Era
Era is an AI-powered tool providing personal finance management services. The platform is designed to optimize investments and maximize sav...
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What is Era?
Era is a personal finance platform built for the age of AI agents. It connects your bank accounts, credit cards, and financial data to any AI assistant that supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP) — including Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Gemini, Perplexity, and Cline. Users can ask about their money, move it around, or set it on autopilot without ever leaving their AI conversation.
Era has three core products: Context (a personal MCP server connecting finances to AI assistants), Agency (a companion mobile app that proactively monitors and manages money in real-time), and Thesis (a research-grade investing tool with quantitative portfolio analysis for individual investors). Context provides read-write access so agents can check balances, send transfers, set automated rules, trigger savings, and manage budgets.
The platform is designed for individuals who want AI-powered financial control without generic advice. It appeals to tech-savvy users who already use AI assistants daily, couples/households managing joint finances, and serious investors who want institutional-grade portfolio tooling. Era is built by a team from Stripe, Robinhood, CashApp, Apple, Google, SoFi, and Coursera.
Era uses bank-level encryption for data in transit and at rest, connects through regulated aggregation partners, never stores bank credentials, and never uses data to train AI models. The platform is SEC-regulated and agent-agnostic — your financial data, rules, and automations live in Era, not locked in any single assistant.
Era pricing
Pricing model: Free
Era offers a free tier and paid plans with additional features. Thesis has its own separate pricing for advanced investment tools. The company makes money from subscriptions, not from user data. Specific plan prices and feature breakdowns are not detailed on the website.
Era pros
- Connects to any MCP-compatible AI assistant (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Gemini, Perplexity, Cline)
- Read-write financial access — agents can check balances, transfer money, set rules, trigger savings
- Three products: Context for AI connection, Agency for proactive monitoring, Thesis for investing
- Agency app proactively alerts and acts on money without waiting for prompts
- Financial context carries across assistants — switch from Claude to ChatGPT seamlessly
- Shared views for partners/households to manage joint finances without sharing credentials
- Bank-grade encryption in transit and at rest
- Never stores bank credentials
- Never sells, shares, or monetizes personal financial data
- Data never used to train AI models
- Built on open Model Context Protocol standard
- Agent-agnostic design — not locked into single AI ecosystem
- SEC-regulated platform
- Supports thousands of US banks, credit unions, and financial institutions
- Quick setup — takes a few minutes to connect accounts
- Works in CLI-based agents like Claude Code and Cursor without switching windows
- Thesis brings institutional-grade quantitative portfolio analysis to individuals
- Create custom rules for auto-categorization, savings round-ups, expense splitting
- Real-time tracking of balances and transactions
- Smart notifications for bills, savings windows, and transfer opportunities
Era cons
- Only supports US financial institutions (not international)
- Not a bank itself — banking provided by partner institutions
- Investment products not FDIC insured and may lose value
- Requires MCP-compatible AI assistant (limited to specific platforms)
- Agency is mobile app only — no desktop native app
- Free tier has limited features compared to paid plans
- Thesis has separate pricing for advanced investment tools
- New platform — less established than traditional fintech companies
- Dependent on third-party aggregation partners for bank connections
Frequently asked questions about Era
What is Era?
Era is a personal finance platform built for the age of AI agents. It has three products: Context, a personal MCP server that connects your finances to any AI assistant; Agency, a companion app that proactively monitors and manages your money; and Thesis, a research-grade investing tool for individual investors.
What is Context?
Context connects your bank accounts, credit cards, and financial data to any AI assistant that supports MCP — Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and others. Your agent gets real-time access to your balances, transactions, and goals without you having to upload anything.
What is MCP?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI assistants connect to external data sources. It's the same protocol that powers your Gmail, Calendar, and Slack connectors in Claude or ChatGPT. Context uses MCP to give those same assistants access to your financial life.
Which AI assistants work with Era?
Any client that supports MCP. Today that includes Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Gemini, Perplexity, Cline, and others. If your preferred assistant adds MCP support tomorrow, Context works with it immediately.
Can my AI agent both read and write financial data?
Both. Context is a read-write connection. Your agent can check balances, send transfers, set up automated rules, trigger savings, and manage budgets. You control what it's allowed to do.
What is Agency?
Agency is a native app that builds on top of Context. MCP connections are pull-based — your agent only acts when you ask. Agency adds a push layer: it watches your finances in real time and proactively alerts you to things that matter, or takes action on your behalf.
What is Thesis?
Thesis is Era's investment product. It brings quantitative portfolio analysis and strategy tooling — the kind typically reserved for institutional investors — to individuals. It's built on the same financial data layer as Context.
Is Era safe and secure?
Era uses bank-grade encryption for data in transit and at rest. We connect to financial institutions through regulated aggregation partners. We never store your bank credentials, and your data is never used to train AI models.
Does Era sell my financial data?
No. Era never sells, shares, or monetizes your personal financial data. Your data exists to serve you — through the agents you choose to connect.
How do I start using Era?
Sign up at era.app, connect your financial accounts, and add the Context MCP server to your preferred AI assistant. The whole process takes a few minutes. Agency is available as a native mobile app. Context itself doesn't need an app — it works through whatever AI assistant you're already using on any device.