5 of the Best Budgeting Apps Ever
Updated: Apr 20
Budgeting can be overwhelming; trust me, as someone who’s struggled with finances, I know.
I prided myself on being a numbers girl, but honestly, I didn’t feel like budgeting.
I felt like I was so broke. What was there to budget?
But I quickly learned I was broke because I put off budgeting for so long. I realized people with money have it because of their budget.
And….., while I’m more of a paper-and-pencil kind of girl, I enjoyed trying out a few budgeting apps over the years.
Here are 5 of the best budgeting apps ever!
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Mint
Mint is one of the personal finance management apps that everyone is talking about.
Rightly so, because it offers so many amazing features with its user-friendly platform.
Did I mention it’s free?
You can link all your accounts from checking and savings, credit cards, and brokerage. Just to name a few.
Once all accounts are linked in you can categorize your spending and track them against a budget that you can adjust to fit your needs.
Pros
Offers free version
Account Sync
Track Investments
Payment Reminders
Set savings goals
Educational tools via Blog
Realtime Alerts, ATM fees, over budget, large purchases, etc.
Super powerful and secure platform
Cons
Advertisements
Some complaints about technical issues
Overall customer rating
Google: 4.5
Apple: 4.8
Pocket Guard
Pocket Guard does just what the title imply, guard your pocket.
You’re able to track your spending by linking your accounts, so you get to see your accounts all in one place.
You set savings goals to help you plan for life's small and big events.
It also allows you to track subscriptions and cancel what you don’t use.
Pros
Offers free version
Easy to use
Cancel Subscriptions (for Premium)
Sync accounts
Set savings goals and track investments
See what you have for daily spending
Super powerful and secure platform
Cons
More features available on the Premium version
No Phone support
Some users complain of technical issues
Overall customer rating
Google: 4.2
Apple: 4.7
Rocket Money
Another great contender in the world of automated budgeting is Rocket Money, formerly known as Truebill.
You may remember this app for its promise to save you money by canceling unused subscriptions, but now with the power of Rocket, it’s become so much more.
Not only can you cancel subscriptions, but you can also negotiate bills, link your financial accounts, budget and track your expenses, set savings goals, and monitor your investments.
There is a free version that is limited, but the paid version is not bad if you need to upgrade.
Pros
Offers free version
Cancel subscriptions
Negotiate bills
Sync accounts
Gives tips on ways to save money on utilities
Monitor outages and request a credit
Premium plans are affordable
Super powerful and secure
Cons
Ads
No retirement planning
Bill negotiation and Electric saver are on Premium Plan
Overall customer rating
Google: 4.3
Apple: 4.4
Fudget
Now if you want a very simpler user-friendly interface without all the bells and whistles, you may enjoy using Fudget.
They offer a free version or a one-time payment of $3.99 for its pro version.
You won’t have the ability to sync your accounts, so you’ll have to input your incoming and outgoing expenses using a calculator-type interface.
No bells and whistles with this app.
So if you prefer straightforward features and a do-it-yourself approach to things, you’ll love this app.
Pros
Free Version, One-time fee for Pro $3.99
Use friendly zero-based budget
Helps track bills
Make adjustments monthly
Export budget as a CSV
Super simple basics for budgeting
Cons
No categorizations of Expenses
No account sync
No tracking of savings and investments
Overall customer rating
Google: 4.6
Apple: 4.8
Good Budgets
If you love the envelope method, you’ll love GoodBudget, because it allows you to plan your spending by portioning out your income into categories.
It doesn’t add to your bank accounts, so you’ll have to add your income and cash manually, then assign them to the different envelopes you create.
It has a free version that allows you to have a limited number of envelopes, 1 account, and 2 devices.
For $8 per month, the paid version allows you to have unlimited envelopes, unlimited accounts, and 5 devices.
Pros
Free version
Great for couples budgeting together
Track debt payoff progress
Access the same account on multiple devices
Cons
No account sync
Limited envelopes in the free version
Manual transaction input
Overall customer rating
Google: 4.4
Apple: 4.7
Major Take Away
Budgeting is like exercising. You never want to do it until you have to. But once you start, you love it.
Not only will you love it, you immediately start to feel its positive effects.
So, stop putting off budgeting; whether you prefer paper or an app I’ve covered, start it today.
Subscribe to my site to get my free yearly budget book, or try one of these apps above.
Happy Budgeting!