Welp, bye bye Mint! Thank you for decades of reliable and free service. If you’re reading this, you’re probably just as sad as us that Mint has gone away. And you’re also probably annoyed at the parent company Intuit for pushing people towards Credit Karma, which isn’t meeting your budgeting needs. Good news — we’ve tested a handful of Mint alternatives, and will break down the pros and cons of each so you can find the next best budgeting and expense tracking app.
Since you’re switching to a new platform anyway, don’t rule out the possibility of finding a better app than Mint. A lot has changed in the past few years in the FinTech space. Even if you have to pay a few bucks for it, maybe it’s time to locate a budgeting and expense tracking app that you really love. One with all the features you wish Mint had.
Below is our quick review notes of 5 alternatives to Mint that you’ll likely want to consider. One of them is free, and the others have a subscription cost. In any case, all of these Mint alternatives offer some free trial periods and promo pricing available so you’re able to “try before you buy.”
What about Credit Karma?
First, let’s have a quick discussion about Credit Karma – the app that Intuit is pushing as a semi-replacement to Mint. Here’s a quick rundown…
Primarily, Credit Karma was built for people to monitor their credit and get advice on how to help build their credit score. It’s a free app that apparently has over 130 million members.
Credit Karma is pretty good at what it does! But it turns out the Mint features they promised to carry over a fairly watered down. Credit Karma is not really a budgeting app and Intuit doesn’t plan to turn it into one. It does have (or will have soon) a few features that are similar to what Mint currently possesses.
Here are the features that Credit Karma has similar to Mint:
- See your linked financial accounts in one place
- View your transactions
- Track your spending
- View your cash flow
- Track your net worth trend over time
And here are the Mint features that are *NOT* in Credit Karma:
- Setting monthly budgets
- Goals for spending
- Customizing categories
For users who really only use Mint for tracking expenses or to update their net worth, it’s entirely possible that Credit Karma will still be a good fit. Our advice would be to download the Credit Karma app and start playing around with it ASAP.
Best Mint Alternatives
Full disclosure: We have a couple of affiliate relationships with some of these apps! While there are definitely other software options outside of these 5 mint alternatives we’re proposing, we’ve selected the these based on the best functionality with a reasonable price tag. Hopefully this can help you fast-track the process to finding the budgeting app that will best help you on the path to financial freedom.
1. Empower (aka Personal Capital)
Empower, formerly known as Personal Capital, has been around for over a decade and is the most similar Mint. It has a web app as well as cell phone app that helps users track their spending, investments, and retirement savings all in a nice little dashboard. It’s a bit more investment focused than Mint, but essentially does everything that Mint currently does.
Main Strengths:
- Very intuitive and easy to use
- Includes a ton of tools and calculators
- Great security and a huge current user base
- Good customer support and a HUGE library of troubleshooting support
- Did we mention, it’s FREE!?!?
Cons to consider:
- Some features are only available to paid subscribers, like advanced calculators or investment guidance/advice.
- Given it’s a free app, there’s a chance that Empower will change courses at the drop of a hat (just like Intuit is shutting down Mint)
- Annoying sales phone calls: If your account balance is over $100,000, it’s likely that Empower will call you in order to try and sell you investment management services.
Cost: It’s FREE!
Our honest take: Empower has always been a crowd favorite, just like Mint has been. The interface might take a little while to get used to. But there’s no harm in trying it out because it has a non-existent price tag!
2. YNAB (You Need A Budget)
YNAB is a zero-based budgeting software and app that helps people track income and expenses, create budgets, and build sinking funds to reach their financial goals. YNAB is known for their unique budgeting method, which is to “give every dollar a purpose.” That’s a mission we can get behind!
Main Strengths:
- Super effective! The average YNAB user saves $600 in the first 2 months and $6,000 in the first year of using the software. Impressive!
- It’s an awesome tool if you’re looking to pay debt off quickly.
- Has a robust cell phone app for budgeting on the go.
- Offer a 34 day free trial (and it’s free for students!)
Cons to consider:
- Learning curve: Their interface can take some getting used to. I know plenty of people smarter than me that get confused with the zero-based budgeting system.
- Limited reporting: Honestly, this might not be a huge deal, given that Mint users aren’t used to a wide variety of reports currently.
