The best private net-worth tracker for Mac and iPhone
Most popular net-worth apps ask you to connect your bank. If you'd rather keep your finances off someone else's server — and out of an aggregator like Plaid — here's what to look for, and how the options compare.
What "private" should actually mean
"Private" is a word every finance app uses. For a net-worth tracker it should mean something specific:
- No bank login. The app never asks for your banking credentials and uses no account-aggregation service.
- No account on their server. There's no sign-up, no email, no database of your balances sitting in a company's cloud.
- You hold the data. Everything lives on your device or in your own iCloud, encrypted with keys tied to your Apple ID.
- No ad identifier, no data brokers. Nothing about your portfolio is sold or used for advertising.
The trade-off: automation vs privacy
Bank-linked apps automate everything but require trusting a third party with read access to your accounts. A spreadsheet is fully private but fully manual. The sweet spot is an app that automates the public data — market prices and FX rates — without ever touching your bank. That gives you live numbers and full privacy at the same time.
How the main options compare
| App | Bank login? | Where data lives | Mac-native |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holdings | No | Your private iCloud | Yes (SwiftUI) |
| Empower (Personal Capital) | Required | Their servers | Web |
| Monarch Money | Required | Their servers | Web |
| Mint (discontinued) | Required | Their servers | Web |
| Kubera | Optional/Required | Their servers | Web |
| Spreadsheet | No | Your cloud drive | Excel/Sheets |
Comparison reflects each product's standard model; check current details before choosing.
Why a native Mac app matters
Most net-worth trackers are web apps in a browser tab. A native Mac app feels faster, works the same on iPhone and iPad, and can use Apple's CloudKit to sync privately without a company server in the middle. It also means Face ID / Touch ID lock, proper keyboard and window behaviour, and offline access.
What Holdings adds beyond privacy
- Live prices for stocks, ETFs, bonds and crypto from Yahoo Finance, with automatic ticker classification.
- Real-estate valuations from official OMI data (Italy) and house-price indexes (US, Germany, Spain).
- Mortgages linked to properties, so your net real-estate position is correct.
- Multi-currency totals with automatic FX conversion across 12+ currencies.
- Growth dashboard with trailing 12-month return and historical CAGR.
Holdings: private by architecture
There's no Holdings account and no Holdings backend. Your portfolio lives in your Apple ID's encrypted iCloud — only you and your devices can read it. No bank login, no servers, no data brokers.
Explore Holdings →Frequently asked questions
Is there a net-worth app for Mac that doesn't connect to my bank?
Yes — Holdings never asks for bank credentials and uses no aggregator. You add the assets you want to track and it fetches prices from public market data only.
Where does Holdings store my data?
In your own private iCloud container via Apple's CloudKit, encrypted in transit and at rest. There is no Holdings server holding your balances.
Does it work on iPhone and iPad too?
Yes. One purchase covers Mac, iPad and iPhone, with Family Sharing supported, and everything syncs privately through iCloud.