What Hardbacon does

Hardbacon is a Canadian web-based personal finance comparison platform headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, operating as a brand under Plutera Capital Inc. The platform aggregates data from Canadian financial institutions and insurance providers so that consumers can compare products across insurance (auto, home, tenant, life, dental, business, travel), mortgages, credit cards, banking, loans, and investing categories, with province- and city-level landing pages for Quebec, Ontario, BC, Alberta, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and others. The platform is free to end users and monetizes through referral fees and commissions when users apply for or are approved for financial products; insurance quotes are routed through licensed broker partners representing providers such as Intact, Wawanesa, Economical, Aviva, Co-operators, Desjardins, and roughly a dozen other Canadian insurers.

The product surface is built around a structured comparison engine, an extensive suite of interactive financial calculators (mortgage, CMHC insurance, TFSA, RRSP, FIRE, avalanche debt repayment, Black-Scholes, currency exchange, etc.), a budgeting tool, and an SEO-driven educational blog available in English and French. The platform evolved from a 2017 mobile investing app, made its budgeting and comparison tools free in 2020, acquired Simple Rate (Simplerate.ca) in March 2022 for credit card and rewards depth, and in 2025 was re-architected as a web-first experience after the mobile app was retired. The acquired Simple Rate brand is retained as a sub-brand.

The operating entity is Plutera Capital Inc., a Quebec-domiciled private corporation that acquired Hardbacon's assets out of bankruptcy in January 2025 after the prior entity ceased operations in 2024; Plutera Capital has since modernized the technology and renewed the comparison infrastructure. The current leadership team is small (1-10 employees), comprising David Szemerda (President), Mathieu Laliberte-Robert (Vice-President), and Nathan Bernard (CTO). Prior to the bankruptcy, Hardbacon raised approximately $2.86M across multiple rounds between 2017 and 2022 and made two small bolt-on acquisitions (Find My Total in 2021 and Simple Rate in 2022).

Name

Hardbacon

Legal name

Plutera Capital Inc.

Website

https://hardbacon.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hardbacon is a Montreal-based Canadian consumer finance comparison platform, operating free to users and monetizing via referral commissions from insurers, lenders, card issuers, and investment providers, with calculator suites and educational content in English and French.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personal Finance Comparison

NAICS

Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers (522310)

SIC

Loan Brokers (6163)

akta.pro primary industry

Price Comparison, Deals, Cashback & Loyalty Shopping Platforms (BPAMAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Mortgage Comparison, Marketplace & Rate-Shopping Platforms (FSALABAJ)

Keywords

• Financial product comparison
• Insurance quote comparison
• Mortgage rate comparison
• Credit card comparison
• Financial planning calculators

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Referral Fees from Financial Providers: Hardbacon earns revenue through referral fees and commissions from financial institutions and insurance providers when users click on links, submit applications, or receive approval for financial products through the platform. The platform is free for users to access comparisons, tools, and educational content. This compensation does not affect how products are compared or ranked.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Hardbacon operates a free web-based personal finance comparison platform that helps Canadians compare financial products including insurance (auto, home, tenant, life, dental, business, travel), mortgages, credit cards, banking accounts, loans, and investing options (robo-advisors, online brokerages, crypto exchanges). The platform provides interactive financial calculators and educational content, routing users to licensed brokers and partner providers when they request quotes.

