Best Mint Alternatives to Explore in 2022

July 01, 2022

The post Best Mint Alternatives to Explore in 2022 appeared first on Millennial Money.

When it comes to personal finance tools, it’s hard to top Mint.com, which is a free app that comes with powerful features.

But while Mint is undoubtedly a great product, there are other financial management apps available for Android and iPhone that can help you stay on top of your various accounts. That being the case, it makes sense to shop around to find a program that meets your exact needs and specifications.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of the best Mint alternatives for 2022.

Best Mint Alternatives for Personal Finance

Personal Capital

Personal Capital is a popular app that offers three types of financial services: cash management, wealth management, and free personal finance tools.

Personal Capital Cash offers unlimited money transfers and direct deposits for paychecks. It has no fees, and you can access it over any mobile device.

The app’s wealth management service is for customers who have over $100,000 in the bank. It offers planning assistance and unlimited financial advice.

Most investors tend to use Personal Capital for its free financial tools, which include a net worth tracker, a savings planner, a retirement planner, a fee analyzer, and an investment checkup service. These helpful tools can help shed light on your overall financial situation and make sure your accounts are moving in the right direction.

You Need a Budget (YNAB)

YNAB offers a handy app that’s purely for budgeting.

This platform makes budgeting fun and straightforward, using helpful visuals and educational resources to give you more control over your financial situation.

With YNAB, you can set goals and budgets with other people in your network. The app also provides budgeting reports and personal support, giving you even more help on your journey to financial independence.

YNAB costs $11.99 per month, or $84 per year—a drop in the bucket compared to how much you could potentially save.

Quicken

Quicken is one of the biggest names in personal finance software. The company makes it fast and easy to take control of your finances and view your entire financial portfolio from one user-friendly program.

With Quicken, you can manage spending, create budgets, view and manage bills, set goals, and track investments.

The company also offers the Quicken Companion app, which works with the Quicken desktop service, and Simplifi, which is a standalone mobile app.

One of the best parts about working with Quicken is that you get access to excellent support. As a big brand name, Quicken offers a fantastic help center, expert community, and a friendly technical support team.

The company also offers several different plans, including Quicken Starter, Deluxe, Premier, and Home & Business.

Of note, Quicken is one of the best programs for small business management. So, if you work for yourself, it’s worth checking out.

Tiller Money

Tiller Money is another popular app that you can use to centralize your finances and gain more clarity into your financial situation.

The solution is interesting in that it combines traditional spreadsheet-style reporting with a modern app, providing enhanced security and a user-friendly interface. There are also custom templates available for advanced functions like tracking net worth and paying off debt.

Tiller gives customers the option to pay $6.58 per month or $79 annually. There’s currently a free 30-day trial available, so you don’t have to worry about paying any money until you’re sure you like it.

Spendee

Spendee lets you see all of your cash expenses, e-wallets, crypto wallets, and bank accounts together over a single app.

This app makes it easy to get a quick overview of your total income and expenses. Plus, you can create budgets to save for specific items.

Spendee is an excellent option if you want to better understand your financial habits and track spending. The app also has a shared wallets feature for families, couples, and roommates.

Spendee offers a free basic plan along with two premium options that cost $14.99 and $22.99 annually. My advice is to start with the free version, see how it goes, and decide whether it’s worth upgrading.

PocketGuard

PocketGuard is another app that brings multiple accounts together into one location so you can see how much disposable income you have.

By using PocketGuard, you can optimize spending and put more money away for long-term growth. The app also provides personalized reports and comes with a debt payoff component.

One of the best features of PocketGuard is a tool that lets you track and lower your bills. The app even negotiates better rates with cell phone and cable providers on your behalf, helping you keep more of the money you worked so hard to earn.

PocketGuard offers three pricing options. There’s a monthly plan at $7.99, an annual plan at $79.99, and a lifetime membership at $99.99.

Mobills

Mobills delivers a powerful personal finance app that tracks money and assists with budgeting.

The app makes it easy to see all your finances from one screen and understand where your money is going on a daily basis. It lets you create categories for various expenses and income streams, receive bill reminders, and access charts with spending data.

One of the nice features of Mobills is its credit card manager. This tool can make it easier to pay off cards in full each month and avoid penalties and high interest charges.

Mobills has a free offering as well as two premium plans at $14.99 a quarter and $49.99 annually.

Digit

Digit uses machine learning to automatically calculate how much you should be saving on a daily basis.

The app pulls money out of your checking account or savings account and stashes it into savings and investing accounts. It’s a completely hands-off approach to saving and investing—and a great option to make sure you stay the course and reach your long-term financial goals.

Digit offers a free 30-day trial. After the trial period ends, membership is only $5 per month—pretty reasonable if you ask me.

Zeta

Zeta offers free mobile financial tools for joint financial management. It’s meant for people who live together, are engaged, or are already married. Parents can also benefit from using Zeta with their kids.

The company provides joint banking through a shared account, as well as a free budgeting app that lets you track and manage finances together as a team.

One interesting feature that Zeta has is a money personality quiz. This short assessment can help couples learn about each other’s financial habits.

Honeydue

Honeydue also provides a great budgeting app for couples.

Just like with Zeta, you can access a joint cash account and shared budgeting tool through Honeydue. The app links with third-party financial institutions, letting you track multiple accounts and coordinate bills together as a team.

Honeydue has a useful chat component where you can ask your partner questions and discuss bill pay in a way that is convenient and accessible.

Best of all, Honeydue is completely free to download and use.

Banktivity

Banktivity is a personal money management app exclusively for macOS and iOS devices.

