The 2026 RIA Tech Stack: What 500 Firms Are Actually Using
Executive Summary
We surveyed 500 RIA firms across every AUM tier — from solo advisors managing $30M to enterprise firms managing $5B+ — to build the most comprehensive picture of advisor technology adoption in 2026. The results challenge conventional wisdom: CRM concentration is accelerating, all-in-one platforms are gaining share faster than best-of-breed, and the integration gap between small and large firms is widening. This report covers CRM adoption, portfolio management, financial planning tools, compliance technology, and integration patterns.
Methodology
Between October 2025 and January 2026, we collected technology stack data from 500 RIA firms through a combination of direct surveys, ADV filing analysis, and integration API metadata. Firms were segmented into four AUM tiers: Solo/Small (under $100M), Mid-Market ($100M–$500M), Large ($500M–$2B), and Enterprise ($2B+). We tracked tool adoption across seven categories: CRM, portfolio management, financial planning, compliance, client portal, marketing, and operations.
Participation was balanced across tiers: 35% Solo/Small, 30% Mid-Market, 22% Large, and 13% Enterprise. Geographic distribution matched the national RIA landscape, with concentration in California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois. All data was anonymized before analysis.
Finding 1: CRM Adoption — The Three-Horse Race
CRM remains the centerpiece of the advisor tech stack, and the market has consolidated around three platforms faster than anyone predicted. Our data shows a clear segmentation by firm size — and a surprising amount of movement.
| CRM | Overall | <$100M | $100M–$500M | $500M+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wealthbox | 34% | 52% | 31% | 12% |
| Redtail | 28% | 25% | 35% | 22% |
| Salesforce | 22% | 8% | 24% | 48% |
| Other | 16% | 15% | 10% | 18% |
Wealthbox's dominance among smaller firms is driven by modern UX and aggressive pricing. Redtail retains the mid-market through deep custodian integrations and familiarity. Salesforce captures the enterprise tier with customization and ecosystem breadth — but at 3–5x the total cost of ownership.
Finding 2: Portfolio Management — The All-in-One Surge
The portfolio management category is undergoing a structural shift. All-in-one platforms — primarily Orion and Black Diamond — are capturing share from point solutions at an accelerating rate. In 2024, 41% of firms used an all-in-one platform. In 2026, that number is 58%.
The driver is integration fatigue. Firms that switched to all-in-one platforms report 40% fewer integration issues and 25% lower total technology spend. The trade-off: less flexibility in individual category choices. Firms using Orion for portfolio management are significantly more likely to adopt Orion's planning, trading, and compliance modules — creating vendor lock-in.
Finding 3: Financial Planning Tools — MoneyGuide Still Leads, But...
MoneyGuide (now part of Envestnet) remains the market leader at 35% adoption, but eMoney Advisor is closing the gap at 28%. The real story is in the long tail: newer entrants like RightCapital (15%) and Holistiplan (for tax planning, 22%) are carving out significant niches.
The planning category is unique because firms increasingly use two planning tools — a comprehensive planner (MoneyGuide or eMoney) plus a specialist (Holistiplan for tax, Income Lab for retirement income, or Riskalyze for risk tolerance). Our data shows 44% of firms use two or more planning tools, up from 31% in 2024.
Finding 4: Compliance — The Silent Budget Killer
Compliance technology is the category firms know the least about and spend the most on relative to value received. Our survey found that 62% of firms couldn't name the exact annual cost of their compliance tools, and 41% hadn't evaluated alternatives in over three years.
The market leaders remain Compliance11 (now COMPLY, 29%), SmartRIA (18%), and RIA in a Box (14%). But the most interesting trend is the rise of AI-powered compliance monitoring: 19% of firms now use at least one AI compliance tool, up from 6% in 2024. These tools automate advertising review, email surveillance, and code of ethics monitoring — tasks that previously required dedicated compliance staff or expensive outsourcing.
Finding 5: Integration Patterns — The $47K Problem
This is where our research gets urgent. We measured integration health across all 500 firms by analyzing API connection logs, sync frequency, error rates, and manual workaround time. The findings are stark.
The average firm has 14.3 software tools, but only 8.1 are connected via API or data sync. That means 6.2 tools exist as data islands — requiring manual data entry, CSV exports, or copy-paste workarounds. Each disconnected tool costs approximately $3,800/year in staff time for manual data management.
Even among connected tools, the quality of integration varies wildly. We found that 23% of active integrations experience at least one sync failure per month. The most fragile connections: CRM-to-custodian data feeds (31% failure rate), portfolio-to-planning data sync (27%), and marketing automation triggers (34%).
Firm size correlates inversely with integration health. Solo firms have fewer tools but higher failure rates per integration (they lack IT support). Enterprise firms have more tools but better monitoring. The sweet spot — mid-market firms ($200M–$500M) — experience the worst total impact: enough tools to create complexity, not enough resources to manage it.
Key Takeaways
CRM is the kingmaker
Your CRM choice determines 60% of your integration architecture. Choose wrong, and you'll spend years working around it. Choose right, and everything else clicks.
All-in-one is winning — with caveats
Consolidation reduces integration pain but creates vendor dependency. The best strategy: all-in-one backbone + 2-3 best-of-breed specialists.
The integration gap is the real crisis
$47K/year in hidden costs. 3.2 broken integrations per firm. 6.4 hours/week in workarounds. This is where the money is being burned.
Compliance is over-spent and under-managed
62% of firms can't name their compliance costs. 41% haven't evaluated alternatives in 3+ years. Average overspend: $8,200/year.
Continuous monitoring beats one-time audits
Firms with always-on stack monitoring report 40% fewer integration failures and 25% lower total tech spend. The era of static reports is ending.
Staq Research
The Staq Research team analyzes technology adoption patterns across thousands of RIA firms. Our data comes from direct surveys, ADV filings, API metadata analysis, and integration health monitoring. We publish quarterly benchmark reports to help advisors make better technology decisions.
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