What Are the Best Budgeting Apps of February 2023?

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

In our search for the best budgeting apps, we made sure our top picks are easy to use. We also considered what might be important to different people when sticking to a budget. Check out our picks for best budgeting apps, and read more about how we chose the winners.

Mint: Best Budgeting App Overall

Pricing:Free

Why it stands out: The Mint app is owned by Intuit, the financial software company that also owns TurboTax and Quickbooks. 

You’ll start by linking your bank accounts to Mint for the app to create a budget based on your past spending habits. The app splits your expenses into categories such as shopping, bills, and transportation. You can easily change the settings yourself or create a new category — so Mint does all the hard work for you, but you still have some control. 

Mint makes it easy to save for multiple goals. Create a goal, including your estimated costs and timeline, and Mint factors the plan into your budget.

Mint is easy to use and helpful for understanding your finances on a large scale. In addition to showing your income, expenses, and savings goals, it displays factors like your credit score, investments, and net worth. Mint has also partnered with Billshark and offers a bill negotiation feature. 

Look out for: Occasionally, Mint will place a transaction in one category (like transportation) when it should be in a different category (like bills). You do have the ability to reassign the transaction to another category within the app, though, or create your own category.

If you agree to use the bill negotiation feature, you’ll be charged 40% of what Billshark saves you for the service period. Also, be aware that there’s a one-time $9 fee if you opt for a payment plan instead of paying upfront.

Download: Apple | Google Play

Honeydue app: Best Budgeting App for Couples

Pricing: Free

Why it stands out: 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, Honeydue also offers a joint bank account with debit cards called Honeydue Joint Cash. Your funds will secure at Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. The account also doesn’t have monthly services fees or minimum balance requirements.

Look out for: 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.

Download: Apple | Google Play

Personal Capital app: Best Budgeting App for Tracking Net Worth and Investment Accounts

Pricing: Free

Why it stands out: Personal Capital may be ideal if you’re mainly focused on tracking your net worth or investment account. 

You can easily link accounts to the app by using the selection tool or entering information manually. The app will present data like your net worth and cash flow in charts and graphs. 

Personal Capital provides a straightforward overview of how your finances change over time. You may also sign in through the web or on your mobile device.

Look out for: While the Personal Capital app has spending and net worth tracking features, it’s primarily an investment tool. Some of our other top picks may have more detailed budgeting or savings features.

Download: Apple | Google Play

Monarch Money: Best Budgeting App for Saving for Financial Goals

Pricing: $0 for the Free Plan; Premium Plan has a 7-day free trial, then it’s $14.99 per month or $99.99 annually for the plan

Why it stands out: Monarch Money is a personal finance app and online platform that helps manage your money. 

You may like Monarch Money if you prioritize a budgeting platform that has an intuitive design. It also might be ideal if you want practical savings tools; Monarch Money allows you to create individual goals with customizable names and timelines. 

The platform has two versions — a free plan and a premium plan. With the free plan, you’ll have access to unlimited budgeting, transaction lists, and financial goals. 

If you’d like access to the budgeting platform’s premium features — like unlimited bank accounts, investment tracking, or customizable budgeting categories — you’ll have to pay a monthly or annual fee.

Look out for: Monarch Money’s free version only allows you to make two bank account connections, while the Premium version lets you connect unlimited bank accounts. 

The way Monarch Money counts bank connections is also a bit confusing. For example, if you have multiple bank accounts with the same bank, Monarch will count all the accounts under the same bank as one connection. However, if you and your significant other’s bank accounts are at the same financial institution and connect each of your bank accounts to Monarch Money, it will be counted as two bank connections.

Download: Apple | Google Play

Rocket Money: Best Budgeting App for Reducing Bill Payments and Spending

Pricing: You may choose how much to pay each month through a sliding scale. Rocket Money has a free plan that’s $0. If you would like the premium plan, then pricing varies from $3 per month to $12 per month, depending on the price you think is fair. If you choose the $3 or $4 monthly plan options, you’ll be billed annually instead of monthly.

Why it stands out: Rocket Money was previously known as TrueBill. In June 2022, TrueBill announced it would be changing its name to Rocket Money to better represent the app and its services. It should also be noted that Truebill had become a part of Rocket Companies in December 2021.

Rocket Money analyzes your bills and spending habits and reveals where in your budget you can save money.

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.

Rocket Money has both a free plan and a premium plan. 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.

Look out for: 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.

Download: Apple | Google Play

Other Apps That Didn’t Make the Cut and Why

• Trim: Trim is a good online budgeting platform if you’d like to lower bill payments and get free cancellation services. However, it doesn’t help request bank refunds like Rocket Money does.
• Simplifi by Quicken:  Simplifi allows you to create a detailed monthly spending and savings plan, but it doesn’t have a free version available. There are monthly fee plans or annual fee plans with a 30-day free trial.
• Zeta:  Zeta is a mobile app for couples. It may be worth considering if you want a budgeting platform that also has a desktop version. It wasn’t our top pick because Honeydue has an easier sign-up process and a more straightforward user interface.
• Qapital: Qapital is a mobile app that can help you save and invest either individually or as a couple. It currently doesn’t offer a free version, though.
• You Need a Budget: This app is designed to help you get out of debt and stop living paycheck-to-paycheck — but it takes a long time to set up, has an elaborate interface, and costs $11.99 per month.
• Wally: Wally helps you track your spending by taking pictures of receipts, but it isn’t available in the Google Play store.
• PocketGuard: It’s easy to visualize your spending with this app, but the charts and graphs aren’t always accurate if PocketGuard doesn’t categorize your transactions correctly.
• MVelopes: When you link your bank account to MVelopes, it provides a digital version of the “envelope method” in which you track your spending by keeping money in separate envelopes based on the category — but you’ll spend at least $6 per month for the most basic version.
• GoodBudget: GoodBudget offers a free version of the “envelope method,” but it doesn’t link to your bank account, so you have to be disciplined enough to enter every transaction manually.
• EveryDollar: EveryDollar’s free version helps you track expenses and set goals, but it doesn’t monitor your net worth or credit score like Mint does.
• CountAbout: One feature of CountAbout is that you can import data from Mint — but considering Mint is free, and CountAbout’s most basic plan costs $9.99 per year, you’re better off just downloading Mint.
• PocketSmith: You may like PocketSmith if you want a forecast of your net worth. But its interface isn’t quite as intuitive as those of our top picks.

App Trustworthiness and BBB Ratings

We include ratings from the Better Business Bureau to evaluate how financial institutions address customer issues and handle transparency. Monarch Money is the only company on our list that hasn’t been reviewed by the BBB.

Mint has a A- rating from the BBB due to government action taken against its parent company, Intuit. Honeydue has am F rating is because it hasn’t responded to three customer complaints and it hasn’t been in operation for a long time. Rocket Money has a B rating due to a high volume of 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. 

In May 2022, Intuit was required to pay over $5.4 million to New York residents in a settlement that said the company made free tax filing hard to access for people who qualified. In March 2022, the Federal Trade Commission also sued Intuit, stating the company had deceptive advertising regarding its free tax filing options. These scandals pertain to Intuit’s TurboTax, not Mint.

Methodology: How Did We Choose the Best Budgeting Apps?

Research is an important part of choosing a budgeting app that fits your needs. 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.

Frequently Asked Questions