Origin is a financial management app that allows you to manage your budget, track your spending, net worth, and credit score, file your taxes, access financial advice, make a last will and testament, and save and invest your money all in one app.
But can a single platform like Origin replace all of the different apps you are currently using to manage your money, and if so, is it worth the cost?
In this full review, we’ll cover key features, what we like and don’t like about Origin, and let you know if it’s too good to be true.
- All-in-one financial management platform
- Get started with a 7-day free trial
- $12.99/monthly or $99 per year
- High-yield cash account pays up to 5% APY
- Financial advice and estate planning available for an additional cost
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$12.99/month or $99 yearly |
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Savings Annual Percentage Yield (APY) |
4.52%* Base APY on Cash Account |
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0.50% Bonus APY on Cash Account |
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What Is Origin?
Origin Financial is a fintech offering comprehensive financial management in a single platform. According to the company website, it aims to “democratize financial well-being by building products and a brand that is simple, approachable, and affordable for all.”
For a reasonable monthly or annual fee, Origin can track your spending, net worth, and budget, and check your credit score. You can also file your taxes, save in a high-yield cash account and invest in index funds and bundled stock portfolios. And for an additional fee, you can access estate planning services, and meet with a financial planner.
What Does It Offer?
At first glance, Origin’s many offerings can seem overwhelming. Here’s a closer look at the most important features:
Spending
With Origin’s Spending tool, you can track your spending, net worth, and create a personalized budget. Origin can sync accounts from over 13,000 financial institutions, so it’s likely that your bank or online brokerage is supported.
Once you’ve synced accounts, you can view all of your transactions from a single list, or filter and sort transactions by category, state range, or accounts.
You can also check cash flow, income, expense, and transfers reports in multiple formats, such as bar charts or Sankey diagrams:
Origin Cashflow. Screenshot by The College Investor.
Origin’s Net Worth tracker pulls data from your synced accounts, but you can also manually add assets and liabilities:
Origin Net Worth. Screenshot by The College Investor.
The budgeting tool lets you add and edit transactions manually, create transaction notes and tags, and download transactions via a CSV file.
You can also set advanced rules, based on any combination of the following:
- Merchant name
- Transaction category
- Amount
- Account
For example, you could set a rule for Origin to automatically mark all “Lyft” transactions as “Rideshare.” Or, you could have it mark any Chase Ink Business Unlimited credit card transactions as a “Business Expense.”
Invest
Unlike most budgeting apps, Origin offers a high-yield cash account as well as managed investment portfolios through its no-AUM robo-advisor. That’s right, Origin does not charge any AUM fees on its portfolios.
Cash Account
Origin’s offers a high-yield cash account that is FDIC insured through partner banks with no additional maintenance or withdrawal fees. At the time of this writing, its base APY is 4.52%*, or 5.02% if you take advantage of the 0.50% APY bonus introductory offer. This is much higher than any major bank offering, and competitive with the top savings rates from online banks and fintechs.
Origin Cash Account. Screenshot by The College Investor.
Automated Portfolios Stock Bundles
Origin offers fully-automated index fund portfolios and customized stock bundles through DriveWealth, which handles custody, clearing and trading services. DriveWealth is a registered broker dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC.
If you’re looking for a fully-automated solution, you can choose an index portfolio that aligns with your risk tolerance and investment time horizon.
Origin includes the following low-fee exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in its portfolios:
U.S. Stock Market ETFs
- VOO – (Large-Cap)
- IJH – (Mid-Cap)
- IJR – (Small-Cap)
International ETFs
- IEFA – (Developed Markets)
- IEMG – (Emerging Markets)
Fixed-Income ETFs
- AGG – (U.S. Bonds)
- BNDX – (International Bonds)
- JNK – (High-Yield Bonds)
- SHV – (Short-Term Fixed Income)
There are no investment minimums, you can set up recurring contributions from your account, and your portfolio is automatically rebalanced to ensure to maintain your target asset allocation.
Stock Bundles
Origin has a unique offering for investors who want to own individual stocks without having to worry about spending time researching various stocks or placing their own trades. Stock bundles are curated collections of between 8-20 individual stocks, and are grouped by theme, sector, or market trend.
Here is a list of just a few Origin stock bundles:
- Buffet’s Picks: Includes a curated selection from Berkshire Hathaway’s top 20 stock holdings. May include companies such as Coca-Cola or Apple.
- Mid-Cap Movers: Includes various leading mid-cap stocks.
- Chip Champions: Made up of a selection of companies driving the semi-conductor industry. Includes names like NVIDIA and Intel.
- Travel Titans: Comprised of top stocks in the travel and hospitality industry. Includes top hotel chains along with names like Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, and Airbnb.
Origin Stock Bundles. Screenshot by The College Investor.
Note: According to Origin, Stock Bundle portfolios may not be as liquid as its automated index portfolios, as the individual stocks in the stock bundles must be sold and converted to cash before you can move money from your account.
