Loading comparison
vs
Clarity vs PocketGuard: pricing, features, and fit
PocketGuard centers on 'In My Pocket' — one safe-to-spend number after bills, goals, and savings — and a strong debt payoff workflow. Clarity is a multi-asset tracker that covers spending plus investments, crypto, taxes, and AI grounded in your real transactions.
PocketGuardFree / Plus $74.99/yr or $12.99/moClarity Pro$29/mo or $279/yr
30-day money-back guarantee. Read-only — Clarity never moves your money.
Best fit for Clarity
A multi-asset workspace covering banks, brokerages, 130+ crypto exchanges, 40+ chains, with cost-basis tracking and AI grounded in your transactions.
Best fit for PocketGuard
Debt-focused budgeters who want one safe-to-spend number and a personal payoff schedule, on web, iPhone, Apple Watch, and Android.
Score at a glance
Average across 7 criteria — every cell dated and sourced below.
- Clarity4.3
- PocketGuard2.7
Where Clarity goes further
130+ crypto exchanges + 40+ chains
PocketGuard: No native crypto exchange API or on-chain wallet support.
Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, MetaMask, Phantom, Ledger — direct APIs and on-chain reads.
Lot-level cost basis + Form 8949
PocketGuard: No investment cost-basis tracking or tax-form workflow.
FIFO/HIFO/LIFO across exchanges and wallets; wash-sale flags; tax-ready exports.
Portfolio performance + investment tracking
PocketGuard: Investment accounts appear as balance only — no performance analytics.
Holdings, performance, and allocation across IRAs, 401(k)s, taxable brokerages.
AI grounded in your real transactions
PocketGuard: No AI assistant grounded in your transactions.
Every answer cites the underlying transaction; nothing fabricated.
Life-event planner with mutable budget state
PocketGuard: Debt payoff schedule is the planning workflow.
Model a job change, baby, or home purchase — forecast cash flow against real accounts.
No advertising data trail
PocketGuard: Free tier shows ads; paid Plus removes them.
No ad business model, no analytics-for-ads cookies, no de-identified data sharing.
Clarity AI in action
Four questions Clarity can answer past 'safe to spend'
PocketGuard's 'In My Pocket' tells you what's safe to spend after bills, goals, and savings. Clarity does that and adds investments, 130+ crypto exchanges, on-chain wallets, and lot-level cost basis.
Budget vs reality
You: Am I over my 'Food & Dining' envelope this month?
$612 of $500 — 22% over with 8 days left.
Grocery $284 (on pace), Restaurants $328 (3× usual). Big hits: Sweetgreen ×6 ($108), Whole Foods bulk run ($94). Same merchants tagged across credit cards and checking.
Subscription audit
You: Show me subscriptions I haven't used in 60 days.
7 subs · $189/mo · $2,268/yr.
Notion $16 (last login 87d) · DoorDash DashPass $10 (last order 142d) · Audible $15 · Calm $15 · Disney+ $13 · NYT $17 · Headspace $13. Each tied to the recurring merchant transaction it came from.
Cost basis across venues
You: What's my cost basis on AAPL after the Schwab transfer?
$182.40 average (FIFO) across 312 shares.
218 shares from Schwab (transferred basis preserved) + 94 shares purchased at Fidelity. Lot table linked. Wash-sale check clean.
On-chain risk
You: Is my Aave loan close to liquidation?
Health factor 1.42 — 28% buffer to liquidation.
3.2 ETH supplied (Base) · $4,200 USDC borrowed. Liquidation price $1,640 vs spot $2,278. Refreshed 4 min ago. Alert threshold set at 1.20.
