Best Budgeting Apps To Reach Your Financial Goals in 2024 (2024)

If you have trouble budgeting your money, you’re not alone with spending and saving woes. Creating a budget can be overwhelming, and sticking to a budget isn’t easy — especially if it’s your first time working with one. To help you keep your finances on track, GOBankingRates has identified the best budgeting apps out there.

See: 3 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000

10 Best Budgeting Apps for 2024

Some budgeting apps are free, while others require a subscription fee or premium upgrades that will be tacked on to your bill. Some offer a free trial, but after it ends, you’ll have to pay to continue using the app. If you’re looking for a budgeting app, here are 10 options to consider:

1. EveryDollar: Best streamlined zero-based budgeting app
2. YNAB: Best detailed zero-based budgeting app
3. Monarch: Best for visualization
4. Empower: Best for wealth management
5. Honeydue: Best for couples
6. Goodbudget: Best for the envelope method
7. Fudget: Best for simple budgeting
8. PocketGuard: Best for overspenders
9. Rocket Money: Best for choosing a subscription fee
10. Quicken Simplifi: Best for a comprehensive overview of your finances

1. EveryDollar

Best streamlined zero-based budgeting app

EveryDollar was created by personal finance expert Dave Ramsey. It uses a zero-based budgeting system, which means that every dollar has a job. Users can create a customized budget based on their income and expenses, track their spending and create savings goals.

Pros:

• Intuitive platform with simple features that make navigation easy
• Enables users to create a customized budget and adjust it as needed
• Connects to over 10,000 banks and automatically imports transactions
• Offers spending insights based on your financial history

Cons:

• Your bank might not be supported, which will require you to manually input transactions

Cost: $12.99 per month, $79.99 per year after a 14-day free trial

Why GOBankingRates chose it: It’s a user-friendly budgeting tool that can help individuals and households create and manage their monthly budgets simply and effectively.

2. YNAB

Best detailed zero-based budgeting app

You Need A Budget, or YNAB, tracks your spending and lets you know how you can pay off your debt, start saving and more. It’s an excellent choice for zero-based budgeting. The website also has an impressive library of lessons that explain all kinds of budgeting topics.

Pros:

• YNAB claims you can save between $600 and $6,000 in spending per year when you stick to the system
• A wide array of supplemental resources are available
• Free 34-day trial that doesn’t charge you unless you subscribe at the end

Cons:

• Pricey compared to comparable budgeting apps

Cost: $14.99 per month, $99 per year

Why GOBankingRates chose it: Visual learners will appreciate the detailed graphs and color-coding, which give a quick glimpse of how much money you’ve spent. The combination of an easy-to-use interface, an impressive learning library and a robust online community make this one of the best debt apps.

YNAB also offers a podcast and free live workshops. Additionally, you can try it out free for 34 days, which will give you plenty of time to decide if you want to commit to paying the ongoing subscription fees.

3. Monarch

Best for visualization

If viewing your financial picture in the form of graphs and charts is important to you, Monarch’s easy-to-use platform may be what you’re looking for. You can sync your credit and bank accounts for automatic updating, set goals and view investments. Plus, you can create your own categories and view them in list form.

Pros:

• Seven-day free trial
• Monthly email report to help you see goal progress
• Recurring transactions can be seen on the calendar for clarity
• Frequent upgrades and improvement of features

Cons:

• Seven-day free trial might not be long enough to decide if you should commit
• Pricier than some comparable options

Cost: $14.99 monthly, $99.99 annually

Why GOBankingRates chose it: Behind the stunning data visualization, you’ll find Monarch offers plenty of features for the beginner — and more advanced — budgeter. Additionally, you can collaborate with a partner or household member in the app to keep your spending on track.

4. Empower

Best for wealth management

Empower, formerly Personal Capital, calculates your net worth, helps you budget and helps you plan for retirement — all for free. It features a robust, user-friendly dashboard that you can use to link all of your accounts, see custom household retirement projections, view spending trends by category and see month-to-month comparisons in spending.

Pros:

• Ideal for individuals with assets who want an overall financial picture
• Robust offering for planning and savings that doesn’t require you to pay a fee
• Investment Checkup tool to help you gauge the effectiveness of your portfolio

Cons:

• App may feel overwhelming for new budgeters
• Wealth management features might not be applicable for some people

Cost: Free

Why GOBankingRates chose it: Besides its budgeting features, it offers helpful tools for investment-focused users and those planning for retirement. For help managing your investments, you can use the Investment Checkup tool to help you assess portfolio risk, analyze past performance and model individualized asset allocations. If you’re curious to see how different scenarios would play out in retirement, there’s a tool for that too.

5. Honeydue

Best for couples

Honeydue is a free budgeting app designed to help couples manage their finances together. Couples can connect their bank accounts, credit card accounts and other financial accounts in one place, which allows them to see balances and transactions in real time.

Pros:

• Fosters collaboration between couples
• Gives alerts for upcoming bills and when a budget category is exceeded
• Couples can chat within the app about money matters
• A joint bank account is available as an upgrade

Cons:

• Ads are present
• No investment portfolio or savings goals tool

Cost: Free

Why GOBankingRates chose it: Honeydue aims to make managing finances as a couple more transparent and less stressful. It also has a feature that allows couples to split expenses and track who owes what to whom. This is useful for couples who share expenses but have different incomes or spending habits.

