Vestwell

What Vestwell does

Vestwell is a New York-based digital savings infrastructure platform that powers workplace retirement, education, and specialty savings programs for employers, financial advisors, government agencies, and individual savers across all 50 U.S. states. Founded in 2016 by CEO Aaron Schumm, the company operates a unified technology platform that auto-syncs with 190+ payroll providers, supports multilingual portals (18-20+ languages), and administers more than $50 billion in assets on behalf of 2 million+ active savers across 60,000+ plans, 500,000+ businesses, and 40+ state-sponsored government programs. Subsidiaries include Vestwell Advisors, LLC (an SEC-registered investment adviser) and Vestwell Trust Company, LLC (which offers the Emergency Savings Account product), with banking provided by BNY Mellon.

The product portfolio spans three categories: Retirement (Safe Harbor 401(k), Traditional 401(k), Solo(k), Starter(k), 403(b), State Auto IRA, and Pooled Plans), Education (Student Loan Repayment, 529 Education Savings, and Tuition Reimbursement — the latter two originating from the July 2023 Gradifi acquisition), and Specialty savings (Emergency Savings Accounts via Vestwell Trust Company and ABLE Disability Savings). The January 2026 acquisition of Accrue 401k added nearly 30,000 retirement plans and approximately 350,000 savers, and embedded-distribution partnerships with Paylocity, QuickBooks Workforce, TriNet, and Carta 401(k) make the platform the default recordkeeping layer inside multiple tier-1 HCM and equity ecosystems. Vestwell monetizes primarily through asset-based recordkeeping fees on administered retirement and education savings assets, supplemented by per-account and employer-based fees on specialty products (ESAs, ABLE, education benefits). State program manager contracts (OregonSaves, My Illinois Savings, Pennsylvania ABLE, Vermont Saves, etc.) add a regulated, multi-year contract revenue layer.

The company has raised $660 million in total equity funding across six rounds, most recently a $385 million Series E in February 2026 at a $2 billion post-money valuation, with $200M+ in annual recurring revenue reported at the time. CEO Aaron Schumm has indicated the company expects to be profitable and views an IPO as the logical next step, but no listing has occurred as of the source material.

Name

Vestwell

Legal name

Vestwell Holdings Inc.

Website

https://vestwell.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Vestwell is a New York-based digital savings infrastructure platform powering workplace retirement, education, and specialty savings programs for 500,000+ businesses, 60,000+ plans, 2M+ active savers, and 40+ state government programs, administering $50B+ in assets across all 50 U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retirement Plan Administration Software

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Finance and Insurance (52)

SIC

Finance Services (6199), Functions Related To Depository Banking, Nec (6099)

akta.pro primary industry

Embedded Payroll, Earned Wage Access & Benefits Finance (FSAGALAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Workplace Wealth & Employee Investing Programs (FSAAAAAK), Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension) (FSAEABAE)

Keywords

• Retirement plan administration
• Workplace savings platform
• 401(k) recordkeeping
• Education savings benefits
• Savings infrastructure technology

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Core offering

Vestwell is a digital workplace savings platform that provides recordkeeping and administration technology for retirement plans (401(k), 403(b), Solo(k), Starter(k), State Auto IRAs, and Pooled Plans), education savings (529, Student Loan Repayment, Tuition Reimbursement), and specialty savings (Emergency Savings Accounts, ABLE). The platform is sold primarily to employers, financial advisors, government agencies, payroll and benefits partners, and PEOs, with end-savers accessing accounts via web and mobile. It integrates with 190+ payroll providers, supports over 60,000 retirement plans, and powers 40+ state-sponsored government savings programs across all 50 US states.

Product overview

Vestwell is a unified savings infrastructure platform that combines a core technology platform with modular workplace savings products organized into three categories: Retirement (Safe Harbor 401(k), Traditional 401(k), Solo(k), Starter(k), 403(b), State Auto IRA / Government Savings, and Pooled Plans for advisors), Education (Student Loan Repayment, 529 Education Savings, and Tuition Reimbursement — the latter two originating from the 2023 Gradifi acquisition), and Specialty savings (Emergency Savings Accounts and ABLE Disability Savings). The platform additionally supports state-sponsored retirement programs (powering programs such as OregonSaves, MyCTSavings, Vermont Saves, Colorado SecureSavings, My Illinois Savings, and 40+ others) and 529 plans (Embark, VT529, NextGen 529, MFS 529) as a technology provider. In January 2026, Vestwell completed its acquisition of Accrue 401k, adding nearly 30,000 retirement plans and ~350,000 savers. The platform integrates with 190+ payroll providers (including QuickBooks, Gusto, Paycor, and OnPay) and partners with BNY Mellon for ESA banking. Vestwell Holdings Inc. is the parent, with subsidiaries including Vestwell Advisors LLC (SEC-Registered Investment Adviser) and Vestwell Trust Company LLC, supporting more than 2M active savers, 500K+ businesses, and $50B+ in assets administered across all 50 states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gradifi (powered by Vestwell): Student loan and education savings benefits platform offering Student Loan PayDown, College Save-Up (529), Refinance Services, and Tuition Reimbursement, acquired by Vestwell in July 2023.
• Accrue 401k