Every answer cites the underlying transactions, lots, or positions. Read-only — Claritynever moves money, never trades, never trains on your data.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Clarity | PocketGuard |
|---|---|---|
| Account Coverage Range of financial accounts and asset types supported. | Leads, score 5 out of 5 Banks · brokerages · 130+ crypto exchanges · 40+ chains · manual assets. May 2026 | Behind, score 2 out of 5 Banks, credit cards, and investment-account balances via Plaid. No crypto exchanges or on-chain wallets. Investment view is balance-only, not performance. May 2026 ↗ |
| Sync Reliability How consistently account data syncs without errors or manual intervention. | Tie, score 4 out of 5 Automatic retry · connection-health monitoring · explicit error states. May 2026 | Tie, score 4 out of 5 Plaid-backed bank sync, mature consumer product with broad mobile coverage. May 2026 ↗ |
| Pricing Predictability How transparent and stable the pricing is over time. | Leads, score 5 out of 5 Pro $15/mo · $144/yr · 30-day money-back · no AUM %. May 2026 | Behind, score 3 out of 5 Free tier (ad-supported). Plus at $74.99/yr ($6.25/mo) or $12.99/mo monthly. Lifetime option available for select customers. May 2026 ↗ |
| Data Freshness How quickly new transactions and price changes appear. | Leads, score 4 out of 5 Multi-sync daily · on-demand refresh · real-time crypto prices. May 2026 | Behind, score 3 out of 5 Daily Plaid sync tuned for 'In My Pocket' updates throughout the day. May 2026 ↗ |
| Historical Depth How far back transaction and portfolio history extends. | Leads, score 3 out of 5 ~24 months from Plaid. Daily net-worth snapshots after sign-up. May 2026 | Behind, score 2 out of 5 Transaction history scoped to Plaid's lookback. Spending-focused trends rather than long-term net-worth charting. May 2026 ↗ |
| Export & Reporting Ability to export data and generate financial reports. | Leads, score 4 out of 5 CSV · net-worth · portfolio performance · Form 8949–ready crypto exports. May 2026 | Behind, score 2 out of 5 CSV export of transactions on paid Plus. Debt payoff schedule output. No tax-form workflow. May 2026 ↗ |
| Privacy & Security Data protection practices, encryption, and privacy controls. | Leads, score 5 out of 5 Read-only · encrypted at rest · no ad model · no ad cookies · deletion ≤30 days. May 2026 | Behind, score 3 out of 5 Free tier is ad-supported; paid Plus removes ads. Review PocketGuard's privacy policy for current data-use posture. May 2026 ↗ |
Where PocketGuard genuinely wins
PocketGuard's 'In My Pocket' is the cleanest answer to 'what can I spend today?' on the market. If that's the one question that runs your money, PocketGuard does it well.
What we verified
- Free tier with ads + paid Plus
- PocketGuard offers a free tier that includes ads and a paid Plus tier at $74.99/yr ($6.25/mo) or $12.99/mo monthly that removes them. A lifetime option exists for select customers. PocketGuard pricing ↗
- No native crypto or investment performance
- PocketGuard's documented features cover spending, bills, debt payoff, and account balances. Crypto exchanges, on-chain wallets, and investment performance are not in the documented feature set. PocketGuard product site ↗
- Broad mobile coverage including Apple Watch
- PocketGuard documents availability across web, iPhone, Apple Watch, and Android — unusual platform breadth for a focused budgeting app. PocketGuard product site ↗
Deeper, if you want it
How to get started with Clarity
easy·15 minutes
- 01From PocketGuard (Plus): Settings → Export → CSV (transactions and debt schedules).
- 02Sign up for Clarity and re-add the same Plaid bank and credit-card connections — balances appear immediately.
- 03Add brokerages, crypto exchanges, and wallet addresses PocketGuard couldn't track for performance — IRAs, taxable accounts, Coinbase API, MetaMask, etc.
- 04For debt payoff: Clarity surfaces recurring charges and balances; PocketGuard's dedicated payoff calculator can stay in parallel if you rely on its schedule.
Frequently asked questions
Related comparisons
Related calculators
Past safe-to-spend — see what you actually own.
Banks, brokerages, crypto, and DeFi together. 30-day money-back guarantee — a full refund if Clarity isn't for you.
Sources
Trademarks belong to their owners. Clarity is independent and not affiliated with PocketGuard. Comparison reflects publicly available info as of 2026-05-18; verify current pricing on each vendor's site.