Wealthramp and Wellspent are closer than most comparisons: both admit only fee-only advisors, and neither sells leads by the piece. The difference is how you pay. Wealthramp takes 25% of a referred client’s gross fees in the first year and up to 15% in every year after, for the duration of the relationship, according to its 2025 promoter’s disclosure. Wellspent is a flat $89 a month and never takes a share of any fee. On a $1 million client at 1%, Wealthramp’s share comes to up to $16,000 over ten years.
The short version
| Wealthramp | Wellspent | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Clients who sign | A membership |
| Price | 25% of gross fees in year one, up to 15% after, for the whole relationship | $89 a month ($890 billed yearly) |
| When you pay | After a referred client pays you, every year they stay | Monthly or yearly, whether or not anyone writes |
| Who can join | Fee-only fiduciaries, by invitation after an interview with the founder | Fee-only advisors, checked against SEC data |
| How prospects arrive | Wealthramp matches them with up to three advisors | They find your record through AI assistants, search or the public graph and write to you |
| Exit | Not described in the public disclosure | Cancel any time |
How Wealthramp works
Wealthramp is a matching service founded by Pam Krueger. A prospect completes a survey and is matched with up to three advisors from its network, at no cost to the prospect, according to NerdWallet’s review (updated December 18, 2025). The same review says Krueger personally interviews each advisor candidate and decides who joins, and that most network advisors hold a CFP, CPA or CFA, or have at least ten years of experience.
It has real standing among advisors. Kitces’ 2026 study of 506 advisors named Harness Wealth, Datalign and Wealthramp the most frequently cited digital solicitors, the industry term for a company paid to send you clients.
The fee share, in Wealthramp’s words
Wealthramp’s promoter’s disclosure is the letter it gives a matched prospect explaining how it’s paid. The 2025 version says:
- The rate. “Per the terms of our standard agreement, the Advisor shall pay Wealthramp a fee equal to 25% of gross fees received in the first year from the referred client, and up to 15% thereafter.”
- The length. The payment runs “for the duration of your advisory relationship with the Advisor.”
- What it’s based on. “The total fees paid to the Advisor,” so planning fees count as well as asset fees.
- The client’s fee. The share is paid from the advisor’s fees, “which are not increased or passed along to a client in any way.”
Two points the public document leaves open: what sets your rate below 15% after year one, and whether there’s a buyout or a transfer rule if a client follows you to a new firm. Both belong in the agreement, so ask before you sign.
What one client costs
Take a $1 million client at 1%, the median first-tier asset fee among 860 fee-only firms that publish one, and a planning client at $4,500 a year, the median ongoing planning fee (Wellspent fee report). The Wealthramp lines assume the full 15% after year one, the most the disclosure allows.
Wealthramp at 25% in year one and 15% after, on one client. The Wellspent line is the whole membership, covering every client or none.
Source: Wealthramp promoter's disclosure, 2025; Wellspent fee report, 2026
Data
| Year | Wealthramp, $1M client at 1% | Wealthramp, $4,500 planning client | Wellspent membership |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| 5 | $8,500 | $3,825 | $4,450 |
| 10 | $16,000 | $7,200 | $8,900 |
| 15 | $23,500 | $10,575 | $13,350 |
| 20 | $31,000 | $13,950 | $17,800 |
The assumptions, stated once:
- The asset client: $1 million at 1%, so $10,000 a year in fees, held flat. Wealthramp’s share is $2,500 in year one and up to $1,500 a year after: up to $16,000 over ten years and $31,000 over twenty. If the account grows, the share grows with it.
- The planning client: $4,500 a year. The share is $1,125 in year one and up to $675 a year after: up to $7,200 over ten years.
- Wellspent: $890 a year, billed yearly. That’s the cost of the whole membership, not of one client, and it’s owed whether or not anyone writes.
The honest reading: on one planning client, Wealthramp’s share after year one is less than a year of membership, and over twenty years the total stays below the membership’s. The math turns once you’d win a second planning client, or one larger asset client, from being found.
The compliance side
Paying Wealthramp makes it a paid endorser of your firm under the SEC’s marketing rule, Rule 206(4)-1. You need a written agreement, disclosures to the prospect about the pay and the conflict, and a reasonable basis for believing the referral complies. Wealthramp’s promoter’s disclosure covers the prospect-facing part. You’ll also describe the arrangement in Form ADV Part 2A, Item 14. The full checklist is in what the SEC’s Zoe Financial order means for advisors who buy referrals.
What to ask Wealthramp before you sign
- What rate applies to me after year one, and what would change it?
- Is the share calculated on every fee from the household, including accounts and services the client adds later?
- Is there a buyout, and at what price?
- What happens to the share if a client follows me to a new firm, or if I sell or merge my practice?
- How many advisors see the same prospect, and how are the up to three matches chosen?
- Can I see the current promoter’s disclosure and my agreement before signing?
Where Wealthramp is the better choice
- No cash before revenue. Wealthramp costs nothing until a referred client pays you. For a new firm, that can matter more than lifetime cost.
- A curated introduction. Prospects arrive matched by a service whose founder has interviewed you, which some advisors prefer to being found cold.
- Small or short relationships. If your clients pay modest fees or rarely stay long, a share that ends when they leave can cost less than a flat fee.
Where Wellspent is the better choice
- You keep every fee. No 25% in year one and no 15% in year fifteen. Nothing to unwind if you change firms or sell.
- No gatekeeper. Wealthramp’s network is by invitation. A Wellspent record is open to any fee-only advisor who passes the SEC check, with no credential requirement.
- Larger and longer relationships. The bigger and stickier your clients, the more a lifetime share costs. A flat price doesn’t scale with your success.
- Being found where people ask first. Your verified record is read by AI assistants and search, ranking is by fit with no paid boosts (methodology), and a monthly report shows who AI assistants recommend when your ideal clients ask. Quarterly press placement with media partners is included.
The two can also work side by side: a matching service for introductions now, and your own record so prospects can find you without a share attached.
Bottom line
Wealthramp is the fee-only world’s version of a fee-share network: carefully vetted, free to start, and paid from your revenue for as long as the client stays. Wellspent costs $89 a month and takes nothing from any client, but it can’t promise introductions. If your clients are large and long-lived, the share is the bigger cost. Compare other models in Zoe Financial alternatives with no revenue share, financial advisor lead generation companies compared and Harness Wealth for advisors.