Many financial experts and personal finance gurus agree that making a budget is key to taking control of your money.
If the B word seems daunting and tedious, however, you're not alone. That's why dozens of companies have created apps that do the grunt work for you. Budgeting apps typically link to your bank accounts and credit cards and automatically track your purchases from there. Many even categorize your spending into different buckets (transportation, food, etc.) so you know exactly where your money goes. By using a good budgeting app, you save time you would otherwise spend manually inputting numbers into a spreadsheet — all the while encouraging you to spend less and save more.
To determine which budgeting apps are the best overall, CNBC Select reviewed and compared over a dozen apps, looking at their pricing and their features. To rank the top five, we only considered apps that sync your transactions, come with low (or no) cost to sign up, are easy to use and can be accessed on multiple devices. We favored those that have a considerable number of user reviews and high ratings.
The five apps we selected for this ranking are either free, offer a free version or have a free trial for users to test out before signing up. They each have at least 1,000 reviews in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android), as well as a rating of 4 stars (out of 5) or higher on both platforms. (See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best budgeting apps.)
Best budgeting apps
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Best overall free app
Mint
Cost
Free
Standout features
Shows income, expenses, savings goals, credit score, investments, net worth
Categorizes your expenses
Yes, but users can modify
Links to accounts
Yes, bank and credit cards
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Verisign scanning, multi-factor authentication and Touch ID mobile access
See our methodology, terms apply.
Pros
- Free to use
- Syncs to your bank accounts and credit cards
- Users can create savings goals, track investments
- Customized alerts when over budget, for large transactions, ATM fees, etc.
- Bill payment reminders
- Credit monitoring service
- Offers blog and education tools, such as a loan repayment calculator
- Security features include Verisign scanning, multi-factor authentication and Touch ID mobile access
Cons
- Some user reviews complain of ads, glitches in app, expenses assigned to wrong category
Best app for serious budgeters
You Need a Budget (YNAB)
Cost
34-day free trial then $84 per year or $11.99 per month (students who provide proof of enrollment get 12 months free)
Standout features
Instead of using traditional budgeting buckets, users allocate every dollar they earn to something (known as the "zero-based budgeting system" where no dollar is unaccounted for). Every dollar is assigned a "job," whether it's to go toward bills, savings, investments, etc.
Categorizes your expenses
No
Links to accounts
Yes, bank and credit cards
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Encrypted data, accredited data centers, third-party audits and more
See our methodology, terms apply.
Pros
- Offers a 34-day free trial, and students get 12 months free
- Designed to help you get out of debt
- YNAB website claims average user saves $600 in their first two months and more than $6,000 in their first year
- Syncs to your bank accounts and credit cards
- Users can set goals, customize spending categories
- Offers educational resources, such as budgeting advice and 100+ free workshops offered every week
- Personal customer support
- Security features include encrypted data, accredited data centers, third-party audits and more
Cons
- Costs $84 per year or $11.99 per month
- Customer reviews note that it takes longer to set up than other apps
Best app for over-spenders
PocketGuard
Cost
Free basic budgeting app; $34.99 per year to upgrade to PocketGuard Plus, the premium version
Standout features
Taking into account your estimated income, upcoming expenses and savings goals, "In My Pocket" feature uses an algorithm to show how much you have available for everyday spending (available for all users)
Categorizes your expenses
Yes, but users can modify
Links to accounts
Yes, bank and credit cards
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Major bank-level encryption, PIN codes and biometrics like Touch ID and Face ID
See our methodology, terms apply.
Pros
- Free version available for basic budgeting and one "goal" account
- Syncs to your bank accounts and credit cards
- "In My Pocket" feature uses an algorithm to show how much you have available for everyday spending
- Users can create savings goals and track investments
- Autosave feature where PocketGuard automatically withdraws funds from a linked bank account to a non-interest bearing custodial account for users' savings goals
- Premium users have access to “cancel your subscription” feature, which recommends subscriptions you should cancel to save money and directions on how to do so
Cons
- Costs $34.99 per year to upgrade to the premium version, PocketGuard Plus
- Autosave feature is only available for U.S. citizens (though the app connects to both U.S. and Canadian financial institutions) and there is a $2 monthly maintenance fee for free users
- Some user reviews report that transactions are categorized incorrectly on occasion
- There is no bill negotiation feature
Best app for investors
Empower
Cost
App is free, but users have option to add investment management services for 0.89% of their money (for accounts under $1 million)
Standout features
A budgeting app and investment tool that tracks both your spending and your wealth
Categorizes your expenses
Yes, but users can modify
Links to accounts
Yes, bank and credit cards, as well as IRAs, 401(k)s, mortgages and loans
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Data encryption, fraud protection and strong user authentication
See our methodology, terms apply.
