Personal Capital vs Mint: Which is Right for You?

Personal Capital vs Mint – which is right for you? Each app is popular and provides the overall benefit of being able to manage your personal finances. But, the way they do so is different. Here’s what you need to know about each, so that you can make the right choice for you!

Nobody can see into the future, but we can imagine what it will be like – for better or worse. We all have dreams and fears about what’s going to happen that guide our everyday decisions. One of the biggest motivators we have is the desire to be financially secure. 

Financial security can guide our careers, shape our spending habits, and ultimately drive our actions to get out of debt and even grow our net worth through profitable investments. 

It’s looking after your personal finances that we’ll be covering right now in our comparison of Personal Capital vs Mint.

Financial institutions have another way of looking at the future since they are better oriented to banking and investments. They can get a clearer picture of all kinds of ways you can get a financial edge and start to build a better tomorrow – today.

Many investment banking organizations have apps designed to put more access and personal control into your hands when it comes to how you grow your money. 

One app you may be familiar with is Mint. We’ve looked at it before to see how it stacks up as a budgeting app in my EveryDollar vs Mint review. 

While it’s not really a contest (there are pros and cons to all financial apps), we wanted to take a closer look at Mint and compare it with Personal Capital’s free tools to see which one you will love the most.

Why You Need A Personal Finance App

“Hold on!” you say, “do I really need another app?” Well, if you have Mint already, the answer may be no. But if you want to have hands-on access to your financial accounts and manage your investments remotely, you need some sort of app. 

Personal Capital and Mint are two of the top ones out of many others to choose from.

Investing money is about more than simply depositing your funds. It’s essential to have an app with the tools to help you reach and modify your financial goals. The two apps we are looking at today provide that kind of access in different ways.

The Easiest Way To Invest And Track Money

The number one reason you should have a financial app on your smartphone right now is that it makes it easier to manage your money. You can invest at the touch of the screen, and you can track those investments whenever you’d like.

Although the market generally goes up, and that’s why investing in stocks is part of a winning formula, anything can happen. It’s important to have money that you can leave alone for the next five years or more, but it’s just as important to stay up to date on what your investments are doing today.

In addition, you may be interested in other financial assistance, such as what IRA is best for you and how to be on the right side of tax advantages.

The Top Free Personal Finance Apps

Finance may be a highly regulated field that’s full of forms and articles that are difficult for us to understand. However, we also have more power to invest than ever. 

That kind of power and potential requires some way of managing everything in one spot while getting the guidance you need from experts who can steer you in the right direction. Two of the best apps at doing that are Personal Capital and Mint.

Personal Capital VS Mint

This isn’t a competition to see who’s better. The question really is, out of these two popular options, which app is best for you? 

First, we need to look at what these apps are. What sets them apart, what are their main advantages, and what are some of the disadvantages of each app? 

Follow along to find the answers to these important questions. 

What Is Personal Capital?

In 2020, Investopedia called Personal Capital the best portfolio management app. The New York Times and CNBC gave similar accolades. This app allows you to link all of your accounts for an accurate assessment of your net worth. 

The tool’s dashboard lets you monitor investments and take action on your retirement goals. The individual trackers monitor your investment activity from different angles to provide the best assistance in achieving the goals you set for yourself.

The Benefits Of Using Personal Capital

Personal Capital is free if you just use the tools – there is no onboarding cost or account fee. However, there are additional benefits as you accumulate wealth. 

Advisory fees are on the higher side, but you have access to a team of professionals any time you need one. When you pass the $200,000 threshold, you have two dedicated advisors.

Speaking of fees, the free tools also include a fee analyzer that uncovers hidden fees you are paying to other institutions. This and tax optimization strategy are two major benefits to using Personal Capital.

In addition to the ease and totality of the dashboard and the available financial planning help, the security is top-notch. With A-rated encryption and minimal reliance on external sites, Personal Capital keeps your data safe.

The Limitations Of Using Personal Capital

There are two main drawbacks to Personal Capital. You don’t have to have $100,000 to start with if you only use the free tools. However, to capitalize on the professional guidance, you do need that minimum account balance. 

The fees, which start at .89%, are also somewhat high, but they decrease by percentage when you reach higher tiers of wealth. Once you have 10 million invested, the fee is reduced to less than half a percent.

Financial planning services are available upon request, but estate planning is only available after reaching the $1 million thresholds.

What Is Mint?

Okay, so what is Mint? Let’s refresh our knowledge of this handy dandy app. Mint is powered by Intuit (think Turbotax). Mint is like Personal Capital – without the financial advice or planning element. 

It does allow you to sync your accounts and see where your money comes and goes. It’s a useful tool for getting a full scope of your financials, just like Personal Capital is.

The Benefits Of Using Mint

Mint is a free app that allows you to sync up all of your financial accounts. When you do this, you can see where you earn, where you spend, and even keep track of bills. Everything is right there in your view in one place, so you don’t have to juggle multiple accounts to keep your expenses straight.

You can watch your investments on Mint, too.

The Limitations of Using Mint

Although Mint is synced to your financial accounts, you aren’t actually accessing those accounts. You can see them, but you can’t interact with them. You can’t transact through Mint – it’s a look-but-don’t-touch kind of thing. 

In addition to that minor downside, you may have to relink accounts from time to time, which is frustrating when you just want the ease (and you don’t want to keep entering log-in information).

Personal Capital VS Mint: Which is Right For You?

Personal Capital and Mint essentially provide the same service, but there are fundamental differences. Here are some deciding factors that may help you choose the app that’s right for you:

Is Personal Capital A Good Fit?

Personal Capital provides free tools for monitoring and goal setting. It is the more investment-focused app, and it’s all about building wealth. The goal is to track your successes and get to a point where you have enough to use for the app’s other financial services. 

If wealth building is your main objective, then Personal Capital is the app for you.

Is Mint A Good Fit?

Mint subtracts all that financial planning stuff and simply gives you a more focused view of your existing financial picture. This app is ideal for staying on track with your personal budget. 

If you are still working out your debt, or if you are mainly interested in keeping your budget on track, then Mint is the better choice for you at this time. 

However, if you can see yourself shifting gears in the near future, consider starting with Personal Capital, so you don’t have to switch platforms.

Make The Right Choice For Your Personal Finance Needs

The right financial app is mainly about your personal goals and how the app aligns with those goals. Wherever you are on your financial journey, there is an app to meet you there and take you forward. 

If you are still on the fence, try them out for yourself. You may find Mint easier to navigate, or you may prefer the retirement planning and other goal functions of Personal Capital.

Final Thoughts On Personal Capital vs Mint

Both of these are helpful aggregation apps that pool all of your resources together in one place and analyze them for you. 

I think the analytical features of Personal Capital are stronger. However, I prefer the interface of the Mint app more and the way it provides important information about what is going on with my money on the whole. 

If I absolutely had to boil it down, I’d end it by say that in general, if you are more budget-focused, Mint is slightly better. If you are more investment-focused, Personal Capital has the edge. You can’t really go wrong with either!