With a low account minimum — $500 — Wealthfront is clearly tailored to the truly small investor. It offers you professional portfolio management with a very small investment. In fact, most human investment managers won’t touch a portfolio this small.
Wealthfront also offers much lower fees than Personal Capital does at all tiers. And let’s not forget that Wealthfront has no annual fee for accounts of less than $5,000. This platform clearly has the small, upstart investor as its target market.
In contrast, Personal Capital caters to investors with larger portfolios who want personalized, human advice. This is especially true if you reach the Wealth Management tier where you get even more one-on-one support and can invest in a wider range of asset classes than Wealthfront. We also like Personal Capital since it gives you a comprehensive portfolio view that accounts for assets held in your retirement portfolio and investment accounts not attached to the platform.
If anything, you can always start investing with Wealthfront to build wealth and grow your portfolio. As you let compound interest and time work its magic, you can also use Personal Capital’s range of free tools to track and manage all aspects of your finances.
There’s no single right answer in the Wealthfront vs. Personal capital debate. But hopefully, this article provides a breakdown of each service so you can pick the one that’s best for you.