It has been over one 12 months since Intuit shut down the favored budgeting app Mint. I used to be a Mint person for a few years; hundreds of thousands of different customers like me loved how simply Mint allowed us to trace all accounts in a single place and monitor credit score scores. I additionally used it usually to assist me observe spending, set targets like pay my mortgage down sooner and with normal cash administration.
Forward of Mint’s demise, I gave Credit Karma, Intuit’s different monetary app, a attempt however discovered it to be a poor Mint different. So I got down to discover a true alternative in one other budgeting app. The next information lays out my expertise testing a number of the hottest Mint alternative apps obtainable in the present day.
Our choose for finest Mint different stays Quicken Simplifi, even this lengthy after Mint being shut down, due to its straightforward to make use of app, good earnings and invoice detection and its inexpensive value. However there are many different strong choices on the market for these with completely different wants. When you’re additionally on the hunt for a budgeting app to exchange Mint, we hope these particulars can empower you to decide on which of the best budgeting apps on the market can be best for you.
Desk of contents
Finest Mint options in 2025
No pun meant, however what I like about Quicken Simplifi is its simplicity. Whereas different budgeting apps attempt to distinguish themselves with darkish themes and customizable emoji, Simplifi has a clear person interface, with a touchdown web page that you simply simply preserve scrolling by to get an in depth overview of all of your stats. These embody your top-line balances; internet value; current spending; upcoming recurring funds; a snapshot of your spending plan; prime spending classes; achievements; and any watchlists you’ve arrange.
One other one of many key options I recognize is the power to arrange financial savings targets elsewhere within the app. I additionally recognize the way it provides neat, virtually playful visualizations with out ever trying cluttered. I felt at dwelling within the cellular and internet dashboards after a day or so, which is quicker than I tailored to some competing companies (I’m you, YNAB and Monarch).
Getting arrange with Simplifi was largely painless. I used to be notably impressed at how simply it related to Constancy; not all funds trackers do, for no matter motive. That is additionally one of many solely companies I examined that offers you the choice of inviting a partner or monetary advisor to co-manage your account. One factor I might add to my preliminary evaluation of the app, having used it for a couple of months now: I want Simplifi provided Zillow integration for simply monitoring your own home worth (or not less than a tough estimate of it). Varied opponents together with Monarch Cash and Copilot Cash work with Zillow, so clearly there is a Zillow API obtainable to be used. Because it stands, Simplifi customers should add actual property manually like every other asset.
In follow, Simplifi miscategorized a few of my bills, however nothing out of the peculiar in comparison with any of those funds trackers. As you’re reviewing transactions, you may as well mark in the event you’re anticipating a refund, which is a singular function among the many companies I examined. Simplifi additionally estimated my common earnings higher than another apps I examined. Most of all, I appreciated the choice of with the ability to categorize some, however not all, purchases from a service provider as recurring. For example, I can add my two Amazon subscribe-and-saves as recurring funds, with out having to create a broad-strokes rule for each Amazon buy.
The budgeting function can also be self-explanatory and may probably accommodate your most well-liked budgeting technique. Simply verify that your common earnings is correct and be sure you arrange recurring funds, making be aware of that are payments and that are subscriptions. That is vital as a result of Simplifi exhibits you your complete take-home earnings in addition to an “earnings after payments” determine. That quantity contains, effectively, payments however not discretionary subscriptions. From there, you’ll be able to add spending targets by class within the “deliberate spending” bucket. Deliberate spending can even embody one-time expenditures, not simply month-to-month budgets. Whenever you create a funds, Simplifi will counsel a quantity primarily based on a six-month common.
Not dealbreakers, however two issues to remember as you get began: Simplifi is notable in that you would be able to’t arrange an account by Apple or Google. There may be additionally no possibility for a free trial, although Quicken guarantees a “30-day a refund assure.”
