The 7 Best Budgeting Apps (Free & Paid Options for 2026)

Unless you’re an accountant, budgeting can be nerve-wracking. Images of spreadsheets, endless numbers and paper receipts likely come to mind. Choosing the right budgeting tool can make the scary task of managing a budget a breeze.

Whether you want a better overview of your income and spending, the ability to trim the fat from your expenses or the option to design a strict budget, there are apps out there for your lifestyle. Not all apps cost money — many offer financial tools for free.

To help with your search for the best budgeting app for you, we’ve reviewed the top budgeting apps in 2026, free and paid, for Android smartphones and iPhones. As you dive into this guide on budgeting apps, just remember, the best budgeting tool is the one you will actually use.

What Is the Best Budgeting App Overall?

Rocket Money is the best budgeting app for most people because it combines automation, subscription tracking and simple budgeting tools in one easy dashboard.

It securely links your financial accounts — like bank accounts and credit cards — and analyzes transactions automatically to show your spending patterns and recurring charges. 

The app will categorize your spending into buckets like groceries, rent, dining and subscriptions. You can rename or reorganize this, but most of the process is automated. It’s great for those who want quick insights rather than detailed manual budgeting. And if you’re willing to pay for premium, you can get even more features.

For more details, read our full Rocket Money review.

Best Mint Alternatives (Now That Mint Is Gone)

Monarch and Rocket Money are solid Mint replacements because of their tracking and spending summaries.

Mint users enjoyed automatic categorization and simplicity. Rocket Money gets our vote for simplicity, while Monarch offers more customization and long-term planning tools.

Rocket Money will likely offer an easier transition. If overall household planning is important to you, you may like the shared access Monarch provides.

We have more information on Monarch in our full review. 

Best Free Budgeting App

Rocket Money’s free tier is one of the best free budgeting apps because it offers basic spending tracking without the mandatory fees.

There are fees for more advanced features, but what comes with the free version can help many budgeters. The free version of Rocket Money includes account linking, balance alerts, subscription management, spend tracking and two custom budget categories. It also offers a free seven-day trial of its paid version, so you can see for yourself if you think it’s worth it. 

EarnIn also offers free tools, but it focuses more on earned wage access than full budgeting. EWA is when you get access to your paycheck early. 

Learn more about Earnin in our full Earnin app review.

Best Budgeting App for Beginners

Simplifi is one of the best budgeting apps for beginners because it offers guided setup and allows you to connect your financial data, like your banking, credit cards and loans.

From there, you can set financial goals and budgets while keeping track of your spending. Your overall spending plan even gives you an overview of planned spending versus what you’re actually spending. Its insights are valuable to those who have never sat down and budgeted before. 

Best Budgeting App for Couples

Monarch is ideal for couples because it offers shared budgeting with customizable roles and financial goals.

Both partners can link accounts, track shared expenses and set joint savings targets. You can also keep certain accounts private while contributing to a shared plan.

Best Zero-Based Budgeting App

YNAB is the best zero-based budgeting app because it allows you to give every dollar a job before you spend it.

That means you have a plan for any income that’s leftover after bills are paid. You put some in savings, put extra toward your car loan, etc. It’s ideal for the detail-oriented budgeter. That hands-on and comprehensive approach can be overwhelming for some, but the high level of organization is helpful for others. 

Read more in our YNAB review.

Individual Budget App Reviews

Rocket Money Review

Rocket Money, formerly Truebill, offers tools for budgeting, managing subscriptions and negotiating bills.

Rocket Money is an excellent all-in-one app for those looking to get their financial world in better shape.

Rocket Money takes top billing for allowing you to calculate and create an allowance, so you know exactly how much money you have to spend each month. You can also set up goals for categories you want to watch, such as eating out at restaurants or shopping in general.

If you’re new to budgeting, Rocket Money is a solid option that walks you through the process. The app offers additional features — such as spending insights — that can help you build better budgets. You can see where your money is going each month and receive alerts if you are headed toward overspending.

We love Rocket Money’s subscription management feature, too, that checks your bank account for any recurring charges. It’s a great way to discover subscriptions you may have forgotten about or no longer require.

If you have a high cell phone or cable bill, Rocket Money can even negotiate it down to a lower rate. Rocket Money does take a cut of that savings for the first year if your bill is reduced.

Best for:

• People with a lot of subscriptions
• Beginners who want automation
• Users who prefer a simple dashboard

Pros

• Easy setup
• Comprehensive view of subscriptions 
• Beginner-friendly 

Cons

• Premium required for advanced features
• Less customizable than zero-based systems

Pricing
While Rocket Money is free, you’ll pay $7 to $14 each month for premium features, which includes subscription cancellation. How much you pay is up to you.

