Best Net Worth Tracking Tools
The best net worth tracking tool depends on how much ongoing work you're willing to put in and whether you're comfortable linking your bank and investment accounts. A one-time calculator gives you a single accurate number in a few minutes, with no accounts linked. A linked-account app keeps that number updated automatically, but requires you to hand your account credentials to a third party.
We compared six approaches: three free calculators (ours, Bankrate's, and NerdWallet's) two linked-account apps (Empower and Monarch Money) and a plain spreadsheet. We scored each one on cost, privacy, and how much upkeep it actually requires.
How we ranked these net worth tracking tools
We looked at what each tool actually requires from you. Does it need your bank credentials, or just a handful of numbers you already know? What does it cost today, and how much upkeep does it take for the number to stay accurate? A tool that requires linking every account gets more convenience in exchange for handing a company your account credentials. We weighed that tradeoff directly, rather than assuming automatic is always better.
For the two paid or freemium apps, we noted the actual current price, including where a free tier exists and what it excludes. For the calculators and the spreadsheet, we noted what data you have to gather yourself. We also checked how each one handles a value that changes constantly, like a home price or a brokerage balance.
#1 ModernWallet Net Worth Calculator
Best for: A one-time, private snapshot with nothing to link and nothing to sign up for
Our own net worth calculator asks for your assets and liabilities directly, then does the subtraction instantly. Assets cover cash, investments, retirement accounts, real estate, and vehicles. Liabilities cover credit cards, loans, and any mortgage balance. Nothing gets linked, stored, or sent anywhere. You close the tab and the numbers are gone.
That tradeoff cuts both ways. You get a real number in a couple of minutes, with zero setup and zero privacy risk. You also have to type in your balances by hand each time you want an updated figure, since nothing here syncs automatically.
Strengths
- No signup, no linked accounts, and no data stored anywhere
- A full number in a couple of minutes, with no setup step
- Free, with no upsell to a paid tier
- Works the same whether you check it once or every month
Limitations
- No automatic updates. You re-enter your balances by hand each time
- No historical chart of how your net worth has changed over time
- Best for a single snapshot, not ongoing daily tracking
Pricing: Free, with no signup and no linked accounts required.
#2 Bankrate Net Worth Calculator
Best for: A quick calculator with a built-in multi-year projection
Bankrate's net worth calculator works the same way ours does: you enter assets and liabilities and it does the math. Bankrate adds a projection feature ours doesn't attempt. It estimates how your net worth could grow or shrink over the next several years, based on the numbers you enter.
Like our calculator, nothing is linked or saved between visits, so you're re-entering your figures every time you want a fresh number. Bankrate's page also carries the surrounding content and ads typical of a media site, rather than a standalone tool.
Strengths
- Free, with no signup required
- Includes a multi-year projection, not just a current snapshot
- No accounts to link
- Backed by Bankrate's broader library of personal finance explainers
Limitations
- No automatic saving between visits, same as any one-time calculator
- The projection is only as accurate as the growth rate you assume
- Surrounded by ads and other content, not a dedicated tool page
Pricing: Free, with no signup and no linked accounts required.
#3 NerdWallet Net Worth Calculator
Best for: A calculator paired with educational context on what your number means
NerdWallet's net worth calculator follows the same basic format, assets minus liabilities, with a simple form and an instant result. NerdWallet pairs the calculator with explanatory content on what counts as an asset or liability and how your number compares to typical benchmarks by age.
As with the other calculators here, nothing is linked or stored, so the number reflects a single moment rather than an ongoing balance you can watch change.
Strengths
- Free, with no signup required
- Clear explanations of what to count as an asset or a liability
- No accounts to link
- Useful if you're calculating net worth for the first time and want the definitions alongside the math
Limitations
- No automatic saving or updating between visits
- No projection feature the way Bankrate's version has
- Part of a larger site with unrelated financial products advertised nearby
Pricing: Free, with no signup and no linked accounts required.
#4 Empower Personal Dashboard
Best for: Ongoing, automatic tracking across every linked account, for free
Empower (formerly Personal Capital) links your bank, credit card, loan, and investment accounts. It then keeps a running net worth figure updated automatically, every time a balance changes. It shows the trend over time as a chart, not just a single number. It can pull an estimated home value and mortgage balance in as well.
The dashboard itself is free. Empower makes money on a separate paid wealth management service. Creating a free account means giving Empower read access to your linked accounts through a data aggregation service, which some readers may not want, regardless of the convenience.
