Every way to track wash sales in 2026, compared honestly
By Wash-Sale Guardian (who's behind it) · Published 2026-07-14 · Last updated 2026-10-02 · How the checker works
Disclosure up front: we make one of the tools on this list (the free checker, which has a paid Form 8949 worksheet add-on), so read accordingly — every claim below is checkable, and each vendor row links to the vendor page it was checked against. The market splits into three jobs: prevention (know your open 61-day windows before you re-buy), year-end reporting (produce a reconciled Form 8949), and cross-account visibility (see what no single broker can — the trap). No tool does all three perfectly; here's who does what.
| Tool | Price | Cross-account? | Account linking? | Prevention (windows)? | IRA trap detection? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wash-Sale Guardian (ours) | Checker free. Guardian Pro Form 8949 worksheet: $79 USD plus any sales tax per tax year (on sale soon). About Guardian Pro | Yes — merges CSVs from any brokers | No — runs in your browser, nothing uploaded | Yes — open windows with first clean re-buy dates (imported files) | Yes — flags permanent (Rev. Rul. 2008-5) |
| TradeLog | $219 / $359 / $459 first year (Investor / Trader / Elite); $175.20 / $287.20 / $367.20 per year on renewal (eligible renewals; vendor says subject to change); 30-day free trial | Yes — "identifies wash sales between accounts" | Optional — upload broker files, or its BrokerConnect API (Windows desktop app) | On-demand Potential Wash Sales Report (vendor: usable "all year long"; its education pages stress Dec/Jan); per-ticker first clean re-buy dates: not published | Yes — "IRA wash sales properly identified and disallowed" |
| GainsKeeper (Wolters Kluwer) | Discontinued for individual investors. Wolters Kluwer stopped selling new and renewal subscriptions after November 30, 2024, and tax year 2024 was the last year supported. Only the individual-investor product closed: Wolters Kluwer says its other products are not affected. | ||||
| Mezzi (SEC-registered investment adviser); features per its multiple-brokerages guide | Free $0 tier; Advisory $33.25/mo billed annually (~$399/yr); Concierge $83.25/mo billed annually (~$999/yr). Which tier includes wash-sale alerts: not published | Yes — across linked accounts | Yes — read-only aggregator links (Plaid/Finicity) required | Yes — may flag potential wash-sale conflicts "before you trade" (vendor) | IRAs can be linked; specific Rev. Rul. 2008-5 (permanent-loss) flagging: not published |
| Your broker's 1099-B | Free | Not required — only same-account washes have to be reported | n/a | No — arrives in February | Not required — a 1099-B isn't required to show it |
| GitHub scripts (open-source) | Free | Varies; DIY merging | No | Rarely | Rarely |
| Spreadsheet | Free | If you build it | No | If you maintain it religiously | If you remember the rule exists |
How to choose
- A few trades a year, one account: your broker's 1099-B plus a careful eye is genuinely fine. Spreadsheets work until the trade count doesn't.
- Multiple accounts, privacy-sensitive: file-based tools. Our checker is free, runs in your browser and never sees your data (how it works); TradeLog adds paid, mature year-end 8949 production and an on-demand potential-wash-sales report on top.
- Want automatic alerts and comfortable linking accounts: Mezzi says it may flag potential wash-sale conflicts across linked accounts before you trade. The trade-offs: handing an aggregator your brokerage connections, which many traders refuse on principle, and the fact that Mezzi is an SEC-registered investment adviser selling advice — so you're comparing a tool with an advisory subscription.
- High-volume options/futures, Section 475 questions: TradeLog territory, with a trader-tax CPA. (GainsKeeper, the other name in older roundups, no longer sells to individual investors.)
Prices and features checked 2026-09-23 against each vendor's own pages (linked in the table; Mezzi's features re-checked 2026-09-27 against the guide linked in its row); corrections welcome via our corrections policy. Try the free row first: open the checker — export walkthroughs for Robinhood, Schwab, Fidelity, IBKR, and E*TRADE.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free wash sale tracker?
For cross-account checking without handing over brokerage logins, Wash-Sale Guardian’s checker is free and runs in the browser (we build it, so verify us: the methodology is public; its Form 8949 worksheet, Guardian Pro, is a paid add-on). Mezzi lists a $0 tier, but its model requires linking your accounts through an aggregator, and its pricing page does not say which tier includes wash-sale alerts. For single-account year-end reporting your broker’s own 1099-B is free and authoritative. Spreadsheets work for a handful of trades a year.
Does any tool track wash sales across brokers automatically?
Two approaches exist: account aggregation (Mezzi links accounts through Plaid/Finicity and says it may flag potential wash-sale conflicts before you trade) and file import (Wash-Sale Guardian and TradeLog read broker exports; TradeLog also offers a BrokerConnect API). Aggregation is more automatic; file-based tools avoid sharing brokerage credentials. No broker-native tool sees other brokers.
Do I still need TradeLog if I use my broker’s 1099-B?
For one account with simple trades, usually not. Year-end tools like TradeLog earn their fee for high-volume traders with multiple accounts, options, or Section 475 needs — they produce reconciled 8949s, and TradeLog’s on-demand Potential Wash Sales Report covers the "what is still open" question before year-end. Seeing your open windows and first clean re-buy dates before you trade is a separate, lighter job.
Get the year-end wash-sale reminders
Short emails at the moments that matter: before Nov 30 (the last day to sell at a loss and still re-buy within 2026); before Dec 31; when 1099-Bs arrive in February; and the day Guardian Pro goes on sale. The one-page year-end checklist PDF comes with it.
Sign up and a link to the PDF appears right here. Confirm the email we send and you're on the list: about four to six emails a year, and you can unsubscribe in one click from any of them. Your trades stay in your browser. The form sends Kit only your email address and the page you signed up from — nothing else (see Privacy).