Product overview

Hardbacon is a Canadian personal finance platform that evolved from an original 2017 investing app into a comprehensive comparison and planning platform. The core offering consists of multiple integrated comparison tools covering insurance (auto, home, tenant, life, dental, business, travel), mortgages, credit cards, investing (robo advisors, brokerages, crypto exchanges), loans, and banking products. Supporting these comparison tools is a suite of financial calculators and an extensive library of educational content and blog articles. The platform operates through trusted broker and partner relationships to provide personalized quotes and recommendations. Following bankruptcy in 2024, the assets were acquired by Plutera Capital, and in 2025 the company transitioned to a web-first architecture, retiring its mobile app to focus on delivering deeper analysis, more flexible comparison tools, and interactive calculators through the website. The acquired brand Simple Rate (Simplerate.ca) continues to operate under its own name while contributing to the credit card and rewards comparison capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Insurance Comparison Tools Comprehensive insurance product comparison platform covering auto, home, tenant, life, dental, business, and travel insurance. Users compare quotes from multiple Canadian providers and receive personalized coverage recommendations through licensed broker partnerships with insurers including Intact, Wawanesa, Economical, Aviva, Co-operators, Desjardins, and others.
• Mortgage Comparison Tools Platform for comparing mortgage rates from top Canadian lenders, including specialized calculators for CMHC mortgage insurance, mortgage qualification, and payment estimation to help Canadians find optimal mortgage structures.
• Credit Card Comparison Platform Detailed comparison of credit cards across multiple categories including rewards, cashback, travel, low interest, business, and cards for bad credit. Features include credit card repayment calculators and institution-specific card listings for major Canadian issuers.
• Investing Comparison Tools Comparison platform for robo advisors, online brokerages, and cryptocurrency exchanges in Canada. Includes investment calculators for automatic investment plans, Black-Scholes options pricing, ROI calculation, and investment fee analysis.
• Loan Comparison Tools Personal loan comparison platform featuring calculators for personal loans, car loans, simple interest, compound interest, and debt repayment using the avalanche method to help Canadians manage and pay off debt efficiently.
• Banking Comparison Platform Comprehensive banking comparison tools covering best banks, credit unions, chequing accounts, no-fee chequing, USD accounts, and high-interest savings accounts. Includes detailed reviews of major Canadian financial institutions.
• Financial Calculators Suite Extensive library of financial planning calculators including net worth, FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early), emergency fund, TFSA savings, RRSP savings, retirement planning, mortgage, car loan, compound interest, and Canadian sales tax calculators to support comprehensive personal financial planning.
• Educational Content and Blog Extensive library of educational articles, guides, and resources covering financial independence, budgeting, banking, credit cards, insurance, investing, loans, mortgages, and travel finance topics tailored for Canadian consumers, available in both English and French.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have used Hardbacon to make financial decisions

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Simplerate.caminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 March 2022Hardbacon acquired Simplerate.ca (also referred to as Simple Rate), a Canadian financial products comparison website focused on rewards and credit cards. The acquisition strengthened Hardbacon's position in the Canadian rewards and credit card market and included integration of Simplerate.ca's comparison tools and content into the Hardbacon platform. The Simple Rate brand was maintained.
• Insurance Provider PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHardbacon partners with a broad range of Canadian insurance providers and licensed brokers to deliver personalized insurance quotes. Partner insurers include Intact, Wawanesa, TD Insurance, RBC Insurance, Economical, belairdirect, Aviva Canada, Pafco, Desjardins Insurance, Sharp Insurance, Promutuel, BCAA Insurance, AMA Insurance, Beneva, Co-operators, Allstate, CAA Insurance, and SGI Canada, among others. These partners compensate Hardbacon when users apply or receive approval through the platform.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ratehub.ca: A leading Canadian financial product comparison platform covering mortgages, credit cards, banking, and insurance. Most directly comparable to Hardbacon in Canadian market focus, vertical breadth, and affiliate/referral revenue model.
• LowestRates.ca: Canadian comparison marketplace focused on mortgages, loans, insurance, and credit cards with a quote-generation model. Highly comparable to Hardbacon's broker-routed insurance flow and mortgage rate comparison.
• Kanetix: Canadian insurance and financial comparison marketplace operating a quote engine connected to insurer and broker partners. Comparable to Hardbacon's broker-channel insurance distribution and multi-vertical comparison approach.
• Finder.com: Global personal finance comparison platform with strong Canadian coverage across credit cards, banking, insurance, and investing. Comparable business model of affiliate monetization on financial product referrals and similar SEO-driven content strategy.

Broad incumbents

• NerdWallet: Largest U.S. personal finance comparison and education platform covering credit cards, banking, mortgages, investing, and insurance. Comparable to Hardbacon in horizontal breadth, affiliate revenue model, and content/SEO-led acquisition.
• MoneySense: Established Canadian personal finance media brand covering investing, banking, mortgages, and insurance with editorial rankings. Comparable to Hardbacon's bilingual Canadian editorial and comparison content, though distributed by a major media publisher.
• LendingTree: Major U.S. loan and credit-card comparison marketplace that matches borrowers with multiple lenders via lead-generation monetization. Comparable to Hardbacon in operating a broker/aggregator model for loans and credit products.
• Forbes Advisor: Comparison and editorial content platform covering credit cards, banking, mortgages, insurance, and investing under the Forbes brand. Comparable to Hardbacon in monetizing comparison content via affiliate partnerships and SEO.

Regional players

• Insurance Hotline: Canadian insurance comparison platform aggregating quotes from multiple insurers. Comparable to Hardbacon's insurance vertical specifically, with a more focused single-vertical (insurance) strategy.

Others

• Wealthsimple: Major Canadian robo-advisor and investing platform reviewed on Hardbacon. Comparable as a competitor for end-customer financial product attention, though operating as an investable product rather than a comparison intermediary.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hardbaconca
• Facebookfacebook.com/hardbacon-1603159499976053
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hardbacon

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors5 records

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

M&A2 records

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Hardbacon