Saving & Spending Budgeting & Expenses

Best Budgeting Apps [2024]: Tools to Manage Your Everyday Finances

Plenty of excellent apps exist to help you create and manage your budget, with both paid and free options.

Updated Oct. 4, 2024
Fact checked

We receive compensation from the products and services mentioned in this story, but the opinions are the author's own. Compensation may impact where offers appear. We have not included all available products or offers. Learn more about how we make money and our editorial policies.

Best for cutting your bills

Rocket Money

  • Finds unused subscriptions and helps you cancel them
  • Negotiates your bills on your behalf
  • Offers simple user experience

Best for user-friendly budgeting

Quicken Simplifi

  • Offers a simple method for visualizing your spending habits
  • Automatically categorizes your transactions
  • Gives you access to customizable categories

Managing your finances can be a lot easier if you take advantage of tools like budgeting apps. The best budgeting apps can help you track your spending and savings, but there are a ton of other features you might want to maximize your benefits.

The top budgeting apps include Rocket Money for its bill negotiation feature, Quicken Simplifi for its simple budgeting interface, SoFi®1 for its comprehensive financial picture, and more.

I like a fairly simple budgeting app that allows me to choose my spending and savings categories, but you might want something a bit more nuanced. Take a look at our roundup of some of the best budgeting apps and decide which features are essential to you.

How we evaluate products

The 7 best budgeting apps

  • Rocket Money
  • Quicken Simplifi
  • SoFi®
  • YNAB (You Need a Budget)
  • Monarch
  • Goodbudget
  • Honeydue
  • Comparison of the best budgeting apps

    Budgeting app Best for Pricing
    Rocket Money Cutting your bills
    • Free version
    • $6 to $12 per month
    Quicken Simplifi User-friendly budgeting
    • Promotion (ends 10/30/24): $2.99, billed annually
    • Regular price: $3.99 per month, billed annually
    SoFi® Tracking your money in one place
    • Free
    YNAB Cross-platform budgeting
    • 34-day free trial period
    • $14.99 per month for month-to-month access
    • $109 per year ($9.08 per month)
    Monarch Comprehensive budgeting
    • $99.99 annually ($8.33/month) but $69.99 annually ($5.33/month) with welcome discount
    Goodbudget Using the envelope system
    • Free version
    • $10 per month for the Goodbudget Plus monthly plan
    • $80 per year for the Goodbudget Plus annual plan
    Honeydue Couples
    • Free

    Rocket Money

    Best for cutting your bills

    Pros
    • Can help you save money by canceling unwanted subscriptions, negotiating recurring bills, and securing refunds
    • Allows you to track spending, connect bank accounts, and automate savings
    • Provides access to educational resources about budgeting, debt, investing, and more
    Cons
    • Premium budgeting features are only available to subscribers
    • The company takes a portion of your savings from cancellations, negotiations, and refunds

    Available for: iOS devices on the App Store and Android devices on Google Play

    Pricing: Free version, or choose to pay $6 to $12 per month for premium version

    With Rocket Money, you can connect your bank accounts and credit cards (using Plaid). The app analyzes your transactions to assist you in tracking spending, budgeting, and saving.

    Where Rocket Money really stands out is its work on recurring subscriptions. If you’re anything like me, chances are you’ve signed up for a subscription or six to various retailers and have forgotten to use them. The app alerts you to recurring bills for things like cable TV and gym memberships and lets you either cancel useless subscriptions yourself, or you can have Rocket Money handle it.

    Plus, Rocket Money offers a “lower your bills” feature in which the company negotiates bills on your behalf. It charges 35%-60% of the first year’s savings, if successful (so you still save money, though not as much as you might hope).

    Overall, I like Rocket Money’s features, especially if you’re looking for help lowering your bills, since calling service providers to request discounts is a hassle and not all of us are built for negotiations.

    Visit Rocket Money | Read our Rocket Money review.

    Lower Your Monthly Bills

    Smart budgeting app that helps you cancel unwanted subscriptions, grow your savings on autopilot, and more.