Strengths
- Updates automatically once your accounts are linked, no manual re-entry
- Shows your net worth trend as a chart over time, not just one number
- Free to use for net worth tracking, with no cost to see your dashboard
- Can estimate home value and pull your mortgage balance automatically
Limitations
- Requires linking your bank, credit, loan, and investment accounts
- The free dashboard exists partly to market Empower's paid wealth management service
- Setup takes longer than a calculator, since you're connecting multiple accounts
Pricing: The dashboard is free. Paid portfolio management, a separate product, charges an annual fee based on assets managed.
#5 Monarch Money
Best for: Couples who want net worth tracking bundled with budgeting
Monarch Money links your accounts the same way Empower does. It's built primarily as a budgeting app, though, with net worth tracking as one part of a larger dashboard that also covers spending, cash flow, and goals. Two people can share one household view, which Empower's individual dashboard doesn't offer in the same way.
Monarch charges an annual subscription, currently around $100 a year for its entry-level plan, after a short free trial. If you only want net worth tracking and don't need the budgeting and goal-setting features, that's a real ongoing cost for something the calculators above give you free.
Strengths
- Shared household view for couples tracking net worth together
- Budgeting, cash flow, and net worth all live in one linked-account dashboard
- Automatic updates once your accounts are connected
- Regularly adds features on top of the core account-linking product
Limitations
- Costs roughly $100 a year after the free trial, unlike every other option here
- Requires linking your accounts, the same privacy tradeoff as Empower
- Overkill if net worth is the only thing you actually want to track
Pricing: Around $100 a year for the entry-level plan, after a short free trial. Confirm the current price on Monarch's own site before subscribing.
#6 A DIY Spreadsheet
Best for: Full control over the categories and formulas, with nothing shared
A spreadsheet in Google Sheets or Excel is the oldest version of this tool, and it's still a real option. You build your own columns for each asset and liability, write a simple subtraction formula, and add a new row or tab each month to build your own history.
Nothing is linked, so there's no account-credential risk at all. You can also track categories a pre-built tool doesn't offer, like a specific collectible or a business you own a stake in. The cost is entirely your own time. Every balance update is manual, and a formula mistake can throw off your number silently until you catch it.
Strengths
- Complete control over categories, formulas, and layout
- No linked accounts and no data shared with any company
- Free, using a tool you likely already have
- Builds a real month-over-month history if you keep updating it
Limitations
- Every balance update is manual. Nothing syncs automatically
- A formula error can silently throw off your number until you notice
- Takes real setup time to build something as clean as a pre-built calculator
Pricing: Free, using Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.
Comparison: 6 net worth tracking tools at a glance
| Option | Best For | Cost | Accounts Linked? | Updates | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ModernWallet Calculator | Private one-time snapshot | Free | No | Manual, on demand | A couple of minutes |
| Bankrate Calculator | Quick calculator with a projection | Free | No | Manual, on demand | A couple of minutes |
| NerdWallet Calculator | Calculator with definitions built in | Free | No | Manual, on demand | A couple of minutes |
| Empower Personal Dashboard | Free automatic tracking | Free (paid tier is separate) | Yes | Automatic | 10 to 15 minutes to link accounts |
| Monarch Money | Couples budgeting plus net worth | About $100 a year after trial | Yes | Automatic | 10 to 15 minutes to link accounts |
| DIY Spreadsheet | Full control, nothing shared | Free | No | Manual, on your schedule | 30+ minutes to build |
Our verdict: which should you choose?
Our net worth calculator is the right start if you want a real number today with nothing linked. It's free. It asks for numbers you likely already know, like your account balances and any loan payoff amounts, and nothing you enter gets stored or shared. Bankrate's and NerdWallet's versions work the same way and are worth trying if you want a projection or more explanation alongside the math.
Empower's free dashboard is the strongest option if you want the number to update itself. It costs nothing to track your net worth. It updates automatically as your linked balances change, and shows your trend as a chart instead of a single point in time. The real cost is handing Empower read access to your accounts, a tradeoff only you can decide is worth it.
Monarch Money makes sense if you also want budgeting and cash flow tracking bundled with net worth, especially as a couple. Paying roughly $100 a year only makes sense if you'll actually use the budgeting side, not just the net worth number.
A spreadsheet is worth building if you have a category none of these tools handle well, like a business stake or a specific collectible. It's also worth it if avoiding any third-party data link matters more to you than convenience.
What a Linked-Account App Sees That a Calculator Doesn't
A linked-account app like Empower or Monarch Money connects to your bank, credit card, loan, and investment accounts through a data aggregation service. It then pulls your balances automatically, every time they change. That's the entire value of the automatic update: the app can see a balance the moment it moves, without you opening a single statement.