Monarch Money grew on me. My first impression of the budgeting app, which was based by a former Mint product supervisor, was that it is tougher to make use of than others on this listing, together with Simplifi, NerdWallet and Copilot. And it’s. Modifying expense classes, including recurring transactions and creating guidelines, for instance, is a bit more difficult than it must be, particularly within the cellular app. (My recommendation: Use the net app for fine-tuning particulars.) Monarch additionally didn’t get my earnings proper; I needed to edit it.
When you’re arrange, although, Monarch provides a powerful degree of granularity. Within the budgets part, you’ll be able to see a bona fide steadiness sheet exhibiting budgets and actuals for every class. You will additionally discover a forecast, for the 12 months or by month. And recurring bills may be set not simply by service provider, however different parameters as effectively. For example, whereas most Amazon purchases is likely to be marked as “purchasing,” these for the quantities of $54.18 or $34.18 are positively child provides, and may be routinely marked as such every time, to not point out programmed as recurring funds. Weirdly, although, there’s no method to mark sure recurring funds as payments, particularly.
Not lengthy after I first printed this story in December 2023, Monarch introduced an in depth reporting part the place you’ll be able to create on-demand graphs primarily based on issues like accounts, classes and tags. That function is on the market simply on the internet model of the app for now. As a part of this identical replace, Monarch added assist for an aggregator that makes it attainable to routinely replace the worth of your automobile. This, mixed with the present Zillow integration for monitoring your own home worth, makes it straightforward to shortly add a non-liquid asset like a automobile or actual property, and have it present up in your internet value graph.
The cellular app is usually self-explanatory. The primary dashboard exhibits your internet value; your 4 most up-to-date transactions; a month-over-month spending comparability; earnings month-to-date; upcoming payments; an investments snapshot; a listing of any targets you’ve set; and, lastly, a hyperlink to your month-in-review. That month-in-review is extra detailed than most, delving into money stream; prime earnings and expense classes; money stream developments; modifications to your internet value, belongings and liabilities; plus asset and legal responsibility breakdowns. In February 2024, Monarch expanded on the net worth graph, in order that in the event you click on on the Accounts tab you’ll be able to see how your internet value modified over completely different intervals of time, together with one month, three months, six months, a 12 months or all time.
On the principle display screen, you’ll additionally discover tabs for financial savings and checking accounts (and all others as effectively), transactions, money stream, funds and recurring. Like lots of the different apps featured right here, Monarch can auto-detect recurring bills and earnings, even when it will get the class mistaken. (All of them do to an extent.) Expense classes are marked by emoji, which you’ll be able to customise in the event you’re so inclined.
Monarch Cash makes use of a mix of networks to attach with banks, together with Plaid, MX and Finicity, a competing community owned by Mastercard. (I’ve a fast explainer on Plaid, the business customary on this house, towards the tip of this information.) As a part of an replace in late December, Monarch has additionally made it simpler to attach by these different two networks, if for some motive Plaid fails. Much like NerdWallet, I discovered myself finishing two-factor authentication each time I needed to get previous the Plaid display screen so as to add one other account. Notably, Monarch is the one different app I examined that permits you to grant entry to another person in your loved ones — probably a partner or monetary advisor. Monarch additionally has a Chrome extension for importing from Mint, although actually that is only a shortcut for downloading a CSV file, which you’ll should do no matter the place you select to take your Mint knowledge.
Moreover, Monarch simply added the power to trace Apple Card, Apple Money, and Financial savings accounts, due to new performance introduced with the iOS 17.4 replace. It is not the one one both; presently, Copilot and YNAB have additionally added related performance that can be obtainable to anybody with the most recent variations of their respective apps on a tool operating iOS 17.4. As an alternative of manually importing statements, the brand new performance permits apps like Monarch’s to routinely pull in transactions and steadiness historical past. That ought to make it simpler to account for spending on Apple playing cards and accounts all through the month.
Monarch additionally not too long ago launched funding transactions in beta. It additionally says invoice monitoring and an overhauled targets system are coming quickly. Monarch hasn’t supplied a timeline for that final one, besides to say that the improved targets function is coming quickly.
