Autopilot and Guardfolio: what each one is, and what to compare

I'm Chris, one of the co-founders of Autopilot. Guardfolio and Autopilot both connect to your brokerage accounts. One watches them. The other acts in them.

That's the whole difference, and it matters more than any feature list. Here it is in detail.

One thing first, because we're an SEC-registered investment adviser and I have to say it. Autopilot is the app. The actual investment advice comes from Autopilot Advisers, LLC. If you want the full legal version of anything in here, it's on our disclaimer page.

1) What Guardfolio is

On its own website, as read on September 23, 2026, Guardfolio describes itself as portfolio risk monitoring for self-directed investors. It combines your brokerage, ETF, and retirement accounts into one risk view, shows overlap hidden inside funds, concentration, and drift, and alerts you when a limit you set is crossed.

Its site says its connections are read-only, through Plaid and SnapTrade, and that it cannot place trades, move money or change your accounts. It also says it provides monitoring and educational analytics, not personalized investment advice.

2) What Autopilot is

Autopilot is an app where you follow a Portfolio in the brokerage account you already have. Autopilot Advisers, LLC is a registered investment adviser. You give Autopilot Advisers limited authority to send orders to the account you already have. When the Portfolio changes, we send them and your broker fills them. The money stays put.

The Portfolios come from many sources: independent Pilots who create and manage their own, AI-model Portfolios run by Pilots, and trackers Autopilot builds on public SEC filings.

3) Where they actually differ

Watching versus acting. Guardfolio reads your accounts and tells you what it sees. Autopilot Advisers has limited authority to send orders to your account so it holds the Portfolio you chose. What that authority covers is in How Autopilot connects to your brokerage.

What you get out of it. Guardfolio gives you information, and the decisions stay yours. On Autopilot, you follow a strategy, so you're choosing whose decisions your account follows.

They can sit side by side. One watches, the other acts. If you follow more than one Portfolio, overlap between them is worth checking, and Following more than one Portfolio covers how that works on our side.

4) What to compare

Whether you want an alert or an action.

What access you're granting: read-only, or limited authority to trade.

What the cost comes to at your balance. For Autopilot, that math is in What Autopilot's fee actually means at your balance.

5) What it costs

On Guardfolio: its site lists paid plans billed monthly or yearly, with a seven-day trial, and it showed promotional pricing when I read it.

On Autopilot: A flat cash subscription, not a percentage of your balance. Per our Form CRS dated February 2026, Basic Tier has no Base Advisory and Licensing Fee, and Premium Tier is $29.99 to $199.99 a quarter or $99.99 to $699.99 a year. Pilot subscriptions are separate and add on for each Pilot you subscribe to. Because it's a flat dollar amount, it's a bigger share of a small account than a big one, so do the math at your balance.

I'm not going to tell you we're better, because that isn't something I can prove to you.

TLDR: Guardfolio is read-only risk monitoring. It shows overlap, concentration, and drift across your accounts and alerts you, but it can't trade. On Autopilot, you follow a Portfolio you choose in your own brokerage. One watches, the other acts, and some people will want both.

Frequently asked questions

Autopilot vs Guardfolio

Guardfolio is read-only portfolio risk monitoring that shows overlap, concentration, and drift across your accounts and sends alerts, and its site says it cannot place trades. On Autopilot, you follow a Portfolio you choose in the brokerage account you already have.

Guardfolio alternatives

It depends on whether you want monitoring or management. If you want a strategy held in your own brokerage and kept updated, Autopilot is one option. If you want read-only analytics, compare other trackers on access, alerts and cost.

Is Autopilot or Guardfolio better for following investors in my own brokerage?

They do different things. Guardfolio monitors what you already own and can't trade. Following an investor's Portfolio in your own brokerage is what Autopilot is built for.

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Since Autopilot Advisers is an SEC-registered investment adviser, we have to put disclaimers on stuff like this. They're below, and the full version is on our disclaimer page.

Disclosures

© Autopilot Holdings Corporation 2026 — All rights reserved. “Autopilot” refers to Autopilot Holdings Corporation and its wholly-owned, and separately managed subsidiaries, including Autopilot Advisers, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. All investing is subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal invested, and past performance is not indicative of future results. View our Customer Relationship Summary and other important information at joinautopilot.com/disclaimer.

This information is provided by Autopilot for educational and illustrative purposes only and is not a recommendation, an offer to sell or the solicitation to buy any security. Autopilot relies on information from various sources believed to be reliable, including information from Clients, Pilots and other third parties, but cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of that information. Autopilot does not provide tax or legal advice and you are encouraged to consult with professionals before making investment decisions.

Autopilot is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by the companies listed, described, or featured on its site. Company logos or trademarks used do not imply endorsement and are the property of their respective owners.

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. You should carefully consider your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and time horizon before investing through Autopilot.

Autopilot Advisers, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Additional information about Autopilot is available in our Form ADV Part 2A, available at adviserinfo.sec.gov or joinautopilot.com/adv.

Autopilot provides limited investment advisory services focused on Portfolio selection and suitability assessment. Our services are not intended to replace comprehensive financial planning. We recommend consulting with a qualified financial advisor regarding your complete financial situation.

This content is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice and should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision. You should consult with qualified professionals regarding your specific circumstances.

Autopilot does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult with qualified tax and legal professionals regarding your specific circumstances.

Autopilot does not hold client assets. All investments are held at the brokerage firm you select and connect to Autopilot. Your brokerage firm is responsible for trade execution, custody, and reporting. Autopilot is not responsible for your broker-dealer’s services, fees, or execution quality.

Autopilot’s services depend on technology systems, third-party APIs, and internet connectivity. System outages, API disruptions, or connectivity issues may temporarily affect service availability or trade execution timing.

Client account holdings are designed to track the Portfolio you’ve selected, but your actual holdings and performance may differ from the Portfolio due to execution timing, market conditions, brokerage capacity constraints, fractional share availability, and other factors outside Autopilot’s control.

For Portfolios inspired by publicly disclosed trading activity, there may be a delay between when a Pilot executes a trade and when that trade becomes publicly available and is incorporated into the Portfolio. This timing delay may affect the suitability or performance of trades when executed in client accounts.

Guardfolio is not affiliated with Autopilot and has not endorsed it. Descriptions of third-party services are based on that service's own public website as read on September 23, 2026 and may change. Nothing here is a claim that any product is best. Fee amounts are quoted from Form CRS dated February 2026 and may change.