A calculator sees only what you type in, at the exact moment you type it. That's less convenient over time. It also means a calculator has nothing to leak if a company's systems are ever breached, since it never stored your account credentials or balances in the first place.
Neither approach is wrong. The tradeoff is convenience against how many places your financial data lives. Only you can decide which one matters more to you.
Who Should Stick With a Calculator Instead of an App
A calculator is the better fit if you check your net worth occasionally, maybe once a quarter or once a year. It's the wrong tool if you want a live number you glance at daily. Linking every account for an occasional check is more setup than the benefit is worth.
It's also the better fit if you're not comfortable handing your bank login credentials to a third-party aggregation service, even one with a strong security track record. That discomfort is a legitimate reason on its own to skip Empower and Monarch entirely.
Skip a calculator, though, if you specifically want to see your number change day to day without touching anything. That's exactly what Empower's automatic updates and Monarch's shared household view are built for. Re-entering your balances by hand every week to get the same effect would waste more time than the app's setup takes.
The Privacy Tradeoff of Linking Your Accounts
Linking your accounts to a service like Empower or Monarch Money means connecting through a data aggregation service that reads your account balances and transaction history. Depending on how a specific aggregator works, that can involve sharing your actual online banking login credentials, rather than a separate token. Reputable aggregators encrypt that connection. They can't move money out of your accounts, only read balances and transactions.
That said, every additional company holding a copy of your financial data is one more place a breach could expose it. Financial institutions are required to protect the privacy of your financial data under federal law. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is one of the agencies that enforces those protections, though enforcement doesn't erase the tradeoff you're making by linking an account in the first place.
If that risk doesn't sit well with you, a calculator or a spreadsheet gives you the same net worth number with nothing to link at all.
How Often You Should Check Your Net Worth
Checking your net worth once a month is frequent enough to catch a real trend, without obsessing over normal daily swings in your investment balances. A brokerage account can move a few percent in a single week for reasons that have nothing to do with your actual financial decisions. Checking daily mostly just shows you noise.
Quarterly is enough for most people who use a calculator rather than an automatic app. It's frequent enough to catch a problem, like debt creeping up, before it gets large, without becoming a chore you start skipping. If you're using an automatic app, the update happens whether you look or not. Your only real choice is how often you open the dashboard to look at it.
What Would Change This Recommendation
This recommendation would shift if Empower or Monarch Money changed their pricing model. Empower's core dashboard is free today, and Monarch charges an annual subscription. If either flips that structure, the cost comparison in the table above would need a fresh look.
It would also change if you decide budgeting matters as much to you as net worth tracking. This page ranks these six options specifically for net worth. Monarch Money's budgeting and cash flow features barely come up here, but they might tip the decision in its favor for a reader who wants both in one place.
Confirm the current price and feature list on each company's own site before you commit. App pricing and free-tier limits change more often than a calculator's math does.
Frequently asked questions
Is Empower Personal Dashboard really free?
Yes, the net worth tracking dashboard itself is free with no signup fee. Empower makes its money from a separate paid wealth management service, and creating a free dashboard account does put you on a list Empower may contact about that paid service.
How much does Monarch Money cost?
Monarch's entry-level plan currently runs around $100 a year after a short free trial, with a higher-priced plan for people who want more advanced budgeting and planning features. Confirm the current price on Monarch's own site before subscribing, since subscription pricing changes more often than a calculator's math does.
Do I have to link my bank accounts to track net worth?
No. Our calculator, Bankrate's, and NerdWallet's all calculate net worth from numbers you type in yourself, with nothing linked or stored. Linking is only required if you want the number to update automatically, which is what Empower and Monarch Money are built for.
What's a good net worth for my age?
It depends heavily on your income, location, and whether you're carrying debt like student loans or a mortgage. Our net worth by age calculator breaks down typical ranges by age bracket so you can see where you stand relative to others in your own age group.
How is net worth calculated?
Net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe: add up your cash, investments, retirement accounts, and property, then subtract your credit card balances, loans, and any mortgage. Our how to calculate net worth guide walks through exactly what counts on each side.
Can I track net worth for free without any app at all?
Yes. A calculator like ours, Bankrate's, or NerdWallet's gives you a real number in a couple of minutes for free. A spreadsheet in Google Sheets or Excel costs nothing too, and it lets you build your own month-over-month history. Neither requires linking an account or paying a subscription.
Free calculators to help you decide
Sources
We prioritize primary sources for rules, formulas, rates, limits, and definitions. See our calculator methodology and editorial policy.