Copilot Money is likely to be the best-looking budgeting app I examined. It additionally has the excellence of being unique to iOS and Macs — not less than for now. Andres Ugarte, the corporate’s CEO, has publicly promised that Android and internet apps are coming quickly. However till it follows by, I can’t advocate Copilot for most individuals with so many good opponents on the market.
Copilot Cash for Net and Android!
Due to the assist from our customers, and the overwhelming optimistic reception we’re seeing from of us migrating from Mint, we are able to now say that we’ll be constructing @copilotmoney for Net and Android with a objective to launch in 2024.
We’ll proceed to…
— Andres Ugarte (@chuga) November 15, 2023
There are different options that Copilot is lacking, which I’ll get into. However it’s promising, and one to regulate. It’s only a quick, environment friendly, effectively designed app, and Android customers can be in for a deal with once they’ll lastly be capable to obtain it. It makes good use of colours, emoji and graphs that will help you perceive at a look the way you’re doing on every little thing out of your budgets to your funding efficiency to your bank card debt over time. Specifically, Copilot does a greater job than virtually every other app of visualizing your recurring month-to-month bills.
Behind these punchy colours and cutesy emoji, although, is a few subtle efficiency. Copilot’s AI-powered “Intelligence” will get smarter as you go at categorizing your bills. (You may as well add your personal classes, full together with your selection of emoji.) It’s not excellent. Copilot miscategorized some purchases (all of them do), but it surely makes it simpler to edit than most. On prime of that, the inner search function could be very quick; it begins whittling down ends in your transaction historical past as quickly as you start typing.
Copilot can also be distinctive in providing Amazon and Venmo integrations, permitting you to see transaction particulars. With Amazon, this requires simply signing into your Amazon account through an in-app browser. For Venmo, you must arrange fwd@copilot.cash as a forwarding tackle after which create a filter, whereby emails from venmo@venmo.com are routinely forwarded to fwd@copilot.cash. Like Monarch Cash, you may as well add any property you personal and observe its worth by Zillow, which is built-in with the app.
Whereas the app is closely automated, I nonetheless recognize that Copilot marks new transactions for evaluation. It’s a great way to each weed out fraudulent costs, and in addition be considerably intentional about your spending habits.
Like Monarch Cash, Copilot up to date its app to make it simpler to hook up with banks by networks apart from Plaid. As a part of the identical replace, Copilot stated it has improved its connections to each American Specific and Constancy which, once more, generally is a bugbear for some funds monitoring apps. In an much more current replace, Copilot added a Mint import possibility, which different budgeting apps have begun to supply as effectively.
As a result of the app is comparatively new (it launched in early 2020), the corporate remains to be catching as much as the competitors on some table-stakes options. Ugarte informed me that his workforce is sort of finished constructing out an in depth money stream part as effectively. On its website, Copilot additionally guarantees a raft of AI-powered options that construct on its present “Intelligence” platform, the one which powers its sensible expense categorization. These embody “sensible monetary targets,” pure language search, a chat interface, forecasting and benchmarking. That benchmarking, Ugarte tells me, is supposed to provide individuals a way of how they’re doing in comparison with different Copilot customers, on each spending and funding efficiency. Most of those options ought to arrive within the new 12 months.
Copilot does a pair attention-grabbing issues for brand new clients that distinguish it from the competitors. There’s a “demo mode” that looks like a sport simulator; no want so as to add your personal accounts. The corporate can also be providing two free months with RIPMINT — a extra beneficiant introductory provide than most. When it lastly does come time to pony up, the $7.92 month-to-month plan is cheaper than some competing apps, though the $95-a-year-option is in the identical ballpark.
Chances are you’ll know NerdWallet as a website that gives a mixture of private finance information, explainers and guides. I see it usually once I google a monetary time period I don’t know and positive sufficient, it’s one of many websites I’m almost certainly to click on on. Because it occurs, NerdWallet additionally has the excellence of providing one of many solely free budgeting apps I examined. In truth, there isn’t a paid model; nothing is locked behind a paywall. The primary catch: There are adverts in all places. To be honest, the free model of Mint was like this, too.
