Honest comparison
PeakWorth vs Robo-Advisors
Betterment and Wealthfront automate your portfolio. PeakWorth automates your plan.
The short version
Robo-advisors (Betterment, Wealthfront, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, Fidelity Go) are great at one job: automated, tax-aware portfolio management at ~0.25%/yr. They are not planners. They will not tell you when you can retire, model a baby, score a buy-vs-rent decision, or run a 30-year projection on your real numbers. Most PeakWorth users keep a robo for the management piece and use PeakWorth for the actual plan.
Robo-Advisors is best for
Investors who want hands-off, tax-aware portfolio management — auto rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and a sensible default allocation — without picking funds themselves.
Betterment 0.25%/yr ($4/mo under $20k). Wealthfront 0.25%/yr. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios free (cash-drag funded). Fidelity Go free under $25k, then 0.35%/yr.
PeakWorth is best for
Households who want to know when they can retire, what every major decision changes, and how to time the next 30 years — not just how their portfolio is allocated this quarter.
14-day free trial. Then $9.99/mo Navigator.
Feature by featureHow they compare
| Feature | PeakWorth | Robo-Advisors |
|---|---|---|
Automated portfolio management Rebalancing, allocation drift | ||
Tax-loss harvesting Daily, automated | ||
Holds and trades your assets | No — planning only | |
Multi-decade net worth projection | ||
FI age — when work becomes optional | Basic retirement calculator | |
Decision Hub Buy vs rent, lease vs buy, job change, kids | Built-in | |
AI advisor on your numbers | Peak plan | |
Tax-aware projections Marginal bracket, withdrawal order | Within-account only | |
Account aggregation (full picture) | Mostly assets they hold | |
Built for dual-income households | ||
Pricing model | $9.99/mo flat | 0.25%/yr AUM |
Cost on $250k portfolio | $119.88/yr | $625/yr |
Cost on $1M portfolio | $119.88/yr | $2,500/yr |
Cost on $2M portfolio | $119.88/yr | $5,000/yr |
PeakWorth vs Betterment vs Wealthfront — head to head
The robos own auto-management; PeakWorth owns the dated plan. Figures are typical published rates — confirm current terms on each provider's site.
| Feature | PeakWorth | Betterment | Wealthfront |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | Flat $119.88/yr (~$9.99/mo), independent of balance | ~0.25%/yr of assets (Digital tier) | ~0.25%/yr of assets |
| Account minimum | $0 — doesn't custody assets | $0 (Digital) | $500 |
| Automated portfolio management | No — it's the planning layer, not a custodian; it doesn't trade or rebalance | Yes — auto-builds & rebalances a diversified index portfolio | Yes — auto-builds & rebalances a diversified index portfolio |
| Tax-loss harvesting | N/A — doesn't manage the assets | Yes (taxable accounts) | Yes (taxable accounts) |
| Retirement output type | Dated FI Age — the calendar year work becomes optional, plus a year-by-year projection to age 95 | On-track read / success probability for ~age 65 | On-track projection (Path) for ~age 65 |
| Decision modeling (buy-vs-rent, bonus, debt payoff) | Yes — the Decision Hub scores each major decision's dollar-and-year impact | No | Limited |
| Dual-income household modeling | Yes — first-class (separate incomes, accounts, and goals) | Limited | Limited |
| Data export | Yes — CSV import/export of your data | Limited — statements & tax forms | Limited — statements & tax forms |
The real reasonsWhy people switch
- Robos manage the portfolio. They do not plan the life — when you retire, what a baby costs, whether to buy or rent, when to switch jobs.
- 0.25%/yr looks small until the portfolio grows. On $2M, that's $5,000/yr forever — the same plan PeakWorth runs for $119.88/yr.
- Many users hold assets at a robo for tax-loss harvesting and rebalancing, and run their actual financial plan in PeakWorth. The two stack cleanly.
- If your only question is “what should my asset allocation be,” a robo is enough. If the question is “can we afford this house and still retire at 55,” that's a different tool.
Context
Robo-advisors (Betterment, Wealthfront, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, Fidelity Go) sit between human advisors and pure planning tools. Their job is portfolio management — automated rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and a target-date-style allocation — usually for ~0.25%/yr. They are very good at that job. Tax-loss harvesting alone often pays for the fee on a taxable account.
What they do not do is plan. The “retirement planner” inside a robo is typically a single-page goal slider, not a year-by-year multi-decade projection. There is no Decision Hub, no FI age, no model of a baby or a job change, no AI that knows your full balance sheet.
The cleanest stack for most households is: keep your taxable brokerage at a robo (or a low-cost broker) for the management piece, and use PeakWorth as the planning layer on top. PeakWorth links the accounts via Plaid for the full picture and runs the actual long-horizon plan against your real numbers.
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Run it through PeakWorthFrequently asked
Is PeakWorth a robo-advisor?
No. PeakWorth does not hold your money, place trades, or rebalance your portfolio. It is a planning tool — multi-decade projection, FI age, the Decision Hub, and an AI advisor that uses your real numbers. For portfolio management, keep your assets at a robo (Betterment, Wealthfront) or a low-cost broker (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard).
Should I use Betterment or Wealthfront AND PeakWorth?
Yes — that is the most common setup. The robo handles automated rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting on your taxable brokerage. PeakWorth handles the actual financial plan: when you can retire, what each major decision changes, and how the household trajectory looks over 30 years. They overlap on almost nothing.
Is Betterment or Wealthfront cheaper than PeakWorth?
Only at small balances. Both robos charge 0.25%/yr of assets. PeakWorth Navigator is $9.99/mo flat ($119.88/yr). At $250k the robo is roughly the same price; at $1M the robo costs $2,500/yr; at $2M it costs $5,000/yr. PeakWorth's flat fee does not scale with your wealth.
Do robo-advisors do tax-loss harvesting better than I can?
For most people, yes. Daily, rules-based, automated tax-loss harvesting on a taxable account typically captures 0.5–1.0%/yr of after-tax return — often more than the 0.25% management fee. That is the strongest reason to keep a taxable brokerage at a robo. PeakWorth does not replace this. It plans around it.
What about Schwab Intelligent Portfolios (free) or Fidelity Go?
Same category. Schwab funds the “free” management with a mandatory cash allocation that creates an opportunity-cost drag. Fidelity Go is free under $25k, then 0.35%/yr — slightly above Betterment and Wealthfront. None of them plan; they all manage. PeakWorth is the planning layer above any of them.
Can I just use the robo's built-in retirement planner?
It will get you a single “on-track / not on-track” signal against a target. It will not run a year-by-year projection on your real numbers, model a baby or a job change, score a buy-vs-rent decision, or surface an FI age. That gap is exactly what PeakWorth fills.
If I switch from a 1% AUM advisor to a robo, do I still need PeakWorth?
Probably more, not less. The 1% advisor was at least notionally also doing some planning work. A robo is explicitly only managing the portfolio. PeakWorth is the planning replacement — at a flat fee, with the Decision Hub and AI advisor your old advisor used to (sometimes) provide.
PeakWorth provides educational projections, not financial advice. We are not a registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, tax preparer, or attorney. Consult a licensed professional before making major financial decisions. Read full disclosures