's free planner largely doesn't. Empower is stronger at aggregation; Meridary is built for a legible, tax-aware projection.