Mint Alternatives

Mint offers budgeting and expense tracking. But are other apps better? See how Mint compares to alternatives like Quicken, YNAB and Empower.

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Prior to Mint, only paid apps let users see all their financial information in one place. Now you have plenty more options. Read on for a full breakdown of several Mint alternatives.

Overview: What is Mint

Mint was novel when it came around because it automatically synced your banking and credit card transactions all into one place. And it was free to use.

Before we get into the alternatives, let's quickly review Mint so you know what to compare.

PROS:

• Income and expense tracking
  
• Set and track budgets for each category
  
• Set up goals and track savings progress
  
• Bill reminders
  
• Can add manual transactions
  
• Custom alerts
  
• Free credit report from TransUnion

CONS:

• Weak investment tracking tool
  
• No retirement planning
  
• No more online bills payment through Mint
  
• Customer service only by online chat

In general, Mint is great for day-to-day money management. But some users may find some features lacking (such as not having retirement planning). Or some people may find a different budgeting approach will work better for them.

Read our full detailed review with screenshots.

Top 10 Best Mint Alternatives

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With the above in mind, let's get into the best Mint alternatives.

1. Empower

Free advanced investment & retirement tracking

Empower offers some of the most advanced financial tools on the market - and for free. It really shines in offering personalized investment and retirement advice. It's better for long-term financial planning, whereas Mint is better for day-to-day.

Top features include:

• Portfolio tracker shows how you compare to the market

• Analyzes your current investment strategy and makes personalized recommendations. It also analyzes the hidden fees within your funds.

• Advanced retirement calculator projects your retirement income. Add different life scenarios (such as buying a house) to see how it'll affect retirement.

• Education planner estimates the cost of college and how much you'll have to save.

• See your cash flow (income and expenses) and how they compare to the previous month.

Downsides compared to Mint:

• Can't add manual transactions
  
• No customizable alerts

See our detailed breakdown of Empower vs. Mint.

Who should use it:

• Investors who need a detailed snapshot of their accounts
  
• Anyone with multiple financial accounts in general

Free Money Management Tools

Click Here to Get Free Tools

2. You Need a Budget

Teaches beginners how to budget and save

You Need a Budget (YNAB) focuses on the "forward looking" approach to budgeting. It teaches you how to allocate your money based on your needs and priorities. Instead of merely giving you report cards of your expenses, YNAB aims to make users take control of their budget.

Top features include:

• Forces you to assign every dollar a job. Plan for the entire month's expenses ahead of time.

• Helps you break down large one-time expenses and create goals to fund them throughout the year.

• Adjusts your budget if you accidentally overspend or roll leftovers to the next month.

• Teaches you to live on last month's income (money you already have, as opposed to budgeting based on future income).

• Large help center, including free online classes and blog posts

Downsides compared to Mint:

• Can only use the website to set up budget
  
• Does not automatically sync transactions
  
• No debt payoff planner

Who should use it:

• Those who find themselves living paycheck-to-paycheck
  
• Those looking to change their spending habits

3. Quicken

All-inclusive personal finance software

Quicken can be considered the granddaddy of personal finance software, originating all the way back in 1983. There's no denying that Quicken offers perhaps the most comprehensive set of financial tools on the market. However, it's also quite pricey if you just need simple budgeting. Especially when free apps like Mint do the same job.

Top features include:

• Create as many spending categories as you want and set a budget for each category. Helps you analyze areas where you can save more.

• Compare your portfolio's performance to market benchmarks. See all your investment fees and your true market returns (Premier plan).

• Lifetime Planner lets you play with different life scenarios (like buying a house, paying for college) to see how they'll impact your retirement (Premier plan).

• Online bill pay directly through Quicken (Premier plan).

• Small business and property management with the Home & Business plan.

Downsides compared to Mint:

• More advanced features are only in upper-tier plans
  
• Unsupported features on different operating systems
  
• Software requires computer download, not just an app

Who should use it:

• Those willing to pay top dollar for an all-encompassing software program
  
• Small business owners, multiple property owners, and those with more complex finances

4. EveryDollar

EveryDollar is the budgeting app created by celebrity money expert Dave Ramsey. It follows the guidelines of his signature "7 Baby Steps" to financial success.

Top features include:

• Uses the zero-sum budgeting system to make you plan for every dollar you earn ahead of time.

• Helps you break down large one-time expenses and create goals to fund them throughout the year.

Downsides compared to Mint:

• No investment tracking tools
  
• Free version has limited functions
  
• Free version may not be accurate since you can't link bank accounts and show savings you already had.

Who should use it:

• Beginners in budgeting and saving
  
• Those who want to set category-specific budget limits

5. PocketSmith

Advanced forecasting & retirement planning tools

PocketSmith is one of the costliest services on the market. But it offers a variety of state-of-the-art tools if you are willing to pay.

Top features include:

• Advanced prediction tools project your daily balances up to 30 years into the future.

