As a long-time Mint person, I used to be annoyed to say the least when information broke on the finish of 2023 that Intuit would shut Mint down. I, like thousands and thousands of others, loved how simply Mint allowed us to trace all accounts in a single place and monitor credit score scores. I additionally used it recurrently to trace spending, set targets like pay my mortgage down sooner and with basic cash administration.
So I got down to discover the very best Mint options within the wake of its disappointing demise. I gave Credit Karma, Intuit’s different monetary app, a strive however discovered it to be a poor Mint substitute. The next information lays out my expertise testing among the hottest Mint alternative apps accessible as we speak looking for my subsequent budgeting app.
Our choose for finest Mint different stays Quicken Simplifi, even months after the Mint shutting down, due to its simple to make use of app, good earnings and invoice detection and its reasonably priced worth. However there are many different stable choices on the market for these with totally different wants. In case you’re additionally on the hunt for a budgeting app to exchange Mint, we hope these particulars can assist you determine which of the best budgeting apps on the market will likely be best for you.
Desk of contents
Greatest 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 hold scrolling via to get an in depth overview of all of your stats. These embody your top-line balances; internet price; latest spending; upcoming recurring funds; a snapshot of your spending plan; high spending classes; achievements; and any watchlists you’ve arrange. You can too arrange financial savings targets elsewhere within the app. I additionally respect the way it gives neat, nearly 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 taking a look at you, YNAB and Monarch).
Getting arrange with Simplifi was principally painless. I used to be notably impressed at how simply it related to Constancy; not all price range trackers do, for no matter purpose. 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 just a few months now: I want Simplifi provided Zillow integration for simply monitoring your house worth (or no less than a tough estimate of it). Numerous rivals together with Monarch Cash and Copilot Cash work with Zillow, so clearly there is a Zillow API accessible to be used. Because it stands, Simplifi customers should add actual property manually like another asset.
In follow, Simplifi miscategorized a few of my bills, however nothing out of the odd in comparison with any of those price range trackers. As you’re reviewing transactions, you may also mark if you happen to’re anticipating a refund, which is a singular characteristic 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 characteristic can also be self-explanatory and may possible accommodate your most popular budgeting methodology. Simply verify that your common earnings is correct and make sure you arrange recurring funds, making be aware of that are payments and that are subscriptions. That is necessary as a result of Simplifi exhibits you your whole take-home earnings in addition to an “earnings after payments” determine. That quantity consists of, effectively, payments however not discretionary subscriptions. From there, you may add spending targets by class within the “deliberate spending” bucket. Deliberate spending may embody one-time expenditures, not simply month-to-month budgets. While you create a price range, Simplifi will counsel a quantity based mostly on a six-month common.
Not dealbreakers, however two issues to remember as you get began: Simplifi is notable in you could’t arrange an account via Apple or Google. There’s additionally no possibility for a free trial, although Quicken guarantees a “30-day a reimbursement 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 record, together with Simplifi, NerdWallet and Copilot. And it’s. Modifying expense classes, including recurring transactions and creating guidelines, for instance, is a bit more sophisticated 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 gives a powerful degree of granularity. Within the budgets part, you may see a bona fide steadiness sheet exhibiting budgets and actuals for every class. You may additionally discover a forecast, for the 12 months or by month. And recurring bills could be set not simply by service provider, however different parameters as effectively. For example, whereas most Amazon purchases may be marked as “purchasing,” these for the quantities of $54.18 or $34.18 are undoubtedly child provides, and could 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 may create on-demand graphs based mostly on issues like accounts, classes and tags. That characteristic is out there simply on the net model of the app for now. As a part of this similar replace, Monarch added assist for an aggregator that makes it doable to routinely replace the worth of your automotive. This, mixed with the prevailing Zillow integration for monitoring your house worth, makes it simple to rapidly add a non-liquid asset like a automobile or actual property, and have it present up in your internet price graph.
The cellular app is generally self-explanatory. The principle dashboard exhibits your internet price; 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 movement; high earnings and expense classes; money movement tendencies; modifications to your internet price, property and liabilities; plus asset and legal responsibility breakdowns. In February 2024, Monarch expanded on the net worth graph, in order that if you happen to click on on the Accounts tab you may see how your internet price modified over totally different intervals of time, together with one month, three months, six months, a 12 months or all time.
