If you have investments in multiple accounts or brokers, keeping track of everything can be overwhelming. Portfolio tracking software aggregates all your holdings in one place, showing you the complete picture of your financial life. This guide covers the best options available.
Why Use Portfolio Tracking Software?
Most investors have accounts at multiple brokers, retirement accounts, and perhaps some cryptocurrency. Without a unified view, you might not realize you are overexposed to one sector or that your asset allocation has drifted significantly.
Key benefits: See all investments in one dashboard, track true performance including dividends, understand asset allocation, identify concentration risks, and monitor progress toward financial goals.
Types of Portfolio Trackers
1. Aggregation Platforms
These connect directly to your brokerage accounts and automatically import holdings and transactions. They provide the most accurate and up-to-date information with minimal manual effort.
2. Manual Entry Trackers
You enter your holdings manually. These offer more privacy since you are not connecting accounts, but require more work to maintain and may have stale data.
3. Broker-Provided Tools
Most brokers offer basic portfolio tracking within their platforms. These work well if all your assets are at one broker but cannot aggregate multiple accounts.
Best Portfolio Tracking Software
Empower (formerly Personal Capital)
Empower is the most comprehensive free portfolio tracker available. It connects to virtually any financial account and provides professional-level analysis.
Empower Features
- Free account aggregation from 15,000+ institutions
- Investment checkup analyzing your portfolio
- Retirement planner with Monte Carlo simulations
- Fee analyzer showing what you pay in fund fees
- Asset allocation breakdown
- Price: Free (premium advisory services available)
Sharesight
Sharesight excels at performance tracking and tax reporting. It calculates true returns including dividends, adjusts for currency, and generates tax reports.
Sharesight Features
- Accurate performance calculations with XIRR
- Dividend tracking and income reports
- Tax reports for multiple countries
- Multiple portfolio support
- Price: Free for 10 holdings, paid plans from $15/month
Stock Events
A mobile-first tracker that focuses on dividends and earnings. Great for income investors who want to track dividend payments and upcoming earnings dates.
Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance offers basic portfolio tracking for free. It is simple and works across web and mobile, though features are limited compared to dedicated trackers.
Delta
Delta started as a crypto tracker but now supports stocks, ETFs, and other assets. It has an excellent mobile app with clean design.
Kubera
Kubera is a premium tracker for high-net-worth individuals. It tracks everything from stocks to real estate, crypto, and even physical assets like art.
Key Features to Look For
Account Aggregation
The ability to connect all your accounts automatically saves hours of manual data entry. Look for broad institution support and reliable sync.
Performance Tracking
True performance tracking should account for deposits, withdrawals, and dividends. Simple price change does not tell the whole story.
Asset Allocation Analysis
See how your money is distributed across asset classes, sectors, and geographies. This helps maintain proper diversification.
Asset Allocation Example
Your target allocation might be:
- US Stocks: 50%
- International Stocks: 20%
- Bonds: 20%
- Real Estate: 5%
- Cash: 5%
A good tracker shows your actual allocation and how far it has drifted from targets.
Dividend Tracking
Income investors need to track dividend payments, yields, and growth. Look for trackers that show dividend history and forecast future income.
Tax Reporting
At tax time, having clear reports of realized gains and losses saves hours of work. Some trackers generate tax-ready reports.
Setting Up Your Portfolio Tracker
- List all accounts: Include brokerage, retirement (401k, IRA), HSA, and any other investment accounts
- Connect accounts: Use automatic linking where available for most accuracy
- Verify holdings: Check that imported data matches your actual positions
- Set benchmarks: Choose appropriate benchmarks (S&P 500, total market index) to compare performance
- Define targets: Set your target asset allocation to track drift
- Schedule reviews: Check your portfolio monthly or quarterly, not daily
Portfolio Tracking Best Practices
Do Not Check Too Often
Daily portfolio checking leads to emotional decisions and unnecessary trading. Set a schedule for weekly or monthly reviews.
Focus on What Matters
Daily fluctuations are noise. Focus on long-term performance, asset allocation, and progress toward goals.
Rebalance Periodically
Use your tracker to identify when your allocation has drifted significantly from targets. Rebalance annually or when allocations drift more than 5% from targets.
Track All Costs
Include fund expense ratios, trading commissions, and advisory fees. These costs compound over time and significantly impact returns.
Hidden costs: A seemingly small 1% annual fee can cost you 25% of your portfolio value over 30 years. Use your tracker's fee analyzer to understand what you are really paying.
Privacy and Security Considerations
Connecting financial accounts requires trust. Here is how to stay safe:
- Use read-only connections: Portfolio trackers should only need read access, not trading permissions
- Check security practices: Look for bank-level encryption and security audits
- Enable two-factor authentication: Add an extra layer of security to your tracker account
- Consider manual entry: If privacy is paramount, use a manual tracker instead of connecting accounts
For Active Traders
Portfolio trackers are designed for investors, not active traders. If you trade frequently, you need different tools that focus on:
- Trade-by-trade performance analysis
- Win rate and profit factor metrics
- Strategy-level performance breakdowns
- Real-time P&L tracking
Track Your Active Trading Performance
Pro Trader Dashboard is designed for active traders who need detailed trade-by-trade analysis. Track win rates, analyze strategies, and see exactly what is working in your trading.
Summary
Portfolio tracking software gives you a complete view of your investments across all accounts. For most people, Empower (Personal Capital) offers the best free option with comprehensive features. Active investors might prefer Sharesight for its performance tracking and tax reporting. The key is finding a tool you will actually use regularly. Choose based on your needs, set it up properly, and review your portfolio periodically to stay on track toward your financial goals.
Looking for more trading tools? Check out our guide on market data feeds or learn about setting up trading alerts.