Learn more: Read our full Rocket Money review.

Monarch Review

Monarch lets you track your account balances, transactions and investments in one place, giving you a more complete view of your finances. 

Having trouble monitoring your spending? You can track it by merchant or by category. The app also features bill sync, which allows you to see credit card balances, minimum payment due and other recurring expenses within Monarch. And with swipe to review, you can look over transactions with a quick swipe left or right. That way, you always know where your money is and where it’s going. It doesn’t get much more organized than that.

Saving for a big purchase? Get automatically notified when your savings get off track. Flex Budgeting is a feature that lets you put expenses into fixed, non-monthly and flexible groups to better track how spending actually happens.

And if better budgeting is a family effort, Monarch also allows you to collaborate with your household. All with no ads, no data selling to third parties and a simple, intuitive design.

Best for:

• Joint budgeting
• Shared financial goals
• Custom categories and long-term planning

Pros

• Tools for household collaboration 
• Goal tracking
• Flexible planning structure

Cons

• Subscription required
• Pricey

Pricing
$14.99/month, $99.99/year, but you can always try it for free for seven days before starting a paid subscription. And for a limited time get 50% off your first year with code MONARCHVIP.

Learn more: Read our full Monarch review.

Cleo Review

Cleo is an AI-powered financial assistant that was founded in 2016 to budgeting less boring. Get your recommendations in a light-hearted manner or go for the “roast mode” that humorously calls out overspending. 

The app can help you track your spending, set budgeting goals and ultimately save money in an engaging way. Cleo connects to your bank accounts and provides real-time insights into your financial habits.

It can also help you build credit with its Credit Builder card. There’s no interest and no credit checks so you can feel confident in your ability to, as Cleo says, un*expletive* your credit.

Make your financial future a little more fun by downloading Cleo.

Best for:

• Beginners who like engagement
• People motivated by reminders and nudges

Pros

• Fun interface
• Spending insights
• Habit-building prompts

Cons

• Limited depth for complex budgeting
• Some features behind a paywall

Pricing
$0-$14.99/month.

Learn more: Read our full Cleo review.

EarnIn Review

Earnin’s goal is to help people make any day payday. Instead of waiting two weeks for your paycheck, you can access up to $150 a day or $1,000 per pay period. 

The steps to get started are simple. Sign up and link your bank account, access your hard-earned money, then automatically repay Earnin when your check hits. Plus, you won’t have to worry about interest, mandatory fees or credit checks.  

We love it for people who are struggling to pay bills on time, because you get your money as you earn it. And avoiding late fees means more money in your pocket. 

Paycheck advances are not the only way Earnin improves your financial stability. It provides resources on financial goals, budgeting and paying off debt, as well as a credit monitoring tool.

Best for:

• Those who have short-term paycheck gaps

Pros

• Access to earned wages
• No traditional interest model (verify terms)

Cons

• Not a comprehensive budgeting tool
• Repeated use may indicate deeper cash flow issues

Pricing

$0

Learn more: Read our full Earnin app review.

YNAB Review

YNAB — also known as You Need a Budget — is a comprehensive, zero-based budgeting app that breaks down your spending and earnings into granular details. We love the features in YNAB, but the interface can be more intimidating than those of other budgeting apps that hold your hand throughout the process.

If you want to dive into the nitty gritty of your personal finances, YNAB is one of the best apps you can download — seriously, it could be life changing. YNAB connects to your bank accounts to automatically import your transactions and syncs in real time across multiple devices. You can start budgeting on your phone, then pick up where you left off on a tablet or computer.

The YNAB app offers the same features as our other recommendations, including the ability to set up and track goals or keep a close eye on your net worth.

We also love the built-in loan calculator that looks at interest rates and shows how much money you’ll save by paying down your debt faster.

Other YNAB features include smart categorization that learns how you sort purchases and adjusts to future spending, as well as an ad-free experience. It’s nice to skip the temptation ads can offer when you’re trying to get your financial house in order.

YNAB is free for 34 days to give you a solid month of budgeting plus a few days for analysis. You don’t have to put in a credit card to sign up, so you won’t end up with a forgotten subscription if you decide YNAB isn’t for you. YNAB also offers a yearlong free trial for college students.

Best for:

• Debt payoff plans
• Intentional spending habits
• Users who like structured systems

Pros

• Strong budgeting framework
• Detailed reporting
• Educational support

Cons

• Subscription required
• Requires consistent input

Pricing

$14.99/month or $109/year

Learn more: Read our YNAB review.

Simplifi Review

The Simplifi app isn’t nearly as popular as it should be. The simple layout and design of the app — one of our favorite features — makes budgeting feel approachable and less intimidating. But a simple design doesn’t mean a lack of features, as Simplifi packs in effective tools to help you establish a budget and stay on track.