Even with the inescapable bank card provides, NerdWallet has a clear, easy-to-understand person interface, which incorporates each an online and a cellular app. The important thing metrics that it highlights most prominently are your money stream, internet value and credit score rating. (Of be aware, though Mint itself provided credit score rating monitoring, most of its rivals don’t.) I notably loved the weekly insights, which delve into issues like the place you spent probably the most cash or how a lot you paid in charges — and the way that compares to the earlier month. As a result of that is NerdWallet, an encyclopedia of monetary information, you get some notably particular class choices when organising your accounts (assume: a Roth or non-Roth IRA).
As a budgeting app, NerdWallet is greater than serviceable, if a bit fundamental. Like different apps I examined, you’ll be able to arrange recurring payments. Importantly, it follows the favored 50/30/20 budgeting rule, which has you placing 50% of your funds towards stuff you want, 30% towards stuff you need, and the remaining 20% into financial savings or debt repayments. If this works for you, nice — simply know that you would be able to’t customise your funds to the identical diploma as some competing apps. You’ll be able to’t presently create customized spending classes, although a be aware contained in the dashboard part of the app says “you’ll be capable to customise them sooner or later.” You can also’t transfer objects from the desires column to “wants” or vice versa however “Sooner or later, you can transfer particular transactions to actively handle what falls into every group.” A NerdWallet spokesperson declined to supply an ETA, although.
Lastly, it’s value noting that NerdWallet had probably the most onerous setup processes of any app I examined. I don’t assume it is a dealbreaker, as you’ll solely should do it as soon as and, hopefully, you aren’t organising six or seven apps in tandem as I used to be. What made NerdWallet’s onboarding particularly tedious is that each time I needed so as to add an account, I needed to undergo a two-factor authentication course of to even get previous the Plaid splash display screen, and that’s not together with the 2FA I had arrange at every of my banks. It is a safety coverage on NerdWallet’s finish, not Plaid’s, a Plaid spokesperson says.
Exactly as a result of NerdWallet is likely one of the solely funds trackers to supply credit score rating monitoring, it additionally wants extra of your private information throughout setup, together with your birthday, tackle, telephone quantity and the final 4 digits of your social safety quantity. It’s the identical with Credit score Karma, which additionally does credit score rating monitoring.
Associated to the setup course of, I discovered that NerdWallet was much less adept than different apps at routinely detecting my common earnings. In my case, it counted a big one-time wire switch as earnings, at which level my solely different possibility was to enter my earnings manually (which is barely annoying as a result of I might have wanted my pay stub useful to double-check my take-home pay).
YNAB is, by its own admission, “completely different from something you’ve tried earlier than.” The app, whose identify is brief for You Want a Finances, promotes a so-called zero-based budgeting system, which forces you to assign a goal for each greenback you earn. A regularly used analogy is to place every greenback in an envelope; you’ll be able to all the time transfer cash from one envelope to a different in a pinch. These envelopes can embody hire and utilities, together with unexpected bills like vacation presents and the inevitable automobile restore. The concept is that in the event you funds a specific amount for the unknowns every month, they gained’t really feel like they’re sneaking up on you.
Importantly, YNAB is simply involved with the cash you could have in your accounts now. The app doesn’t ask you to supply your take-home earnings or arrange recurring earnings funds (though there’s a method to do that). The cash you’ll make later within the month by your salaried job is just not related, as a result of YNAB doesn’t interact in forecasting.
The app is tougher to study than every other right here, and it requires extra ongoing effort from the person. And YNAB is aware of that. Inside each the cellular and internet apps are hyperlinks to movies and different tutorials. Though I by no means fairly acquired comfy with the person interface, I did come to understand YNAB’s insistence on intentionality. Forcing customers to draft a brand new funds every month and to evaluation every transaction is just not essentially a nasty factor. As YNAB says on its web site, “Certain, you’ve acquired pie charts exhibiting that you simply spent an obscene amount of cash in eating places — however you’ve nonetheless spent an obscene amount of cash in eating places.” I can see this method being helpful for individuals who don’t are inclined to have a whole lot of money in reserve at a given time, or who’ve spending habits they need to right (to riff off of YNAB’s personal instance, ordering Seamless 4 instances per week).