On the primary display screen, you’ll additionally discover tabs for accounts, transactions, money movement, price range 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 incorrect. (All of them do to an extent.) Expense classes are marked by emoji, which you’ll be able to customise if you happen to’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 normal on this area, towards the tip of this information.) As a part of an replace in late December, Monarch has additionally made it simpler to attach via these different two networks, if for some purpose Plaid fails. Just 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 lets you grant entry to another person in your loved ones — possible 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 need to 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; at present, Copilot and YNAB have additionally added related performance that will likely be accessible to anybody with the newest variations of their respective apps on a tool working 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 just lately launched funding transactions in beta. It additionally says invoice monitoring and an overhauled targets system are coming quickly. Monarch hasn’t offered a timeline for that final one, besides to say that the improved targets characteristic is coming quickly.
Copilot Money may be the best-looking budgeting app I examined. It additionally has the excellence of being unique to iOS and Macs — no 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 via, I can’t advocate Copilot for most individuals with so many good rivals on the market.
Copilot Cash for Internet and Android!
Because of the assist from our customers, and the overwhelming constructive reception we’re seeing from of us migrating from Mint, we will now say that we’ll be constructing @copilotmoney for Internet 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 will likely be in for a deal with after they’ll lastly have the ability 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 all the things out of your budgets to your funding efficiency to your bank card debt over time. Specifically, Copilot does a greater job than nearly another 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 can too add your personal classes, full along with your selection of emoji.) It’s not excellent. Copilot miscategorized some purchases (all of them do), however it makes it simpler to edit than most. On high of that, the inner search characteristic may be very quick; it begins whittling down leads to 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 need to arrange fwd@copilot.cash as a forwarding deal with after which create a filter, whereby emails from venmo@venmo.com are routinely forwarded to fwd@copilot.cash. Like Monarch Cash, you may also add any property you personal and observe its worth via Zillow, which is built-in with the app.
Whereas the app is closely automated, I nonetheless respect that Copilot marks new transactions for evaluation. It’s a great way to each weed out fraudulent costs, and likewise 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 via networks aside 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 price range monitoring apps. In an much more latest 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 advised me that his crew is sort of carried out constructing out an in depth money movement 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 good expense categorization. These embody “good monetary targets,” pure language search, a chat interface, forecasting and benchmarking. That benchmarking, Ugarte tells me, is supposed to present 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 prospects that distinguish it from the competitors. There’s a “demo mode” that appears like a recreation 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.
It’s possible you’ll know NerdWallet as a web site that gives a mixture of private finance information, explainers and guides. I see it usually after I google a monetary time period I don’t know and certain sufficient, it’s one of many websites I’m more than likely to click on on. Because it occurs, NerdWallet additionally has the excellence of providing one of many solely free budgeting apps I examined. Actually, there is no such thing as a paid model; nothing is locked behind a paywall. The principle catch: There are adverts all over the place. To be honest, the free model of Mint was like this, too.
Even with the inescapable bank card gives, 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 movement, internet price 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 economic data, you get some notably particular class choices when organising your accounts (suppose: 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 may arrange recurring payments. Importantly, it follows the favored 50/30/20 budgeting rule, which has you placing 50% of your price range 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 you could’t customise your price range to the identical diploma as some competing apps. You possibly can’t at present create customized spending classes, although a be aware contained in the dashboard part of the app says “you’ll have the ability to customise them sooner or later.” You can also’t transfer gadgets from the needs 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 offer an ETA, although.
Lastly, it’s price noting that NerdWallet had probably the most onerous setup processes of any app I examined. I don’t suppose it is a dealbreaker, as you’ll solely need to 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 price range trackers to supply credit score rating monitoring, it additionally wants extra of your private data throughout setup, together with your birthday, deal with, cellphone 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 helpful to double-check my take-home pay).
YNAB is, by its own admission, “totally 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 function for each greenback you earn. A steadily used analogy is to place every greenback in an envelope; you may at all times 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 automotive restore. The thought is that if you happen to price range 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 might have in your accounts now. The app doesn’t ask you to offer 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 via your salaried job is just not related, as a result of YNAB doesn’t have interaction in forecasting.
