Short answer
For dividend and tax reporting, Sharesight. For free analytics and a retirement planner, Empower. For a full balance sheet with crypto and alternatives, Kubera. For open-source control, Ghostfolio or Portfolio Performance. For investments next to your budgets, debts and goals in one app, Finman — free during its open beta.
Prices and plan limits below were checked on each vendor's own website on 30 October 2026. They change, so confirm on the vendor's pricing page before you pay. Finman is our product; we list where other apps do a job better.
The six trackers at a glance
| App | Best for | Price | How holdings get in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharesight | Dividends, tax reports | Free up to 10 holdings; from CA$9/mo | Broker integrations, imports |
| Empower | Free analytics, retirement planner | Free tools | Linked accounts |
| Kubera | Net worth with crypto and alternatives | $250/yr | Aggregators, web sync, manual |
| Ghostfolio | Open source, self-hosted | Free self-hosted; paid cloud | Entered or imported activities |
| Portfolio Performance | Return maths on desktop | Free (open source) | Entered or imported transactions |
| Finman | Investments inside whole finances | Free in open beta | Manual holdings + Stooq prices |
Pick by the question you are asking
Trackers split into two groups. Portfolio tools answer “how are my investments doing?” in depth. Whole-finance tools answer “how do my investments fit with my cash, debts and goals?” Decide which question you have before comparing features.
The picks
Sharesight dividends · tax · from CA$9/mo
Sharesight names dividend tracking, performance and tax reporting as its core features and says it integrates with hundreds of brokers and finance apps, including Questrade, CIBC Investor's Edge and RBC Direct. The free plan covers 10 holdings in one portfolio. In Canada, Starter costs CA$9 a month billed yearly (CA$12 monthly) for 30 holdings; Standard is CA$23.25 a month billed yearly (CA$31 monthly) with unlimited holdings and four portfolios; Premium is CA$29.25 (CA$39) for ten portfolios. Source: Sharesight pricing.
Choose it if you hold dividend payers or need tax-season reports. Skip it if you want spending and debts in the same place.
Empower Personal Dashboard free tools · advisory upsell
Empower (formerly Personal Capital) says its dashboard and financial tools are completely free. The tool list includes a Retirement Planner, Net Worth, Portfolio Analysis, Budgeting & Cash Flow, Savings Planner and Debt Paydown. The business model is advice: its Personal Strategy advisory service is offered to people who invest more than $250,000 with Empower. Source: Empower tools. Our head-to-head: Finman vs Empower (Personal Capital).
Choose it if you want free retirement and allocation analysis on linked accounts. Skip it if you would rather not be in an advisory sales funnel.
Kubera whole balance sheet · $250/yr
Kubera tracks stocks and funds by ticker across major exchanges, crypto wallets and exchanges (including DeFi and staking positions), private and alternative holdings, real estate, vehicles, gold and other valuables. It connects to thousands of banks and brokerages through several aggregators and can read figures from sites that do not connect. Essentials costs $250 a year, Black $2,500 a year, with a 14-day trial. Source: kubera.com.
Choose it if your wealth sits in many asset types and countries. Skip it if you mainly hold a few index funds — the price is high for that.
Ghostfolio open source · self-hosted
Ghostfolio is open-source wealth management software under the AGPL-3.0 licence for tracking stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrencies. Official Docker images let you run it on your own server; a hosted Premium version exists for people who do not want to self-host. Source: Ghostfolio on GitHub.
Choose it if you are comfortable running Docker and want your data on your own machine.
Portfolio Performance desktop · open source
Portfolio Performance is an open-source desktop tool (Eclipse Public License 1.0) for Windows, macOS and Linux, with a mobile app listed as well. It calculates performance across all accounts as true time-weighted return or internal rate of return. Source: portfolio-performance.info.
Choose it if you want exact return maths and are happy to record transactions yourself.
Finman investments + budgets + debts · free in beta
Finman is a personal finance web app built in Ottawa. You create portfolios and add stocks, ETFs, bonds, funds, crypto and other assets by hand; prices refresh from free Stooq quotes. It shows gain or loss after fees, logs dividends, fees and splits, splits the portfolio by asset type and by symbol, and projects when you reach a FIRE target. The portfolio flows into your net worth next to accounts, savings goals, property and debts, and the AI CFO chat answers questions from those same numbers.
Limits: no brokerage connection, no tax-lot reports, no benchmark comparison. Every feature is free during the open beta; after it, the paid plans are Pro at $9 and Family at $19 a month. More about Finman's investment tracker.
Choose it if you want one app for investments and the rest of your money, without handing over brokerage logins.
Put your portfolio next to your budget and debts
Add holdings once, refresh prices from Stooq and see gain, dividends, allocation and a FIRE date — inside the same app as your spending and net worth.
