Learning how to budget properly is a critical skill needed to manage multiple expenses, especially if you are living on a limited source of income. This is when these budgeting apps come in handy!
Many of these apps allow you to sync to your bank accounts and credit cards so that they can conveniently do all the nitty gritty aspects of budgeting and even save your money automatically for you!
In this article, we will look into some of the best budgeting apps that many consumers are already utilizing to help with their daily needs, from account and expense tracking to bill negotiations.
Read on and learn more!
What Do Budgeting Apps Do?
According to a Bankrate survey, 21% of consumers hardly save any money at all because they use up all of these on their day-to-day expenses.
Normally, we chalk up how much we have in our bank accounts and make a list of all our earnings and our daily, weekly, and monthly expenses as well.
From this, we adjust how we manage or prioritize our spending based on our financial capabilities.
Now, imagine having a bot do all the nitty gritty aspects of checking your bank account, looking at your spending pattern, taking care of your budgeting, and even depositing money to your savings account!
This is what budgeting apps do — they make your life more convenient by automatically doing all the budgeting work for you.
1. Empower Personal Dashboard (All-In-One Budgeting Tool)
What I Like
- Offers cash advance of up to $250
- Offers a wide variety of tools
- Allows you to set up an Autosave feature on your account
What I Don’t Like
- Low annual percentage yield (APY)
- High account management fees for the premium version
- Does not accept cash or check deposits
Empower Personal Dashboard was previously known as Personal Capital, a company founded by Bill Harris, who is also the former CEO of Intuit and PayPal.
Whether you already have your savings in place or are just starting out, Empower is your all-around tool for making smart decisions with your finances.
As you link your bank account with Empower, you can track your spending, plan your budget, set savings goals, and even set up an autosave feature on your account!
Check out all these features that come even with the free version:
- Savings planner
- Cash flowcharts
- Retirement planner
- Hidden free analyzer
- Investment checkup
- Monthly spending targets with budgeting
If you are a veteran saver with at least $100,000 in your bank account, you can avail of Empower’s Wealth Management, which gives you access to dedicated financial advisors.
Be ready to pay anywhere between 0.49% to 0.89% of the total investment amount if you want this option, though.
- Best for: Tracking net worth
- Available on: iOS and Android
- Price: Free; wealth management fees are only for clients with at least $100,000 in savings, 0.49%-0.89% of the investment amount.
2. Qapital (Fun Way to Save)
What I Like
- Applets make savings fun and engaging
- Provides a debit card for free
- Can set up an automatic savings option
What I Don’t Like
- High monthly fee for experienced investors and savers
- The number of tools can be confusing
- Not for those who are more comfortable with physical banking
The best aspect of Qapital is its wide variety of tools called “applets.” Think of mini-applications that help you set goals for saving.
Many of these applets provide conditions that determine the amount that will be automatically saved to your account.
From having a consequence when you fail to resist a guilty pleasure to setting a specific amount every time you accomplish a fitness goal from Apple Health, there are many ways to save creatively.
Qapital also ties up with popular apps and social media platforms, like Fitbit, Strava, YouTube, and Facebook, in the gamification of savings rules.
- Best for: Financial goal-setting
- Available on: iOS and Android
- Price: 30-day free trial, then $3 to $12/month
3. Oportun (Formerly Digit)
What I Like
- Simple user interface
- Can automate both savings and investments
- Freedom to allocate money toward savings, investment, or retirement account
What I Don’t Like
- Can’t move money directly from savings to investing
- Does not analyze spending patterns and has no net worth tracking
- Free version is limited to only six months
Previously known as Digit, Oportun uses an AI that studies your linked bank accounts, your spending habits, and your current balance.
With this information, Oportun will automatically withdraw your money and save it toward your savings or retirement account, as well as your investment account.
You can even declare your debts so that they can be included in the automated debt reduction plan for your account.
On the other hand, this budgeting app does not have features that analyze your spending or net worth, as it mostly concentrates on your savings, investment, and debt management.
- Best for: Passive savings and debt management
- Available on: iOS and Android
- Price: 30-day free trial, then $5/month
4. Rocket Money (Hands-on Savings)
What I Like
- Easy to learn
- Multiple notifications to keep you updated
- Premium version offers credit score and net worth tracking
What I Don’t Like
- Free version has very limited features
- Limited customer support availability
- No investment planning tools
Used to be identified as Truebill, Rocket Money is a versatile budgeting app that links to your financial accounts, allowing it to manage your cash flow, set savings goals, and monitor your spending.
