Quick Summary
Comparing different ways to track net worth - from automated apps like Empower to spreadsheet templates. What each approach does well and where it falls short.
Net worth is one of the clearest financial health indicators - assets minus liabilities, one number. But how you track it matters more than most people think. The tool you choose affects what you see, how often you check, and whether you stick with it.
I’ve used both apps and spreadsheets for this, and the differences go beyond just “automatic vs. manual.”
What You’re Actually Tracking
Before comparing tools, it helps to be clear about what net worth tracking involves. At minimum: bank account balances, investment account values, property estimates, minus any debts - mortgage, student loans, credit cards, car loans.
The simple version takes 15 minutes monthly. The detailed version includes estimated home value, vehicle depreciation, business equity, and other less liquid assets. Most people land somewhere in between.
Spreadsheet Approach
The Net Worth Tracker handles the full picture - assets across categories, all liabilities, month-over-month changes, and visual charts showing the trend over time. The Financial Planning Spreadsheet goes further with projections and goal tracking built in.
What works well: Complete customization. Want to separate taxable and tax-advantaged investment accounts? Add a row. Track crypto separately? Easy. Include business assets? Done. Spreadsheets bend to how you think about your finances rather than forcing you into someone else’s categories.
The monthly process: Log into each account, note the balance, enter it into the spreadsheet. Takes 10-20 minutes depending on how many accounts you have. This sounds tedious, but it creates a monthly ritual of actually reviewing every account - something automated tools can make too passive.
Data ownership: Your spreadsheet sits in Google Drive or on your computer. No subscription needed, no risk of losing history if a service shuts down, and you can build any visualization or analysis you want.
Empower Personal Dashboard
Empower (formerly Personal Capital) offers the most popular free net worth tracker. Automatic account syncing pulls balances daily, and the investment analysis tools are genuinely impressive for a free product.
What works well: Investment-heavy net worth tracking. The portfolio allocation view, fee analyzer, and retirement planner add real value beyond basic balance tracking. For people whose net worth is primarily in investment accounts, Empower provides more insight than any spreadsheet.
The limitations: The budgeting features feel secondary. Account linking occasionally breaks and needs reconnecting. And Empower’s business model relies on its wealth management services, so expect periodic contact from advisors.
Privacy consideration: Automatic tracking means sharing credentials for every financial account. For some people this is fine. For others, it’s a dealbreaker.
Monarch Money
Monarch includes net worth tracking alongside its budgeting features. At $99/year, you get automatic balance updates, historical net worth charts, and the ability to include manually-tracked assets like property.
What works well: The combined budget + net worth view in one app. For people who want both, Monarch avoids maintaining separate tools. The interface is clean, and the historical tracking is well-designed.
The limitations: You’re paying primarily for budgeting features - if net worth tracking is your main need, the price is harder to justify. The investment analysis is less detailed than Empower’s.
Manual Tracking with a Simple Spreadsheet
Worth mentioning separately from template-based tracking: some people just use a basic spreadsheet with a date column and columns for each account. No formulas, no charts, just raw numbers entered monthly.
This surprisingly works for people who’ve tried and abandoned more complex tools. The simplicity means it actually gets done. A basic Google Sheet with 15 columns and a new row each month captures everything needed to see the trend.
Which Approach Fits
Choose a spreadsheet template if: You want full control, care about privacy, have diverse asset types, or want to customize your tracking extensively. The one-time cost and permanent data ownership appeal to long-term trackers.
Choose Empower if: Investments make up most of your net worth and you want detailed portfolio analysis. The free price is right, and the investment tools are genuinely best-in-class.
Choose Monarch if: You want combined budgeting and net worth tracking in one polished app and don’t mind the subscription.
Choose a simple spreadsheet if: You’ve tried fancy tools and stopped using them. Sometimes the path to consistency is radical simplicity.
From our experience: We tried Empower, a basic Google Sheet, and two different Reddit templates before building our own tracker. Each one did part of what we needed but missed something - Empower was great for investments but we could not customize the categories, and the free templates lacked the month-over-month trend views we wanted. Our Net Worth Tracker came directly from combining the pieces that worked across all of them. - Stefan
The common thread across people who successfully track net worth long-term isn’t the tool - it’s the habit. Monthly check-ins, whatever the method, build financial awareness that compounds over time. The “right” tracker is the one that keeps you showing up.
Related
- Net Worth Tracker Spreadsheets That Actually Work - Focused roundup of free spreadsheet options
- Net Worth Tracking for Beginners - The complete getting-started guide
- Net Worth Tracker - Automated tracking template
- Financial Planning Template - Net worth with projections and goals
- How to Calculate Net Worth in Google Sheets