For years, Sharesight has been the default recommendation for investors who outgrow basic broker dashboards. It handles dividend tracking, corporate actions, and multi-currency reporting far better than a standard brokerage screen.
However, across UK investing communities like /r/UKPersonalFinance and /r/FIREUK, search queries for Sharesight alternatives have grown steadily. The friction points are consistent:
- The "Sold Shares" Holding Trap: Sharesight's free tier limits you to 10 holdings. Crucially, sold holdings still count toward that limit. If you have bought and sold 6 stocks over five years and currently hold 5, you have 11 historical holdings—forcing an immediate upgrade to a paid subscription.
- The Multi-Wrapper Cost Escalation: In the UK, investors routinely hold a Stocks & Shares ISA, a SIPP, and a taxable GIA (and frequently a partner's accounts). Because Sharesight prices its plans around separate portfolios, tracking these distinct tax wrappers properly requires a higher-tier subscription (Investor or Expert), costing £19 to £27 per month (£228 to £324+ annually).
- Global-First, Not UK-Native: Sharesight originated in Australasia. While it supports London Stock Exchange (LSE) securities, it was not architected from the ground up around UK-specific tax mechanics—such as strict HMRC Section 104 pooling, ISA/SIPP contribution countdowns, or the distinct separation of Clean Cash deposits from investment growth.
If you are evaluating alternatives in 2026, here is an objective appraisal of the five main options available to UK investors, their trade-offs, and where each one breaks down.
1. Google Sheets & Excel: The DIY Classic
For many UK personal finance enthusiasts, a custom spreadsheet remains the benchmark.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Strengths: Absolute privacy, zero software cost, │
│ completely customizable to your own dashboard layout. │
│ │
│ Weaknesses: Manual trade logging, fragile formulas, │
│ GBX vs GBP pricing glitches, broken Section 104 pools. │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Where It Works Well
Using =GOOGLEFINANCE() in Google Sheets allows you to pull near-real-time prices for LSE-listed ETFs and individual equities at zero financial cost. You have total privacy: no credentials, no third-party cloud database holding your net worth, and complete control over your charts.
Where the Model Breaks
- The GBX (Pence) vs GBP (£) Mismatch: The London Stock Exchange prices UK equities and investment trusts in pence (
GBX), but ETFs and overseas shares in pounds (GBP) or dollars (USD). Sheets formulas routinely pullLON:SIPPor individual shares in pence, requiring manual conversion divisors (/100) that break if ticker formats change. - Section 104 Capital Gains Pooling: In a taxable GIA, HMRC requires you to calculate capital gains using Section 104 shared cost pools rather than simple FIFO. Building a 2D spreadsheet grid that correctly recalculates weighted-average allowable cost across partial disposals, rights issues, and share consolidations requires complex circular macros that easily corrupt over multi-year periods.
- XIRR Convergence Failures: Excel and Google Sheets' native
=XIRR()formula uses an iterative Newton-Raphson approximation. When an investor has irregular monthly deposits followed by volatile drawdowns, the algorithm frequently fails to converge, spitting out#NUM!or#VALUE!errors.
Verdict: Best for investors who hold 1 to 3 index funds inside a single ISA and enjoy maintaining formulas. Unsuitable for active portfolios or taxable GIA reporting.
2. Morningstar Portfolio Manager (UK): The Deep Fund X-Ray
Morningstar’s UK desktop portfolio tool has been a fixture among veteran DIY investors for decades.
Where It Works Well
Morningstar excels at looking "under the hood" of open-ended investment companies (OEICs) and unit trusts. If you hold three different global funds and want to see your true underlying geographic overlap, sector exposure, and price-to-earnings ratios, Morningstar’s portfolio X-Ray tool is mathematically rigorous and free to use.
Where the Model Breaks
- Dated 2000s User Interface: The user experience has changed very little over the past decade. Navigation is clunky, and mobile access is minimal.
- 100% Manual Data Entry: There is no modern CSV auto-mapper or automated feed. Every buy, sell, and reinvested dividend must be keyed in by hand.
