Find the Best Tool for Your Financial Goals

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Budgeting can already feel difficult, but with the right money management tool, you should be able to track your spending habits, find ways to spend less and save more, or budget effectively as a couple.

Check out our picks for the best budgeting apps, and read more about how we chose the winners.

Best Budgeting Apps

Compare the Top Budgeting Apps

The top budgeting apps have a straightforward sign-up process, a decent fee structure, strong budgeting tools, and an overall positive user experience. Learn more about the best budgeting apps, below. 

Budgeting App Reviews

Budgeting looks different for everyone, so we selected four picks for budgeting apps. We selected a well-rounded budgeting app, one designed for couples, another that’s appealing for setting goals, and lastly one with more detailed budgeting features.

We have a mix of free budgeting apps and ones that have premium plans with subscription fees, so you can choose an option based on your financial needs and priorities. 

Best Overall: Rocket Money

Rocket Money (previously known as TrueBill) is our best budgeting app overall because it has a variety of tools to help you save and limit spending. 

Rocket Money has both a free plan and a premium plan. With the free plan, you’ll be able to link bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts to track spending and you’ll also be able to create a budget. 

The premium plan includes concierge services, which review your bills and subscriptions to help you cancel or get refunds for these services on your behalf. It also includes premium customer chat, unlimited budgets, customizable budget categories, a savings account, real-time updated syncing, and a credit score report.

The app’s standout feature is Bill Negotiation. You’ll upload a copy of your bill, and Rocket Money will determine whether you can get the same service with the company for a lower price. Rocket Money may also help you get refunds if you’re charged bank overdraft fees or late fees.

When Rocket Money negotiates a bill, you’ll have to pay a percentage (you may choose any amount from 30% to 60%) of whatever it will save you for the year. If you plan to change your internet, cable, phone, or wireless provider in the next year, you could end up losing money, though.

Pricing: You may choose how much to pay each month through a sliding scale. Rocket Money has a free plan that’s $0. The Premium plan has a 7-day free trial; after the free trial, you’ll have to pay around $4 to $12 per month (the lower-price plans are billed annually instead of monthly).

Rocket Money Review

Best for Couples: Honeydue App

Honeydue is a budgeting app designed specifically for couples. The sign-up process is short and simple — you’ll create an account by setting up your email, then invite your partner to Honeydue.

Honeydue allows you to see both your individual and shared finances in one place. You also have to option of setting limits to how much your partner can see. When you connect a bank account to the app, you may choose to share both balance and transaction information, share information only, or share no information.

With Honeydue, you can organize your finances by creating monthly bill reminders or discussing personal financial information through the app’s chat feature.

If you would like an additional place to store money for a common goal, like a holiday budget or a couple’s vacation.

You won’t be able to access Honeydue through your computer; it’s only available through a mobile app. Some of our other top picks have both online and mobile platforms for more convenience.

Regular Pricing: Free

Best for Saving for Financial Goals: Monarch Money

Monarch Money may be worthwhile if you are looking for a budgeting app that helps you save for financial goals and create a budget. It’s also become one of the most hyped-up Mint alternatives among Redditor users since Mint shut down.

Through Monarch Money, you’ll be able to make unlimited personalized savings goals. You can customize goals, organize them by order of importance, and link them to bank accounts. The app also helps you create a zero-based budget, track your net worth, and analyze your cash flow. 

Monarch Money doesn’t have a free plan. However, it does have a special offer for new customers. To get a 30-day free trial and 50% off your first year, sign up through the Monarch Money website and use the promo code “MINT50.” The last day to get the offer is May 31, 2024. Monarch Money could choose to extend the offer, though.

If you do not want to pay a subscription fee for a budgeting app, you’ll want to consider one of our other picks.

Regular Pricing: Premium Plan with a 7-day free-trial, then $14.99 per month or $99.99 annually

Best for Robust Budgeting Features: Quicken Simplifi

Quicken Simplifi might be a good choice if you want a budgeting app that provides a detailed breakdown of your spending and savings. 

In addition to letting you create budgets with customizable categories and make individual savings goals, Quicken Simplifi analyzes your spending and savings through charts and data.

You can receive monthly reports for spending, general income, income after expenses, savings, and net worth. You can also now check your credit score through the web application if you have early access (This feature is currently only available to U.S. residents). Checking your credit score through Simplifi won’t affect it. 

The one major downside to this app is that it doesn’t have a free plan. You’ll have to pay a subscription fee, although you can try the app for 30 days with a money-back guarantee.

There’s also a special promotion available right now — 25% off for new customers (offer ends May 31, 2024). 

Regular Pricing: $3.99 monthly subscription or $47.88 annual subscription

Quicken Simplfi Review

Budgeting App Trustworthiness and BBB Ratings

We include ratings from the Better Business Bureau to evaluate how financial institutions address customer issues and handle transparency. 

Rocket Money has a B rating due to a high volume of customer complaints.

Honeydue has an F rating because it hasn’t responded to three customer complaints and it hasn’t been in operation for a long time.

Quicken has an F rating because it has received a high volume of customer complaints filed, and failed to respond to 13 customer complaints. 

A good BBB rating won’t guarantee you’ll have a good relationship with a company. You also might want to read customer reviews or talk to current customers before making your decision.

Intuit does have some public issues surrounding its tax-filing software, TurboTax. 

Best Budgeting Apps Tips

Why You Should Trust Us: Experts’ Advice on the Best Budgeting Apps

We consulted banking and financial planning experts to inform these picks and provide their advice on finding the budgeting app for your needs.

Here’s what they had to say about budgeting apps. (Some text may be lightly edited for clarity.)

What should I look for in a budgeting app? 

Mykail James, MBA, certified financial education instructor, BoujieBudgets.com:

“My best tip for people who are looking to start using a budgeting app is to figure out what you’re missing in your financial system. For example, if you are a person who knows that you want to stick to a zero-based budget, and you’ve been doing that manually, but you need maybe a little bit more help with the organization, then you can center your focus on searching for apps specifically solve your problem.”

Sophia Acevedo, banking editor, Business Insider:

“I would look for features that would help me with my goals. Like if I’m trying to curb spending, I would look for a budgeting app that helps me minimize payments in certain spending areas.” 

How do I know if a budgeting app is right for me? 

Mykail James, MBA, CFEI:

“Give it time. Every budgeting app is going to feel uncomfortable during the first month. Give it at least three months before deciding if it’s not something for you. Actively try and use it before considering a switch.” 

Sophia Acevedo, CEPF:

“I would first try out the free version and see how it works. Some budgeting apps are entirely free, while others have different plans or trials at a variety of price points.”

Methodology: How Did We Choose the Best Budgeting Apps?

At Business Insider, we aim to help smart people make the best decisions with their money. We understand that “best” is often subjective, so in addition to highlighting the clear benefits of a financial product, we outline the limitations, too. 

First, we compiled a list of 18 popular budgeting apps available in both the Google Play Store and Apple Store. 

Then, we reviewed each budgeting app for a week. To determine our top picks, we reviewed the initial sign-up process, pricing, budgeting tools, and user experience. We also considered whether each app accomplished everything it advertised, and how regular users reviewed the product on the Apple and Google Play store.

Sophia Acevedo

Banking Editor

Evelyn He

Compliance and Operations Associate