Wealthsimple alternatives for saving in Canada (2026)

What are the best Wealthsimple alternatives in Canada?

The best Wealthsimple alternatives in Canada depend on what you use it for. For an insured everyday account that takes your pay, look at EQ Bank. For everyday spending and budgeting, KOHO. For cash back through a rewards marketplace, Neo Financial. And for tracking your savings plus a free weekly prize draw no matter where you bank, Lodavo. The table above compares them side by side. The sections below make the call: how each one works, what it’s best at, and who should pick it.

This guide covers the saving and spending side of Wealthsimple. If you are looking to replace Wealthsimple Invest or Trade, that is a different question with different answers, and it isn’t what this page compares.

Why look for a Wealthsimple alternative?

People look past Wealthsimple for sensible, specific reasons, not because it falls short. It’s one of Canada’s best-built fintechs, and in August 2026 it got harder to beat on rate: its new Savings account pays 2.5% to everyone, with no balance threshold at all.

So the reasons to look around have changed, and they are now about the shape of the account rather than the rate. The Savings account (opens in a new tab) is a non-registered investment account, which has two practical consequences: your balance is covered by CIPF up to $1,000,000 rather than by deposit insurance, and the account has no account number, transit number, or cheque support, so it can’t receive a payroll direct deposit. It is individual-only for now, with no joint or business version.

Chequing is the account for everyday money, and there the tiers still apply. Wealthsimple’s chequing rates (opens in a new tab) run 1.25% for most clients, 1.75% once you hold $100,000 in assets, and 2.25% at $500,000, and Core and Premium clients can add 0.5% with a qualifying $2,000 direct deposit, capped at 2.25% (as of August 2026). That structure rewards people who consolidate everything in one place.

So a few honest reasons to look around: you want your everyday balance under deposit insurance, you want one account that takes your pay and pays your bills at a high rate, you’d rather not hold all your money on one platform, you want spending and budgeting tools, or you’d rather do your investing at a dedicated brokerage. None of these are knocks on Wealthsimple. They’re just different goals.

The best Wealthsimple alternatives in Canada, at a glance

The four alternatives pull in different directions: a plain high-interest account, a spend-and-save app, a savings-plus-rewards bundle, and a free weekly prize draw that runs on any bank you already use. Below, each gets its dated rate, its honest limit, and the job it does best.

EQ Bank, best for an insured everyday account

EQ Bank is the cleanest swap if you want your everyday balance in a deposit account rather than an investment one. It’s the digital arm of Equitable Bank, a CDIC member, and its Personal Account pays a 1.00% base rate, rising to 2.75% when you add a recurring direct deposit of at least $2,000 a month (opens in a new tab) (as of August 2026), with no monthly fee. You get a real account number, free Interac e-Transfers, and notice accounts and GICs if you want to lock in a higher rate.

The honest limitation: the top rate is conditional on that direct deposit, and EQ Bank leans saving-first rather than investing, so it doesn’t replace Wealthsimple’s portfolio side. Where it beats the others: it pays more than Wealthsimple’s 2.5% Savings account while being a deposit account in its own right, so the same balance takes your pay, pays your bills, and sits with a CDIC member.

KOHO, best for everyday spending and budgeting

KOHO is the better fit if you want a spend-and-save app rather than an investing platform. It’s built on a reloadable prepaid Mastercard and pays 2% on its Essential plan, free with direct deposit or $1,000 a month in deposits and $4 a month otherwise, up to 3.5% on the $22 per month Everything plan (opens in a new tab) (as of August 2026), with budgeting, round-ups, cash back on purchases, and optional credit building.

The honest limitation: the higher rates sit behind paid plans, and KOHO isn’t a bank, so eligible balances are held in trust at CDIC-member banks rather than insured to KOHO directly. Where it beats the others: as a daily-driver card with budgeting baked in, it does the spending side of money better than a savings-first account does.

Neo Financial, best for savings plus rewards

Neo Financial suits you if you want a no-fee savings account bundled with cash-back cards and a rewards marketplace. Its Neo Savings account pays a 2.00% base rate, up to 2.75% on balances over $20,000 (opens in a new tab) (as of August 2026), delivered through Peoples Bank of Canada, a CDIC member, so eligible balances are covered to $100,000 per category.

The honest limitation: Neo is at its best when you spend on its cards as well as saving with it, since the richest rewards come from spending at partner merchants, and the top savings rate needs a balance. Where it beats the others: its rewards marketplace, where cash back at partner retailers can run well above a flat-rate card, so if you regularly shop at those brands the perks can be worth more than a few tenths of a percent on your savings.

Lodavo, a free weekly draw on any bank you use

Lodavo taps into the same thing Wealthsimple does: the fun of a real prize. It’s Canada’s first prize-linked savings app, and it isn’t a bank account. It links read-only to your savings or chequing account (through Plaid (opens in a new tab), which covers over 99% of Canadian deposit accounts), so you can track your savings each week and earn free tickets in the draw. The more you save, the more tickets you get. The draw pays up to $10,000, with at least $100 guaranteed to a user every week.

Wealthsimple runs a draw of its own. Its Monthly Millionaire awards one client $1 million a month, so a prize draw alone isn’t unique. The difference is how they work. Wealthsimple’s entries scale with the money you move into and hold there. Lodavo gives you free weekly tickets for the savings you keep at your own bank, so you can add a draw without moving a dollar. Keep a high-interest account (or Wealthsimple) for the rate, and let Lodavo make saving feel fun instead of a chore. Whether you’re earning 1.25% or 2.5%, the rate is rarely what keeps you going week after week. The habit is, and a chance to win cash every week is a better nudge than a fraction of a percent. You can read why a draw on your savings isn’t the same as gambling, and see who has won on the winning numbers page.

What about Wealthsimple’s investing side?

If it’s the investing, trading, or crypto side of Wealthsimple you want to replace, the alternatives are dedicated brokerages, not the savings apps above. In Canada the main self-directed names are Questrade and Qtrade, each with its own fees and tools. The picks on this page swap the cash and savings side of Wealthsimple. For the portfolio side, compare brokerages directly on commissions, account types, and the investments you want to hold. Lodavo sits alongside either choice, since it rewards your savings balance, not your investments.

How to choose the right one for you

It hinges on what you want more of. Line your goal up with a pick:

Most people end up combining, not choosing. Keep your money where it earns, whether that’s Wealthsimple’s Savings account and its draw or a deposit account that takes your pay, and let Lodavo add a free weekly draw on top. To dig deeper, our Lodavo vs Wealthsimple comparison breaks the two down side by side, and the best savings apps in Canada guide widens the field if none of these four fit.

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.