Budgeting is not enjoyable or glamorous, however it’s vital if you wish to attain your monetary objectives. Fortunately, budgeting apps could make the method lots simpler.
Intuit Mint—or just Mint—is likely one of the longest working and most established of those apps. The flexibility to securely hyperlink to totally different financial institution accounts and robotically log and categorize bills remains to be a significant promoting level for a lot of customers.
However over the previous few years, budgeting apps have rocketed into the longer term. Now, you’re extra seemingly that ever to have the ability to discover an app that fits your spending habits and way of life. In the meantime, Mint has gotten rather less shiny over time, with customers complaining about performance, safety and comfort.
Beneath, we break down among the most typical complaints that we hear about Mint. Then, we listing 10 of one of the best Mint alternate options that might prevent time and trouble if you happen to’re keen to make the swap.
Widespread Mint Complaints & Causes To Swap
Mint remains to be a very fashionable free budgeting app. However some customers have have discovered the platform to be a disappointment in a number of methods. This is a fast listing of the most typical complaints that customers make about Mint:
- Issues With Synchronization — Mint has hassle connecting to sure banks, credit score unions and different monetary establishments (AmEx-linking specifically appears to be a recurring drawback).
- Poor Buyer Service — It is not unusual for inquiries to go unanswered for weeks or to have issues by no means resolved.
- Lack of Report Technology — The one method to generate a report is by exporting a CSV file to a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel. You’ll be able to solely do that by their web site, not the app.
- No Reconciliation — You can’t reconcile in opposition to your month-to-month financial institution statements. Mint assumes the info downloaded is at all times right. For monetary info that’s not linked to your financial institution, you may solely add them to your account manually by the Mint.com web site.
- No Import Possibility From Quicken — You can’t import your knowledge from Quicken into Mint.
- Onerous to entry outdoors the US and Canada — Mint customers positioned all over the world have complained concerning the spotty capability to log into the web site. With many apps seamlessly obtainable all over the world for vacationers, this appears noticeably shortsighted.
- Errors in Labeling Purchases — Mint makes an attempt to label your purchases as they arrive in, however it could actually get it flawed. Customers should verify their purchases to verify issues are sorted into the proper finances classes and to ensure that much less frequent purchases are labeled appropriately.
Whereas many options on Mint have improved (for instance, customers can now decide to spend $0.99 a month for an ad-free expertise—a low-barrier answer to a beforehand frequent grievance), that doesn’t imply you may’t take a look round to see what’s on the market.
10 Well-liked Mint Options
No matter your cause for feeling like Mint is not the proper match on your budgeting wants, this information will help you discover a appropriate alternative. Listed below are 10 of one of the best Mint alternate options obtainable right this moment.
1. Simplifi Juggles Onerous Targets and Good-To-Haves
Get Began With Simplifi
Simplifi offers a streamline dashboard that permits you to see all of your investments, loans, financial institution accounts and bank cards in a single place and robotically categorizes every expense into objectives that you just’ve set.
Most of us don’t have only one financial savings goal: Usually, we’re paying down pupil loans, increase our emergency funds, tucking cash away for a kitchen reno and an upcoming trip. Simplifi by Quicken allows you to set exhausting budgets (for debt repayments and large life bills) and watch lists (to keep watch over upcoming holidays and quick meals budgets), and analyzes your spending and money circulate to indicate you the place you may unencumber cash and the place you may spend a bit extra.
After a 30-day trial, Simplifi prices $47.99 a yr. That is dearer than Mint, however Simplifi is best for managing your whole funds, together with investments, underneath one roof.
Learn Extra: Take a look at our full evaluation of Simplifi
2. Empower is a Hybrid Platform
Get Began With Empower Empower is primarily an funding administration platform, however it additionally has budgeting instruments which might be much like Mint like:
- Account Dashboard is the first hyperlink of the budgeting suite. It lets you sync exterior monetary accounts in an effort to achieve insights into money circulate, spending by class, financial savings price, debt, internet value, and different metrics.
- The retirement planner instrument lets you estimate how a lot you will must retire underneath numerous eventualities and develop a plan to achieve it.
- Funding Planner lets you evaluate your portfolio allocations to what it considers best allocations primarily based in your age and threat preferences. It additionally offers info on the 529 accounts you could have opened on your youngsters’s faculty.
Empower‘s budgeting and monetary administration instruments are free and mobile-friendly that are two of the most important causes that it made our listing of one of the best Mint alternate options.