6. Goodbudget

Best for the envelope method

By using the old envelope budgeting method, Goodbudget lets you track your envelope and account balances and sync them to multiple devices. You can make envelopes for all your budgeting categories and reserve money in each one based on that category.

Pros:

• Sync and share your budget with others
• Goal setting and debt payoff available
• User-friendly mobile app

Cons:

• No direct syncing with financial institutions and requires manual entry
• Only one year of history is included with the free version
• Email support only available with the paid version

Cost: $0 for Free Forever, $8 per month or $70 annually for Plus

Why GOBankingRates chose it: Not only does Goodbudget take the envelope method digital, but you can also save for big purchases, create a workable budget and share budgets with family and friends.

7. Fudget

Best for simple budgeting

If you’re looking for an ultra-simple app that helps you set a calculation-style spending plan without having to worry about syncing accounts, Fudget is a good option.

Pros:

• Simple, list-style tallies of spending and income
• Star repeat expenses or income
• Create weekly or monthly budgets

Cons:

• You have to subscribe to the paid version to remove ads
• Minimal extra features in the upgraded paid version

Cost: Free for Fudget Basic, $19.99 annually for Fudget Plus Yearly, $14.99 every six months for Fudget Plus Bi-Yearly

Why GOBankingRates chose it: This app is so simple, you don’t have to set up categories — you’ll simply get a financial overview of your spending and income to see how much is coming in and going out.

8. PocketGuard

Best for overspenders

PocketGuard offers a simplified budgeting snapshot that will help you organize bills, expenses and subscriptions. You can sync your bank accounts and credit cards to the app, so you’ll know how much cash you have to spend at any time.

Pros:

• Offers a lifetime subscription option to save big
• Good for those who like the 50/30/20 budget method
• Upload images of receipts and other items

Cons:

• Debt payoff plan is only available in the paid version
• Custom categories aren’t allowed in the free version

Cost: $7.99 per month, $34.99 per year or $79.99 one-time fee

Why GOBankingRates chose it: The app is good for personal finance newbies and in-depth budgeters. It easily connects to your accounts and shows you daily balances based on the budget you set up. Plus, it allows you to set goals in connection with savings and offers an optional personal debt payoff plan.

9. Rocket Money

Best for choosing a subscription fee

Previously known as Truebill, Rocket Money helps you see your full financial picture while spending less and saving more. However, you can upgrade to Premium for additional features, including concierge service to cancel recurring subscriptions, premium chat services, unlimited budgets, custom categories, real-time balance syncing and full credit report access.

Pros:

• Free credit score
• Calculates how much you have to spend each month
• Spending goal tracker
• Spending alerts to help you stay on budget

Cons:

• $4 and $5 subscription price options require annual prepay

Cost: Free version available; $4-$12 a month for premium features ($4 and $5 options are billed annually)

Why GOBankingRates chose it: It’s a free budgeting app that has some features you might not expect, including automatically identifying your top spending categories based on your spending habits. Plus, if you choose to upgrade to Premium, you can pick your own subscription price between $4 to $12.

10. Quicken Simplifi

Best for a comprehensive overview of your finances

The Simplifi app is brought to you by the money management platform Quicken. It provides you the ability to manage your finances while simultaneously monitoring your monthly budget.

Pros:

• Can create a detailed monthly spending and savings plan
• User-friendly and easy to understand

Cons:

• Similar apps or platforms don’t have a subscription fee

Cost: $2.99 per month

Why GOBankingRates chose it: Simplifi is a highly secure app that offers you the chance to navigate your debt repayment and investments all in one place. You can organize both your personal and business expenses comprehensively.

Advantages of Using Budgeting Apps

Budgeting apps offer several advantages over manual budgeting methods. Here are some key features:

• Easy-to-use interfaces to keep in touch with your finances
• An assortment of tools designed to help you understand where your money is going and set savings goals
• Allow access to your financial information via smartphone
• Safe — as long as you choose a reputable app and protect your phone
• Allow tracking of goals and progress

The best budget app for you is the one you’ll actually use. You may need to try out a few different apps before you find the one with the features you want and need.

Other Budgeting Options

A budgeting app isn’t the only way to keep track of your spending. You can create a budget and track your spending manually.

Budgeting templates are also available online. Microsoft Excel has templates available that you can download to a computer. Alternatively, you can use a notebook or ledger sheet to create your own simplistic or detailed budget.

Choose the budgeting tool that works best for you. Be sure to include the following information:

• Amount of money you have coming in each month
• Your fixed expenses — rent, mortgage, internet bills, car payments and insurance
• Your variable expenses — food, gas and entertainment

Make a plan for your money. Perhaps you want to pay down debt or save for a big purchase. Look for places to cut back within your budget and divert that money toward your financial goals.

Review your budget regularly. Few people have the same expenses each month, and for many, it’s not unusual to earn varying amounts of income from month to month. You may have a surprise expense or even a surplus after a raise. Adjust your budget accordingly.

Final Take To GO

Before you jump into one of the best budgeting apps mentioned in this roundup, the first step to financial health is knowing where you stand. Sync all of your accounts in one place, collaborate and get a shared view with a partner, get personalized advice on how to build financial resilience and make progress toward your goals.

Caitlyn Moorhead, Barri Segal,Cynthia MeasomandCynthia Bowmancontributed to the reporting for this article.

Information is accurate as of Jan. 25, 2024.