Personal finance software is a powerful tool for helping you manage your money. It’s also a great way to get control of your finances, make sure you’re on track, and prevent you from getting into trouble in the future.
We’ve put together this guide to help you understand what personal finance software is, how it works, and what makes it different from other kinds of software.
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Personal Finance Software Uk
There’s a reason they call it personal finance — the best personal finance software has everything to do with the person who’s doing the managing. What are her goals? What is his life stage? How much money are we talking here, and is it being managed by one person or more?
Any tool is only as good as your willingness to use it, so it’s important to get the right fit. So the best personal finance software is the one that is right for you.
Fortunately, personal finance is a booming industry, and has created tools for pretty much every life stage, personality type and control-freakery. We’ve sorted through dozens of personal finance managers to bring you these winners. No matter where you are in your ongoing relationship with your money, you’ll find something below that suits your needs.
One ground rule — to be considered for evaluation, a tool or service had to have a low barrier to entry — preferably free or with a free trial. Suggesting you throw away money to test a money-management tool you might not like is just more irony than we’re willing to sign up for.RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU…CLOSEhttps://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.516.0_en.html#goog_16274104041 second of 30 secondsVolume 0% PLAY SOUND
1. Mint
The best personal finance software overallTODAY’S BEST DEALSVIEW AT MINT
REASONS TO BUY
+Full featured but simple to use+Free with ads+Subscription monitoring+Mintsights feature offers guidance
REASONS TO AVOID
-Some ads promote poor financial habits-You can edit subcategories but not top-level ones
Price: Free with ads
If you’re looking for a one-stop shop in your personal finance software and want a full-featured tool that still keeps things simple, Mint is the choice for you. Mint is a web-based tool (with mobile apps, of course) that will help you track spending, design a budget, manage debt, set goals and combine all your accounts (including the weird ones like balloon mortgages) in a single place. Many users love its simple, clean UI — the 2021 design refresh is getting raves — and at-a-glance financial dashboard, with net worth right there at the top.
While Mint and Quicken have long been the top contenders for full-featured financial management for everyday finances, Mint wins as the best personal finance software by being both free and slightly simpler than Quicken. Life is complicated enough already, and you can start your new era of fiscal responsibility right now by saving yourself the $42 annual price tag for Quicken Deluxe.
Mint makes setting up a budget a simple and straightforward process: Once you’ve set up your accounts, Mint takes a crack at categorizing your expenses for you. New in 2021, you can bulk-edit to make category adjustments.
Other powerful additions for 2021 include subscription monitoring, which helps you keep track of the subscriptions that seem to proliferate with every free trial. Mint will even tell you if those subscriptions change price. And personalized Mintsights offer guidance and suggestions to tweak the habits and behaviors that Mint “sees” in your financial activities, in order to help you pay down debt and save more. Mintsights are personalized for each user.
One feature our testers particularly appreciated was Mint’s free credit-score tracking and education. This feature gives you the “why” behind the numbers, breaking down on-time payments, credit usage, and average age of your credit and showing how your behaviors in these areas aid – or hurt – your overall rating.
2. Quicken Deluxe
Best personal finance software for maximum customizationTODAY’S BEST DEALSCHECK AMAZON
REASONS TO BUY
+Full customization of spending categories+More powerful retirement planning, investing features than Mint+Local data storage brings peace of mind
REASONS TO AVOID
-Mac version still lags behind PC, missing multiple currency support and some credit reporting-Free support has limited hoursAdvertisement
Price: $41.99/year, with 30-day free trial
For the oldest player on the field, Quicken’s still got it. The feature set is as robust as any personal finance software out there. And you get more exporting and customization options than Mint, which makes Quicken one of the best personal finance software options.
Longtime Quicken users are familiar with the software’s top-notch budgeting, planning, and spending-analysis tools that have long complemented their robust account-management features. Quicken lets you transfer money between accounts at different institutions, provides specialized investment reports, and helps you create a tailored plan to pay down your debt. Supported account types include investment, retirement, and loan accounts, as well as asset tracking for insurance purposes. For lovers of detail, thoroughness, and tailoring their financial management, Quicken is a great fit.