3. YNAB (You Want a Finances) Units Guidelines to Reside By
Get Began With YNAB
YNAB has lengthy been one of many strongest Mint alternate options in case your purpose is to turn out to be debt charge. It helps spenders break the behavior of dwelling paycheck to paycheck by encouraging them to stay solely off the cash earned the earlier month and setting intentions for every greenback that is available in.
YNAB makes recording bills and goal-setting a breeze with the power to categorize bills and hyperlink financial institution accounts to robotically log your transactions. On prime of instructing you to stay to spending solely final month’s revenue, YNAB has three different guidelines:
- Give each greenback a job. You allocate each greenback primarily based on spending priorities that you’ve got beforehand established. To realize essentially the most from this characteristic, you will must spend a little bit of time upfront establishing these priorities.
- Embrace your precise bills. When you’ve got annual bills, you will break them up over 12 months so that you just put aside a bit of every month.
- Roll with the punches. Deal with overspending when it occurs by readjusting over different classes. Then transfer on.
YNAB is fee-based, priced at $14.99 a month or $98.99 a yr however gives a 34-day free trial. It has a number of iterations, together with Net, Android, and Apple. You’ll be able to learn our Mint vs YNAB submit for an entire comparability of those two budgeting apps.
Additional Studying: A full overview of YNAB
4. Tiller is For Spreadsheet Followers
Get Began With Tiller
Tiller, often known as Tiller Cash, syncs with greater than 18,000 monetary establishments throughout the US. It makes use of the data from these accounts to robotically monitor and categorize bills into their custom-created spreadsheets. For those who’re a spreadsheet nerd, Tiller is likely one of the finest Mint alternate options available on the market right this moment.
Tiller works with a “Basis Template” that lets you create budgets, or you may create a personalized spreadsheet. It additionally contains instruments for freelancers and small enterprise homeowners, saving them the insanity of receipt-digging round tax season.
On prime of logging each day bills, Tiller additionally sends emailed finances summaries and organizes your month-to-month bills into easy-to-read graphs so you may spot the place you’ve overspent. After a 30-day free trial, Tiller prices $79 yearly.
5. Goodbudget Takes the Envelope Methodology Into the Digital Age
Get Began With Goodbudget
Goodbudget makes use of an envelope system the place a part of your month-to-month revenue goes towards particular bills. You manually add account balances, money owed, and revenue, then assign the cash towards envelopes. This helps you keep away from overspending and is likely one of the older budgeting techniques on the market.
Goodbudget additionally lets you sync budgets with different members of the family. It gives a free model that offers you 20 envelopes and two units. The Plus model prices $8 a month.
For those who’re largely all in favour of avoiding overspending, this is likely one of the finest alternate options to Mint you should utilize.
6. PocketSmith Helps You Forecast For The Future
Get Began With PocketSmith
PocketSmith is much like Mint in you could combination your whole banking and investing accounts with one app. From there, you may create {custom} budgets and spending classes to remain on prime of your funds. It additionally summarizes your transactions identical to Mint.
However we like PocketSmith as an alternative choice to Mint due to its forecasting options. It has a cash-flow forecasting instrument that highlights how your present spending habits affect your internet value and future wealth. Its budgeting calendar additionally offers a pleasant visible structure of your upcoming bills and revenue, so it is a superb app for highly-visual budgeters, not spreadsheet followers.
The draw back versus Mint is that you’ll want to pay for PocketSmith to get most of its options. For many customers, the middle-tier Premium plan, which prices $9.95 per thirty days or $90 per yr, is sufficient to get the job finished.
You’ll be able to learn our PocketSmith evaluation for more information, and Investor Junkie readers get 50% off their first two months of a Premium plan.
7. PocketGuard Offers a Simplified Snapshot
Get Began With PocketGuard
PocketGuard offers a simplified view of your financial institution accounts, bank cards, loans, investments, and payments. It additionally exhibits you ways a lot you’ve got left for discretionary spending. Not solely does it let you get a full overview of your funds, together with your internet value, it additionally analyzes your payments to indicate you the place you may negotiate for higher charges.
It is available in a free model and paid model at $7.99 a month. That is dearer than Mint, however the invoice negotiation characteristic is certainly one of its distinctive promoting factors.
8. Wally is a Mint Different With a World Community
Get Began With Wally
Wally is a super-secure finances tracker with a world presence. It robotically syncs along with your exterior accounts and bank cards, with a community of over 15,000 banks in 70 nations. Its distinctive characteristic is that the app robotically analyzes your final two years of spending.