My colleague Valentina Palladino, realizing I used to be engaged on this information, penned a respectful rebuttal, explaining why she’s been utilizing YNAB for years. Maybe, like her, you could have main financial savings targets you need to obtain, whether or not it’s paying for a marriage or shopping for a home. I counsel you give her column a learn. For me, although, YNAB’s method looks like overkill.
PocketGuard is likely one of the solely respected free funds trackers I discovered in my analysis. Simply realize it’s much more restricted on the free tier than NerdWallet or Mint. In my testing, I used to be prompted to pay after I tried to hyperlink greater than two financial institution accounts. A lot totally free, until you retain issues easy with one money account and one bank card. When it comes time to improve to PocketGuard Plus, you could have three choices: pay $7.99 a month, $34.99 a 12 months or $79.99 for a one-time lifetime license. That lifetime possibility is definitely one of many few distinctive promoting factors for me: I’m positive some individuals will recognize paying as soon as and by no means having to, uh, funds for it once more.
From the principle display screen, you’ll see tabs for accounts, insights, transactions and the “Plan,” which is the place you see recurring funds stacked on prime of what appears to be like like a funds. The primary overview display screen exhibits you your internet value, complete belongings and money owed; internet earnings and complete spending for the month; upcoming payments; a useful reminder of when your subsequent paycheck lands; any debt payoff plan you could have; and any targets.
Like another apps, together with Quicken Simplifi, PocketGuard promotes an “after payments” method, the place you enter your entire recurring payments, after which PocketGuard exhibits you what’s left, and that’s what you’re imagined to be budgeting: your disposable earnings. Clearly, different apps have a special philosophy: take note of your entire post-tax earnings and use it to pay the payments, buy stuff you need and perhaps even save a bit. However in PocketGuard, it’s the “in your pocket” quantity that’s most distinguished. To PocketGuard’s credit score, it does an excellent job visualizing which payments are upcoming and which of them you’ve already paid.
PocketGuard has additionally publicly committed to including some standard options. These embody rollover budgeting, categorization guidelines and shared family entry.
Though PocketGuard’s UI is straightforward sufficient to grasp, it lacks polish. The “accounts” tab is a bit busy, and doesn’t present totals for classes like money or investments. Seemingly small particulars like weirdly phrased or punctuated copy often make the app really feel janky. Greater than as soon as, it prompted me to replace the app when no updates had been obtainable. The net model, in the meantime, feels just like the cellular app blown as much as a bigger format and doesn’t make the most of the additional display screen actual property.
Of be aware, though PocketGuard does work with Plaid, its main bank-connecting platform is definitely Finicity. Establishing my accounts by Finicity was largely a simple course of. I did encounter one hiccup: Finicity wouldn’t hook up with my SoFi account. I used to be in a position to do it by Plaid, however PocketGuard doesn’t make it straightforward to entry Plaid within the app. The one method, so far as I can inform, is to knowingly seek for the identify of a financial institution that isn’t obtainable by Finicity, at which level you get the choice to attempt Plaid as a substitute. Like I stated: the expertise may be janky.
What’s Plaid and the way does it work?
Every of the apps I examined makes use of the identical underlying community, referred to as Plaid, to tug in monetary knowledge, so it’s value explaining in its personal part what it’s and the way it works. Plaid was based as a fintech startup in 2013 and is in the present day the business customary in connecting banks with third-party apps. Plaid works with over 12,000 monetary establishments throughout the US, Canada and Europe. Moreover, greater than 8,000 third-party apps and companies depend on Plaid, the company claims.
To be clear, you don’t want a devoted Plaid app to make use of it; the expertise is baked into a big selection of apps, together with the funds trackers I examined for this information. As soon as you discover the “add an account” possibility in whichever one you’re utilizing, you’ll see a menu of generally used banks. There’s additionally a search discipline you should utilize to look yours up immediately. As soon as you discover yours, you’ll be prompted to enter your login credentials. When you have two-factor authentication arrange, you’ll must enter a one-time passcode as effectively.
