Comparison

READYSAVE 529 vs Award Advisor®

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

READYSAVE 529

Manage your education savings plan account on the go. Securely access your 529 plan, track investments, and make contributions. Withdraw funds for education expenses starting July 2025.

Highlights
  • Secure 529 account access
  • View balance and transaction history
  • Add one-time or recurring contributions
  • Track investment allocations
  • Invite others to contribute
  • Withdraw funds for education expenses (July 2025)
Read full description

Manage your education savings plan account anywhere, anytime with the READYSAVE 529 mobile app. The app makes it easier than ever to: • Securely access your 529 plan account • Check your account balance, transaction history, and investment allocations • Add money to your balance as a one-time or recurring contribution • See how your savings stack up to others in your plan • Easily invite friends and family to help give your savings a boost • NEW (starting July 2025)– Take money out of your 529 account to pay for education expenses by sending payment directly to a school or university, or to a selected bank Participants in the following 529 programs can use the READYSAVE 529 mobile app to access their account: • Alaska 529* • Achieve Montana + • Arkansas Brighter Future 529 Plan* + • Bright Start 529 College Savings Plan (Illinois)* + • CollegeBound Saver (Rhode Island) + • Indiana529 Direct Savings Plan + • CollegeInvest (Colorado)* + • ISave 529 (Iowa)* + • College SAVE (North Dakota) + • DC College Savings Plan* + • The Education Plan (New Mexico)* + • Edvest College Savings Plan (Wisconsin)* + • HI529 – Hawaii’s College Savings Program* + • IDeal – Idaho College Savings Program* + • KY Saves 529* + • Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Program (Kansas)* • Maryland 529* + • Michigan Education Savings Program* + • Minnesota College Savings Plan* + • MOST – Missouri’s 529 Education Plan* + • NJBEST – (New Jersey) + • NY’s 529 College Savings Program + • Ohio’s 529 College Advantage* + • Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan* + • PA 529 Investment Plan* + • Path2College 529 Plan (Georgia)* + • ScholarShare 529 (California) + • SMART529 (West Virginia) + • SMART529 Select (West Virginia) + • Future Path 529 Plan (Nevada)* + • T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan* + • TNStars* + * Denotes that users can enroll in the plan directly from the app + Denotes that users can withdraw money from their account to pay for education expenses

About

Award Advisor®

Easily understand, compare, and manage college financial aid awards. Upload award letters to get a clear breakdown of costs, compare schools, and personalize financial scenarios to make confident college decisions.

Highlights
  • Upload financial aid award letters
  • Standardized cost breakdown
  • Apples-to-apples school comparison
  • Personalize financial scenarios
  • Notifications for deadlines and opportunities
Features
Read full description

Unlock Your True College Costs with Award Advisor®! Navigating financial aid can be complex, but Award Advisor® makes it clear. This powerful mobile application is designed to help students and families easily understand, compare, and manage college financial aid awards. Eliminate the guesswork and understand the true costs of attending schools. How Award Advisor Works: 1. Effortless Upload: Simply scan or upload your financial aid award letters from any school. Our advanced technology processes your documents quickly and accurately. 2. Understand Your Costs: Get a clear, standardized breakdown of your Cost of Attendance, including tuition, fees, grants, scholarships, and loans. No more deciphering confusing university formats! 3. Compare Schools: See an "apples-to-apples" comparison of award packages from different institutions. Easily identify "Your Obligation", the true amount you'll need to cover, for each school. 4. Personalize Your Scenarios: Adjust financial details, add personal contributions, or explore different funding options to see how they impact your overall costs. 5. Stay Informed: Receive important notifications and announcements about financial aid deadlines, opportunities, and gain access to curated non-profit loan providers. Key Features: • Award Letter Processing: Watch as we extract and organize all the financial data from your uploaded award letters. • Intuitive Cost Breakdown: View a standardized breakdown of tuition, fees, grants, scholarships, and loan packages. • Direct School Comparison: Get a straightforward comparison of financial aid packages from each college and university you are considering. • Personalized Financial Scenarios: Adjust figures to see how different choices and sources of funding impact your overall college costs. Award Advisor® empowers you to make confident college financial decisions. Download the free app today!

Screenshots

READYSAVE 5294 screens
Award Advisor®4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: READYSAVE 529 at 30K against Award Advisor®'s 3. READYSAVE 529 also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). Award Advisor®'s advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Award Advisor® holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: READYSAVE 529 has 30K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

READYSAVE 529 ships an update monthly, Award Advisor® every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
READYSAVE 529 versus Award Advisor®: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterREADYSAVE 529Award Advisor®
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (30K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews30.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings30K — better3
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAscensusVermont Student Assistance Corporation

Customer experience

READYSAVE 529

All ratings29,596 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral2.2%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews571 reviews
Positive30.8%
Neutral15.6%
Negative53.6%

Award Advisor®

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

READYSAVE 529

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login issues with Face ID and password saving
  • Inconsistent behavior when making changes to accounts
  • Delayed processing of contributions and gifts
  • Navigation issues within the app

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to view individual investment performance
  • Provide more detailed information on fund allocations and investment options
  • Allow withdrawals and distributions from the app
  • Implement alerts for when relatives contribute to accounts
  • Support for tracking multiple 529 accounts across different states

Award Advisor®

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

READYSAVE 529

No in-app purchases

None

Award Advisor®

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is READYSAVE 529 free?
READYSAVE 529 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Award Advisor® free?
Award Advisor® is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, READYSAVE 529 or Award Advisor®?
Award Advisor® is rated higher. READYSAVE 529 averages 4.7 out of 5 from 30K ratings, while Award Advisor® averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do READYSAVE 529 or Award Advisor® have ads?
Neither READYSAVE 529 nor Award Advisor® shows ads.
Which is updated more often, READYSAVE 529 or Award Advisor®?
READYSAVE 529 ships an update monthly, and Award Advisor® every 3 months. Most recently, READYSAVE 529 was updated on November 5, 2026 and Award Advisor® on November 5, 2026.

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