Since 2019, Quicken users have had the added benefit of a browser interface that lets them interact with their finances on the go. Today, you can view balances and transactions, identify spending trends, and check the performance of your investments from anywhere you can get to a browser.
Still, we can’t help but suspect that its owners at H.I.G. Capital know how tied people get to their historical data. While there’s no arguing with Quicken’s feature set, the switch to a subscription model brings Deluxe to $42 a year. That’s a pretty hefty price tag for personal financial software that, for most users, isn’t much different than the free competition.
In a nutshell: People who have spent years mastering Quicken (and entering their data) have good reason to stick with it. Change is hard! But if you’re just starting out, take a look at Mint or Personal Capital for a lower-cost way to keep track of your ducats.
3. Personal Capital
Best tool for understanding and growing your wealth if you don’t worry about budgeting or billpayTODAY’S BEST DEALSVIEW AT PERSONAL CAPTIAL
REASONS TO BUY
+Robust investment & retirement toolset blows competitors out of the water+Great educational offerings to truly understand your wealth
REASONS TO AVOID
-While it’s possible to add non-retirement savings goals, the guidance offered is thinAdvertisementhttps://31cd28c3755d6a4e67cf70e11fce2ecc.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Price: Free app, with fees for wealth-management services should you choose to use them.
To be blunt: Personal Capital is what you graduate to, from Mint. Both personal finance managers are free, easy and friendly to learn and use, and will show you a comprehensive view of your finances.
Personal Capital, though, has foregone budgeting and bill-payment tools to focus on next-level concerns. Features like its 401(k) analyzer, what-if Retirement Planner, and projected portfolio values are exactly what you need if you have the good fortune to arrive at the phase in which “How am I going to save some money” has become “What am I going to do with it all?” It’s next-level personal finance software, best for people who have gotten to that next level.
4. Acorns
Best way to save without noticing or get your kids started with a savings habitTODAY’S BEST DEALSVIEW AT ACORNS
REASONS TO BUY
+Great way to earn extra money+Several portfolios to get started investing+Family plan helps parents and kids save (and learn) together
REASONS TO AVOID
-Minimum charge of $1 per monthAdvertisementhttps://31cd28c3755d6a4e67cf70e11fce2ecc.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
“Round-up” apps have become common in recent years. The concept is simple: Link your credit or debit card to the app, and whenever you make a purchase, the app rounds up to the nearest dollar and directs those extra pennies to an account. So you keep tossing money into savings without really noticing it’s happened. Acorn puts your money into a diversified portfolio of ETFs, so you’re dabbling in the market, too. You can also set automatic savings transfers to your Acorns account – you’re not limited to the round-up pennies.
As Acorn has grown, so has its ecosystem, and now it really is competitive in the realm of best personal finance software. Grow is its educational arm – a robust set of articles and videos, available with or without an account. Acorns Later lets you save into a Roth, Traditional, or SEP IRA, and you can add a full-featured checking account ($3/month). And with their Earn program, every time an Acorns user shops at select retailers (the list is currently at about 200 partner brands, including Airbnb, Home Depot, and Sephora), you get extra money back.
While Acorns doesn’t technically have a completely free trial, we let it sneak in to this roundup; for just $1, you can try it out for a month. They also have plans that offer checking, investment, and retirement accounts ($3/month) and a family version that lets you add your kids and provides materials to help teach them about money ($5/month).
5. Yotta
Best way to make a game of saving more moneyTODAY’S BEST DEALSVIEW AT YOTTA
REASONS TO BUY
+Gamification is fun +The yield is better than most major banks
REASONS TO AVOID
-You can find higher savings yields with online banks-Now full-featured personal finance software-Amateurish interface
When financial pressures increase, it’s easy to turn to measures like the lottery. You could win so big. But you probably won’t, and the money you spent trying is just…gone. Yotta has come along to turn that model on its head. Advertisement
Fundamentally, Yotta is a free app that lets you save in an FDIC-insured account…and then gamble with it. But not really a gamble. The creators of Yotta found a way to keep the thrill while replacing the risk with an incentive to save and upping the odds of winning.
