Best Budgeting Apps [2023]

Most people recognize that budgeting is important, but maintaining a budget can be difficult. It’s easy to overspend on a credit card and neglect your savings, especially if you don’t have the right tools. According to a survey from the Certified Financial Planner Board, 68% of respondents said having a budget would help them accomplish their financial goals, but 59% aren’t tracking their expenses. What’s more, two in five Americans have never taken the time to create a budget.

If you’ve struggled with how to manage your money in the past, you might think budgeting isn’t for you. But everyone, regardless of their income and goals, needs a monthly budget. Luckily, there are many helpful budgeting apps that make it fun to plan and track spending. Choose the right one for your individual needs, and you’ll be more likely to succeed at maintaining your budget.

The 10 best budgeting apps

• Rocket Money: Best for cutting your bills
• Simplifi: Best for user-friendly budgeting
• Digit: Best for automating your savings
• Wally: Best for family budgeting
• Marcus Insights: Best for all-in-one budgeting
• Mint: Best for tracking your credit score
• Empower: Best for budgeting and investment tracking
• PocketGuard: Best for quick spending insights
• EveryDollar: Best for building a budget quickly
• YNAB (You Need a Budget): Best for cross-platform budgeting

Rocket Money: Best for cutting your bills

If you’re looking for an easy way to lower your bills, try letting Rocket Money do the work for you. Since the company was founded in 2016, Rocket Money has saved users a collective $14 million. The app saves users hundreds of dollars per year on average by canceling unwanted subscriptions, negotiating recurring bills with providers, and securing refunds on certain fees. The app also allows you to track your spending, connect your bank accounts, and automate your savings.

Rocket Money is free to download and use. The company makes money by taking a portion of your savings after their expert team works to reduce costs on your behalf. Rocket Money takes 40% of the amount saved as its cut. But if it can’t lower your bills, you pay nothing, so you’ve got nothing to lose by signing up.

Why we like Rocket Money: Rocket Money offers a simple user experience and comprehensive features that we like. The app makes it easy to track income and expenses, set budgeting goals, and receive personalized budgeting recommendations for saving money. It also imports your transactions and creates simple yet detailed reports, and can even negotiate recurring bills and subscriptions for you.

What we don't like about Rocket Money: While we can use Rocket Money for free, there are functions that only premium subscribers can access. This includes automated cancellations, overdraft and late fee refunds, and credit reports. 

Who Rocket Money is good for: Rocket Money is best for people who want to save money on their existing bills and track their spending all in one place without having to pay for the app.

To get started, sign up and download the app. Next, connect your bank accounts and either snap photos of your monthly bills or log into your accounts with each provider. Once Rocket Money's team gets you a discount or refund, it’ll email you to let you know.

Visit Rocket Money

... Or read our Rocket Money review.

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Simplifi: Best for user-friendly budgeting

Simplifi is a new tool created by money management software company Quicken. Although the Quicken app gives users a high level of control over their financial planning, Simplifi is designed to be, well, simpler. The app has a gorgeous, interactive interface that saves you from the spreadsheet struggle by giving you an immediate picture of your overall financial health. You’ll be able to connect your bank accounts (which also pulls your debit card purchases), credit card accounts, loans, and investments in order to track your progress toward your financial goals.

Simplifi allows you to connect to more than 14,000 financial institutions to get a clear picture of your finances in one place. Plus, it automatically categorizes your expenses so you can easily track where your money goes. This will help you identify any unnecessary expenses, including unused subscriptions. From there, you can set up custom limits for each category to help prevent you from overspending. You’ll also be able to establish and track your savings goals from the app.

Why we like Simplifi: Simplifi makes it easy to visualize spending habits. The app automatically categorizes your transactions, making it easy to see where your money is going. This Simplifi feature works hand in hand with its goal-setting function to help you save money. The app can also track your bills to assist you with paying them on time and avoid late fees.

What we don't like about Simplifi: Simplifi doesn't offer a free version. This means that once your trial period is over, you have to subscribe to continue using the app. Additionally, it doesn't have specific tools such as a debt payoff tracker or a retirement planner.

Who Simplifi is good for: Simplifi is a suitable budgeting app for people who want to understand their financial situation and improve their spending and saving habits without minding its subscription fee.

Simplifi offers a 30-day free trial to ensure you’re happy with the tool. After that, the app charges a $5.99 monthly fee, or $2.99 per month when charged as an annual fee.

Visit Simplifi

... Or read our Simplifi review.

