X Money vs. SoFi vs. Chime: Which Pays More After the Conditions?

A saver with $10,000 and no qualifying activity would earn $400 over a year at 4%, $80 at 0.80%, or $100 at 1%, assuming unchanged rates. Qualify for a higher tier and the ordering can change. Buy a subscription and its price changes the answer again.

Checked October 11, 2026. This is a full replacement of our earlier comparison, including the old subscription and minimum-balance claims. It compares savings interest, not the value of credit, rewards or paycheck-advance products.

First identify the applicable tier

Sources: X, SoFi rate sheet, SoFi Plus, and Chime’s dated savings disclosure. These products have variable rates.

Chime’s October 6 disclosure supersedes lower July figures still appearing on some help pages. Use the dated disclosure and confirm your own account’s rate. Chime Plus and Prime are deposit-earned statuses; do not confuse their names with a mandatory subscription fee.

Compare your actual setup

The model covers individual savings accounts. It includes SoFi’s paid individual tier; joint-account allocation rules require a separate calculation. Do not apply the individual cap to every joint arrangement.

A qualifying deposit is a provider-defined category. Splitting a paycheck may work for one threshold and fail another. Do not assume a transfer between your own accounts meets any provider’s income test.

For X’s full deposit definition and residence exclusion, start with the eligibility review. For SoFi, the rate sheet specifies recurring eligible income within a 31-day evaluation period and details qualifying deposits. Chime evaluates its own qualifying income deposits.

A paid cap changes the value of a large balance

A starting $10,000 at 4.50% produces $450 over a year if it remains below the paid tier cap. Subtract $120 of SoFi Plus fees and the modeled benefit is $330, before tax. The unpaid qualified path at 3.30% also produces $330.

That equality is a calculation at this snapshot, not a recommendation to buy Plus. Below that balance, the subscription can cost more than the extra interest. Above the cap, the additional balance earns the lower tier, so the subscription’s interest benefit does not grow without limit.

The interactive model reinvests modeled interest across the threshold daily. Actual crediting and rate changes can produce a different amount. It does not price subscription benefits unrelated to savings.

What happens when qualification stops?

Use the standard rate as a stress case, rather than assuming the higher tier lasts all year. At $25,000, a two-percentage-point change is about $500 annualized before tax. Even a brief interruption can matter more than a small difference between competing accounts.

The calculator assumes one selected tier throughout the period; it does not predict the exact downgrade date after a missed deposit. Confirm evaluation windows and timing with the provider before switching payroll.

The app is not the legal account structure

SoFi Checking and Savings is provided by SoFi Bank, N.A. Chime uses The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A.; X identifies Cross River Bank and a sweep network. Insurance limits, deposit placement and account access are separate questions from which app has the highest rate.

Chime requires a checking account to open savings and directs users to move savings into checking before spending. Compare that workflow with how you actually pay bills. The coverage guide explains the protection questions without assuming every app has the same structure.

For a conventional-bank alternative, read X versus Marcus and Ally. For subscription economics, use the Premium+ article.