Yotta provides a savings account with a middling yield (.2%, which is still better than many brick-and-mortar banks — Wells Fargo’s standard account earns a measly .01%). But the potential to win real money increases along with your savings balance: every $25 in your account gets you an automatic (and free) ticket to that week’s “lottery.” Every night, Yotta gives away money — the smallest prize is 10 cents, and the largest? $10,000,000 for matching all 7 numbers in the Sunday night drawing.
Think about it: in one year, $1,000 in a standard Wells Fargo savings account would net 21 cents in interest. That same balance would earn $10.50 in today’s highest-yield online savings account, or $4.20 at Yotta before prizes. But at Yotta, even winning a measly $7 over the course of the year would vault you past them all. (One of our testers averaged 40 cents per week with the $1000 test; the other, .25. Now, there’s no guarantee on the annualized amount, but the trend looks good for beating even high-yield checking by a mile.)
Plus — fun. And our testers found themselves more engaged in their savings and motivated to save more.
Note: Yotta odds are best for users who keep under $25k in their savings accounts. To keep the same fat cats from gobbling up the winnings every week, accounts with over $25k in them “pay” $150 per ticket, while the lower tier gets a ticket for every $25.
6. Honeydue
Best for managing finances with a partnerTODAY’S BEST DEALSVIEW AT HONEYDUE
REASONS TO BUY
+Annotations on transactions facilitate easy conversations+Good for couples with completely combined finances as well as those who keep some things separate
REASONS TO AVOID
-The budgeting functionality could be more robustAdvertisement
Financial concerns are one of the biggest sources of stress in couples. Honeydue, personal finance software built for two, has set out to make it easier.
Honeydue offers the typical features of personal finance software, but also provides the ability to mark an account as joint or just the responsibility of one person in the relationship. Additional couple-centric features include marking a transaction for splitting, or notifying you both when a bill gets paid – particularly helpful for couples who divvy up the bills. You can add a note or question to a transaction, and your partner will be notified that it’s there.
Shared finances are rife with critical conversations: What are our goals? How do we feel about the amount of debt we are carrying? Do one or both of us need to be earning more? No amount of software can have that conversation for you. But “Hey, did that bill get paid?” or “I think you owe me $17 for that thing…” – when you let software handle those logistics, you can free yourselves up for the human conversations that matter most.
7. YNAB
Best way to undergo a wholesale budgeting conversionTODAY’S BEST DEALSYNABUS$6.99/mthVISIT SITEat YNAB
REASONS TO BUY
+Works within an ecosystem designed to help you succeed+Supports Alexa and the Apple Watch+Customer service includes community of helpful users
REASONS TO AVOID
-At 11.99/month, it’s relatively expensive-Interface has a spreadsheet vibeAdvertisement
Give every dollar a job! That’s the friendly mandate of You Need a Budge ($11.99 per month), a tool that’s as much a philosophy as it is an app. YNAB is the best personal finance software if you want to truly understand your money and its management.
The YNAB software (desktop software for the big view, as well as solid mobile experiences) comes within an entire ecosystem that offers all the support, education, and encouragement to help you go the distance with a budget after the glow of that New Year’s resolution has worn off. The YNAB universe includes a blog, videos, a podcast, book and more.
Whether a dollar’s job is to be spent or to be saved, YNAB helps you think through your whole financial picture to ensure all your money is doing the right job for you. Definitely take advantage of the 34-day free trial; that’s a month to get the hang of it plus a few days to think it over.)