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Digit: Best for automating your savings

If you struggle with understanding how to save money while still covering your monthly expenses, consider taking advantage of technology to automate your savings. Digit is designed to help you do just that. Founded in 2013, the app helps users save an average of $2,200 per year.

Digit analyzes your spending patterns and upcoming bills to determine the appropriate amount to set aside in savings each day. The money is held within banks that are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Although not a high-yield account, Digit does reward you with a 0.5% savings bonus every 90 days. And the money is more accessible than if it were in a savings account; you get unlimited withdrawals, and can even access the money instantly for a 99-cent fee.

Why we like Digit: Digit makes it simple to link existing bank accounts and automatically moves money to help you grow your savings. The app also helps with tracking expenses and income and setting goals and budget. it even offers personalized insights and spending trends.

What we don't like about Digit: While Digit has many great features, one thing we don't like is that it doesn't have a free version. You can use Digit for a trial period before having to subscribe to continue using it.

Who Digit is good for: Digit is best for people who want to automate their savings and are willing to pay a small subscription fee for it.

To sign up, download and launch the app. Create an account and connect your checking account. From there, you can set unlimited savings goals with Digit, from making a large purchase to building an emergency fund. You also get overdraft protection and fee reimbursement, so you never have to worry that Digit’s algorithm will take too much out of your checking account.

Digit comes with a $5 per month membership fee after a free trial. Digit is a unique way to maximize your savings without thinking much about it.

Visit Digit

... Or read our Digit review.

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Wally: Best for family budgeting

Founded by two brothers in 2013, Wally has amassed millions of users around the globe. It has been recommended more than 150 times by popular publications and personal finance gurus. As with many of the other mobile apps on our list, you can use Wally to connect all your accounts and get an overview of your finances in one place. But it also gives you a higher level of control than some other apps, letting you budget specifically by category.

Not only that, but Wally makes it easy to collaborate on a shared budget. Its syncing feature offers a high-level view of multiple account balances so everyone in your family (or household) is aware of each other’s spending and can work together to achieve goals. You’ll even be able to schedule bill reminders, upload important documents like lease agreements, and save receipts and warranties.

Why we like Wally: One of the main features of Wally is its ability to track expenses in real time, which allows you to see where your money is going and make adjustments to your spending habits. Wally also enables you to track your bills to stay on top of their due dates. You can also take pictures of your receipts to make it easy to keep track of expenses.

What we don't like about Wally: The Wally app is only available for iOS mobile devices, such as iPhones an iPads, which leaves out Android users. And while there is a free version of Wally, the paid version comes at a steep price, although this price is paid once for a lifetime membership.

Who Wally is good for: Wally can be a good fit for people or families who use iOS devices and want to sync their expenses and budgets to one app. The app offers a simple and intuitive method of tracking expenses in real-time.

Wally is free to use. You can get a lifetime membership to Wally Gold for just $74.99 (as of January 2023), which comes with some additional features. But you won’t need it to access most of the app’s capabilities, including shared budgets. Most users will find that the free version of the app is sufficient for their needs.

Visit Wally.

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Marcus Insights: Best for all-in-one budgeting

Marcus Insights (formerly Clarity Money) is a free app from Marcus by Goldman Sachs, a financial firm that has been around since 1869. It’s a great option for users who want to rely on just one digital tool for the majority of their financial needs.

The app allows you to link all your financial accounts for an overview of your finances. It features powerful spending tracking tools, including automatic categorization of your transactions, an overview of your income and expenses, and the capability to view transactions by retailers or time of day.

Marcus Insights also identifies your recurring expenses to help you cut down on unnecessary bills and easily cancel unwanted subscriptions. There’s even a budget planner that helps you set limits for spending categories based on your expense history, and you’ll be able to check your credit score for free directly from the app. Plus, it’s 100% free to use.

Why we like Marcus Insights: We like that the savings features on this app are robust. Marcus Insights is the only budgeting app that lets you open a Marcus online savings account directly from the app. There’s no minimum deposit, no fees to worry about, and your money is FDIC-insured. Plus, you’ll be able to set savings goals, automate your savings directly from the app, and earn an interest rate on the money you save. Marcus online savings account offers an annual percentage rate (APY) of 3.75% (as of Mar. 23, 2023).

What we don't like about Marcus Insights: Marcus Insight isn't a standalone app. Instead, it lives within the Marcus app from Goldman Sachs. While you can use Marcus Insights without becoming a Marcus member, you won't be able to use certain features in the app without applying for a Marcus savings or investing account.