This service provides tools and tips for planning, spending, and saving money. It can help with a range of needs—like paying debt, planing an emergency fund, and getting ready for retirement.

Banktivity has three plans available: Bronze ($49.99 per year), Silver ($69.99 per year), and Gold ($99.99 per year).

Prism

Prism is a popular bill tracking service that can help you avoid surprises when monthly bills roll around. The platform makes it easy to view all of your recurring charges over one convenient portal.

With Prism, you can also check account balances and view income in one area. It’s highly effective and completely free to download and use. Why not give it a shot?

Goodbudget

Goodbudget is yet another budgeting program that makes it easy to share budgets, save money for upcoming expenses, and pay off debt.

The platform also provides some excellent learning courses to help improve your budgeting game. For example, Budget Bootcamp can teach you the basics of budgeting. If you’re new to the budgeting process, it can’t hurt to check it out.

Goodbudget has a free plan and one that costs $7 per month or $60 annually. Again, you’re probably best off trying the free plan first before deciding to spend money.

Splitwise

Splitwise helps keep track of shared expenses, making it a go-to solution for housemates, trips, groups, family members, and friends.

Suffice it to say that money issues can cause a lot of tension in group settings, and this app is a great workaround to ensure fairness and honesty. The Splitwise app lets you organize expenses and track balances to keep track of who owes money. It allows you to add express on the go and even settle accounts with other people through online payments.

Splitwise offers a free plan and also a paid version that costs only $3 per month.

Wally

Wally is a personal finance app that aggregates multiple accounts together into one location.

This app is ideal for saving and budgeting. It lets you budget by category, and track progress over time. Additionally, Wally provides spending insights and real-time updates for account balances and transactions.

On top of this, Wally offers joint accounts and household budgeting. It can also track foreign transactions, as it pairs with 15,000 banks across 70 countries.

The basic version of Wally doesn’t cost anything. There’s a premium plan that costs $4.95 per month, $35.99 per year, or $47.99 for a lifetime subscription.

If you find yourself liking Wally, I’d suggest springing for the lifetime subscription, which is more cost-effective.

Microsoft Excel

Excel may not be the flashiest or most exciting personal finance solution on the market. But it’s still highly effective for keeping track of personal expenses.

While Excel is a manual budgeting app, you can download the Money in Excel add-on to securely connect to any bank, investment, credit card, and loan account for automated management.

It’s possible to purchase Excel as a standalone product. You can also get access to it through the Microsoft Office 365 suite.

Mint: A Basic Overview

As you can see, Mint has quite a bit of competition. There are tons of mobile apps to explore that can simplify financial management.

When you give Mint a try, you may find everything you need—and you won’t have to pay a dime for it. After all, this is one of the most comprehensive free services on the market—and a must-have tool for everyday money management.

Mint launched in 2009, and Intuit acquired the company in 2020, for $170 million.

Here’s a look at Mint’s top features.

Budgeting

Mint lets you create custom budgets so you can always understand your spending limits. The app sends notifications when you go over budget and when opportunities for improvement arise.

Credit Monitoring

One of Mint’s unique features is credit score monitoring. You can receive a free report summary in the Mint app, providing a score and influencing factors—like on-time payments, credit utilization, average account age, total accounts, and more.

Portfolio Tracker

Mint provides a portfolio tracking service to help manage investments. The app also identifies hidden fees, which can save you a lot of money over time.

Bill Payment Tracker

Mint’s bill payment tracker keeps you in the loop about what you need to pay and when. The app can send you notifications before payments are due so that you can always know what’s coming up and can plan accordingly.

Learn More:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Are Budgeting Apps Safe?

Mobile apps tend to vary in terms of security. But most financial management apps are pretty safe to use overall.

That said, it’s a good idea to investigate each app’s security policy and reputation before connecting it to your bank account. After all, the last thing you want is to give an insecure or unknown app access to your personal financial information.

Do your due diligence and make sure you feel comfortable with an app before trusting it. That way, you can reduce the chances you make a decision you ultimately regret.

Learn More:

Is Powerwallet Still a Company?

Powerwallet had a nice run providing financial services for customers. However, Powerwallet is no longer a company. The app shut down in 2018 and does not serve customers anymore.

Do I Need to Use an App to Budget?

You don’t need to use an app to budget or manage personal finances. It’s definitely possible to keep track of personal finances the old-fashioned way, using a traditional paper and pen-based system.

One popular budgeting method that doesn’t require a computer is the envelope system. This approach involves putting money into various envelopes and using the contents to pay for associated items (e.g., utilities, groceries, and entertainment).

Since each category only receives a set amount of money each month, it forces you to put more effort into tracking prices and being frugal.

Should I Pay Money for a Personal Finance App?

It largely depends on the app that you’re considering. Before you pay for a monthly or annual subscription, make sure the app offers significant value. Chances are you may be able to get the same service for free in another app. And, if you do decide to pay for a personal finance app, make sure that you’ll actually be able to capitalize on its premium features.

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, personal finance apps can help with a variety of needs—like bill pay, cash flow management, and investment account monitoring, to name just a few examples. They can help you reduce unnecessary Amazon purchases, handle payments more effectively, become a better saver, and plan for upcoming bills.

With so many apps to consider, however, picking the right one can be a challenge. As such, you might be tempted to jump right into an app instead of vetting different providers.

As a disclaimer, while all of the trending personal finance apps on this list are legit, the best one for you depends solely on your unique situation and ability to use each app’s features.

Now if you’ll excuse me, all this talk about personal finance management has got me jazzed up about saving money and improving my portfolio.

I think it’s time to open my smartphone and check in on things.

Why don’t you join me?