Best Budgeting Apps
Budgeting apps can make managing your money easier by tracking spending, organizing bills and helping you reach your financial goals. Some focus on everyday expenses, while others help you plan for major purchases like a home or car, find forgotten subscriptions or manage money with your partner.
We systematically evaluated 11 popular budgeting apps and chose Rocket Money as our top pick, followed by Monarch, Quicken Simplifi, PocketGuard, EveryDollar and Honeydue. Read on to learn which budgeting app is best for you.
- Rocket Money is our pick for best budgeting app because of its customizable budgeting tools and additional features like bill negotiation and in-app subscription management.
- The best budgeting apps show you where your money goes and help you plan ahead. Depending on the app, you can track spending, get custom alerts, manage recurring bills and track your debt and net worth in one place.
- You don’t have to pay for a budgeting app. There are free plans for basic budgeting, but you’ll likely need to pay for more advanced features like financial forecasting, bill negotiation and custom dashboards.
Best budgeting apps at a glance
Read about how we made our picks for the best budgeting apps.
Rocket Money: Best overall
Rocket Money makes it easy to manage your spending without setting up a full budget. You can track specific spending categories, manage subscriptions and get help with bill negotiation all in one app.
The app offers free and paid tiers, so you can choose the features that fit your needs and budget.
What to consider before choosing Rocket Money
- Good fit for: People who want easy spending tracking and subscription management
- Cost: Free; Premium ($7 to $14 per month); Premium+ ($15 per month)
- What to know: Some features only available to premium subscribers
Monarch: Best for investment and budget tracking
Monarch lets you create a custom budget, plan for one-time expenses and track your net worth and investments over time. Long-term financial planning tools also help you save for a home, vacation or paying down debt.
Unlike apps that use a single budgeting method, Monarch offers two options: flex budgeting and category budgeting, depending on whether you want to set one overall spending limit or set limits for individual categories.
What to consider before choosing Monarch
- Good fit for: Those who want a hands-on user experience
- Cost: Core plan ($99.99 per year or $14.99 per month); Plus plan ($199.99 per year); free trial available
- What to know: Heavily customizable interface might feel overwhelming to those new to budgeting
Quicken Simplifi: Best for predicting cash flow
Quicken Simplifi’s Projected Cash Flow feature analyzes your income and expenses to estimate your future balances. This forward-looking view of your finances lets you test out different budgeting scenarios to help you plan ahead and avoid overspending.
What to consider before choosing Quicken Simplifi
- Good fit for: People who want to plan ahead for major expenses or financial goals
- Cost: $6.99 per month, billed annually; free trial available
- What to know: Spending Plan shows how much money you have left to spend
PocketGuard: Best for debt payoff planning
PocketGuard creates personalized debt payoff plans based on your loan terms and budget. You can compare the debt avalanche and snowball methods to see which could help you save more money or get out of debt faster.
PocketGuard also predicts how much money you’ll have left each month and tracks your spending pace.
What to consider before choosing PocketGuard
- Good fit for: People focused on paying off debt
- Cost: $12.99 per month; $74.99 per year; $149.99 for lifetime plan; free trial available
- What to know: Like Rocket Money, PocketGuard offers bill renegotiation services
EveryDollar: Best for zero-based budgeting
EveryDollar is a zero-based budgeting app that helps you plan how to spend every dollar of your income. You can also track your spending trends and get help from customer service when you need it.
What to consider before choosing EveryDollar
- Good fit for: People who want to control where every dollar goes
- Cost: Free version; $79.99 a year (or $17.99 a month) premium version with a 14-day free trial
- What to know: Automatic syncing is only available for paid users
Honeydue: Best for couples
Designed for couples, Honeydue helps you manage money together by tracking spending, setting bill reminders and discussing expenses directly in the app. While other apps let couples manage money together, this in-app discussion feature makes Honeydue stand out.
What to consider before choosing Honeydue
- Good fit for: Couples looking to get on the same page about money
- Cost: Free
- What to know: Honeydue is available only as an iPhone and Android app, with no desktop version
How to choose a budgeting app
The best budgeting app is one that fits your financial goals and how you actually manage money. Here’s what to consider before choosing.
- Decide what you want to spend: Some budgeting apps are free, while others charge a monthly or annual fee. If you’re considering a paid app, make sure the features are worth the cost.
- Prioritize the features you’ll use: Think about your financial goals, like saving money, paying off debt or planning for a major expense. Choose an app with features that support those goals.
- Choose your budgeting style: Some apps, like Monarch and EveryDollar, let you create detailed budgets. Others, like PocketGuard and Quicken Simplifi, let you take a more hands-off approach.
- Decide how you’ll connect: If you want to automatically sync your transactions, confirm the app you’re considering can connect to your bank. If you plan to enter transactions manually or by importing spreadsheets, make sure the app supports those options.
- Review app security and privacy statements. Before connecting your financial accounts, review the app’s security measures. Check what data it collects, how it’s protected, whether it’s shared with third parties and what happens if there’s a data breach.
How we chose the best budgeting apps
We evaluated 11 of the most popular budgeting apps based on their cost, budgeting capabilities, account connectivity and financial planning features. We verified these factors directly on each provider’s website.
Our categories
- Cost: The highest scores go to apps with free options, including apps with free and paid versions. We also awarded points for free trials.
- Budgeting capabilities: We awarded points for budgeting features such as expense tracking, customizable spending categories and automatic transaction categorization.
- Account connectivity: Apps that let users connect financial accounts — without requiring them to do so — received the highest scores.
- Financial planning features: We awarded additional points for tools that help users manage their broader finances, such as subscription management, spending alerts, bill tracking and investment planning.
Our process
We gather data directly from budgeting app providers’ websites and only award points for features and benefits we can verify. Our editorial team applies the same scoring model and standards to every app. Apps cannot pay to influence our ratings. Read more about our editorial guidelines.
According to our systematic rating and review process, the best budgeting apps are Rocket Money, Monarch, Quicken Simplifi, PocketGuard, EveryDollar and Honeydue. We also reviewed Wallet by BudgetBakers, YNAB (You Need a Budget), Empower, Copilot Money and Goodbudget.
Frequently asked questions
Connecting your bank account to a trusted budgeting app can be safe, but sharing financial data comes with risks. Use a strong, unique password, watch for phishing scams and follow CFPB guidance on sharing financial data.
Paid apps can be worth the cost if you regularly use their premium features. If you’re unsure, consider a free trial or monthly (rather than annual) subscription before committing to an annual plan. Rocket Money (our top pick) offers a free version worth considering.
No. Some apps, including EveryDollar, let you enter transactions manually. Linking accounts adds convenience because apps can update balances automatically, but it also means sharing financial data.
There’s no one right way to budget. The best method is whichever feels most natural and sustainable to you in the long run. Here are a few of the most popular options.
Zero-based budgeting: You decide where every dollar will go before you spend it. This method may be best if you want to adhere to a strict budget that takes every dollar into account.
Envelope budgeting: Give each spending category its own envelope and spend only from the appropriate envelopes to ensure you never overshoot your budget.
Automated spending management: Use your financial app to analyze your income and spending and make suggestions to help optimize your budget.