Who Marcus Insights is good for: Marcus Insights is good for anyone who wants to see their financial information all in one place while taking advantage of its savings features by applying for a Marcus online savings account.

Visit Marcus Insights.

Mint: Best for tracking your credit score

If improving your credit is one of your financial goals, you may want a budgeting app that allows you to regularly check your credit score. Mint shows you your credit score right away when you sign up and explains the factors impacting your credit rating. Credit monitoring is available from Mint as well, so you can receive alerts when Transunion picks up new credit information.

Mint was founded in 2006 and was acquired by Intuit in 2009. Intuit is the financial management solutions company behind other popular financial tools such as TurboTax. By 2023, Mint had 25 million users. Mint is popular because it’s one of the few budgeting apps to offer an extensive suite of features for free.

The app also has two paid versions. The first version simply removes ads you may get, while the second offers the same ad removal in addition to subscription cancellation, advanced data visualization and graphs, and more. However, this second version is only available for iOS users.

Why we like Mint: Aside from viewing your credit score, you can use Mint to achieve most of your financial tracking, and the app is free to use. You can track all your bills in one place, get reminders about due dates, and even get notifications when your funds are low. Mint also has a budget tracker that helps you set up a budget based on your expenses, which Mint categorizes automatically. You can even add tags for custom organization or split transactions into categories.

What we don't like about Mint: Like some other apps on the list, Mint mislabels transactions in some cases. This leads to providing inaccurate spending data when investments are marked as normal purchases. Mint also experiences occasional connectivity issues with certain financial institutions, which isn't out of the ordinary but may interrupt your experience.

Who Mint is good for: Mint can be a good budgeting app for anyone who wants free access to basic budgeting features without minding an ad here or there. The app also offers credit score tracking, which can help people who are working on improving their credit. 

Visit Mint.

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Empower: Best for budgeting and investment tracking

Founded in 2009, Empower (formerly known as Personal Capital) is a great personal finance app designed to help you stay on top of your net worth. The app’s financial tools are free to use.

You can link your accounts to get an overview of your finances, including your investment accounts. You’ll also be able to build and manage a savings and retirement plan directly from the app and use the app's investment tools to get insights about your portfolio. Empower will also analyze any hidden fees associated with your retirement accounts and give you instructions on minimizing them.

Empower’s wealth management features, on the other hand, are for paying customers with a minimum of $100,000 in investment assets. With that, you get unlimited financial advice and a professionally managed ETF portfolio. If you have more than $200,000 in investment assets, you’ll also get two dedicated financial advisors and a customized portfolio. Customers with more than $1 million in investment assets are considered private clients and receive priority access and in-depth support.

Why we like Empower: We like that Empower offers a comprehensive app for tracking your finances, including your investment accounts and retirement plans. The app offers a unique analysis of retirement account fees and other savings tips to help you increase the amount of money you keep for yourself.

What we don't like about Empower: Accessing the full suite of Empower features, such as wealth management and dedicated financial advisors, requires you to be a paying customer with a minimum amount of $100,000 in investment assets. 

Who Empower is good for: Empower can offer a good budgeting system for people who want to track all their investment assets in one place. This is especially true for people with over $100,000 in investment assets since Empower can offer personalized financial advice and portfolio management.

Visit Empower.

PocketGuard: Best for quick spending insights

Founded in 2015, PocketGuard is a budgeting app that makes it easy to track your spending and reduce your bill payments. As with most of the apps on our list, you’ll be able to link your financial accounts. You can quickly glance at the In My Pocket feature to see how much available cash and your recommended spending limits. And a further look will show you your categorized transactions, which you can customize with hashtags.

Many of the features of PocketGuard are free to use. However, you get some nice additional perks with PocketGuard Plus, including:

• Create your own categories
• Export transaction data
• Create unlimited goals
• Manage cash and ATM deposits/withdrawals
• Use autosave
• Split transactions into categories

Why we like PocketGuard: We like that PocketGuard has a “Find Savings” tab that can help with negotiating your bills, canceling unused subscriptions, and even improving your credit score or paying off student debt. The app also makes it easy to set savings goals and turn on the autosave function to let PocketGuard do the work for you.

What we don't like about PocketGuard: The free version offers limited functionality, while the paid version costs more on a monthly basis than some of the apps on our list. Additionally, the app also struggles with correctly categorizing some transactions, which is a common issue for several budgeting apps.