    Download Rocket Money

    Quicken Simplifi

    Best for user-friendly budgeting

    Pros
    • Unlimited savings goals
    • Automatically categorizes transactions to help identify unnecessary expenses
    • Allows setting up custom limits for each category to prevent overspending
    • Inexpensive subscription compared to other paid budgeting apps
    Cons
    • Doesn’t offer a free version
    • Lacks specific tools like a debt payoff tracker or retirement planner

    Available for: iOS devices on the App Store and Android devices on Google Play

    Pricing: $3.99 per month, billed annually

    Quicken Simplifi is a tool by Quicken that helps you with money management and financial planning. Over 14,000 financial institutions can connect directly to your Simplifi account, or you can input your transactions manually if your banks aren’t included.

    The app automatically categorizes your transactions to help you identify unnecessary expenses and track your monthly spending. You can set up custom limits for each category to help prevent overspending, as well as real-time alerts for unexpected transactions. You’ll also be able to establish and track your savings goals from the app.

    The app can track your bills to assist you with paying them on time and avoid late fees, and it also offers a credit report feature that allows you to keep track of your credit score.

    Quicken Simplifi doesn't offer a free version, but personally I find its subscription reasonably priced (regularly listed at $5.99/month, but it often runs a deal so it’s just $3.99/month when billed annually).

    If you’re looking for specific tools such as a debt payoff tracker or a retirement planner, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Overall, though, customers are fairly happy with Quicken Simplifi: it has a 4.1-star rating on Google Play and 4.2 stars on the App Store.

    Visit Quicken Simplifi | Read our Quicken Simplifi review.

    SoFi®

    Best for tracking your money in one place

    Pros
    • Provides a simple yet comprehensive view of your finances with automatic categorization
    • Allows you to link external financial accounts, track spending, and set monthly spending targets
    • Offers credit score monitoring at no additional cost2
    Cons
    • Only available to people who register for a SoFi® account

    Available for: iOS devices on the App Store and Android devices on Google Play.

    Pricing: Free.

    SoFi®, one of the best online banks, offers ways to comprehensively manage all of your financial accounts. You can use the free budgeting app to link bank accounts along with investment and retirement accounts.

    I like SoFi’s budgeting tools as they allow you to set straightforward budgets, see upcoming bills, and monitor your credit score weekly. Overall, it can help you keep your finances in order without spending any extra money. This might make it a good choice if you want to learn how to budget, but you might also keep it as your long-term budgeting tool.

    Perspectives
    Yahia Barakah, CEPF
    Yahia Barakah, CEPF
    Editor

    Yahia Barakah, CEPF, has created finance-focused content since 2011. As a Certified Educator of Personal Finance, he has a background in institutional investment and asset management, as well as a deep passion for financial literacy.
    WHY SOFI IS MY PERSONAL FAVORITE

    SoFi's tools are some of the best budgeting tools for maintaining connections with financial accounts without frequent verification. It also allows manual linking of accounts that can’t be automatically linked, such as certain liabilities or assets. This ensures a more comprehensive and up-to-date financial picture.

    You need to register for a SoFi® account to use SoFi's tools. This isn't a significant downside, as most apps require a similar step.

    You may even double down and opt for opening a SoFi Checking and Savings3 account, one of our favorite bank accounts. It has $0 monthly fees4, offers access to high annual percentage yield (APY)56 with direct deposits, and SoFi is a Member, FDIC 7.

    Visit SoFi

    YNAB

    Best for cross-platform budgeting

    Pros
    • Offers extensive cross-platform support
    • Allows setting up zero-based budgeting goals
    • Offers a higher level of customization than some other apps
    Cons
    • No free version after the trial period
    • Much higher learning curve

    Available for: iOS devices on the App Store and Android devices on Google Play.

    Pricing: 34-day free trial period. $14.99 per month on the monthly plan. $109 per year for the annual plan ($9.08 per month equivalent).

    You Need a Budget (YNAB) is a budgeting app that offers extensive cross-platform support, including desktop, iPhone, Android, iPad, Apple Watch, and Alexa. It has a dedicated following and reports that new users save an average of $600 in their first two months and $6,000 in their first year.

    I personally haven’t used YNAB, possibly because I’m not as motivated to learn the ins and outs of how YNAB works. But I know a lot of folks who swear by YNAB and wouldn’t use any other budgeting app, so it really comes down to preference.

