The favored budgeting app Mint can be sundown quickly. Dad or mum firm Intuit will shut Mint down on March 24, 2024, and have instructed customers migrate to its different private finance app, Credit score Karma. I’ve been a Mint person for a very long time, as have 3.6 million others (as of 2021, based on Bloomberg), utilizing the budgeting app to trace all of my accounts in a single place. I additionally use Mint to observe my credit score rating, follow a month-to-month spending plan and set targets like constructing a rainy-day fund or paying down my mortgage sooner.

Given the approaching shutdown, I gave Credit score Karma a shot however was left unimpressed. It’s not a real Mint substitute, so discovering another app that might be turned a prime precedence for me. The next information lays out my experiences, the outcomes of my testing and our picks for the highest Mint substitute apps out there at this time. Should you’re additionally on the hunt for a Mint substitute, we hope this information will help you determine which of the most effective funds apps out there at this time may meet your wants as soon as Mint goes away for good.

Find out how to import your monetary knowledge from Mint

Mint customers ought to contemplate getting their knowledge able to migrate to their new budgeting app of alternative quickly. Sadly, importing knowledge from Mint isn’t as straightforward as coming into your credentials from inside your new app and hitting “import.” In actual fact, 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:

1. Signal into Mint.com and hit Transactions within the menu on the left facet of the display.

2. Choose an account, or all accounts.

3. Scroll down and search for “export [number] transactions” in smaller print.

4. Your CSV file ought to start downloading.

Word: Downloading on a per-account foundation may appear extra annoying, however may provide help 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

Earlier than I dove into the budgeting-app world, I had to perform a little research. To discover a checklist of apps to check, I consulted trusty ol’ Google (and even trustier Reddit); learn critiques of widespread apps on the App Retailer; and likewise requested mates and colleagues what funds monitoring apps they is likely to be utilizing. Among the apps I discovered have been free, similar to Mint. These, after all, present a great deal of advertisements (excuse me, “gives”) to remain in enterprise. However many of the out there 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 substitute, any providers I selected to check wanted to do a number of issues: import your whole account knowledge into one place; provide budgeting instruments; and monitor your spending, web 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 totally testing these apps (and bear in mind, I actually was in search of a Mint different myself), I made a degree of including each account to each monitoring app, regardless of how small or immaterial the stability. What ensued was a veritable Groundhog Day of two-factor authentication. Simply hours of coming 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.

The very best Mint different: Quicken Simplifi

No pun supposed, however what I like about Quicken Simplifi is its simplicity. Whereas different apps attempt to distinguish themselves with darkish themes and customizable emoji, Simplifi has a clear person interface, with a touchdown web page that you just simply maintain scrolling by means of to get an in depth overview of all of your stats. These embrace your top-line balances; web value; current spending; upcoming recurring funds; a snapshot of your spending plan; prime spending classes; achievements; and any watchlists you’ve arrange. You too can arrange financial savings targets elsewhere within the app. I additionally respect the way it gives neat, nearly playful visualizations with out ever wanting cluttered. I felt at residence within the cellular and internet dashboards after a day or so, which is quicker than I tailored to some competing providers (I’m you, YNAB and Monarch).

Getting arrange with Simplifi was principally painless. I used to be notably impressed at how simply it linked to Constancy; not all funds trackers do, for no matter purpose. That is additionally one of many solely providers I examined that offers you the choice of inviting a partner or monetary advisor to co-manage your account. One factor I’d 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 house worth (or at the least a tough estimate of it). Varied opponents together with Monarch Cash and Copilot Cash work with Zillow, so clearly there is a Zillow API out there to be used. Because it stands, Simplifi customers should add actual property manually like every other asset.

In observe, 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 can too mark when you’re anticipating a refund, which is a singular function among the many providers I examined. Simplifi additionally estimated my common revenue higher than another apps I examined. Most of all, I appreciated the choice of having 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. Simply test that your common revenue is correct and remember to arrange recurring funds, making word of that are payments and that are subscriptions. That is essential as a result of Simplifi reveals you your whole take-home revenue in addition to an “revenue after payments” determine. That quantity contains, nicely, payments however not discretionary subscriptions. From there, you’ll be able to add spending targets by class within the “deliberate spending” bucket. Deliberate spending may embrace one-time expenditures, not simply month-to-month budgets. Once 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 you could’t arrange an account by means of Apple or Google. There may be additionally no possibility for a free trial, although Quicken guarantees a “30-day a reimbursement assure.”