• Create multiple "what if" scenarios to see how they affect your financial life. Helps you see if you can afford the things you want.

• Track accounts, assets, and liabilities from different countries. Supports banks in 49 countries.

• Can create daily and weekly budgets, instead of just monthly.

• Downloadable budget calendar that syncs to Google, Android, and Apple devices.

Downsides compared to Mint:

• More expensive than other options
  
• Most in-depth versions of tools only available at the highest tier
  
• Free version requires manual transaction input

Who should use it:

• Those looking for long-term financial planning
  
• Those with more complex finances (assets in different countries, etc.)

Free Basic Plan

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6. Tiller Money

Create customized spreadsheets

Credit: Tiller Money

Tiller Money is the ultimate budgeting service for a spreadsheet fanatic. It combines the convenience of automatic data imports with the flexibility of spreadsheets.

Top features include:

• Automatically updates your transactions and balances into Google and Excel spreadsheets. No more manual data entry.

• Use pre-built budgeting templates, or mix and match templates to create your own custom workflows.

• Spreadsheets include: net worth tracker, weekly spending, debt snowball, available spending money tracker, and tons more.

• Track business expenses and cash flow and estimate your small business quarterly tax payments.

Downsides compared to Mint:

• Does not support investment accounts
  
• Spreadsheets can be confusing to newer budgeters

Who should use it:

• People who love using spreadsheets
  
• Those who want more customized reporting

7. PocketGuard

Freemium budgeting app; see what's left "in your pocket"

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Pocketguard is a straightforward budgeting app that tracks spending and sets limits to categories. It aims to help you manage your budget better by telling you how much you actually have to spend.

Top features include:

• Shows how much you have "in your pocket" to spend (the amount leftover after you've paid bills and set aside savings)

• Helps you start saving by setting up a monthly savings goal.

• Automatically builds a personalized budget based on income, goals, and bills.

• Get alerts when you're nearing your spending limit.

• Track cash spending and create custom spending categories (PocketGuard Plus only)

Downsides compared to Mint:

• Only available as an app
  
• Advice may be too simple for advanced users
  
• Have to pay for features Mint has for free
  
• Can't input irregular income

Who should use it:

• Beginners in budgeting and saving

8. CountAbout

For users transitioning from Quicken

CountAbout is one of the only budgeting allows that allows you to import from Quicken. It's often thought of as a cloud-based alternative to Quicken. You get much of the same features, but more convenient to use it on the go.

Top features include:

• Seamlessly import data from Quicken and Mint.

• Keeps your finances up to date by reflecting all transactions, not just those already processed by the bank.

• Fully customizable your user interface. Choose exactly what kind of reports and graphs you want to see.

• Create and edit very specific categories and tags.

• Account reconciliation with your banks.

Downsides compared to Mint:

• Only offers automated transaction syncing with paid service
  
• No free basic account
  
• No investment tracking tools
  
• Lacks advanced budgeting features

Who should use it:

• Users transitioning from Mint or Quicken who want to keep their old data

9. MoneyDance

Locally store data off the cloud; supports bill pay

If you don't feel comfortable uploading all your financial information online, MoneyDance is one of the only budgeting programs that stores data on your computer instead of on the cloud. It offers advanced financial tracking, budgeting, and reporting.

Top features include:

• Set up as many accounts as you want. For example, you can keep your personal and business accounts separate.

• Automatic bill payments directly through Moneydance.

• Tracks your portfolio performance. Easily see stock splits, cost basis computations, and current prices.

• Handles multiple currencies and automatic rate conversions.

• Reconcile accounts against your statements.

Downsides compared to Mint:

• No goal setting
  
• Dashboard can feel overwhelming with too many tools

Who should use it:

• Those wary of uploading their financial data to the cloud
  
• Those with foreign financial accounts

10. GoodBudget

Share budget between couples & roommates

GoodBudget upgrades the traditional "envelope system" into a user-friendly digital platform. Instead of carrying around physical envelopes filled with money, just keep track of it all from your smartphone.

Top features include:

• Fill up digital envelopes for your monthly expenses. As you spend, money will be deducted from the envelopes. This way, you can see exactly how much you have left for each category.

• Create envelopes for large one-time annual expenses and fund them throughout the year.

• Allows for multiple users. You can share a budget with a roommate or spouse for shared financial planning. Syncs across multiple devices.

• Free month-long online Budget Bootcamp course.

Downsides compared to Mint:

• Free version only allows one financial account
  
• Must manually enter every transaction
  
• No investment tracking tools
  
• No email customer support with free version

Who should use it:

• Couples or roommates who split household expenses
  
• Beginners who need to visualize a budget

Bottom Line

Budgeting is an important step toward full financial freedom. Those looking for help in organizing their finances have several choices.

Features such as zero-sum budgeting and extra investment tools are ideal for some, while others may feel limited or overwhelmed. Most programs offer a free trial period to test out their services. Take your time to find the best one for your needs.

References