Because the intermediary, Plaid is a passthrough for data which will embody your account balances, transaction historical past, account kind and routing or account quantity. Plaid makes use of encryption, and says it has a coverage of not promoting or renting buyer knowledge to different corporations. Nonetheless, I might not be doing my job if I didn’t be aware that in 2022 Plaid was forced to pay $58 million to consumers in a class action suit for accumulating “extra monetary knowledge than was wanted.” As a part of the settlement, Plaid was compelled to alter a few of its enterprise practices.
In an announcement supplied to Engadget, a Plaid spokesperson stated the corporate continues to disclaim the allegations underpinning the lawsuit and that “the crux of the non-financial phrases within the settlement are centered on us accelerating workstreams already underway associated to giving individuals extra transparency into Plaid’s position in connecting their accounts, and making certain that our workstreams round knowledge minimization stay on observe.”
My prime Mint different picks
To conclude, you is likely to be questioning what app I made a decision on for myself in any case of this analysis. The reply is definitely two apps: Quicken Simplifi, my total prime choose, and Copilot Cash. For now, I’m actively utilizing each apps and nonetheless deciding, long-term, which I really feel extra comfy with. I are inclined to want Copilot’s quick, colourful person interface, however as I defined above, it is too missing in table-stakes options for me to go as far as to call it one of the best total possibility.
Easy methods to import your monetary knowledge from the Mint app
Mint customers ought to contemplate getting their knowledge able to migrate to their new budgeting app of selection quickly. Sadly, importing knowledge from Mint is just not as straightforward as getting into your credentials from inside your new app and hitting “import.” In truth, any app that advertises the power to port over your stats from Mint is simply going to have you ever add a CSV file of transactions and different knowledge.
To obtain a CSV file from Mint, do the next:
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Signal into Mint.com and hit Transactions within the menu on the left facet of the display screen.
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Choose an account, or all accounts.
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Scroll down and search for “export [number] transactions” in smaller print.
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Your CSV file ought to start downloading.
Word: Downloading on a per-account foundation might sound extra annoying, however may make it easier to get arrange on the opposite facet, if the app you’re utilizing has you importing transactions one-for-one into their corresponding accounts.
How we examined Mint options
Earlier than I dove into the world of budgeting apps, I had to perform a little research. To discover a listing of apps to check, I consulted trusty ol’ Google (and even trustier Reddit); learn evaluations of standard apps on the App Retailer; and in addition requested mates and colleagues what funds monitoring apps they is likely to be utilizing. A few of the apps I discovered had been free, identical to Mint. These, in fact, present a great deal of adverts (excuse me, “provides”) to remain in enterprise. However many of the obtainable apps require paid subscriptions, with costs usually topping out round $100 a 12 months, or $15 a month. (Spoiler: My prime choose is cheaper than that.)
Since this information is supposed to assist Mint customers discover a everlasting alternative, any companies I selected to check wanted to do a number of issues: import your entire account knowledge into one place; provide budgeting instruments; and observe your spending, internet value and credit score rating. Besides the place famous, all of those apps can be found for iOS, Android and on the internet.
As soon as I had my shortlist of six apps, I set to work setting them up. For the sake of completely testing these apps (and bear in mind, I actually was in search of a Mint alternative myself), I made some extent of including each account to each budgeting app, regardless of how small or immaterial the steadiness. What ensued was a veritable Groundhog Day of two-factor authentication. Simply hours of getting into passwords and one-time passcodes, for a similar banks half a dozen instances over. Hopefully, you solely have to do that as soon as.
What about Rocket Cash?
Rocket Money is one other free monetary app that tracks spending and helps issues like steadiness alerts and account linking. When you pay for the premium tier, the service can even make it easier to cancel undesirable subscriptions. We didn’t check it for this information, however we’ll contemplate it in future updates.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/the-best-budgeting-apps-to-replace-mint-143047346.html?src=rss
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