Software · head to head
Sage 50 vs Empower
Sage 50
Software
Powerful desktop accounting for small businesses
- From
- $29/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Sage 50 sage 50 tiers as captured in 2022: Pro Accounting $595/year for 1 user, Premium Accounting $970/year for 1-5 users with multi-company support, Quantum Accounting $1,610/year for larger teams; Empower empower's managed advisory tiers require a minimum of $100,000 in investable assets for Personal Strategy and $1,000,000 for Private Client, with exact advisory fee percentages deferred to the Form ADV filing rather than published on the site.
- They diverge on capability: Sage 50 covers General ledger, Empower covers Net worth tracking.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Sage 50 and Empower actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 Sage 50
- General ledger
- Invoicing
- Inventory management
- Job costing
- Budgeting
- Microsoft 365
- Salesforce
- Local encryption
Only in Empower
- Net worth tracking
- Investment tracking
- Retirement planner
- Cash flow
- 401k fee analyzer
- Bank connections
- Brokerage accounts
- SOC 2
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Sage 50
- Desktop accountingnot Empower
- Job costingnot Empower
- Inventory trackingnot Empower
Empower
- Wealth trackingnot Sage 50
- Retirement planningnot Sage 50
- Investment analysisnot Sage 50
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Sage 50
- Sage 50 tiers as captured in 2022: Pro Accounting $595/year for 1 user, Premium Accounting $970/year for 1-5 users with multi-company support, Quantum Accounting $1,610/year for larger teams
Empower
- Empower's managed advisory tiers require a minimum of $100,000 in investable assets for Personal Strategy and $1,000,000 for Private Client, with exact advisory fee percentages deferred to the Form ADV filing rather than published on the site.
Pricing, plan by plan
Sage 50
$29/month- Pro Accounting$50/month
- Core accounting
- 1 user
- Basic reports
- Premium Accounting$85/month
- 5 users
- Job costing
- Inventory
Empower
$29/month- Free ToolsFree
- Net worth tracking
- Cash flow
- Investment checkup
- Wealth ManagementFree
- 0.89% AUM fee
- Dedicated advisor
- Tax optimization
Which should you pick?
Choose Empower if
- You need net worth tracking.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want investment tracking.
Questions people ask
- Is Sage 50 or Empower better?
- Neither clearly leads. Sage 50 starts at $29/month and Empower at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Sage 50 or Empower?
- Sage 50 starts at $29/month and Empower at $29/month.
- Does Sage 50 or Empower run on more platforms?
- Sage 50 runs on Windows. Empower runs on Web, Ios, Android.
- What is Sage 50 best used for?
- Sage 50 is most often used for desktop accounting, job costing, inventory tracking. Of those, desktop accounting and job costing are not what Empower is typically brought in for.
- What can Sage 50 do that Empower cannot?
- Sage 50 covers General ledger, Invoicing, Inventory management, Job costing. Empower covers Net worth tracking, Investment tracking, Retirement planner, Cash flow.