Products and services

• Safe Harbor 401(k) A streamlined 401(k) plan with simplified compliance and maximized contributions, featuring automatic compliance satisfaction via Safe Harbor provisions, predictable contribution costs, profit sharing, self-directed brokerage, guaranteed lifetime retirement income, managed accounts, and student loan retirement match.
• Traditional 401(k) A flexible 401(k) plan with various employer contribution options, including goal-based managed accounts, profit sharing, guaranteed lifetime retirement income, self-directed brokerage accounts, and an integrated learning center, supporting both Roth and traditional contributions.
• Solo(k) A tax-advantaged retirement plan designed for self-employed individuals and solo business owners, allowing contributions as both employee and employer with Roth or traditional tax treatment, convertible into a full 401(k) as the business grows.
• Starter(k) A simplified, low-cost 401(k) plan with no employer match, featuring auto-enrollment between 3% and 15% of pay, preset plan design, and lower costs, designed for new plans and small businesses.
• 403(b) A retirement plan designed for schools, nonprofits, and certain public organizations, with goal-based managed accounts and non-elective contribution support, available for both individuals and employers.
• State Auto IRA (Government Savings)

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Schwab Retirement Plan Services: Major incumbent 401(k) and 403(b) recordkeeper serving plans of all sizes through advisors and direct channels. Comparable as a scaled competitor and as a benchmark for incumbent economics and product depth that Vestwell is challenging.
• Empower Retirement: One of the largest US retirement recordkeepers (formed from Great-West Financial's Empower, Personal Capital, and MassMutual retirement acquisitions). Competes with Vestwell in workplace retirement at the mid-market and large-plan end and is a key reference for incumbent scale.
• Principal Financial Group: Global retirement and workplace benefits incumbent with full-service 401(k) recordkeeping, pooled plans, and group retirement offerings. Comparable as a full-stack incumbent competing in the same employer and advisor channels as Vestwell.
• Fidelity Investments: Largest US 401(k) recordkeeper by assets, with deep employer relationships and an in-house recordkeeping platform. Competes with Vestwell in the broader 401(k) market and increasingly in the SMB digital tier via Fidelity's Go and Total Benefit products.
• Alight Solutions: Provider of cloud-based retirement and benefits administration, formed from Aon Hewitt's divestiture, serving large employer plans. Comparable as a technology-led recordkeeping and administration platform competing for the same employer RFPs.

Direct peers

• ForUsAll: Tech-enabled 401(k) recordkeeper focused on small and mid-sized businesses, with differentiated offerings in student loan 401(k) match and crypto. Directly comparable to Vestwell on SMB 401(k) and on student-debt-as-benefits (overlap with Gradifi).
• Guideline: Direct SMB-focused 401(k) recordkeeping competitor; acquired by Gusto in 2023, with the non-Guesto plans spun into Accrue 401k, which Vestwell itself acquired in January 2026 — making Guideline the closest functional twin to Vestwell's core retirement offering.
• Betterment for Business: Digital 401(k) and retirement plan provider for SMBs and self-employed savers, built on Betterment's robo-advisor stack. Comparable to Vestwell on tech-led, low-fee retirement product and direct-to-employer positioning.
• Human Interest: Direct competitor offering tech-enabled 401(k) and retirement plan recordkeeping for SMBs via a payroll-integrated platform. Highly comparable to Vestwell on target customer (small/mid-market employers), product set (401(k), 403(b), SEP/SIMPLE), and embedded distribution model.

Emerging players

• Stash: Consumer-focused investing and retirement platform that has expanded into employer-sponsored plans (Stash at Work). Comparable as a digital-first savings/retirement platform competing for the same end-saver mindshare as Vestwell, though with a different go-to-market mix.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/vestwell
• Facebookfacebook.com/vestwell401k
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vestwell
• Instagraminstagram.com/vestwell_

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors31 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vestwell