In the 21st century, budgeting is easier than ever thanks to the help of personal finance software and apps. You can do it all right from your smartphone! Most budgeting apps allow you to connect to your bank accounts, help track spending, and categorize expenses so you can get a clear picture of your money-related activities, but there are some that do way more than that.
There are so many budgeting apps out there, but we’ve narrowed it down to the best of the best. All of the apps mentioned here have a star rating of 4 or more out of 5 in the iOS App Store and on Google Play, as well as over 1,000 reviews. They all offer different methods and features to help you stay on track with your budget, so go ahead and choose the one that best fits your needs!
PocketGuard
For a simplified approach to budgeting, you can go with PocketGuard, a free budgeting app. PocketGuard connects your credit and savings accounts and even detects recurring bills and income. It then calculates how much is available for everyday spending by factoring in things like upcoming bills, savings contributions, and even pre-budgeted amounts from your estimated income.
While PocketGuard does an excellent job of automatically categorizing your expenses, you can choose to manually create custom categories and set limits for them. And if you want to analyze your financial activity on your won spreadsheets, PocketGuard also allows you to export your transactions.
Honeydue
If you are embarking on your budgeting journey with your partner, Honeydue can be a great tool for both of you to be clued into the entire financial picture in one place. This includes everything from bank accounts and credit cards to loans and investments (although you can choose how much you share with your significant other).
Honeydue is a free budget app. It automatically categorizes expenses, but you can also set up custom groupings. You and your significant other can set limits for each of these categories together, and the app will notify you when your partner is nearing them. Honeydue also reminds you of upcoming bills and allows in-app chats with emojis.
You Need a Budget
You Need a Budget (YNAB) is for the budgeter who means serious business. It follows the zero-based budgeting system which requires you to make a plan that balances out your expenses and income to the last dollar. You can connect your bank accounts, set financial goals, choose how much to allocate to savings, and customize spending categories. The app also has several resources such as user guides, budgeting advice, and even free workshops.
However, getting access to all of these doesn’t come for free. YNAB costs $11.99 a month (or $84 a year), after a 34-day free trial. However, you can get 12 months free if you are a student (must provide proof of enrollment).
EveryDollar
EveryDollar is another zero-based budgeting software, so you need to have a plan for every single dollar you earn. It helps you track your spending, set future goals, and plan for upcoming expenses.
EveryDollar offers free and paid versions of the app. In the free version, you will have to manually enter every transaction each time you spend money. Or you can pay $129.99 a year (post a 14-day free trial) for the premium version called Ramsey+. This allows you to link your bank accounts for a more streamlined experience and also makes available other resources like financial advice, content, and other tools.
Mint
Mint is another free budgeting app that connects to your financial accounts. The app tracks your transactions and puts them into categories. It then sends you alerts if you’ve gone over your budget in any particular category or if there are any large or suspicious transactions. It even lets you know if you’ve paid ATM fees!
Mint is a great tool to track all your bills in one place and it also gives you reminders on upcoming payments that are due. It also has a free credit monitoring service, which is a great financial management tool.
NerdWallet
NerdWallet is another free budgeting resource that helps you track your cash, discover new ways to save, and even build your credit score (you can get a free credit score report right from their website!).
NerdWallet is dedicated to educating its users about the variety of financial services the market has to offer. The website has a wealth of information related to all this personal finance which is all available to users for free. This app helps users make smart financial choices about everything from credit cards to mortgages through reviews and comparison tools.
Goodbudget
Goodbudget is an app that follows the envelope budgeting system, where you allocate certain portions of your monthly income towards different spending categories. The best part about Goodbudget is that it allows multiple users to access the same account, so partners of family members can share a budget.
However, unlike most other budgeting apps we’ve already mentioned, you cannot link your bank accounts to it so you will have to manually enter account balance as well as cash amounts and debts. Then you can assign money towards the different “envelopes” (categories).
The free version of Goodbudget allows two devices to access one account and comes with limited envelopes. The Plus version, which costs $7 a month or $60 per year, allows you to have unlimited envelopes and accounts, up to five linked devices, and certain other perks as well.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital is a free app that focuses mainly on investment. You can connect and monitor your accounts such as savings, checking, and credit cards. You can do the same with your IRAs, 401(k)s, mortgages, and loans as well. Personal Capital also has a net worth tracker and a portfolio breakdown, which help you set financial goals and have a comprehensive idea of your investments.
The app also has several helpful features that budgeters can use to track their spending. It lists your recent transactions by categories, which you can customize, so you can get an idea of the percentage you spend monthly on each one of them.