With Simplifi, you can connect all of your financial data, including bank, credit card, loan and 401(k) accounts, so you can see everything all together. From there, you can set financial goals and budgets while keeping track of your spending. Your overall spending plan even gives you an overview of planned spending versus what you’re actually spending.

If you want to save for a big purchase, such as a car or a down payment on a home, Simplifi can calculate how much money you’ll need to set aside each month to meet your goal. If you update the goal or alter the time frame, Simplifi will recalculate everything for you — without you lifting a finger.

One of the reasons we like Simplifi is that the budgeting app is backed by Quicken, a finance giant with millions of customers. Simplifi builds on Quicken’s wealth of knowledge in the financial space.

Best for:

• First-time budgeters
• Users who want a spending overview

Pros

• Beginner-friendly
• Real-time tracking

Cons

• Less customizable than YNAB
• Fewer advanced features

Pricing

$2.99/month.

PocketGuard Review

PocketGuard is one of those finance apps that does the work so you don’t have to. The simple interface will sync bank accounts, calculate upcoming bills and manage your cash flow so you’ll always know how much you have to spend.

The app offers users three common budgeting techniques:

• Envelope: Create customized categories and allocate a certain amount of money to each one based on anticipated monthly spending
• Zero-based: Ensure that your income minus expenses equals zero
• 50/30/20 budgeting: Allocate 50% of your income to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings

“In My Pocket” is another app feature that allows you to analyze your monthly income and expenses, showing the amount you have available to spend. With this feature, you can understand your spending capacity, and PocketGuard will notify you if your spending exceeds 50% or 75% of your budget.

If you decide to lean into the premium version, PocketGuard’s paid subscription comes with a personalized spending plan that can help pay off debt, save money and more closely track spending.

As budgeting tools go, there is a downside to PocketGuard’s place as one of the most popular budgeting apps. While it’s nice to have intuitive tools that manage how you’re spending money, that can mean less awareness about specific budgeting concerns.

Fortunately, most of PocketGuard’s functionality is wrapped up in a basic version that’s free to download in both the Apple and Google Play stores, so you can give it a whirl and see how it stacks up to other apps. You can also try it for free for seven days.

Best for:

• Help with daily spending decisions
• Users overwhelmed by complex budgets

Pros

• Personalization 
• Easy to use 

Cons

• Limited depth
• Subscription required for full features

Pricing

$12.99/month, $74.99/year

How to Choose the Right Budgeting App

Choosing the right budgeting app for you will depend on the features you want and the goals you have. 

If you:

• Want automation → Choose Rocket Money
• Want zero-based structure → Choose YNAB
• Budget with a partner → Choose Monarch
• Want simplicity → Choose Simplifi
• Want budgeting to be less boring → Try Cleo

Budgeting apps are wonderful tools, but there’s still a lot that goes into budgeting. We created a guide to budgeting so you know how to get started. 

Are Budgeting Apps Worth Paying For?

Budgeting apps can be worth paying for if you have the funds to spare and the app’s features either help you spend less or budget more consistently.

For example, if an app helps you cancel unused subscriptions or spot recurring charges you don’t recognize, it may offset its monthly fee. But not everyone will experience the same results. Using a budgeting app doesn’t guarantee you’ll end up saving money. 

If you’re unsure, you can try a free version or do a free trial of a paid version. 

Are Budgeting Apps Safe?

Most budgeting apps are safe and use reasonable security measures to keep your information out of the wrong hands. However, linking financial accounts always carries some risk. For example, the company Plaid was sued in 2022 for violating data privacy laws. Plaintiffs alleged the company acted “improperly” when it obtained users’ financial account login information. Plaid is a financial technology data network that partners with fintech apps.

So, if you are going to link your accounts, use strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication and review privacy policies beforehand.

FAQ: Best Budgeting Apps

How We Chose These Apps

We evaluated budgeting apps based on:

• Pricing transparency
• Ease of use
• Account syncing capabilities
• Security practices
• Feature depth
• User reviews

It’s important to note that offers can change. So always confirm the most up-to-date offers and pricing before committing to an app. 

Final Verdict

Rocket Money is our overall pick because it balances automation, ease of use and subscription tracking.

There are other apps for different kinds of budgeters. Love the details and hyperorganization? Go with YNAB. If you’re budgeting with your household, Monarch has the features you’re looking for. 

Ultimately, the best budgeting app is the one that you’ll actually use and makes you feel like you have more control over your spending.

Kaz Weida is a former staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Michael Archambault is a former senior writer for The Penny Hoarder specializing in technology. Senior Managing Editor Tiffany Wendeln Connors updated this post as of January 2026.

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