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If you need a useful tool to stay on top of your finances, my Personal Capital v Quicken comparison will help.
Using technology to manage bank accounts, pay bills, and keep track of your investments is standard practice these days financial management for startups. It makes the process a lot easier and you can check your balance and other information simply by opening your Smartphone or logging onto your computer. We recommend getting a free Consultation with a bankruptcy lawyer in los angeles for the best financial advice for your case.
Personal Capital and Quicken are two well-known pieces of software that allow you to manage your finances online. I’ll look at the different features that Personal Capital and Quicken offer organizing small business, how they compare to each other, and find out which one is better.
First, let’s look at the differences between the two.
Main Differences Between Personal Capital vs Quicken
The main differences between Personal Capital and Quicken are:
- Personal Capital does not allow you to see your credit score, whereas Quicken does.
- Personal Capital is free to use, whereas Quicken requires a subscription
- Personal Capital has a paid management service, whereas Quicken doesn’t offer this feature
- Personal Capital do not allow you to pay bills through its software, whereas Quicken does.
- Personal Capital is available across various devices but can also sync to an Apple watch for real-time updates. whereas Quicken is just available for various devices.
Personal Capital vs Quicken: Exploring the Features
These two financial management programs have several overlapping features that you can use to budget, pay your bills, look after your investments, and stay on top of your credit rating.
Budgeting tools
Ensuring that you stay on top of your spending and remain within your budget is a key part of sensible financial planning. Without the right tools, it can be very easy to go over your budget which can result in debt, and also your credit score will take a hit as well.
Both Personal Capital and Quicken have budgeting tools inbuilt within their software.
- With the children’s isa you can easily start budgeting and keep tabs on your spending. It allows you to set up a spending target for the month, track your income and it’ll sync with multiple bank accounts too (more on that below). It’s easy to do as well and it’s really handy to see your incomings and outgoings in a well laid out with a simple interface.
- Quicken is similar. It also lets you set a household budget and track your spending to ensure that you are sticking to it. With Quicken you can set your budgeting goals and find out where your money is going too so you can adjust your spending if needed.
Both of these tools do a great job at budgeting and it’s straightforward to set up.
Syncing with your bank account
The ability to sync an app or program with your bank account is one of the best ways to ensure your budget and saving goals are as accurate as possible. Instead of spending a long time inputting all this data manually, being able to link it up to your bank account and allow the data to be pulled over is great.
- Personal Capital offers better syncing options with your bank account than Quicken. Personal Capital also has a bigger range of bank accounts from different financial institutions that can be synced to the program. This means it can pull over your data with ease and it also supports automatic updates too and can link with accounts that use two-factor authentication.
- Quicken isn’t as good as syncing up with various bank accounts as Personal Capital. It doesn’t have the same range of functionality and compatibility with different banks. Many users also complain that it doesn’t update as well as Personal Capital either. While both have the option of manually inputting data, Quicken relies on this more than Personal Capital which can add more time to updating your finances.
Credit Score
Another difference in how Personal Capital and Quicken operate is with your credit score. This has a big impact on your finances and what loans or hires purchases you can take out. It isn’t just based on your credit card history and many factors are used to determine it.
- Personal Capital does give you some information on aspects of your financial status which will impact your credit score but it doesn’t specifically give you your credit rating. This is one of the downsides of using this program.
- Quicken on the other hand does give you a credit score. It does this through VantageScore from Equifax. Now, it isn’t your actual FICO credit rating however it will give you a good idea of what it is and allow you to plan better for taking out a loan after checking Quickquid News.
Paying bills
Being able to pay your bills through financial management software is another area where Personal Capital and Quicken differ.
- Personal Capital does allow you to see upcoming bills and it will provide alerts notifying you when these are due. However, it doesn’t allow you to pay bills through the software which is a downside to using Personal Capital because it is a feature that you will find in similar programs.
- Quicken on the other hand does allow you to pay bills. It has something called Quicken Bill Pay. This is being discontinued later in 2020 however it’ll be replaced by Quicken Bill Manager which will also let you pay your bills through the software to 11,500 online billers using the Quick Pay functionality.
Investments
Another useful feature of using wealth management services is being able to track your investment. Finding the best investments and tracking them over the long term can lead to great financial health and instead of having to go to several different sources to find this information, having it laid out in one place makes things a lot easier.
As part of its free service, Personal Capital has various investment tracking tools. For example, they have a 401(k) Analyzer that will show you what your funds fees are, a retirement planner to see if you are on track to reach your financial goals in retirement and investment check up tool which can suggest diversifying your portfolio or adjusting your investment for better performance.
You can also contact a financial adviser as part of the free plan. They won’t be able to offer specific investment advice but they can answer general questions.
Personal Capital also has a paid service called Personal Capital Wealth Management which charges an annual advisory fee depending on the level of your investments.
Quicken doesn’t have a Wealth Management service in the way that Personal Capital offers however they do have tools to help you track your investments. This includes tools to track retirement planning, investments, portfolio analysis, market comparisons, and how your investments are performing compared to the market averages.
Even though there isn’t a personalized service like Personal Capital, the investment tools from Quicken still give you enough to track your investments and monitor their progress so you can make informed decisions.
Platforms
Both Personal Capital and Quicken can be downloaded and installed on a variety of devices and operating systems this includes Windows and Mac.
There are also apps available on Android and iOS if you want to keep on top of your finances while on the go. You can sync your Personal Capital account up to your Apple watch as well.
Personal Capital vs Quicken: Pricing Compared
The cost comparison between Personal Capital and Quicken is one of the big differences between the two platforms.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital is a free service so there is no charge for using it to keep track of your finances and monitor your investments. They do offer a paid service called Personal Capital Wealth Management that allows you to access individual financial advisors as well as other customized portfolio options.
