Best Budgeting Apps

YNAB rises to the top of our list because of its budgeting philosophy. The company offers a free trial for 34 days (no credit card required), and after that, the cost is $99 per year. If you prefer to pay less upfront, the cost is $14.99 per month.

YNAB allows you to sync your bank accounts, import your data from a file, or manually enter each transaction. To begin, the company suggests learning the basics about the app through video courses, a live workshop, or reading a guide. YNAB offers a proactive budgeting approach rather than tracking what you have already spent, like some competitors.

After signing up, you create your first budget and assign every dollar a purpose, such as your rent or car payment. The goal is to eventually get at least one month ahead, so you’re spending money you earned 30 days ago. The company offers extensive educational resources and customer support to keep you on track.   

YNAB says privacy and security are its top priority. The company protects your information by using bank-level encryption for all data, best practices for password security, third-party audits, and more.

Mint offers the best-known free budgeting app on the market. It’s a great option for anyone looking to improve their spending habits. The app is free, but you may see targeted financial product advertisements.

You may sync your financial accounts within the app or manually add transactions. Mint allows you to see all your accounts in one place and keep track of your daily spending. The app automatically organizes your spending so you can see totals by category at a glance.

Mint also offers monthly bill tracking, including payment reminders to avoid late fees. The app also offers the ability to keep track of your investments and check portfolio fees. Mint offers a few education resources like a home affordability calculator, loan repayment calculator, and a blog with various personal finance topics. 

Mint protects your data through features like security scanning with Verisign, multi-factor authentication, and touch ID mobile access. The company stores your login information in a separate database with multiple layers of hardware and software encryption.

Simplifi by Quicken ranks best for cash flow because of the app’s effective tracking capabilities. It’s the best option for staying on top of how much you can spend between your paychecks. The app offers a free 30-day trial, and then you will pay $3.99 per month (billed annually at $47.99) or $5.99 per month if you choose not to pay upfront.

To get started, you have to sync bank accounts, and then you will have a complete snapshot of your finances. The app automatically categorizes your spending, tracks recurring bills and subscriptions, and stays on top of upcoming expenses.

One standout feature is the app’s custom watchlists, which allow you to limit spending by category or payee. Also, the custom spending plan monitors cash flow to make sure you never spend more than you make. Simplifi by Quicken offers tips while you’re using the app, but there’s also a blog full of educational content at your fingertips. 

Security and privacy are top priorities for Quicken, the app’s parent company. Quicken has been trusted with sensitive financial data for decades and continues to work on new security measures. The app uses 256-bit encryption to transmit banking data and keeps the information confidential.

PocketGuard earned the top spot as best for overspenders because its features focus on helping users control overspending. The app offers a free and a paid, premium version, PocketGuard Plus.

To get started, you need to connect your checking, savings, and credit card accounts. The app can see what you are spending, where to save and reminds you when credit card bills are due. PocketGuard's "In My Pocket" feature uses an algorithm to identify how much money you can spend based on your income, upcoming bills, goals, recent spending, and budgets. 

The app offers a smart bill reminder to keep track of due dates and shows where you may be able to negotiate for lower bills. There's also an automated savings feature, which allows you to set a goal and save for it. PocketGuard automatically moves the money to a bank account on your behalf.

PocketGuard Plus offers additional features like creating your categories, changing transaction dates, the ability to export data, tracking cash, managing ATM deposits and withdrawals, and splitting up transactions. The company also publishes an educational blog for additional opportunities to learn. 

PocketGuard prioritizes security with 256-bit encryption, a four-digit PIN, and biometrics like Touch ID and Face ID as another layer of protection.

Empower lands at the top of our list as the best app for building wealth. You can use the product’s dashboards to sync accounts for a complete picture of your finances. The company’s primary app is free, with the option to add investment management services for 0.89% of your money for accounts under $1 million.

Unfortunately, Empower doesn’t allow you to add budgeting transactions manually, but you can manually add investments without syncing those accounts. You can use Empower’s budgeting tools to see your total income and expenses every month. While you can’t create specific goals, you can add a budget, compare it to previous months, and see your spending by categories. 

Although the company’s budgeting features aren’t as comprehensive as others, Empower does offer better investing tools. You can use the dashboard to see changes to your net worth over time, and Empower’s Fee Analyzer gives you a closer look into your portfolio fees.

You may also prepare for the future with the company’s Retirement Planner tool or save for college with the Education Planner tool. Empower’s blog, Daily Capital, covers a range of financial planning topics for beginners to more experienced users alike.   

Empower protects your data with encryption, fraud protection, and robust authentication. No one has access to your login credentials, and the company’s partnership with Yodlee, a veteran financial technology company, offers another layer of security.

Read the full Empower review.

Zeta earns a spot on our list because the free budgeting app caters to all types of couples. The product also offers a free joint bank account to manage spending and paying bills. Zeta’s Money Manager app and Joint Cards are free.

The Zeta Money Manager app allows you to sync accounts or manually add data for a shared view of your finances. The app can create budgets, track spending, set up joint goals, and manage bills. A few standout features include sharing controls, shared and personal budgets, bill reminders, and more. Zeta helps you stay focused on your goals and connect your financial actions to reaching them. Zeta’s Money Date Mag, an online publication covering love and money in the modern age, includes articles to boost your financial knowledge.

The Zeta Joint Cards offer bank account access with FDIC insurance through LendingClub Bank, no monthly fees or minimums, and 0.48% APY. The account provides special features like unlimited transfers, contactless payments, and bill pay. The company uses state-of-the-art bank-level security to keep your data safe. They don’t store your financial logins, and the company uses two-factor authentication and data-encrypted databases.