Financial Advice
Origin offers free financial guidance through its AI-Powered financial assistant, which is equipped to answer questions on a wide range of topics. This includes helping you find ways to optimize your portfolio, get insights on your spending habits, and help creating a debt management plan.
If you need more in-depth financial planning advice, you can book a 1:1 call with an Origin Certified Financial Planner (CFP). Each session is $119, and Planners are equipped to help you with everything from retirement planning, buying a home, building an emergency fund, debt repayment, and more.
Estate Planning
You can create a will with Origin, with a discounted pricing available to Origin members. A Basic Will, which allows you to designate how your assets will be distributed and appoint an executor, is free. It might be suitable for a young, single person, with minimal assets and no beneficiaries.
Estate Planning Options. Screenshot By The College Investor.
If your will is more complicated — you wish to leave specific healthcare wishes or will need to appoint a guardian for minor children, then you’ll need to opt for a Full Will or Trust.
Learn more about essential estate planning documents here.
Free Tax Filing
More and more people are filing their own taxes using tax software programs, such as TurboTax, H&R Block, or Cash App Taxes. Origin Financial offers free tax filing on its platform, and unlike some free programs, which only support simple returns, it can handle most tax situations, including the following:
- Federal filing
- Multi-state filing
- All state filings
- Investments (stocks, bonds, ESPPs, crypto)
- Stock compensation (RSUs, ISOs, NSOs)
- Additional income (small business, rental property)
- Partnership income (K-1s, etc.)
- Itemized deductions
Furthermore, according to Origin, if you receive a higher refund or pay less taxes on another platform, you’ll be reimbursed. They also guarantee 100% accuracy. Note that there’s a $189 add-on if you want unlimited filing support or to have a tax expert do a final review.
Are There Any Fees?
After a 7-Day free trial, you will pay $12.99 per month or $99 yearly for an Origin membership. Annual subscribers also receive discounted rates for some of Origin’s a la carte features, like its estate plans. Origin does not charge any management fees on its automated index portfolios, though MERs would apply to the underlying ETFs in the portfolio.
Here is a list of additional products available for purchase through Origin:
- Expert-assisted tax filing support: $189
- Financial planning sessions with a CFP: 119/session
- Estate Planning: Full Will ($149), Trust ($449) – Discounts available for annual memberships
Check out the options here >>
How Does Origin Compare?
I’m not aware of another platform that does quite as much as Origin does. If you know of one, please let me know in the comments! It really is a one-stop shop for managing your personal finances.
Empower is an alternative that can handle your net worth tracking, and some basic budgeting. It also offers wealth management services, but that requires a minimum investment of $100,000 and you will incur management fees. Empower’s main advantage is that it’s financial tracking tools are free — there is no monthly or annual cost.
You Need A Budget, (YNAB) is a highly-popular budgeting app that is more in-depth than Origin’s budgeting tool, but it’s strictly a budgeting tool. It’s also on the pricey side, at $14.99 per month.
How Do I Open An Account?
You can become an Origin Financial member by selecting the “Try Origin” button on its website homepage. You’ll need to provide your email address and create a secure password.
If you plan to open an investment or cash account, you will have to follow federally-mandated regulations. This includes providing your name, date of birth, social security number, and legal address.
You may also have to provide a photo of your valid government-issued identification. As soon as you have been verified, your 7-day free trial period will begin.
Is It Safe And Secure?
Like any online banking platform, Origin employs advanced encryption and follows data privacy protocols. Any funds held in Origin’s cash account are FDIC-insured through its partner banks.
As mentioned earlier, investment accounts are held through Origin partner, DriveWealth, which is a broker dealer and FINRA and SIPC member.
Contact
Origin has a Help Center on its website that should provide answers to most questions.
You can contact Origin via email at (email protected). Otherwise, you can contact support using a contact form on the website.
There is also an online Reddit community that’s relatively active with Origin team members and customers.
Is It Worth It?
Is it worth paying the monthly or annual fee to access all that Origin has to offer? My best answer is that it depends.
If you plan to make use of most of features, the ability to manage your entire financial picture in one app is enticing. You can also save money if you’re currently paying for several different apps to accomplish what Origin can do.
For example, for as little as $99 yearly, you can make a budget, track your spending, net worth, and credit score, file your taxes, access a no-fee high-yield cash account, and invest in no-fee investment portfolios that are automatically rebalanced.
The financial and estate planning tools are an additional cost.
I would not recommend Origin if you want in-depth budgeting software — dedicated budgeting apps like YNAB, Rocket Money, EveryDollar, and Lunch Money, are more powerful.
And if you don’t want to pay for financial apps at all, you can get by with free options. For example, you could track your spending and net worth with Empower, and file your taxes with Cash App Taxes. Free credit score tracking services are also available.
Check out Origin here >>
Features
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Managed Investment portfolios |
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Help Center, Contact Form, Email |
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Web/Desktop Account Access |
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* As of February 10, 2025
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