You too can add all of your payments and warranties to maintain them in a single centralized location, and Wally will shoot an alert on when payments are due. The remainder is what you’d anticipate of a top-tier budgeting app: Sync along with your family, set spending limits on your chosen classes, monitor progress in real-time, and put aside cash in the direction of your financial savings objectives.
It has a free model and an upgraded model (Wally Gold) for $74.99, which throws in foreign money conversion and superior insights. When you’ve got financial institution accounts in a number of nations, it is a superb app like Mint to think about.
9. Honeydue Splits Funds, Saves Relationships
Get Began With Honeydue
Anybody who lives with a companion is aware of that non-public finance isn’t a solo enterprise. That’s the place Honeydue is available in. Splendid for mixed funds, Honeydue hyperlinks to all accounts, robotically splits payments, sends overdue reminders to whoever’s paying which invoice, and even has an in-app chat characteristic for when you’ll want to discuss cash.
Customers may open a joint Honeydue checking account that immediately notifies the companion of their monetary transactions. The app is on the market for each iOS and Android.
A draw back of the app is that it offers no reporting or analytics and lacks a instrument for monitoring progress towards objectives—however a significant plus is that it’s free to make use of. If something, you should utilize apps like Mint for budgeting after which use Honeydue to separate payments and for sending invoice reminders.
10. Digit Saves Your Cash For You
Get Began With Digit
Digit is a “good” app that does nearly every little thing robotically when you set it up. It first made a splash when it launched for its capability to tuck tiny, inconspicuous quantities into your financial savings objectives for you, however since then it’s grown right into a saving powerhouse.
Everytime you make a deposit, it strikes cash right into a separate account for payments to cowl month-to-month requirements so you may keep forward of your payments. Wish to make investments however don’t know the way a lot cash you may spare? Digit analyzes your spending, calculates how a lot you may afford to place into the market, helps you select the proper ETF combine for you primarily based in your objectives and tucks cash away for you.
Digit is free for 30 days after which $5 a month after that. In the end, it is probably the greatest alternate options to Mint in order for you a microsavings app that additionally allows you to make investments.
Take a look at: Our full Digit evaluation
How Do You Select The Proper Mint Different?
The precise Mint various for you relies upon upon a number of elements, together with the gadget you’d wish to apply it to, your character, your objectives, the charge construction, and what precisely you need the app to perform. Listed below are a number of questions to think about when deciding which app is one of the best for you.
Do you need to manually log your bills or have them robotically up to date and categorized for you?
In the end, the budgeting app that may work finest for you is determined by your model. If you’ll want to be totally in management and actively monitoring to remain accountable to your objectives, we advise a clear, visible app like PocketSmith. In order for you a hands-free method, Digit places your financial savings on autopilot and does your budgeting for you.
Do you like mobile-only, desktop-only, or would you like the pliability of each?
By no means close to a desktop? At all times close to a desktop? A few of these apps (like Wally) are mobile-only, whereas others (YNAB) allow you to do all of your budgeting on a desktop app (and a cellular app). For those who don’t thoughts doing a little duties on a pc whereas monitoring in your telephone, or favor the pliability of having the ability to toggle between each, might we advise—gulp—Mint?
Would you like a birds-eye view of your total monetary image?
Wish to keep watch over your investments, loans and bank cards in addition to your checking and financial savings? Right here’s the place you may go for Pocketguard or Empower.
Will you be syncing your finances info with a companion?
For household budgeting or combining funds with a companion, Tiller, Honeydue and Wally lets a number of units and account varieties on without delay.
Are you trying to rewire your financial savings method?
For those who’re trying to kind good spending habits whereas doubling down in your financial savings or debt compensation objectives, take into account choosing up a method-based goal-setting app like You Want A Finances or Goodbudget.
The Backside Line
Maintaining and sustaining a finances is important with regards to reaching our monetary objectives, whether or not they’re to cut back debt or save for holidays, retirement, or your youngsters’ training.
Whereas Mint does a good job of finances monitoring and syncing, there’s a world of budgeting apps on the market with tailor-made approaches to your financial savings model whereas providing safety, reliability and performance. For those who’re caught with Mint simply because it was one of many OGs, the advantages you’ll see in your financial savings plan may far outweigh the small trouble of tinkering with some new apps.
