Delta Investment Tracker Review

If you want to manage your investments on your Mac, then the free Delta Investment Tracker by eToro brings the user friendliness of the platform to investment tracking too.

eToro is one of the biggest stock trading platforms in the world and has attracted many users that find stocks and investing intimidating.

My experience using Delta is that it applies the ease of use and simplicity of eToro to a slick Mac desktop app that tracks a wide range of instruments and assets.

Although it’s owned by eToro, it allows you to import investments from over 1600 broker accounts too – although this isn’t without its problems.

Here we take a closer look at how it works.

What is Delta?

Delta Investment Tracker is a portfolio management app designed to give you real-time updates and insights into your stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and other investments.

The app is has been available on iOS and Android since 2017 but it was bought in 2019 by eToro which has recently released a desktop version for Windows and macOS.

Delta for Mac is available natively for both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

Getting Started

Simply download the Delta Investment Tracker and drag the app into your Applications folder.

To sign-in, you’ll need your eToro account details so if you haven’t got one, you’ll need to sign-up for one.

It will take you to the eToro site to authorize access to the app and so it’s safe to grant any permissions that macOS prompts you for.

When you setup the app for the first time, Delta asks you a few questions based on which assets and instruments you want to track.

Although it automatically tracks your eToro account data, the Mac app doesn’t allow you to connect other investment institutions.

You can only add investment accounts using the mobile app which is a big drawback of the Mac version.

If you go to the Portfolio view, you’ll simply be advised to download the Delta mobile app to connect to different broker accounts.

However, you can still use the app to track stocks, cryptos, forex and other assets without linking it to anything if you don’t want to.

The main interface of Delta is clearly geared toward anyone who needs an overview of their assets without diving into complicated setups.

Unlike some tools that bombard you with features you may never use, Delta’s Mac version keeps things simple.

As someone who’s tested everything from the bloated to the overly simplistic, I think Delta strikes a nice balance.

Getting an overview of the biggest stocks for example is easy via the Markets tab on the left.

You can filter stocks by US, European, APAC and Other.

You can also choose Cryptos (including over 10,000 alt coins and crypto platforms), Funds, Indices, NFTs, Commodities and Forex among others.

Delta’s ability to let you track different kinds of assets beyond traditional stocks and bonds will definitely appeal to younger, less traditional investors.

If you’re into cryptocurrencies for example, you can follow your Bitcoin or Ethereum holdings as easily as you would your Apple or Tesla shares.

Delta also allows you to create different portfolios, which is helpful if you prefer to separate long-term investments from more speculative trades.

To get a closer look at a stock’s price and movements, simply click on it to get a detailed breakdown.

One nice touch is the “Why is it moving today?” blurb in the top right of the stock pages.

In the free version, you get a brief excerpt although the Pro version gives you more detail and historical data too.

To add any stock to your watchlist, simply click on the star next to “Follow” at the top of your screen and you can access them at any time by clicking on the star in the Menu bar on the left.

You can also setup various notifications in Delta so that you receive alerts for the following updates:

• End Of Day Portfolio Update
• Significant Change Update
• Why Is It Moving Update
• End of Week Update
• Market Cap Milestone
• Stock Split Update
• New Release Available
• Promotional Update
• Weekly Markets Summary

Syncing With Brokers

We were unable to sync with brokerage accounts because it’s not possible to set this up in the Mac version.

You must switch to the mobile version in order to sync Delta Investment Tracker with over 1600 different brokerages and investment houses including Interactive Brokers, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity and of course, eToro.

You can also add transactions manually, connect to crypto exchanges or wallets,

The mobile app will also import any available cash you have in brokerage, exchanges or bank accounts.

Once this is done, you will be able to track your Portfolio in the Mac desktop app.

However, mobile users have reported mixed experiences when trying to do this in Delta.

This isn’t uncommon for investment tracking apps and a lot depends on how your bank handles ever changing security protocols for connecting to third party services.

I found there were various stories like this one where users have been unable to get their stock trading platform to sync properly with Delta so bear this in mind before you jump in with both feet.

Delta does state that the capabilities of data connections can vary with banks although it also assures that all connections with Delta are safe.

If this is important for you, then we strongly recommend trying Empower which has some of the most rock-solid back syncing for investment tracking I’ve seen.

Performance and Usability on Macs

On a Mac, the Delta app is lightweight and responsive.

The interface is well-optimized for macOS, and I didn’t notice any lag while testing it on both newer Apple Silicon Macs and older Intel-based models.

Downsides

Delta has only recently been released so some features haven’t been fully rolled-out yet.

As already covered, you can also only add transactions with the Delta mobile app at the moment.

The Mac app is only able to view transactions in Portfolio Insights that have already been added.

If you do use the mobile app to connect to broker account, the reliability of broker connections also may be poor although Delta acknowledges this may be an issues with some brokerages.

Also, if you’re someone who wants detailed reports, more complex charting tools, or forecasting options, you may find Delta a bit limited.

Delta also doesn’t track 401k’s or pensions. For that we recommend using retirement tracking software.

Pricing

Delta operates on a freemium model, offering basic features for free and more advanced options through its Pro version.

The Pro version costs $99/£99 per year which is reasonable for an investment tracking app.

There’s also a lifetime license for $299/£299 which gives you perpetual access to the Delta Investment Tracker Pto.

While the free version will likely be enough for casual investors, more experienced users who want to add multiple broker accounts, get deeper insights, API access, or priority support will need to upgrade.

Advantages of the Pro version over the Basic free version are:

• More detailed portfolio insights
• Explanations on likely reasons for price fluctuations
• Pre-market and after hours pricing for supported stock markets
• Advanced details on realized and unrealized gains
• Unlimited brokerage house connections (the free version is limited to just two)
• Up to 5 synced devices
• Automatic refreshing of prices
• Monochrome mode (although Mac users can switch between light and dark mode in the free version too).

Is Delta Right for You?

Whether Delta is the best investment tracker for your Mac depends largely on what you need.

If you’re already an eToro user looking for a tool that’s quick to set up, easy to sync, and works well across devices, Delta is hard to fault.

But if you’re seeking advanced analytics or intricate tools for hardcore portfolio management, you might find it a bit underwhelming.

If you also expect rock solid syncing with your investment accounts, you may be disappointed too.

For many Mac users looking for a free solution to tracks just a few investment accounts and stocks/cryptos/forex in general, it will strike the right balance between functionality and ease of use.