The Best Personal Finance Apps (Budgeting, Investing + More)
Trying to make the most of personal finance apps budgeting? You are in the right place. Below we break it down in plain English, with practical tips you can actually use.
Key Takeaways
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- This is a list of the best personal finance apps, based on our testing and review of dozens of tools across the categories listed below.
This is a list of the best personal finance apps, based on our testing and review of dozens of tools across the categories listed below.
- Best Overall Financial App: Empower
- Best Free Budgeting App: Rocket Money
- Best Paid Budgeting App: Monarch
- Best App for Debt Payoff: YNAB
- Best Money Saving App: Trim
- Best App for Managing Bills: Prism
- Best App for Credit Monitoring: Credit Karma
Table of Contents
ToggleBest Overall Financial App: Empower
Empower is a one-stop shop for managing your personal finances.
The app offers several functions, including budgeting, portfolio tracking and optimization, cash management and best-in-class financial calculators to help you set and reach financial goals.
You can see your net worth, account balances, monthly income and expenses, retirement savings, investment balances, and more, all in a single dashboard (as shown in the screenshot below).
Empower’s main dashboard. (Empower was previously called Personal Capital, and this screenshot shows the prior branding.)The app and web dashboard are free to use. You don’t need to have money invested with Empower to access the features mentioned above.
What it does: It lets you you manage your budget and investments and lets you use its tools to analyze various aspects of your spending and the progress of your saving goals (like retirement).
Why we like it: Empower syncs all of your accounts and uses real data (not estimates) to help you understand whether you’re on track to reach your financial goals.
Who it’s for: Those with a positive net worth who want advanced insights into their overall financial plan.
What it costs: Empower’s financial tracking tools are free, but the company’s wealth management services , which are only available to users with $100,000 or more invested on the platform , have an advisory fee.
Where to get it: Visit Empower.
Learn more: Get to know the free app’s numerous valuable tools in our Empower review.
Best Free Budgeting App: Rocket Money
Rocket Money ranks as our favorite free budgeting app thanks to the excellent user experience.
The app is free to download and use, but you can only monitor two custom budget categories (which allow you to get alerts throughout the month regarding your spending in a specific category). Additionally, on the free plan, your transactions only sync once per day rather than in real time.
Rocket Money has a clean, ad-free interface, even on the free version. It’s excellent for basic budgeting and expense tracking without distractions, making it a solid choice for those who prefer not to pay for a premium app.If you want to monitor more categories or have transactions sync instantly, you need to sign up for a paid subscription, which starts at $3 per month and includes additional premium services like:
- Cancellation Concierge. Rocket Money will cancel unwanted subscriptions on your behalf.
- Smart Savings. An FDIC-insured bank account that allows you to set up regular deposits, with the aim of helping you save for short-term financial goals.
In addition, Rocket Money offers a bill negotiation service that can help you save money with providers like cell phone, cable and internet companies. No subscription is required to access this service; you’ll pay a commission if Rocket Money is able to save you money.
While $3 per month is reasonable, we think Rocket Money’s free budgeting tool is sufficient for keeping track of your income and expenses, monitoring your transactions, and getting a birds-eye-view of your spending.
What it does: Tracks spending and shows all recurring charges at a glance.
Why we like it: The simplicity. Key info like spending and cash flow is visible from the home screen, offering a clear, big-picture view .
Who it’s for: Those looking for a simple budgeting app to track monthly income and expenses but don’t need to dive deep into budgeting categories. (It’s compatible with the most popular budgeting methods.)
What it costs: You can use the free budgeting tool with limitations: account syncing occurs once daily, and you can monitor only two budget categories.
Where to get it: Visit Rocket Money.
Learn more: Read our in-depth Rocket Money review.
Best Paid Budgeting App: Monarch
After testing several budgeting apps, I primarily use two. First is Empower, my top pick for tracking investment and retirement portfolios. But for tracking cash flow each month, Monarch is my go-to.
Monarch is a paid app that costs $99.99 for the first year or $14.99 a month. It stands out because of its excellent user interface (UI). While Empower offers similar budgeting features, Monarch’s UI, both on desktop and mobile, is far smoother.
As someone managing finances in a marriage, Monarch is much easie
Final Thoughts
The bottom line: a little research on personal finance apps budgeting goes a long way. Compare your options, watch for seasonal offers, and never pay full price when a better deal is one click away.
Originally published at thewaystowealth.com.
R.J. Weiss
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