- No UK Tax Accounting: It is an asset allocation and performance analytics tool, not a tax ledger. It does not calculate HMRC Section 104 capital gains, track ISA allowances, or distinguish between taxable and tax-exempt accounts.
- No Net Worth Integration: It tracks funds and equities only. Cash savings, property, mortgages, and debts cannot be modeled alongside your investments.
Verdict: Excellent as an occasional, free diagnostic tool to check fund overlap. Impractical as an ongoing transaction tracker or tax record.
3. Ghostfolio & Open-Source Desktop Trackers
For technically confident investors who want software features without commercial cloud tracking, open-source platforms like Ghostfolio have gained popularity.
Where It Works Well
Ghostfolio is open-source, modern, and can be self-hosted via Docker on a home server (e.g. a Raspberry Pi or NAS). It gives you a clean web interface, multi-currency support, and complete ownership of your database. No commercial company can raise prices on you or harvest your financial metadata.
Where the Model Breaks
- High Technical Overhead: Setup requires configuring Docker containers, PostgreSQL databases, and periodic software updates. If a container breaks, debugging is up to you.
- US and European Centric: These platforms are built by global developer communities. They natively understand US 401(k) concepts and European tax models, but have zero native awareness of UK tax structures: no ISA wrappers, no SIPP drawdown rules, and no Section 104 capital gains matching.
- No UK Broker CSV Parsers: Transaction files exported from platforms like AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, or Interactive Investor cannot be imported without writing custom conversion scripts.
Verdict: The premier choice for software engineers and privacy purists who invest globally. Poorly suited for everyday UK investors needing HMRC compliance.
4. Broker-Native Dashboards: The "Consolidated" Route
Many investors ask: Why use a portfolio tracker at all? Can’t I just use my broker's app?
Where It Works Well
If 100% of your wealth is held with a single platform—for example, a Vanguard UK Stocks & Shares ISA containing a single LifeStrategy fund—the native broker dashboard is completely sufficient. It logs trades automatically, tracks your £20,000 ISA subscription, and costs nothing extra.
Where the Model Breaks
- The Multi-Broker Blindspot: Most serious investors eventually diversify platforms to minimize platform fees or access specific investments (e.g. a low-cost SIPP with AJ Bell, a workplace pension with Fidelity, a low-fee ISA with Interactive Investor, and a trading pot with Trading 212). Broker dashboards cannot talk to each other; you are left with fragmented data.
- Deposit Distortion (Simple Return Fallacy): Broker dashboards almost universally display "Total Return" as: $$\text{Return %} = \frac{\text{Current Value} - \text{Total Cost}}{\text{Total Cost}}$$ If you deposit £5,000 in cash today, your reported percentage return instantly plummets. Conversely, regular monthly contributions during a flat market create the illusion of strong portfolio gains. Broker apps rarely report true daily-weighted XIRR (Money-Weighted Return).
- Zero Holistic Net Worth: Broker apps do not track your home equity, your mortgage paydown, cash emergency funds, or your timeline to retirement.
Verdict: Perfectly fine for beginners with a single account. Completely unviable for multi-account wealth builders.
5. Omnicogi: The UK-Native, Privacy-First Alternative
Omnicogi was built specifically to address the architectural flaws that UK investors encounter with global trackers like Sharesight.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Focus: Built specifically for UK tax wrappers │
│ (ISA, SIPP, GIA, LISA), Section 104 pooling, and true │
│ XIRR performance without broker credentials. │
│ │
│ Model: Client-side CSV parsing. Zero Open Banking │
│ screen-scraping. Open public beta (free until 2027). │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Where It Excels Over Sharesight
- Fair, Transparent Portfolio Pricing: Rather than charging per portfolio or penalizing you for having sold shares in the past, Omnicogi is designed around a single flat structure. In open public beta, every feature is free and unlocked for all accounts until 5 April 2027. After beta, one Premium subscription (£4.99/mo) covers unlimited portfolios and unlimited holdings.