The very best Mint different (runner-up): Monarch Cash

Monarch Cash grew on me. My first impression of the app, which was based by a former Mint product supervisor, was that it is tougher to make use of than others on this checklist, 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 online app for fine-tuning particulars.) Monarch additionally didn’t get my revenue proper; I needed to edit it.

When you’re arrange, although, Monarch gives a formidable stage of granularity. Within the budgets part, you’ll be able to see a bona fide stability sheet exhibiting budgets and actuals for every class. You will additionally discover a forecast, for the 12 months or by month. And recurring bills might be set not simply by service provider, however different parameters as nicely. For example, whereas most Amazon purchases is likely to be marked as “buying,” these for the quantities of $54.18 or $34.18 are positively child provides, and might be routinely marked as such every time, to not point out programmed as recurring funds. Weirdly, although, there’s no technique to mark sure recurring funds as payments, particularly.

Not lengthy after I first printed this story in December 2023, Monarch launched 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 obtainable simply on the internet model of the app for now. As a part of this similar 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 house worth, makes it straightforward to rapidly add a non-liquid asset like a automobile or actual property, and have it present up in your web value graph.

The cellular app is generally self-explanatory. The primary dashboard reveals your web value; your 4 most up-to-date transactions; a month-over-month spending comparability; revenue month-to-date; upcoming payments; an investments snapshot; an inventory 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 move; prime revenue and expense classes; money move tendencies; modifications to your web value, belongings and liabilities; plus asset and legal responsibility breakdowns. In February 2024, Monarch expanded on the web value graph, in order that when you click on on the Accounts tab you’ll be able to see how your web value modified over totally different intervals of time, together with one month, three months, six months, a 12 months or all time.

On the principle display, you’ll additionally discover tabs for accounts, transactions, money move, funds and recurring. Like most of the different apps featured right here, Monarch can auto-detect recurring bills and revenue, even when it will get the class unsuitable. (All of them do to an extent.) Expense classes are marked by emoji, which you’ll be able to customise when you’re so inclined.

Monarch Cash makes use of a mixture 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 commonplace 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 means of 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 so as to add one other account. Notably, Monarch is the one different app I examined that means that you can 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, because of new performance introduced with the iOS 17.4 replace. It isn’t the one one both; at present, Copilot and YNAB have additionally added comparable performance that can be out there to anybody with the newest variations of their respective apps on a tool operating iOS 17.4. As a substitute of manually importing statements, the brand new performance permits apps like Monarch’s to routinely pull in transactions and stability 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 in early 2024.

The very best up-and-comer: Copilot Cash

Copilot Cash is likely to be the best-looking funds tracker I examined. It additionally has the excellence of being unique to iOS and Macs — at the least for now. Andres Ugarte, the corporate’s CEO, has publicly promised that Android and internet apps are coming in 2024 (extra probably the second half of the 12 months, Ugarte tells me). However till it follows by means of, I can’t advocate Copilot for most individuals with so many good opponents on the market.

There are different options that Copilot is lacking, which I’ll get into. However it’s promising, and one to keep watch over. It’s only a quick, environment friendly, nicely designed app, and Android customers can be in for a deal with after they’ll lastly be capable to obtain it. It makes good use of colours, emoji and graphs that can assist you perceive at a look the way you’re doing on every part out of your budgets to your funding efficiency to your bank card debt over time. Specifically, Copilot does a greater job than nearly 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 too can add your individual classes, full together with your alternative 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, it’s important 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 can too add any property you personal and monitor its worth by means of Zillow, which is built-in with the app.

Whereas the app is closely automated, I nonetheless respect that Copilot marks new transactions for evaluate. It’s a great way to each weed out fraudulent expenses, 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 by means of networks apart from Plaid. As a part of the identical replace, Copilot mentioned it has improved its connections to each American Specific and Constancy which, once more, is usually 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 nicely.

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 crew is nearly executed constructing out an in depth money move part, which may launch earlier than the tip of 2023, however extra probably in early 2024. On its web site, 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 embrace “sensible monetary targets,” pure language search, a chat interface, forecasting and benchmarking. That benchmarking, Ugarte tells me, is supposed to offer 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 fascinating issues for brand new clients that distinguish it from the competitors. There’s a “demo mode” that seems like a recreation simulator; no want so as to add your individual 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.