    YNAB is a proactive system where you manually categorize and track spending. You set up a zero-based budget aimed at managing income, paying down debt, avoiding overspending, or other goals. YNAB offers a higher level of control than other apps that make spending and savings decisions for you.

    It does cost a bit for YNAB (it’s more than double the monthly fee for Quicken Simplifi). Plus, you might be willing to pay the money but want to be more hands-off, while YNAB requires time and effort.

    Visit YNAB (You Need A Budget) | Read our YNAB review.

    Use This App to Gain Total Control of Your Money

    Learn More

    Monarch

    Best for comprehensive budgeting

    Pros
    • Unlimited accounts and collaborators
    • Track investments and net worth
    • Fully customizable budgets
    Cons
    • Charges monthly or annual fees
    • Shorter (7-day) free trial than comparably-priced YNAB

    Available for: iOS devices on the App Store and Android devices on Google Play

    Pricing: $99.99 per year if billed annually (welcome discount of 30%) or $14.99 per month for month-to-month subscription (no welcome discount)

    Monarch (from Monarch Money) is a budgeting app that provides tools for budgeting, net worth tracking, monitoring recurring bills, and more. Like other budgeting apps, it syncs with your financial accounts to automatically input transactions and track progress.

    You can see info on recurring transactions and get notifications in advance before those bills come due. There’s also an option to plan ahead for larger expenses that don’t occur every month.

    If you’re looking for a budgeting tool that also provides a comprehensive view of all of your finances, including investments, it might be worth checking out Monarch.

    I had heard Monarch mentioned as a good alternative to Mint, which disappointed quite a few users when it shut down. A quick glance at some of the user reviews on the Google Play and App Store reveals that a lot of people hopped over to Monarch, but reviews are mixed as to whether this succeeds as an alternative. Overall, the reviews are positive (4.7 stars on Google Play and 4.9 stars on App Store).

    Price-wise, Monarch is pretty similar to YNAB at $99.99 per year if billed annually (although it seems to be running an ongoing discount so it’s $69.99 per year).

    Visit Monarch | Read our Monarch Review for more info.

    Goodbudget

    Best for using the envelope system

    Pros
    • Uses the envelope system, making it easy for beginners to manage their finances
    • Supports multiple devices and users
    • Tracks your debt repayment and other goals
    Cons
    • The free version has limited features
    • Doesn't integrate with external accounts

    Available for: iOS devices on the App Store and Android devices on Google Play.

    Pricing: Free version. $10 per month for the Goodbudget Plus monthly plan. $80 per year for the Goodbudget Plus annual plan.

    Goodbudget is a user-friendly budgeting app that uses the envelope system to help beginners manage their finances. If you haven’t heard of the envelope system, it’s a way of organizing your spending by “envelopes” in which you assign a dollar amount to each spending category.

    Except, of course, this is a modern envelope system, entirely digital. (I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to start carrying around a bunch of envelopes full of cash!)

    You can use Goodbudget for tracking expenses. The app is particularly useful for those looking to establish an emergency fund, as it allows users to set aside money for unexpected costs.

    The app offers a simple user experience and comprehensive features. It allows you to track income and expenses and set budgeting goals, such as paying off debt or saving money. You can manually input your transactions or import them by uploading a supported file.

    The free version gives you one account and access on up to two devices, while the premium version offers unlimited accounts and up to five devices. A downside is that Goodbudget doesn't integrate with other tools or accounts.

    Visit Goodbudget.

    Honeydue

    Best for couples

    Pros
    • Helps couples manage their money together
    • Enables each person to maintain their privacy
    • Offers a joint Cash bank account with a debit Visa card
    Cons
    • Doesn't have a desktop platform

    Available for: iOS devices on the App Store and Android devices on Google Play.

    Pricing: Free.

    Honeydue is a free budget planning app for couples that's available for iOS and Android. It helps partners simplify essential money talks by tracking expenses, bills, and financial account balances, including joint bank accounts and investment accounts.

    I like this because it’s so important for couples or partners to be on the same page with their finances. Using Honeydue can take a lot of the stress out of financial communication between you and your partner.

    Couples can choose how much information to share, set monthly spending limits, add custom categories, split expenses, and settle balances. The app also offers a joint Cash bank account with a debit Visa card.