8. Goal Tracker & Habit List
Best simple way to integrate good money habits into your big pictureTODAY’S BEST DEALSVIEW AT GOOGLE PLAY
REASONS TO BUY
+Minimal startup hassles+Puts your focus on your behaviors rather than the specifics
REASONS TO AVOID
-Ugly interfaceAdvertisementhttps://31cd28c3755d6a4e67cf70e11fce2ecc.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
This free, simple mobile app isn’t specifically personal finance software, which makes it a dark horse but potentially perfect for people who want to focus on overall healthy habits. If you consider money as just one piece of living your best life, check out this handy little app and integrate financial habits into other practices you’d like to develop.
You can use the app on its own (if you want the habits but don’t want to sweat the numbers) or in conjunction with any of the traditional trackers above (if you still want to keep tabs on where your money goes, or track toward specific goals).
But we liked this one best for its combination of simplicity and flexibility. Did you do your thing today? A green check or red X shows you instantly where you stand. Boom, done. But where Goal Tracker & Habit List really stands apart for money-management purposes is that it lets you set a goal by day, week, month, or whatever, as well as set durations for the habits.
Nobody needs to be checking their credit-card statement daily. But if you’re trying to change your spending habits, once a week for three months might be a good idea. You get to set when and whether the app reminds you for each specific goal.
Goal Tracker & Habit List is mobile-only, which is, in our minds, is the best medium for such a tool.
non cloud personal finance software
Managing your money successfully includes keeping a close eye on your expenses. One way to do that is to take advantage of free software and services. Free personal finance software can be surprisingly robust, helping you track spending, create and manage budgets, and run reports.
Whether your computer runs on Windows or macOS (or even Linux) or you do all your budgeting on your phone, you’ll find a no-cost selection below for tracking your finances and planning for the future.
You can complete your financial toolset with free personal tax preparation software to keep more of your money in your pocket.
Mint
Mint is a free online budget planner from Intuit, the makers of TurboTax and Quickbooks. This app brings all of your financial data together, showing you an overview of your budget, spending, bills, and credit score. You can create your own budget, set goals and reminders, and sync your data between web and apps. Security is enhanced by encryption and multi-factor authentication. You can also use Mint to track your investments and portfolio.
Access Mint via the web or phone apps for iOS and Android.
GnuCash
GnuCash is desktop software; its features include tracking bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses. GnuCash is based on double-entry accounting for balanced books and you can run a number of reports to see your financial data. GnuCash also offers small-business accounting tools that let you manage customers and vendors, handle invoicing and bill payment, and even payroll.
GnuCash is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, BSD, and Solaris. There is a companion app for Android that will let you track expenses on the go and later import them into the desktop software.
AceMoney Lite
AceMoney Lite bills itself as the best Quicken alternative. You can manage your budgets, track your finances in multiple currencies, keep an eye on your investments and analyze your spending habits. You can also do online banking. As this is the lite version, you’re limited to two accounts; the full version supports unlimited accounts.
AceMoney Lite is compatible with Windows and Mac OS X.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital offers free financial software for tracking investments and planning for retirement, in addition to its tools for cash flow, spending, budgeting and net worth. Personal Capital’s focus is on investments, showing you the performance of your portfolio over time and helping you make decisions for the future, so its budgeting components aren’t as robust as other software.
If you’re not an investor or prefer fine-tuning your budget to getting the broad view, Personal Capital may not be the best fit. However, if you want to save for college or retirement, its free tools will show you whether you’re on track.
Personal Capital can be accessed via the web or apps for Android and iOS.
Buddi
budgeting software
Westend61 / Getty Images
Buddi is an open-source budget software that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems and has been translated into multiple languages. Buddi can encrypt financial data with a password, and it’s designed to be easy to use even if you have no financial background.
Features include budgeting, tracking accounts, and personal finance reports, but you will have to enter transactions manually. Free plugins add more features, and the online user manual is easy to read and use.
Buddi is compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Free Budget Spreadsheets
pearbudget home page
pearbudget.com
If you don’t need fully featured personal financial software and you’re just concerned about keeping a budget, there are some great free budget spreadsheet templates you can use with Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice Calc or Google Sheets. Just download and open them in your spreadsheet software to get a handle on your cash flow.
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