Fee-for-service financial planning models continue to grow in popularity, especially subscription-based models, according to a new AdvicePay report. The 2025 AdvicePay Fee-for-Service Industry Trend Report found that in 2024, 85% of all invoices were subscription-based, up from 83% in 2023.
The report also found that advisors are charging more. Advisors charged an average monthly subscription fee of $278, up nearly 5% from $265 in 2023. Quarterly subscription fees were up 1.4%, while one-time fees grew 2.9%.
Many advisors may be reaping the benefits of these fee models in the current market environment; while AUM fees can fluctuate with the markets, fee-for-service models can provide steady cash flow. Alan Moore, co-founder and CEO of AdvicePay, likens it to a “bond” in an advisor’s income portfolio.
“We saw this in 2008, where advisors lost 40% of their revenue over the course of six months,” Moore said. “They did nothing wrong, and they’re working twice as many hours. That’s just not a sustainable model.”
When you have periods of challenging markets, advisors look for a more stable income, he said. But you also have consumers, who were more do-it-yourselfers, start seeking advisors. And those consumers tend to shy away from AUM-based advisors.
“We see advisors sort of leaning in and adopting this model in greater numbers,” he said. “We also see more consumers looking for financial advisors and interested in paying in a fee-for-service way because it better aligns with their values and the value that they’re trying to get from working with an advisor.”
The majority of advisors surveyed (56%) plan to maintain their current pricing, but nearly 18% said they plan to increase their fees by 10% or more. Another 26% are considering modest increases of 1% to 9%.
Overall, AUM-based fees are not going away. In fact, the report found that 68% of advisors said they use AUM fees, while about 60% said they use subscription-based fees, and the same percentage use flat fees. Hourly fees are used by about 41%.
But the AUM model only serves about 2% to 3% of the population; it requires at least $500,000 or more in investible assets and to delegate the investment management to the advisor. Moore doesn’t expect these other models to take away from AUM, but rather expand the pool of clients served by advisors.
AdvicePay, which provides billing and payment technology for fee-for-service financial planners, tracked over 461,000 fee-for-service financial planning transactions conducted through the platform in 2024.