The very best free budgeting app: NerdWallet

You could know NerdWallet as a web site that provides 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 most certainly to click on on. Because it occurs, NerdWallet additionally has the excellence of providing one of many solely free funds monitoring apps I examined. In actual fact, there isn’t a paid model; nothing is locked behind a paywall. The primary catch: There are advertisements in every single place. To be truthful, 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 internet and a cellular app. The important thing metrics that it highlights most prominently are your money move, web value and credit score rating. (Of word, 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 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’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 you could’t customise your funds to the identical diploma as some competing apps. You’ll be able to’t at present create customized spending classes, although a word 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 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 supply an ETA, although.

Lastly, it’s value noting that NerdWallet had one of the crucial onerous setup processes of any app I examined. I don’t suppose 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, 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 data throughout setup, together with your birthday, deal with, 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 revenue. In my case, it counted a big one-time wire switch as revenue, at which level my solely different possibility was to enter my revenue manually (which is barely annoying as a result of I’d have wanted my pay stub useful to double-check my take-home pay).

Budgeting apps we additionally examined

YNAB

YNAB is, by its personal admission, “totally different from something you’ve tried earlier than.” The app, whose identify is brief for You Want a Price range, promotes a so-called zero-based budgeting system, which forces you to assign a function for each greenback you earn. A often used analogy is to place every greenback in an envelope; you’ll be able to at all times transfer cash from one envelope to a different in a pinch. These envelopes can embrace hire and utilities, together with unexpected bills like vacation items and the inevitable automobile restore. The concept is that when you funds a certain quantity for the unknowns every month, they gained’t really feel like they’re sneaking up on you.

Importantly, YNAB is barely involved with the cash you’ve got in your accounts now. The app doesn’t ask you to supply your take-home revenue or arrange recurring revenue funds (though there’s a means to do that). The cash you’ll make later within the month by means of your salaried job isn’t related, as a result of YNAB doesn’t have interaction in forecasting.

The app is tougher to be taught 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 obtained snug 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 evaluate every transaction isn’t essentially a foul factor. As YNAB says on its web site, “Certain, you’ve obtained pie charts exhibiting that you just spent an obscene sum of money in eating places — however you’ve nonetheless spent an obscene sum of money in eating places.” I can see this method being helpful for individuals who don’t are likely to have a number 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 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’ve got 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 seems like overkill.

PocketGuard

PocketGuard is likely one of the solely respected free funds trackers I discovered in my analysis. Simply comprehend 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 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’ve got 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 respect paying as soon as and by no means having to, uh, funds for it once more.

From the principle display, 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 reveals you your web value, whole belongings and money owed; web revenue and whole spending for the month; upcoming payments; a useful reminder of when your subsequent paycheck lands; any debt payoff plan you’ve got; and any targets.

Like another apps, together with Quicken Simplifi, PocketGuard promotes an “after payments” method, the place you enter your whole recurring payments, after which PocketGuard reveals you what’s left, and that’s what you’re alleged to be budgeting: your disposable revenue. Clearly, different apps have a unique philosophy: consider your whole post-tax revenue and use it to pay the payments, buy stuff you need and possibly even save slightly. However in PocketGuard, it’s the “in your pocket” quantity that’s most distinguished. 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 dedicated to including some widespread options in early 2024. These embrace rollover budgeting in January 2024, categorization guidelines in February and shared family entry in March.

Though PocketGuard’s UI is simple sufficient to know, it lacks polish. The “accounts” tab is slightly 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 out there. The online model, in the meantime, feels just like the cellular app blown as much as a bigger format and doesn’t reap the benefits of the additional display actual property.

Of word, though PocketGuard does work with Plaid, its main bank-connecting platform is definitely Finicity. Establishing my accounts by means of 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 by means of Plaid, however PocketGuard doesn’t make it straightforward to entry Plaid within the app. The one means, so far as I can inform, is to knowingly seek for the identify of a financial institution that isn’t out there by means of Finicity, at which level you get the choice to attempt Plaid as an alternative. Like I mentioned: the expertise might 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 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 at this time the business commonplace 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 providers depend on Plaid, the corporate claims.

To be clear, you don’t want a devoted Plaid app to make use of it; the know-how 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 area you should utilize to look yours up immediately. 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 nicely.

Because the intermediary, Plaid is a passthrough for data that will embrace 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. Nonetheless, I’d not be doing my job if I didn’t word that in 2022 Plaid was compelled to pay $58 million to customers in a category motion swimsuit 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 mentioned 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 monitor.”

My prime Mint different picks: Quicken Simplifi and Copilot Cash

To conclude, you is likely to be questioning what app I made a decision on for myself in spite of everything 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 snug with. I are likely to choose 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 most effective total possibility.