KOHO vs Wealthsimple (2026): rates, cash back and fees

If you’re weighing KOHO vs Wealthsimple, the two win on different things, and neither race is close. Wealthsimple’s Savings account pays 2.5% to anyone, with no minimum and no monthly fee, while KOHO’s free Essential plan pays 2% and you have to buy a plan to pass it. KOHO gives you a card almost nobody gets turned down for, with cash back on everyday categories and no credit check. Wealthsimple’s cash back card pays more, on everything, but only if you earn enough to be offered it. Where it gets interesting is KOHO’s top plan at 3.5%, which needs about $17,700 saved before the fee pays for itself.

What’s the difference between KOHO and Wealthsimple?

KOHO charges you a monthly fee for a better rate. Wealthsimple asks you to bring more money instead. That single design choice explains almost every difference below, including which one suits you at $500 saved and which one suits you at $50,000.

KOHO is a spending and savings app built on a reloadable prepaid Mastercard. You load it, you spend from it, and the plan you pay for sets your savings rate and your cash back. It runs on three tiers, and the upgrade is what KOHO makes its money on, so it pushes you toward one.

Wealthsimple is an investing platform that grew a bank account on the side. Chequing, Savings, managed portfolios, self-directed trading, crypto and tax filing all live in one app, and your rate and perks climb as your balance does. Its Monthly Millionaire program runs weekly draws building to a $1 million monthly prize, with entries earned by moving money in.

KOHO: how it works, and what the plan buys you

KOHO’s account is free to open and the card is prepaid, so there’s no credit check, no income test and no minimum balance. What varies is the plan, and the plan is what decides your rate.

What the free plan actually pays

Essential pays 2% on your savings and 1% cash back on groceries, transportation, and food and drinks, according to KOHO’s rates page (opens in a new tab) (as of August 2026). It’s listed at $0 a month if you set up a direct deposit or deposit $1,000 a month. KOHO no longer publishes a price for meeting neither condition, which is worth knowing before you plan around the free tier.

What the paid plans add

Extra runs $18 a month, or $12 billed annually, and lifts you to 2.5% savings and 1.5% cash back. Everything runs $22 a month, or $14.75 billed annually, for 3.5% and 2%. Select partner merchants add bonus cash back of up to 6.5% on top of your plan rate, on any tier. Credit Building is a separate add-on at roughly $10 a month, discounted 30% on Extra and 50% on Everything.

Wealthsimple: how it works, and why there are two accounts

Wealthsimple has a Savings account and a Chequing account, they pay different rates, and the difference between them decides most of this comparison. People compare KOHO to the chequing rate and conclude Wealthsimple pays badly. The savings rate is the one that matters here.

Savings and chequing pay different rates

The Savings account pays 2.5% with no balance threshold, calculated daily and paid monthly, per Wealthsimple’s savings page (opens in a new tab) (as of August 2026). Chequing is tiered: 1.25% under $100,000 in assets, 1.75% at $100,000 and 2.25% at $500,000, per Wealthsimple’s chequing page (opens in a new tab) (as of August 2026). Core and Premium clients add 0.5% by putting a $2,000 direct deposit through in any 30-day period, which takes Core to 1.75% and Premium to 2.25%.

The card is a separate product

Wealthsimple’s 2% cash back sits on its Visa Infinite + credit card, not on the chequing account. It costs $20 a month unless you hold $100,000 in assets or run a $4,000 monthly direct deposit, and it requires $80,000 personal or $150,000 household income, an active chequing account, and a credit check. It’s also issued in limited quantities. That’s a genuinely good card, and it isn’t a card most readers of this page can get.

Which is better for your savings?

Wealthsimple, for almost everyone. Its Savings account pays 2.5% with nothing to qualify for and nothing to pay, which beats KOHO’s free 2% outright and matches KOHO’s Extra plan without the $144 a year that plan costs. On rate alone, Extra never wins: you’d be buying a number you can have for free.

When KOHO’s top plan wins

KOHO’s Everything plan pays 3.5%, a full point clear of Wealthsimple, and costs $177 a year billed annually. A one-point advantage covers $177 at about $17,700 saved. Billed monthly, the plan costs $264 a year and the break-even moves to roughly $26,400. Below those balances, Wealthsimple’s free 2.5% leaves you with more.

That math only holds if the rate is the reason you’re buying the plan. Everything also carries 2% cash back and the cheapest version of Credit Building, so if you were paying for those anyway, the higher rate arrives as a bonus rather than a purchase.

Which is better for everyday spending?

KOHO, for most people, though this one splits on income and it’s worth being specific about where. Wealthsimple’s Visa Infinite + pays 2% on everything and costs nothing at $100,000 in assets or a $4,000 monthly direct deposit, so if you clear that bar it’s the better card by a distance, since KOHO’s 2% only applies to groceries, transportation and food and drinks.

If you don’t clear it, KOHO is the only one of the two that will give you a card at all. There’s no income requirement and no credit check, cash back starts at 1% on the free plan, and partner merchants reach 6.5%. For most people comparing these two apps, that’s the whole answer.

Which is better for building credit?

KOHO, and it isn’t a contest. Credit Building reports your payments on a 0% credit line to Equifax without running a credit check, so it works for someone with no file at all. Wealthsimple offers nothing comparable, and its credit card requires a credit history you may be trying to create. If building credit is why you’re here, KOHO’s alternatives are a better comparison set than Wealthsimple.

Where does your money actually sit?

Neither company is a bank, so both hold your money somewhere else, and the arrangements aren’t equivalent. KOHO places balances in trust with Peoples Trust, where they become CDIC-eligible up to $100,000 per beneficiary, but only once you opt into Earn Interest. That opt-in is easy to miss.

Wealthsimple splits it by product. Chequing balances go in trust across CDIC-member banks for up to $1 million of combined coverage. The Savings account is a non-registered investment account, so it’s covered by CIPF instead, which protects you if the firm fails rather than against market losses. Both are legitimate structures. If the distinction is new to you, our guide to CDIC deposit insurance covers what each one does and doesn’t cover.

Can you use both?

Yes, and the combination is better than either one alone. Spend from the KOHO card to collect cash back on groceries and transport, keep the balance in Wealthsimple’s Savings account at 2.5%, and move money across by e-Transfer when the card needs topping up. Wealthsimple’s entry tier is free outright, and KOHO’s Essential stays free as long as you keep meeting one of its two conditions.

That setup also sidesteps the trap in each app. You skip KOHO’s plan fee, because you’re not buying the rate, and you skip Wealthsimple’s chequing ladder, because you’re not trying to reach a tier.

Saving in either one, with a weekly draw on top

We make Lodavo, and it works with virtually any Canadian bank or credit union. It’s a free app that rewards you for saving: every $25 you save earns a free ticket in a weekly draw, with a guaranteed prize of at least $100 going to a user every week and a top prize of $10,000. The more you save, the more tickets you get.

It links read-only to the savings or chequing account you already use, at virtually any Canadian bank or credit union, so your money doesn’t move and you keep the rate you just spent this page choosing. If the answer above was Wealthsimple’s 2.5%, you keep 2.5%. Draw results are published on our provably fair page.

Neither KOHO nor Wealthsimple paid to appear in this comparison.

Which one should you open?

Open Wealthsimple if you want the better savings rate without paying for it, or if you want investing in the same place. Open KOHO if you want a card without a credit check, cash back on everyday categories, or a way to start building credit. Open both if the answer to those was yes twice, which for a lot of people it is.

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.