One of the best features of the app is its ability to negotiate your bills for you! This gives you the chance to get the same service for a lower price!
Rocket Money has both a free and a premium version, but the free version has very limited features.
The paid version has a 7-day free trial and only costs $4 to $12 a month. This also gives you access to concierge services, premium chat, full credit reporting, and net worth tracking.
Bill negotiation for the premium plan also gives you a chance to get refunds on your bank fees.
- Best for: Overall budget planning and bill negotiations
- Available on: iOS, Android, and web browser
- Price: Free; premium version has a 7-day free trial, then $4-$12/month; 30%-60% success fee of annual savings for bill negotiations
5. Tiller Money (Spreadsheet Budgeting Assistant)
What I Like
- Highly customizable
- Provides tight site security
- Does not have advertisements
What I Don’t Like
- Limited to spreadsheets
- Only available via desktop
- Does not have detailed investment records
If you are very familiar with budgeting using spreadsheets, Tiller Money will definitely work for you.
As a spreadsheet user myself, one of the best features of Tiller Money for me is its wide variety of highly customizable templates that I can personalize to fit my needs for a given situation.
Once connected to your financial accounts, it pulls your bank transactions and investment balances daily and uploads them to your spreadsheet or Microsoft Excel.
If you have debts to pay, Tiller Money can also monitor your debt payoff strategy.
You also get top-notch support from Tiller’s excellent customer service team as you monitor your budget efficiently.
- Best for: Spreadsheet budgeting
- Available on: Web browser for Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel
- Price: Free for 30 days, then $79/year
6. YNAB (Real-Time Money Management)
What I Like
- Proactive approach to budgeting
- Reporting is easy to view and understand
- Syncing provides real-time updates on earnings and spending
What I Don’t Like
- Free only for the first 34 days
- May require some time to get familiar with
- Does not have detailed investment records
YNAB stands for “You Need a Budget,” and it is one of the more popular budgeting apps due to its proven effectiveness in helping customers manage their finances.
Though it has a monthly subscription cost of $14.99 after its 34-day free trial, you get real-time tracking of your earnings and spending as soon as you link the app to your bank, credit card, and other financial accounts.
You can also set financial goals, manage debt payment strategies, and schedule bill payments to help you stay on track.
Monitoring is also made easy with a zoomed-out report of your finances. You can even view your overall net worth!
When I started using this app, it was quite overwhelming with all the customizable options available.
The good thing is that YNAB has one of the most dedicated customer service teams I’ve interacted with, which made my experience with the tool much easier.
- Best for: Hands-on Budgeting
- Available on: iOS and Android
- Price: First 34 days free, then $14.99/month or $99/year
7. Goodbudget (Envelope Budgeting Method)
What I Like
- Reports include income analysis and spending trends
- Regular updates on app enhancements
- Provides resources like podcasts and courses to supplement budgeting experience
What I Don’t Like
- Free version is limited to a single account
- Does not contain any investing tools or resources
- Does not support net worth tracking or credit score monitoring
Goodbudget is based on the traditional and trusted envelope budgeting method, which allocates your funds for different expenses, including your savings.
Through the use of digital envelopes, Goodbudget can help you set critical financial goals, such as debt payoff or saving for a house or a car.
Goodbudget’s reporting tools are user-friendly — they are easy to read and understand.
One of the things that impressed me with Goodbudget is the library of resources you get to help you with your budgeting journey, like podcasts, courses, and articles.
- Best for: Hassle-free spending categories and limits
- Available on: iOS and Android
- Price: Free; paid version for $10/month or $70/year, plus tax
8. WallyGPT (World’s 1st AI-Powered Personal Finance App)
What I Like
- Available worldwide, with access to over 15,000 banks
- Provides smart insights and financial guidance
- High level of data security
What I Don’t Like
- Lacks customer service through phone
- May take a longer learning curve
Taking pride as the world’s first GPT-powered personal finance app, you can talk to WallyGPT to help you set financial goals, check your spending habits, and give personalized advice.
WallyGPT has a very good reach, with access to 15,000 banks in 70 countries.
Its AI function can give its users very intelligent insight into financial matters, from giving a breakdown of expenses for events to drafting a debt payoff or retirement plan for you.
