Tool profile
Altruist: cost, fit and limits
Altruist is a custodian and wealth platform for independent advisors made by Altruist Corp that combines account opening, trading, billing and reporting with Hazel, an AI platform for meetings, tax planning and financial planning. Altruist Financial LLC is the SIPC-member broker-dealer behind the custody side.
What to know first
Altruist is two purchases in one company: a custodial platform and Hazel, the AI layer, which is priced separately per seat. Hazel Platform covers notes and a client database, the Tax Planning Agent adds tax reports and modeling, and the Financial Planning Agent adds full plan generation. Hazel's pricing page lists a 14-day trial on the three paid plans, and an Enterprise suite is quoted by sales.
Altruist at a glance
| Maker | Altruist Corp, United States |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Free trial only |
| Entry price | $60 per seat per month for Hazel Platform |
| API access | No |
| Category | Best AI Wealth Management Software in 2026, rank 3 of 10 |
| Website | altruist.com |
Who Altruist is best for
RIAs that want to move custody
Altruist describes itself as an AI-forward custodian with account opening, trading, fee billing and reporting together, so a firm replacing its custodian gets both layers.
Tax-focused practices
The $160 Tax Planning Agent lists multi-year tax strategy modeling, Roth conversion and capital gains management and hidden tax opportunity detection for client-ready reports.
Firms that want full plans from an AI agent
The $300 Financial Planning Agent lists plan generation, scenario modeling, data provenance, cash flow optimization and retirement, insurance and estate analysis.
Advisors who want cash and lending options
Altruist lists high-yield cash, SBLOC and margin alongside personalized indexing and a model marketplace, which cover needs beyond a meeting assistant.
Altruist plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Hazel Platform | $60 per seat per month | Meeting prep, transcription and summaries, follow-up emails and tasks, a central client database, document synthesis, calendar, email and CRM integrations, chat and sentiment insights. 14-day trial. |
| Tax Planning Agent | $160 per seat per month | Platform features plus client-ready tax planning reports, multi-year strategy modeling, hidden tax opportunity detection, Roth conversion and capital gains management and live answers to tax questions. 14-day trial. |
| Financial Planning Agent | $300 per seat per month | Tax agent features plus plan generation, real-time scenario modeling, data provenance, built-in calculators, cash flow optimization and investment, retirement, insurance, risk and estate analysis. 14-day trial. |
| Full Hazel Suite (Enterprise) | Contact sales | Every agent, dedicated onboarding and discounted pricing for firms with many seats. Requires a demo request. |
Checked November 2026.
What Altruist does
- Specialist agents
- Hazel is offered as a platform plus tax and financial planning agents, with custom modes, client profiles, performance insights and roles and permissions, so advisors choose the depth of AI they pay for.
- Capture across meetings, email and accounts
- Hazel records meetings, emails, life events and account updates, and keeps notes, documents and custodial records together, which lets a draft plan use the same data as the account.
- Drafts for advisor review
- Hazel drafts plans, follow-ups and recaps for review. The page states outputs are informational and are not legal, compliance, tax or investment advice, so an advisor stays in the loop.
- Custody and investing tools
- The platform lists account onboarding, fully paid lending, trading, fee billing, alternatives, tax management, donor-advised funds, personalized indexing and options, all under one login. Fee billing and portfolio reporting come with it, so the same stack bills clients.
- Cash management
- Altruist lists high-yield cash, SBLOC and margin as a product line, with a bank sweep program for cash held at participating banks. The bank sweep program places swept cash at participating banks covered by FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank.
How Altruist handles your data
Altruist's security page says it undergoes a SOC 2 Type 2 examination by an independent AICPA auditor covering security and availability, encrypts critical data at rest and in transit, uses intrusion detection, and has third parties run penetration tests at least annually. Employees sign confidentiality agreements and pass background checks. The Hazel page promises never to use client data in any way a firm does not expressly permit but does not say whether data trains AI models, so the vendor's policy was not clear on that. Custody coverage includes SIPC membership and an excess policy with Lloyd's of London.
Where Altruist falls short in practice
- The AI layer is separate from custody. Hazel is priced per seat on top of Altruist's custody platform, and the pages read do not say whether custody fees change when a firm adds or drops Hazel.
- Planning agent is new. The Financial Planning Agent carries a NEW label on Hazel's pricing page, so firms relying on it for client plans should check outputs against their current planning software.
- Moving off means moving accounts. Custody ties client accounts to Altruist Financial LLC, so leaving requires account transfers rather than a data export, which takes client paperwork and time. Ask each client whether their accounts are eligible to move, since a transfer needs their signature.
Works with
Alternatives to Altruist
Altruist: common questions
How much does Hazel cost per advisor?
Hazel's pricing page lists $60 per seat per month for the Platform, $160 for the Tax Planning Agent and $300 for the Financial Planning Agent. Each shows a 14-day trial. The Enterprise suite is quoted after a demo, with discounts for firms with many seats.
Do I need to custody with Altruist to use Hazel?
The pages read do not say. Hazel is sold on its own pricing page with calendar, email and CRM integrations, but whether non-Altruist custodian data connects was not stated, so ask before buying for a firm that custodies elsewhere. Ask whether the Platform plan connects to Schwab or Fidelity data before you assume it does.
Is client money covered at Altruist?
Altruist's security page says Altruist Financial LLC is a SIPC member covering securities up to $500,000 including $250,000 cash, plus an excess Lloyd's policy of $40 million per account. Swept cash is covered by FDIC insurance at participating banks. None of it covers market losses.
Does Hazel give investment or tax advice?
No. Hazel's page says its outputs are for information and are not legal, compliance, financial, tax or investment advice, and that Altruist does not guarantee accuracy. An advisor must review each draft before it reaches a client. Hazel's page also lists specialist agents and custom modes, but each draft still needs advisor sign-off.
Does Altruist train AI on my firm's data?
The Hazel page pledges never to use a firm's data in a way it has not expressly permitted. It does not mention model training directly, so ask for a written statement on training and retention in the contract. Also ask which subprocessors see the data and how long meeting content is kept.