Try Finman freeThe numbers worth tracking
Most apps show a large total and a coloured percentage. These are the figures behind it, and what each one tells you.
| Number | How it is calculated | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Market value | Quantity × current price | What the holding is worth today |
| Cost basis | Quantity × buy price | What you put in |
| Gain / loss | Market value − cost basis − fees | Whether the position is ahead |
| Net gain | Gain + dividends − extra fees and taxes | What the position actually earned you |
| Allocation | Holding value ÷ portfolio value | Concentration and drift from your plan |
| Time-weighted return | Return with deposits and withdrawals removed | How the investments performed |
| Money-weighted return (IRR) | Return including the timing of your cash flows | How your money performed |
A worked example: 10 shares bought at $100 with a $5 commission, now quoted at $120. Market value is $1,200, cost basis $1,000, gain $195 (19.5%). If the shares also paid $12 in dividends, net gain is $207.
How holdings get into the app
There are two routes, and the choice shapes everything else.
Brokerage connection
The app logs into your brokerage through an aggregator and pulls holdings and transactions. It saves typing, but coverage depends on the aggregator and your country, connections break, and you hand a third party read access to the account.
Manual holdings plus a price feed
You enter each position once and record buys, sells and dividends as they happen; the app refreshes prices from a quote source. It takes a few minutes per trade, works with any broker in any country, and no brokerage credentials leave your hands. For a buy-and-hold portfolio with a handful of trades a year, this route is often the calmer one.
A checklist for judging any tracker
- Does it hold every asset type you own, including crypto and funds outside your home market?
- Does the gain figure include fees and dividends, and can you see how it was calculated?
- Does it say which return method it uses (time-weighted, money-weighted, or simple gain)?
- How does it handle a second currency?
- Does it show investments next to your cash and debts, or only the portfolio?
- Can you export your data, and does it need your brokerage password?
- What does it cost after the trial, and what disappears on the free plan?
How to test a tracker in one evening
- Enter three real positions — one stock or ETF, one fund in another currency if you have it, one crypto holding.
- Compare values with your broker's statement. A gap usually means a wrong ticker, currency or missing fee.
- Add a dividend and check whether the gain figure moves.
- Read the return label. Time-weighted, money-weighted or simple gain — each answers a different question (see the numbers worth tracking).
- Export your data before you commit, so you know you can leave.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best investment tracking app in 2026?
There is no single winner. Sharesight fits dividend and tax reporting, Empower fits free analytics with a retirement planner, Kubera fits net worth with crypto and alternatives, Ghostfolio and Portfolio Performance fit people who want open-source control, and Finman fits people who want investments next to budgets, debts and goals.
Which investment tracking app is free?
Empower says its dashboard and financial tools are completely free. Sharesight's free plan covers up to 10 holdings in one portfolio. Ghostfolio can be self-hosted for free, and Portfolio Performance is free open-source desktop software. Finman is free during its open beta.
Which investment tracker connects to my brokerage?
Sharesight says it integrates with hundreds of brokers and finance apps, Kubera connects to banks and brokerages through several aggregators, and Empower links accounts to its dashboard. Ghostfolio, Portfolio Performance and Finman rely on entered or imported transactions.
What is the best app to track all investments, including crypto and property?
Kubera is built for that mix: stocks, crypto wallets and exchanges, private holdings, real estate, vehicles and other valuables in one balance sheet, for $250 a year. Finman also combines investments, crypto and manual assets such as property in one net worth figure, free during the beta.
Is it safe to connect my brokerage to a tracking app?
Read-only aggregator links cannot place trades, but they do give a third party access to your holdings data. If that is a concern, choose an app that works from manual entries or imports, such as Finman, Ghostfolio or Portfolio Performance.
Can I track investments without linking my brokerage account?
Yes. Enter each holding once (symbol, quantity, buy price, date, fee) and let a price feed revalue it. Finman works this way: you add holdings by hand and it refreshes prices from free Stooq quotes, so no brokerage login is shared.
What is the difference between time-weighted and money-weighted return?
Time-weighted return measures the investments themselves and removes the effect of when you added or withdrew money. Money-weighted return (IRR) includes your timing, so it answers how your own deposits did. Use time-weighted to judge a fund or strategy and money-weighted to judge your results.
How often should I update an investment tracker?
Refresh prices whenever you open the app, log buys, sells and dividends when they happen, and review allocation and the long-term projection monthly or quarterly. Daily price watching adds noise for long-term investors.
Is there an investment tracking app for iPhone?
Most trackers run on iPhone. Finman is a web app that runs in Safari on iPhone and on Android and desktop, and it installs to the home screen; App Store and Google Play versions are not published yet.
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