You can also take advantage of its guidance when it comes to reaching your financial goals, like how much you need to save for you to pay off your home or car mortgage.
You can even ask it to explain difficult concepts, especially when you are new to something, like investment and stock market terminologies.
Take note, though, that you only get up to 51 queries a day when using the free version. As you upgrade to premium versions, you can get as high as 25,000 queries.
- Best for: Personalized Budgeting
- Available on: iOS and Android
- Price: Free; premium plans range from $9.99 to $39.99/month
9. EveryDollar (Simple Budgeting)
What I Like
- Easy-to-understand user interface
- Very clear workflow
- Premium version provides access to Ramsey+ services
What I Don’t Like
- Free version has very limited features
- Paid version is pricey compared to competitors
- Can be confusing when toggling between EveryDollar and Ramsey+
If you are a fan of Dave Ramsey, the famous author of “The Total Money Makeover,” and known for providing great financial advice, then you will be excited to sign up for the budgeting app he created — EveryDollar!
EveryDollar’s concept is simple. It helps you manage your money and plan your spending before your next paycheck arrives!
As you sign up even for its free version, you’ll be directed to a page that lets you select as many of the six goals below that apply to you:
- Pay off debt
- Save for retirement
- Stop living paycheck-to-paycheck
- Pay for kids’s college
- Pay for a home
- Travel
After selecting these, you’ll need to enter your sources of income and your basic expenses. Once you have set all of these, you can now create or customize your budget.
- Best for: Simplicity
- Available on: iOS and Android
- Price: Free; premium plans range from $59.99 to $129.99 per year
10. Pocketguard (Track Your Expenses and Lower Your Bills)
What I Like
- Can sync from thousands of institutions
- Unique “In My Pocket” feature to track spending
- Can build a budget and set savings goals
What I Don’t Like
- Can’t proceed without syncing accounts
- Limited customization for the free version
- Tedious set-up process
Pocketguard focuses on two things: tracking your expenses and lowering your bills.
To get it going, you first need to sync the app to your bank and credit card accounts.
To show you how serious they are in terms of tracking, they can sync to thousands of institutions, including checking and savings accounts, credit cards, and mortgage and personal loans.
Once you are done setting up, Pocketguard will be able to update your total earnings and transactions automatically.
Some of its additional features are its ability to negotiate your bills and provide spending insights for you.
This is effective for those who have specific financial goals, like debt pay-off, bill and expense reduction, and growing your net worth.
- Best for: Hands-off expense tracking and bill-lowering
- Available on: iOS and Android
- Price: Free; paid version for $7.99/month or $34.99/year; $79.99 for lifetime access
11. Monarch Money (Budget and Track Money)
What I Like
- Easy to use and understand
- Highly customizable
- No advertisements
What I Don’t Like
- No free version
- Does not monitor credit scores
- Lacking partnerships with some financial institutions, needing manual addition
Being familiar with Mint myself, I find Monarch Money easy to follow in terms of its purpose and functionality.
One of the things you might notice right away is the absence of a free trial or a free version. Given this condition, is it worth it?
The answer is a resounding yes. For one, Monarch Money supports many types of accounts and assets, including:
- Bank accounts
- Brokerage accounts
- All types of loans
- Cryptocurrency (via Coinbase)
- Miscellaneous assets (including vehicles, art, and jewelry)
On top of this, Monarch users enjoy shared access for multiple users, a user-friendly interface that allows you to see all your finances at once, and allows you to fully customize your dashboard to your liking.
12. Stash (Investing Made Easy)
What I Like
- Good selection of investment assets
- Includes online banking account with budgeting features
- Debit card expenses convert to fractional shares of stock
What I Don’t Like
- Banking account doesn’t earn interest
- Robo advisor limited to managing taxable investments
- Absence of human advisors
While other budgeting apps are focused on income and expense management and savings, Stash concentrates on investments.
As you download the app, you don’t just get an investment account; you also get a bonus online banking account.
Stash uses a robo-advisor to manage your portfolio. It selects investment assets that are tailor-fitted to your risk tolerance, financial goals, and investment preferences.
If you are an experienced investor, you can also manually design your own investment portfolios.
Stash does not have a free version. It has two plans — Stash Growth for $3 a month and Stash+ for $9 a month.