- Bespoke UK Tax Architecture: Accounts are explicitly categorized as ISA, SIPP, GIA, or LISA. Section 104 capital gains pooling is calculated automatically for taxable GIA accounts, generating ready-to-file CGT figures for Self Assessment.
- Clean Cash vs Generated Wealth: Omnicogi separates your net deposited capital (Clean Cash) from the investment growth, dividends, and interest it produced (Generated Wealth). You always know whether your net worth grew because you saved money or because your assets compounded.
- True Money-Weighted Performance (XIRR): Measures the exact annualised compounding rate of your capital, factoring in the precise settlement date of every contribution and withdrawal.
- Zero Broker Logins (Offline Privacy): Unlike aggregators that demand bank credentials or rely on unstable screen-scraping, Omnicogi processes your official broker CSV exports client-side. Your login details and passwords never touch the system.
- Complete Net Worth Integration: Models your investment wrappers alongside residential property (with mortgage balance, LTV, and interest rate), cash savings, and liabilities. It feeds directly into the UK FIRE & ISA Bridge Calculator.
Where Sharesight is Stronger
- Global Tax Jurisdictions: If you are an expatriate or cross-border investor needing official tax packs for Australia, New Zealand, Canada, or the US, Sharesight’s international tax engines are more mature.
- Automatic Broker Email Sync: Sharesight can ingest contract notes automatically by having your broker forward trade confirmation emails. Omnicogi relies entirely on manual CSV file uploads.
- Accountant Multi-User Access: Sharesight allows enterprise accounting firms to log in and manage client accounts collaboratively.
Feature & Cost Comparison: Side-by-Side
| Feature | Google Sheets / Excel | Morningstar UK | Sharesight | Omnicogi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Cost | Free | Free | £228 – £324+ / yr (For 3+ wrappers) | Free in open beta (Planned £4.99/mo) |
| Holding Limits | Unlimited | Unlimited | 10 holdings max (Free tier, sold shares count) | Unlimited in beta (30 free post-beta) |
| UK Tax Wrappers (ISA/SIPP/GIA) | Manual formula setup | No wrapper distinction | Basic labeling | Native wrapper modeling |
| HMRC Section 104 CGT Pooling | Manual / easily broken | Not supported | Supported (Paid tiers only) | Native automatic pooling |
Pence (GBX) vs Pounds (GBP) |
Manual formula fix | Handled natively | Handled natively | Native LSE handling |
| Broker Security Model | Offline / Google Drive | Manual typing | Optional broker feeds | Client-side CSV parsing (No logins) |
| Return Calculation | Custom =XIRR() (Prone to #NUM!) |
Basic TWR / Simple return | Money-weighted & TWR | Daily-weighted XIRR & Clean Cash |
| Property & Net Worth Tracking | Manual table | Not supported | Custom unlisted asset | Full Property, LTV & Debt Ledger |
Decision Framework: Which Tracker Should You Choose?
The right portfolio tracker depends on your asset structure and technical preferences:
- If you have one or two passive index funds in a single ISA: You do not need paid tracking software. Your broker’s native app or a simple one-page spreadsheet is entirely sufficient.
- If you want deep, free portfolio overlap analysis: Use Morningstar Portfolio Manager. Key in your funds once a year to verify that your global funds aren’t over-concentrated in the same US tech stocks.
- If you are a programmer with a home server who prioritises open-source code: Set up Ghostfolio. It provides total data ownership, provided you don't require UK Capital Gains Tax reporting.
- If you need multi-country international tax packs for foreign accountants: Sharesight remains the market incumbent for cross-border global tax compliance, provided you are willing to pay £200+ per year.
- If you are a UK DIY wealth builder with multiple accounts (ISA, SIPP, GIA) who values privacy: Omnicogi is built for this exact scenario. It delivers automated Section 104 tax pooling, true money-weighted XIRR, and total net-worth tracking—without asking for your broker login or locking your historical transactions behind expensive subscription paywalls.
You can compare Omnicogi directly against Sharesight's feature matrix on our Sharesight Alternative page or import your trade history using our Broker CSV Import Guide.