Lodavo vs Wealthsimple: Honest Canadian Comparison

If you’re comparing Lodavo vs Wealthsimple, here’s the part most head-to-heads skip: both run a prize draw, but they aren’t the same kind of product. Wealthsimple is a full financial platform: you can invest, trade stocks commission-free, buy crypto, and use a chequing account and credit card, while it holds your money and pays interest on the cash you keep there. Its monthly $1 million draw is one feature on top of all that, tied to the balances you hold. Lodavo holds no money and pays no interest. It connects read-only to the bank you already use and gives you free weekly draw tickets for the savings you keep there. So the real question isn’t which app wins. It’s whether you want your savings to live at Wealthsimple, earning a rate and entering its draw, or stay at your current bank with Lodavo adding a free draw on top.

What is the difference between Lodavo and Wealthsimple?

The one difference that matters: Wealthsimple holds your money and pays interest, and its prize draw rewards the dollars you move into Wealthsimple. Lodavo holds nothing and pays no interest, giving you free draw tickets for the savings you keep at your own bank. Both run draws. Only one asks you to move your money.

On the savings side, Wealthsimple is custody plus a rate plus a draw. You open a Wealthsimple Chequing account (renamed from Cash in 2025), your money sits with Wealthsimple’s partner banks, and you earn a tiered rate while your deposits also buy entries into the Monthly Millionaire. Add investing, commission-free trading, crypto, and a credit card, and it’s a whole financial home. Your money lives inside Wealthsimple.

Lodavo is a free prize-linked layer, not an account. As Canada’s first prize-linked savings app, it links to your existing bank through Plaid in read-only mode, checks your savings balance each week, and turns what you save into free tickets for a weekly draw. It can’t move a dollar. Your money never leaves your own bank, and it earns whatever it already earned there.

How Wealthsimple works

Wealthsimple is one of Canada’s largest fintechs, bundling investing, commission-free trading, crypto, a no-fee Chequing account, and a credit card in one app. The Chequing account pays a tiered interest rate, and the balances you hold across Wealthsimple feed both that rate and its new Monthly Millionaire draw. The more you keep with Wealthsimple, the higher your rate and your draw odds.

The Wealthsimple Chequing account (formerly Cash) has no monthly fee and pays interest that scales with how much you hold. As of 2026, Wealthsimple’s own rates (opens in a new tab) run 1.25 percent for Core clients, 1.75 percent for Premium clients with at least $100,000 in assets, and 2.25 percent for Generation clients with at least $500,000. Core and Premium clients can add 0.5 percent with a qualifying direct deposit, capped at 2.25 percent. So the headline rate is real, and the top rates apply to larger balances.

The newest addition is the Monthly Millionaire (opens in a new tab). Every month one Wealthsimple client wins $1 million, with weekly prizes of $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 along the way. You earn one entry for every dollar of net deposits or transfers into Wealthsimple, 500 entries for funding a chequing account, and 5,000 for each successful referral, up to 100,000 entries a month. The odds depend on the total entries received, and because entries track the dollars you move in, the more you save and keep there, the better your odds. On safety, the Chequing account is CDIC-eligible through Wealthsimple’s partner banks (it advertises coverage up to $1 million by spreading deposits across several member banks), while invested money isn’t covered by CDIC (opens in a new tab) and falls under CIPF protection instead.

How Lodavo works

Lodavo doesn’t touch your money. You connect your existing Canadian bank account through Plaid (opens in a new tab), which covers over 99 percent of deposit accounts in Canada and gives apps scoped, read-only access (never your bank password). Lodavo reads your savings balance, and the more you keep saved, the more free tickets you get for the weekly draw. The draw pays up to $10,000, with a guaranteed weekly prize of at least $100 going to a member every week.

Because the connection is read-only, Lodavo can’t withdraw, charge, or transfer anything. Your money stays at your own bank, earning whatever it already earns, and you don’t switch banks or open an account. You can see exactly how each draw is run on the provably fair page, and eligibility and odds live in the contest rules. One read-only link, no money moved, and the bank you already have stays where it is.

Can you use Lodavo and Wealthsimple together?

Yes, and with these two it’s especially worth doing. Because Lodavo holds no money, it doesn’t compete with Wealthsimple for where your cash sits. You can keep your savings in Wealthsimple, earn its chequing rate, enter the Monthly Millionaire with the balance you hold, and then connect that same account (Wealthsimple is supported through Plaid) to Lodavo to add free weekly draw tickets on top. One balance, two different draws, and nothing about Wealthsimple changes.

That’s the cleanest way to think about it. Wealthsimple answers where do I bank and invest, and gives me a monthly shot at a big prize for the money I hold there. Lodavo answers can I also get a free weekly shot at cash prizes for that same saving, without moving it. One holds your money and ties its draw to deposits; the other adds a free draw and never touches your balance. They stack, and stacking them costs you nothing extra.

When Wealthsimple is the better choice

Wealthsimple is the right tool, on its own, if any of these is your main goal:

• You want investing, trading, crypto, and everyday banking in one well-built app, not just a prize chance.
• You want a no-fee chequing account that actually pays interest, and you’ll hold enough to reach the rate you want.
• You’re chasing the biggest possible prize, since Wealthsimple’s grand prize is $1 million a month, far larger than any weekly draw.
• You’re comfortable concentrating your money at Wealthsimple, because both your rate and your draw odds rise with what you deposit.
• You want CDIC-eligible custody (advertised up to $1 million across partner banks) rather than keeping savings at your current bank.

If your aim is purely the highest rate on a smaller balance, weigh a flat high-interest account too, since Wealthsimple’s best rates apply to larger holdings. The best savings apps in Canada guide lays a few out side by side.

When Lodavo is the better fit

Lodavo is the right fit if these sound like you:

• You want a free chance at cash prizes for the saving you already do.
• You don’t want to move money, switch banks, or open another account just to enter a draw.
• You want zero monthly cost and nothing new to manage.
• You like the bank you already have, Wealthsimple included, and just want a reason to save a bit more.
• You want draw upside without any of your money leaving your own bank, since Lodavo never holds it.

Lodavo won’t replace a chequing or investing account, and it pays no interest, so it isn’t the tool if you want a rate or a place to grow money. Its grand prize is smaller than Wealthsimple’s, too. What it adds is a reason to keep saving. It isn’t trying to beat Wealthsimple’s rate, it just makes the saving itself a little more fun, while your money stays safe and keeps earning. It’s the tool if you want saving to come with a free weekly shot at a real prize, on top of whatever bank or app (Wealthsimple included) you already use.

Want a shot at cash prizes for the saving you already do, without moving a dollar? Get Lodavo free on the Apple App Store (opens in a new tab) or Google Play Store (opens in a new tab).

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.