The Stash Growth plan includes the following features:
- Online banking account
- Brokerage account
- Robo-advisor
- Limited investing advice
- $1,000 life policy
The Stash+ includes all of the above, plus custodial accounts, access to investment research and advice for families, and a $10,000 life insurance.
13. Honeydue (Couples’ Finance)
What I Like
- Makes budgeting with a partner easier
- Syncs to over 20,000 financial institutions in five countries
- Completely free
What I Don’t Like
- Does not have a desktop version
- Need to be patient with multiple advertisements
- Limited customer service support
It is said that couples must not fight about money. They should achieve a good partnership when it comes to handling finances as a couple, and Honeydue helps out with that!
As a completely free app, Honeydue provides visibility to both parties about what’s going on with their money, minimizing money-related mishaps.
However, note that though Honeydue’s purpose is full financial disclosure, there are times when situations may require you to control what your partner can only see, and Honeydue allows that.
Meanwhile, you can share calendars containing bill reminders with your partner, too, along with how much is allocated for that expense.
One of the best aspects of this app that works well for me and my husband is how we set spending limits for each budget category.
This reminds us to stay within our budget as a couple.
14. CoPilot (Smartest Budgeting App for Apple Users)
What I Like
- Allows connection of crypto wallets
- Able to track multiple investment accounts
- Calculates security allocations for multiple accounts
What I Don’t Like
- Limited to Apple users
- Lacks budgeting functionality that can be found in competitors
- No free version
Capping off the list of the best budgeting apps is CoPilot, which is exclusively for Apple users.
Dubbed by many as one of the best and smartest budgeting apps for iPhone and Mac users, it definitely has a lot of features.
CoPilot is a financial account aggregator and budgeting program fused into a single app. It connects to more than 10,0000 financial institutions, giving you an idea of its depth.
Once everything is set up, it can do the following functions:
- Provides graphical representations of your overall financial progress compared to your budget.
- Gives status of sub-budgets within your overall budget.
- Integrates with Amazon and Venmo to track spending activities.
- Displays spending categories using different colors and emojis.
- Track your connected investment accounts, including brokerages, cryptos, and retirement accounts.
This ton of features makes the $13 monthly or $95 annual payment on this app worth it!
- Best for: Apple Users
- Available on: iOS
- Price: $13/month or $95/year
Do Budgeting Apps Really Work?
A lot of people may think that budgeting apps are very ambitious and want to do a lot in terms of managing your finances for you.
However, budgeting apps do serve the purpose of why they are created — to assist people in managing their finances, from tracking earnings and expenses to automatically saving money in your account.
Much like how you pay financial advisors to give you advice on how to get out of debt or how to achieve financial freedom, these apps function the same way, especially with their premium features.
Some financial advisors even use these apps themselves and recommend them to their clients.
Note, though, that the effectiveness of the apps will also be based on how well you respond to their suggestions and recommendations.
Is It Worth Paying for a Budgeting App?
While most budgeting apps do have free versions, many of these are quite limited when it comes to features.
Hence, the question of whether a budgeting app is worth paying for will depend on how impactful the paid features will be in accomplishing your financial goals with ease.
For example, if you need help in personalized investment portfolio management or wish to monitor your net worth to inspire you to accomplish your goals, then paying for a budgeting app is worth it.
On the other hand, if the premium features of a certain app are just a bonus for you, without much of an impact, then this would just be an additional cost for you.
Is There a Completely Free Budgeting App?
Unlike other money-saving applications that are not necessarily focused on managing your budget, completely free budgeting apps are very limited.
Many of them start off with a free trial that later converts to a paid version.
There are also some with a free version but have very limited features, urging you to go for the premium plans instead.
In this list, Honeydue and Empower are the only two apps that can be categorized as completely free.
However, if you wish to avail yourself of Empower’s Wealth Management system for high-value portfolios, it is subject to an annual advisory fee of 0.49% to 0.89%, depending on the size of the asset to be managed.
How to Get Started
When starting with budgeting apps, always think of your long-term goals and what you really want to achieve.
Though it is easy to fall into the trap of downloading these apps to gain a lot of advantages, remember that many of these apps are only free for a particular number of days.
So, one of the first things you have to determine is your focus and your ideal strategy when it comes to budgeting, then check what the app is best for. This will give you the best value!
Now that you have familairized yourself with the best of the best budgeting apps, what is your favorite? Share your thoughts, ideas, and questions with us in the comments below!