Who PocketGuard is good for: PocketGuard can be a great tool for people who want a quick and simple overview of their financial health. The app makes it easy to identify areas suitable for cutting spending and saving money. 

Visit PocketGuard.

EveryDollar: Best for building a budget quickly

If you’re overwhelmed by your finances, your best move could be to get up and running quickly with a budget. EveryDollar promises to help you create your first budget in less than 10 minutes. Launched in 2015 by personal finance expert Dave Ramsey, the app amassed its first 1 million users in just 10 months. The app has more than 10 million users as of February 2023.

EveryDollar is designed to help you manage your money by using zero-based budgeting, which means assigning every dollar to a specific category, such as rent, groceries, or savings. You can connect your bank accounts and credit cards to the app to track your spending and monitor your financial progress.

Why we like EveryDollar: EveryDollar is simple to use. All you need to do is add your income, plan your expenses by category, and then track your spending to make sure you’re sticking to your budget. This information will be synced across the devices you use as well.

What we don't like about EveryDollar: The free version doesn’t allow you to link your financial accounts; instead, you enter your transactions manually. Although this might seem inconvenient, it can be extremely helpful for people who need to pay more attention to their money.

Who EveryDollar is good for: EveryDollar can be a good fit for people who seek a zero-based budget and don't mind paying for it. The paid version of the app can help design a budget where every dollar is accounted for and allocated toward a goal. 

Visit EveryDollar.

YNAB: Best for cross-platform budgeting

If you want to budget on your iPad or tell Alexa to budget for you, You Need a Budget (YNAB) is probably a good choice for you. Few budgeting apps come with such extensive cross-platform support.

YNAB launched in 2004, and many people now swear by it. The app has a dedicated following on Reddit, a YouTube channel, and a Facebook fan page. And it’s no wonder people are obsessed: YNAB reports that new budgeters using the app save $600 their first two months and $6,000 their first year on average.

YNAB identifies itself as a proactive system, meaning you’ll do a lot of categorization and tracking manually. But YNAB makes it quick and easy to define your categories. You can also set up a zero-based budgeting goal to manage your income, which can help you avoid overspending or pay down your debt faster. And you’ll achieve a higher level of control when using YNAB than when allowing apps to make spending and savings decisions for you.

Why we like YNAB: We like that YNAB is available for desktop, iPhone, Android, iPad, Apple Watch, and Alexa. This makes it quite simple to interact with the app on a daily manner while you're in the kitchen, on a bus, at work, and more.

What we don't like about YNAB: YNAB is one of the pricier apps. Despite its price, it requires time and effort to categorize your transactions, which can be time-consuming and may not be a good fit if you prefer a more hands-off approach to your finances.

Who YNAB is good for: People who don't mind the subscription cost and want to take full control of their finances may enjoy YNAB and the level of comprehensive financial management it offers. 

Visit YNAB

... Or read our YNAB review. 

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Our methodology

To develop our list of the best budget apps, we looked at 10 popular apps and evaluated them according to a set of criteria we consider critical to the consumer, including product features, product interfaces, pricing, and ease of use. We did not evaluate all companies in the category. We used editorial judgment to determine what use or type of user each budgeting app is best for.

FAQs

The bottom line

If you’ve never budgeted before, it’s simple to learn how to manage your money, and it's something you can look forward to. The right financial product could help you get better control over where your money goes and improve your cash flow, which will help you if you’re drowning in debt. And no matter your budgeting style, there’s an app that can help you better manage your money.

In order to be successful, narrow down your options to a few that fit your needs. Decide if you want your budget to be restrictive or flexible, automatic or manual, and shared or individual. Determine what devices you’ll use to access the service and how much time you can devote to startup and ongoing use. From there, try out a few of your picks. One interface may stand out to you more than others, or you might find certain features particularly helpful.

Once you’ve selected your ideal budgeting tool, you should also consider your budgeting strategy. Some people may use an envelope budgeting technique to split their money, a 50/30/20 system to divide their income between needs, wants, and savings, or opt for a zero-based budgeting system that assigns a purpose for every dollar they earn. Learn more about these budgeting systems, and you may be on your way to a healthier and wealthier future.

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Author Details

Lindsay Frankel Lindsay Frankel is a Denver-based freelance writer who specializes in credit cards, travel, budgeting/saving, and shopping. She has been featured in several finance publications, including LendingTree. When she's not writing, you can find her enjoying the great outdoors, playing music, or cuddling with her rescue pup.

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