Pros
- Free to use
- Includes money-tracking dashboard, plus a net-worth tracker as well as a breakdown of your investment portfolio
- Offers free investing tools, such as a retirement planner, education planner and fee analyzer to check portfolio fees
- Syncs to your bank accounts and credit cards as well as other financial accounts
- Offers Daily Capital blog for financial planning tips
- Security features include data encryption, fraud protection and strong user authentication
Cons
- Budgeting features aren't as comprehensive as other apps
- Investment management services come with cost
Best app for couples
Honeydue
Cost
Free
Standout features
Allows couples to see both partners' bank accounts, credit cards, loans and investments (and each partner can select what to share with the other) so you can manage money together and see everything at one glance
Categorizes your expenses
Yes, but users can customize
Links to accounts
Yes, you and your partner's bank and credit cards
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Data encryption, Touch ID and multi-factor authentication
See our methodology, terms apply.
Pros
- Free to use
- Helps couples manage their money together, track spending, coordinate bills
- Syncs to you and your partner's bank accounts
- Choose what accounts you want to share
- Users set up monthly spending limits in each category and are alerted when they or their partner is reaching limit
- Bill payment reminders
- Chat and send emojis to your partner through the app
- Offers joint bank account
- Security features include data encryption, Touch ID and multi-factor authentication
Cons
- Some reports of app being buggy and transactions not showing up immediately
Budgeting app FAQs
What does a budgeting app do?
Once you download a budgeting app to your mobile device, tablet or computer, the app helps you track your money. The basic budgeting apps show you how much you earn and organize your expenses into separate categories so that you can see where and how much you spend.
Many budgeting apps offer much more than that, however. The best ones come with other services, such as monitoring your savings, your investments, your debts and/or your credit score. They will offer alerts when you have an upcoming bill due or recommend ways you can save.
Budgeting apps often sync with your bank accounts so it automatically tracks your spending. Some require that you input your transactions manually, which can take time.
How much do budgeting apps cost?
Many budgeting apps are free, offer a free version or have a free trial for users to test out before signing up.
After a free trial, or if you want to upgrade beyond the free option, budgeting apps can cost anywhere between $1 per month for very basic budgeting features to $6-$15 per month for more advanced tools and customized tips for users. Sometimes, you can get a discount if you pay an annual fee instead of monthly.
Should I pay for a budgeting app?
The short answer: You don't need to. There are plenty of free budgeting apps on the market if you don't want to invest in one. A solid choice is Mint, which we ranked best free budgeting app.
However, free apps usually have limited features or a bunch of in-app ads.
If you want a more robust budgeting app that offers a variety of premium services (such as a retirement planner tool), or you simply can't stand all the ads, consider a subscription-based app where you pay a monthly or annual fee.
You might find that paying for an app encourages you to use it more since you have some monetary stake in it. If that means you get serious about trimming your spending and saving more, the fee could be worthwhile.
Be sure to check if the app offers any sort of free trial so you can test it out before paying for it.
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Our methodology
To determine which budgeting apps offer the best user experience, CNBC Select analyzed over a dozen apps offered by the top companies in this market and looked at their pricing, features, user reviews and ratings.
We narrowed down our ranking by only considering apps that sync transactions from users' bank accounts, come with low (or no) cost to sign up, are easy to use and can be accessed on multiple devices so are accessible and compatible for most.
The five apps we selected for this ranking are either free, offer a free version or have a free trial for users to test out before signing up.
All of the apps in our round-up have a sizable number of user reviews and high ratings. Each app on this list has at least 1,000 reviews in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android), as well as a rating over 4 stars (out of 5) on both platforms.
Other factors we looked at included apps' security features, user customization and educational tools offered.