The app is tougher to be taught than another 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 snug with the person interface, I did come to understand YNAB’s insistence on intentionality. Forcing customers to draft a brand new price range every month and to evaluation every transaction is just not essentially a nasty factor. As YNAB says on its web site, “Positive, 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 numerous 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 occasions per week).
My colleague Valentina Palladino, figuring out 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 might 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 appears like overkill.
PocketGuard is likely one of the solely respected free price range trackers I discovered in my analysis. Simply realize it’s way 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 free of charge, until you retain issues easy with one money account and one bank card. When it comes time to improve to PocketGuard Plus, you might 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 certain some individuals will respect paying as soon as and by no means having to, uh, price range for it once more.
From the primary display screen, you’ll see tabs for accounts, insights, transactions and the “Plan,” which is the place you see recurring funds stacked on high of what seems like a price range. The principle overview display screen exhibits you your internet price, whole property and money owed; internet earnings and whole spending for the month; upcoming payments; a helpful reminder of when your subsequent paycheck lands; any debt payoff plan you might have; and any targets.
Like another apps, together with Quicken Simplifi, PocketGuard promotes an “after payments” method, the place you enter all your 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 unique philosophy: have in mind all your post-tax earnings and use it to pay the payments, buy stuff you need and perhaps even save a bit of. However in PocketGuard, it’s the “in your pocket” quantity that’s most outstanding. To PocketGuard’s credit score, it does job visualizing which payments are upcoming and which of them you’ve already paid.
PocketGuard has additionally publicly committed to including some common options. These embody rollover budgeting, categorization guidelines and shared family entry.
Though PocketGuard’s UI is straightforward sufficient to know, it lacks polish. The “accounts” tab is a bit of 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 have been accessible. The online model, in the meantime, feels just like the cellular app blown as much as a bigger format and doesn’t benefit from 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 via Finicity was principally an easy 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 via Plaid, however PocketGuard doesn’t make it simple 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 accessible via Finicity, at which level you get the choice to strive Plaid as a substitute. Like I stated: the expertise could be janky.
What’s Plaid and the way does it work?
Every of the apps I examined makes use of the identical underlying community, known as Plaid, to tug in monetary knowledge, so it’s price explaining in its personal part what it’s and the way it works. Plaid was based as a fintech startup in 2013 and is as we speak the business normal 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 price range 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 area you should use to look yours up instantly. As soon as you discover yours, you’ll be prompted to enter your login credentials. If in case you have two-factor authentication arrange, you’ll have to enter a one-time passcode as effectively.
Because the intermediary, Plaid is a passthrough for data that will embody your account balances, transaction historical past, account sort 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. Nevertheless, 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 offered 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 function in connecting their accounts, and guaranteeing that our workstreams round knowledge minimization stay on observe.”
My high Mint different picks
To conclude, you may 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 general high choose, and Copilot Cash. For now, I’m actively utilizing each apps and nonetheless deciding, long-term, which I really feel extra snug 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 the very best general possibility.
How you can import your monetary knowledge from the Mint app
Mint customers ought to take into account getting their knowledge able to migrate to their new budgeting app of selection quickly. Sadly, importing knowledge from Mint is just not as simple as getting into your credentials from inside your new app and hitting “import.” Actually, 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 aspect 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.
Be aware: Downloading on a per-account foundation might sound extra annoying, however might assist you get arrange on the opposite aspect, 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 record of apps to check, I consulted trusty ol’ Google (and even trustier Reddit); learn critiques of common apps on the App Retailer; and likewise requested pals and colleagues what price range monitoring apps they may be utilizing. A number of the apps I discovered have been free, identical to Mint. These, in fact, present a great deal of adverts (excuse me, “gives”) to remain in enterprise. However many of the accessible apps require paid subscriptions, with costs usually topping out round $100 a 12 months, or $15 a month. (Spoiler: My high 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 all your account knowledge into one place; provide budgeting instruments; and observe your spending, internet price and credit score rating. Besides the place famous, all of those apps can be found for iOS, Android and on the net.
As soon as I had my shortlist of six apps, I started working setting them up. For the sake of totally testing these apps (and bear in mind, I actually was searching for a Mint alternative myself), I made a degree of including each account to each budgeting app, irrespective 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 occasions 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. In case you pay for the premium tier, the service may assist you cancel undesirable subscriptions. We didn’t check it for this information, however we’ll take into account 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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