Can AI replace Portfolio Coach?

KINDA · weekend project
price variesbuild time weekend for a local version, multi-day for the hosted productcategory 💰 personal financereplaced by 0 peoplebuild unverified

A private dashboard for holdings, family members, projections, and CSV imports is a credible weekend build. Reliable live pricing for UK funds, a ledger-correct Vanguard importer, household data boundaries, maintained tax rules, and AI advice grounded in every account turn the complete product into a multi-day project.

the prompt
Build me a local-first UK family portfolio tracker like Portfolio Coach. Requirements:

- Next.js 16 App Router + TypeScript, Tailwind, better-sqlite3, and Recharts;
  run locally with `npm run dev` and bind to localhost only.
- Model household members, accounts, and UK wrappers: ISA, SIPP, GIA, pension,
  cash, bonds, and property with mortgages.
- Holdings need ticker, units, cost basis, currency, manual price, and optional
  market price. Always show the quote source and last-updated time.
- Add a CSV importer with saved column mappings and dedupe on a stable row hash.
  Include a mapping for a documented Vanguard transaction CSV example.
- Dashboard: household net worth, value by person, allocation, wrapper split,
  concentration warnings, gain/loss, and stale-price warnings.
- Add editable monthly contributions and a projection chart with retirement age,
  growth, inflation, withdrawals, and planned gifts as explicit assumptions.
- Add a UK planning page for ISA/SIPP/GIA balances and an indicative inheritance-
  tax snapshot. Keep thresholds in one dated config file and label this as
  informational, not financial or tax advice.
- Add an AI review that sends only the calculated portfolio summary to an
  OpenAI-compatible API. Put secrets in `.env.local`; work without AI too.
- Store everything in one local SQLite file and add an encrypted JSON export plus
  a dated backup command. Include a realistic seeded demo household.
- No accounts, telemetry, broker logins, automatic bank sync, or cloud sharing.
  Out of scope: regulated advice and production-grade real-time fund pricing.
- README with setup, CSV format, backup/restore, data limitations, and the exact
  assumptions used by projections and tax estimates.

$ open in your agent (prompt prefilled, you press enter) or copy it raw

why people still pay

The core tracker is free to start. Paid AI credits cover the convenient part: a hosted coach already connected to the household's live holdings, while the product maintains pricing, imports, security boundaries, and UK planning logic.

what you lose

xreliable live pricing and UK fund symbol mapping

xledger-backed Vanguard history import

xsecure cloud accounts, family sharing, and support access

xmaintained UK tax and estate-planning assumptions

xhosted AI reviews with current web context

prior art · use these instead of building, if you'd ratherGhostfolioOpen-source wealth management software with portfolio analyticsPortfolio PerformanceOpen-source desktop portfolio tracker with detailed performance analysis
share on X ↗"I just replaced Portfolio Coach with one prompt"
questions
Can AI replace Portfolio Coach?

Kinda. The core of Portfolio Coach is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: reliable live pricing and UK fund symbol mapping, ledger-backed Vanguard history import. Read the honest list above before committing.

How much does Portfolio Coach cost?

Portfolio Coach's pricing is usage-based or varies by plan — The portfolio tracker is free to start; AI use is funded with prepaid credits rather than a monthly subscription..

What do I lose by replacing Portfolio Coach?

Honestly: reliable live pricing and UK fund symbol mapping; ledger-backed Vanguard history import; secure cloud accounts, family sharing, and support access; maintained UK tax and estate-planning assumptions; hosted AI reviews with current web context. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to Portfolio Coach?

Yes — Ghostfolio (Open-source wealth management software with portfolio analytics), Portfolio Performance (Open-source desktop portfolio tracker with detailed performance analysis). Using prior art is also a valid exit; the prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.