FPA PlannerSearch costs nothing beyond FPA membership: $394 a year in national dues for a CFP professional, plus local chapter dues that each chapter sets. To be listed, you must be an FPA member in good standing and hold the CFP. It isn’t a fee-only directory. FPA’s eligibility rules say nothing about how planners are paid, and the consumer quiz never asks. Wellspent costs $89 a month, has no credential requirement, and only fee-only advisors, checked against SEC data, can have a record. If you’re an FPA member, fill in your PlannerSearch profile. If you’re fee-only, a Wellspent record does a job PlannerSearch doesn’t.
The short version
| FPA PlannerSearch | Wellspent | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | FPA’s consumer search, relaunched October 1, 2026 as a matching and follow-up tool | A verified record in the public graph AI assistants and search read |
| Price | Included with FPA membership: $394 a year plus chapter dues | $89 a month ($890 billed yearly) |
| Who can be listed | FPA members who hold the CFP | Fee-only advisors by SEC data (no commissions, no broker registration, no insurance agency); no credential required |
| Fee-only rule | None | The entry rule |
| How prospects find you | A quiz on money mindset, life events and meeting preference | AI assistants, search, and every specialty, region and list page you fit |
| Follow-up | Automated contact with new leads within five minutes | Introductions straight to you, never sold or shared |
| Reporting | A dashboard of profile views and leads | Monthly report on what AI recommends when your ideal clients ask |
| Press | Not part of PlannerSearch | Quarterly press placement with partners such as Forbes, CNBC and Kiplinger |
| Size | About 4,800 profiles (October 2026) | 24,501 fee-only advisors in the public graph |
What FPA membership costs
FPA’s national dues for a CFP professional are $394 a year, the rate since March 1, 2024. Local chapter dues come on top, and FPA says each chapter sets its own amount every year, so your total depends on where you are. Members in Florida and California pay a small extra state council fee ($10 and $20).
There are breaks for new planners. Newly certified CFP professionals get a free first year, and those 13 to 36 months past certification get 20% off. Allied Professional membership, for people without the CFP, is $314 a year plus chapter dues, but Allied members can’t be listed in PlannerSearch.
Membership also brings the Journal of Financial Planning, conferences, chapter events, CE, FPA Connect communities with more than 20,000 financial planning professionals, and advocacy.
How PlannerSearch works now
FPA rebuilt PlannerSearch with Snappy Kraken and The Smyth Group and relaunched it on October 1, 2026. About 4,800 profiles moved to the new platform.
For consumers, the search starts with a quiz rather than a zip code. On plannersearch.org it asks how people feel about their finances, how satisfied they are, how they manage money today, which life events they’re facing (divorce, sudden wealth, caregiving for a parent and others), which groups they identify with (business owners, executives, retirees and more), and whether they’d rather meet in person or by video. The answers place them on what FPA calls a “Mindset Matrix,” which shapes the planners and messages they see. None of the questions ask about fees or how the planner is paid.
For planners, you choose up to three life events and client groups as specialties and describe what clients can expect, with AI tools to draft the first pass. A dashboard shows views and leads, and the platform contacts new leads within five minutes. The Smyth Group’s CEO said every planner profile was structured to be “read, indexed, quoted and cited directly by major AI engines.”
How many prospects it sends
FPA hasn’t published traffic or lead figures for the new PlannerSearch, and a month in, there’s no track record to judge. Two things are known.
Kitces’ 2026 study, from a survey run in March and April, before the relaunch, found online directories were the cheapest channel per dollar of new revenue, $0.28 per $1, and named the CFP Board, NAPFA, Fee-Only Network and XYPN directories as the most cost-effective. FPA’s wasn’t among them. The old version had its critics: “I’ve yet to get a client through FPA or CFP website,” one advisor wrote in 2025 (thread).
In our study of 600 AI answers, run on October 31, 2026, plannersearch.org wasn’t among the ten sites either ChatGPT or Perplexity cited most. It was a month old. The fast follow-up and the AI-ready profiles are sound ideas, and it’s worth checking again in a few months.
What each costs in a year
Where PlannerSearch is the better choice
- You’re already an FPA member. Your profile costs nothing extra. Fill in every field and pick your three specialties with care.
- You aren’t fee-only. Fee-based and commission CFP professionals can be listed. They can’t have a Wellspent record.
- You want automated follow-up. Five-minute contact with new leads is built in. Wellspent sends introductions to you and leaves the reply to you.
- Your clients come through life events. The quiz matches on divorce, inheritance, caregiving and career changes, and that suits planners who specialize in them.
Where Wellspent is the better choice
- Fee-only is the point. On PlannerSearch a fee-only planner sits next to commission-based ones, and the quiz never raises the difference. On Wellspent, being fee-only by SEC data is the entry rule.
- You don’t hold the CFP. PlannerSearch requires it. A fee-only CFA, CPA or EA can have a full record.
- Your fees are part of the pitch. Your record carries your fees, specialties, the clients you serve, credentials and SEC registration, with sources, in formats AI assistants read directly. Lists rank on fit, with no paid boosts (methodology).
- You want to know whether AI names you. A dashboard of views counts visits to one site. Your monthly report shows who AI assistants recommend when your ideal clients ask, and whether you’re among them.
- Press and Canada. Each quarter, members are matched to stories by specialty with partners such as Forbes, Financial Times, CNBC, Kiplinger and Yahoo Finance. Fee-only and advice-only planners in Canada can have a record too.
Using both
A fee-only CFP who belongs to FPA should do both: keep the PlannerSearch profile complete and add a Wellspent record. Use the same firm name, fees, specialties and service area on each, and on your own site. People check more than one place, and so do AI assistants.
Bottom line
PlannerSearch is a free benefit for FPA’s CFP members, newly rebuilt for matching and fast follow-up, open to every compensation model and still unproven. Wellspent is a verified fee-only record built for AI answers, with introductions, a monthly AI report and quarterly press placement, for $89 a month. For other options, see the best financial advisor directories, NAPFA membership cost and Wellspent vs XY Planning Network.