Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Empower vs Recurly

Empower logo

Empower

Accounting

All your finances. One app.

From
On request
Rated
-
Recurly logo

Recurly

Accounting

The subscription management platform built for growth

From
$249/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Empower specific advisory fees not published; Form ADV consultation required; Recurly starter is $249 a month plus 0.9 percent of billing volume above the first $40K, so the cost rises with revenue rather than with usage
  • They diverge on capability: Empower covers Net worth tracking, Recurly covers Subscription billing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Empower and Recurly actually diverge.

Attributes where Empower and Recurly differ
AttributeEmpowerRecurly
Starting priceOn request$249/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Api

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting), founded (2009).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Empower

  • Net worth tracking
  • Investment tracking
  • Retirement planner
  • Cash flow
  • 401k fee analyzer
  • Bank connections
  • Brokerage accounts
  • Bank-level encryption

Only in Recurly

  • Subscription billing
  • Revenue recovery
  • Payment gateway optimization
  • Analytics
  • API
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Braintree

Both cover

  • SOC 2
  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Empower

  • Wealth trackingnot Recurly
  • Retirement planningnot Recurly
  • Investment analysisnot Recurly

Recurly

  • Subscription billing and recurring invoicingnot Empower
  • Dunning and failed payment recoverynot Empower
  • Trials, plan changes and promotionsnot Empower
  • Revenue recognition through the RevRec add-onnot Empower
  • Shopify-native subscriptions with subscribe and savenot Empower

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Empower

  • Specific advisory fees not published; Form ADV consultation required
  • High minimum investment thresholds ($100,000 for Personal Strategy)
  • Detailed fee structure available only in Form ADV documents

Recurly

  • Starter is $249 a month plus 0.9 percent of billing volume above the first $40K, so the cost rises with revenue rather than with usage
  • All-Access is quoted at under 1 percent of billing volume with a $1M minimum, putting it out of reach of smaller merchants
  • Only one dunning campaign on Starter; multiple campaigns need All-Access
  • SSO, multicurrency and payments orchestration are All-Access only
  • Revenue recognition and the Engage churn tooling are separate add-ons at $850 and $1,600 a month

Pricing, plan by plan

Empower

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Empower review.

Recurly

$249/month
  • Starter$249/month
    • Automated global subscription billing
    • Flexible plans and static churn-prevention tools
    • 1 dunning campaign
  • All-Access$null/month
    • Everything in Starter plus AI-powered agents and analytics
    • Intelligent churn-prevention with multiple dunning campaigns
    • Advanced pricing and promotions
  • All-Access for Shopify$null/month
    • Intelligent churn-prevention and customized bundles
    • Subscribe and save, prepaid/gift subscriptions
    • Hybrid subscription support and cancel-save flows

Which should you pick?

Choose Empower if

  • You need net worth tracking.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want investment tracking.

Choose Recurly if

  • You need subscription billing.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want revenue recovery.

Questions people ask

Is Empower or Recurly better?
Neither clearly leads. Empower starts at On request and Recurly at $249/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Empower or Recurly?
Empower starts at On request and Recurly at $249/month.
Does Empower or Recurly run on more platforms?
Empower runs on Web, Ios, Android. Recurly runs on Web, Api.
What is Empower best used for?
Empower is most often used for wealth tracking, retirement planning, investment analysis. Of those, wealth tracking and retirement planning are not what Recurly is typically brought in for.
What can Empower do that Recurly cannot?
Empower covers Net worth tracking, Investment tracking, Retirement planner, Cash flow. Recurly covers Subscription billing, Revenue recovery, Payment gateway optimization, Analytics. Both handle SOC 2, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Empower: Does Empower have a minimum investment requirement?

Empower's advisory services require different minimums based on service level. Personal Strategy advisory requires a minimum of $100,000 in investable assets. Private Client services require $1,000,000 or more.

Source
Recurly: What does Recurly's Starter plan cost?

Recurly Starter plan costs 249 USD monthly plus 0.9 percent of billing volume, with the first 40000 USD monthly volume included in the base fee.

Source
Empower: How are Empower's advisory fees calculated?

Advisory fees are calculated based on the amount of assets being managed under advice. Specific fee rates are not disclosed on the homepage.

Source
Recurly: What is the minimum commitment for Recurly's All-Access plan?

All-Access plans require a minimum 1 million USD annual commitment, billed annually at less than 1 percent of billing volume.

Source
Empower: Is the high-yield cash account free?

Yes. Empower's high-yield cash account has no account fees and no minimum balance required.

Source
Empower: Are there fees for stock and ETF trading?

Empower offers commission-free trading for stocks and ETFs with low fees.

Source
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