    You can’t access your Honeydue information through your laptop or desktop device, limiting you to using your phone. That would be a con in my book because my eyes get tired pretty fast when looking at a tiny screen, but you might prefer mobile-only access.

    Visit Honeydue.

    How do budgeting apps work?

    The main goal of most budgeting apps is simplifying the way you manage your money on a day-to-day basis. You can manage your budget by setting up spending categories and tracking your actual spending.

    You typically connect the app directly to your bank to import and categorize transactions. Plus, many apps today help provide alerts to recurring transactions, which could save you money by reminding you to cancel unused subscriptions.

    Some budgeting apps also offer investment tracking or credit score monitoring. While I’ll remind you that you can easily get updates on your credit score for free from a lot of places (credit cards, MyFICO.com, etc.), the investment tracking aspect could be quite useful.

    Know yourself before choosing a budgeting app

    When you look up any of these apps, you’ll see a lot of the information included here, but what you really want to consider is what you’re looking for from a budgeting app.

    If all you want is a mobile tool that helps you monitor your spending, you can pick a no-frills type of budgeting app. But if you’re hoping for something that’s fully customizable or requires quite a bit of effort on your part, you should be ready to put in more time.

    For example, YNAB is well-known for having a bit of a learning curve, so if you’re not interested in really spending time on your budget, it’s probably not worth your money because you won’t get the maximum benefit from all of YNAB’s features.

    Overall, pay attention to what it is you want from a budgeting tool. It won’t be exactly the same as what I might want or what your coworkers want. Decide on what matters to you with regard to cost, ease of syncing with accounts, automated features, investment tracking, and other potential features.

    FAQs

    What are the best free budgeting apps?

    Rocket Money is one of our recommended budgeting apps that offers a free version. SoFi® is free to use for SoFi® users. Both tools offer simple yet powerful budgeting tools that can help you keep track of your spending, monitor your net worth, and receive notifications of upcoming bills. Honeydue is also free and tailored towards budgeting as a couple.

    How can I keep more money in my pocket?

    One effective way to keep more money in your pocket is by using a budgeting app. Apps like Rocket Money, YNAB, and SoFi® can help you track your income and expenses, set savings goals, and make smarter decisions with your money. Over time, you’ll see big differences in your financial health.

    Do budgeting apps really work?

    Budgeting apps are effective tools for managing money, but their benefits are maximized with consistent use. If you’re dedicated to financial improvement, these apps can provide insights into your spending habits, potential cost-cutting areas, and strategies for growing your savings.

    What happened to Mint by Intuit?

    Intuit, the company that owns Mint, announced that the Mint app would shut down on January 1, 2024. You can try one of the apps in this article as an alternative to Mint.

    Products that didn’t make our list

    These are a couple of other budgeting apps to consider if you haven’t found one you love yet.

    EveryDollar

    The app connected to the Dave Ramsey Show, EveryDollar is focused on debt-free living. There’s a free version of EveryDollar as well as a paid version, which you can also get as part of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, if you’d like to get more for your money.

    PocketGuard

    Another great budgeting app to consider is PocketGuard, an app with bill payment tracking, budgeting, goal tracking, and unique spending insights to help you make the right financial decisions. The cheapest PocketGuard plan is $6.25 per month when billed annually.

    Bottom line

    If you’ve never budgeted before, it’s simple to learn how to manage your money. You can actually have fun with a budgeting app because you’ll get a better understanding of where your money is going. I like budgeting because it lets me plan ahead for what’s necessary as well as the fun things I’m looking forward to in the future.

    No matter your budgeting style, there’s an app that can help you better manage your money. You may want to look into various budgeting techniques before you pick an app, because different apps are stronger with certain techniques like the 50/30/20 method.

    If a couple of apps discussed here stand out, you might check out one of our comparison pieces, such as Rocket Money vs. Quicken Simplifi, to help you make a decision.

    Consolidates finances in one place and automatically tracks real estate value
    Uncovers forgotten subscriptions to cancel and negotiates bills
    Supports tracking trial subscriptions
    Automates moving money into a savings account
    Provides credit monitoring and insights
    Low cost for premium features at $6 for the monthly plan or $4 a month for the annual plan