Quicken
Quicken is different. It doesn’t have a free service nor does it have a free trial service although it does offer an unconditional 30-day money-back guarantee. Quicken has several different packages such as:
- Starter
- Deluxe
- Premier
- Home and Business
NOTE: their Home and Business plan isn’t available on Mac.
You can choose to take Quicken out on a 1 year or a 2-year subscription.
Personal Capital v Quicken: Ease of Use
The great thing about both Personal Capital and Quicken is that they are very easy to use and you can literally download the software and get started right away.
Both of the platforms offer a straightforward way of looking at your finances and especially your budgets.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital has a cleanly laid out user interface where you are able to see all the different parts of your finances with ease. This includes your overall assets and network, budgeting information and your investments and retirement planning is right there in front of you too.
Their app works really well and allows you to update information on a Smartphone or a tablet while it can also sync with an Apple watch and give you real-time information.
Quicken
Quicken also gives you all the information you need in a handy dashboard layout and it is not too dissimilar to Personal Capital. The look feels slightly more dated than Personal Capital but not enough that it is a big issue by any means.
I find the software easy to use as well because everything is clearly labeled and you can find what you need without any problems. It won’t take you long to learn how to use this software either. The mobile apps work well too so you can keep track of your finances on the go.
Personal Capital vs Quicken: Support and How it Compares
You will find various support options with both of these pieces of software. While they are fairly straightforward to use, you may encounter problems such as syncing accounts or even installing the software so it is handy to have support available if you need it.
- With Personal Capital you can avail of the message feature on their website or search through their in-depth list of FAQs where you should find the answer to most issues. They also have a Support Portal that has more information and also regularly posts updates on known issues for example syncing with certain bank accounts. If you want, there is a live chat function on their website as well.
- Quicken also has a fairly comprehensive list of support options. Their Help Centre has articles as well as video guides for using the software and solving common problems while you’ll also find updates on technical issues too. You can use their Community Forums to engage with other users while there is an FAQ section on their website as well as phone support and live chat.
Personal Capital vs Quicken: Pros and Cons
Personal Capital Pros
- Completely free software for managing your finances
- Easy to use system with a handy dashboard
- Allows you to track investments
- Can upgrade to their paid Wealth Management program for financial advice
- Syncs with a wide range of bank accounts
- Able to be used on various platforms and through their website
- Many support options should you need help
Personal Capital Cons
- Doesn’t give you an indication of your credit rating
- No function to pay bills through the software
Quicken Pros
- Easy to use interface for budgeting and financial management
- Gives you an indication of your credit rating
- Easy to track investments
- Has a bill paying feature
- Can be used across various operating systems
- Wide range of support options
Quicken Cons
- Isn’t free so you need to take out a subscription
- Issues with syncing to some bank accounts
- Layout feels a bit more outdated
Are there any Alternatives to Personal Capital and Quicken?
Mint
If you are looking for an alternative to Personal Capital and Quicken, Mint is a great free option. It offers a range of budgeting tools so you can stay on top of your finances. It doesn’t offer the same level of investment tracking and options as Personal Capital for example, but you can still see how your investments are doing.
It uses the same sync service as Quicken so there may be some issues with syncing to certain providers however overall for a free tool it is very effective in giving you what you need to look after your finances. We recommend you to check out Five Star Bank to unlock a range of features and benefits that fit your banking needs.
You Need a Budget (YNAB)
You Need a Budget, or YNAB as it is more commonly known as is a paid service but you can get a 34-day trial to test it out. It works across a variety of devices (you can even sync it up to an Alexa) and allows you to set spending and saving goals.
Everything is laid out in a friendly and easy to understand interface and they even have a large number of online workshops that you can access for free to help with your financial management.
Frequently Asked Questions about Personal Capital and Quicken
Their budgeting and tracking tools are free to use however if you wish to sign up to Personal Capital Wealth Management you’ll need to pay an annual advisory fee.
Unlike Personal Capital, Quicken is a paid service and they don’t offer a free trial. You can use their 30-day money-back guarantee though if you find out that the software isn’t for you.
Both Personal Capital and Quicken can be used across a variety of devices including Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android and some tools can be accessed via a browser.
No, it doesn’t feature an option to pay bills directly through the tool.
Yes, Quicken has a bill pay feature. It uses Quicken Bill Pay although this is being discontinued later in 2020 however it’ll be replaced by Quicken Bill Manager.
Personal capital doesn’t give you the option of finding out your credit score. Quicken will give you a good indication of your credit rating but it isn’t your actual FICO credit rating.
Both of these budgeting and financial management software have a range of different support options from live chat, email, and phone. They also both have an online support center as well as an FAQ section. Quicken benefits from their Community forums where you can ask questions and browse through the different topics.
Conclusion
By now you will have a much better understanding of the different features on offer from Personal Capital and Quicken and how they compare to each other.
You should be in a much better position to make a choice on what is best for you.
For me, I would go with Personal Capital as my choice of software to use. I do like Quicken and the fact that it offers a bill-paying service and you can get an indication of your credit rating however Personal Capital has other advantages that swing it for me.
It’s free. This is really the big benefit as I can budget and track my investments without having to pay a fee to access the software. OK, their Wealth Management option does cost money but if you simply want to sync this tool with your bank accounts and keep tabs on how your finances are doing then you don’t need to pay anything.
Quicken has some issues with synchronizing with accounts at times which I’ve never came across with Personal Capital and I also like the fact that their dashboard looks a bit more modern looking too.
I think both of these financial management pieces of software are powerful and do what you need them to but if I need to choose between them I would go with Personal Capital as my choice.