Cost: YNAB is $99 per year. They have a free 34 day trial!
Our honest take: YNAB has a huge loyal customer base – and for good reason – because they *force* users to budget properly and take accountability for every dollar the make/spend. Their software is “strict”, so it’s hard to go wrong. We love YNAB and constantly promote it to those who have had trouble budgeting in the past, or those really needing to focus on paying off debt.
3. Tiller
Tiller is less of an “app” and more of a middle-man type of software that integrates your bank account data with a spreadsheet that you can customize and control. It syncs all your data with either Excel or Google sheets, and lets you create spreadsheets tailored to your specific needs.
Main Strengths:
- Flexible and customizable. Users are in control of their data and budgeting templates so managing finances is completely in the control of the user.
- Powerful spreadsheet functionality. Tiller does have budget templates that you can begin with, and due to being managed in Excel there are some awesome capabilities for spreadsheet nerds.
- Users own their own data, it’s not stored in a Tiller system or app.
Cons to consider:
- A steep learning curve, requiring people to be good with spreadsheets and data.
- No automatic categorization of transactions.
- Limited pre-built spreadsheets and templates
- Not great for “on the go” budgeting because it’s not hosted by an all-in-one app like Mint is currently.
Cost: $79/year and a 30 day free trial.
Our honest take: Tiller is perfect for spreadsheet nerds who want to own and control all their own data. If you don’t want any of your info “stored in the cloud” then Tiller would certainly be worth checking out.
4. Monarch Money
Monarch is a purpose-built budgeting app (the founders were heavily involved in creating Mint back in the day). It’s extremely good at helping couples and families manage their finances, and has amazing reviews from users so far.
Main Strengths:
- Bill tracking & Unique calendar view
- Great for families & couples to manage finances together and share budgets
- Extremely user friendly with a large support forum
- Mint data import tool (perfect for those with a huge transaction history in Mint currently)
- Great goal setting features. Users can create goals and track their progress to achieve them
Cons to consider:
- Limited investment tracking. This might not be a huge downside given that Mint’s current investment tracking isn’t that great. The focus is more budgeting, saving, and debt payoff.
Cost: $99 per year, 30 day free trial. (Current Promo for Mint users – 50% off a 1 year subscription with code MINT50)
Our honest take: We were impressed with how proactive the CEO at Monarch was after hearing the Mint news shutting down. His immediate blog post about it (although a little biased) helped folks understand why it’s better to pay for a budgeting app that is awesome than to have a sub-par app that’s free. All in all, we are loving everything about Monarch so far.
5. Copilot
Copilot is a new app that’s turning heads in the personal finance space. Copilot has a very sleek and intuitive interface and uses AI to “learn” about your trends to help offer better money management. Right now, Copilot is only available for Mac or iOS devices! Although that is set to change in 2024. Web and Android functionality are coming soon.
Main Strengths:
- Very beautiful interface with great visualizations
- Transaction AI is a newly launched feature which categorizes transactions in the way that applies best to your situation
- Customizable widgets make it easy to get the information you want faster
Cons to consider:
- Getting the app set up correctly might take a little while. You’ll need to “train” it a little bit which can take some time. As it learns more about you it gets better and better.
- Only available on Apple iOS devices at this time!
Cost: Copilot is $95/year and has a two-month free trial with code HOWTOMONEY.
Our honest take: We’re actually super excited about Copilot because it’s ushering in incredibly cool new features for budgeting nerds. If you prioritize a great looking user interface and cutting edge abilities, Copilot might be the perfect pick for you.
Fidelity Full View
If you’re a current Fidelity customer, you may also want to check out Fidelity Full View.
Not only does it provide a great overview of your Fidelity accounts, you can also connect external account (and manual add) from other financial institutions. This is a free tool provided by Fidelity.
Fidelity Full View can monitor transactions for expense tracking, as well as create basic budgets. That being said, Fidelity’s strong suit is retirement planning and portfolio management — they are not a purpose built budgeting app. So if you rely heavily on budgeting features and transaction reconciliation, you’ll want to trial the other Mint alternatives we’ve mentioned above.
FAQ About Mint Shut Down:
Here are a couple of things you might be wondering about the mint shut down and picking the best Mint alternatives:
Why did Intuit shut down Mint?
Long story short, it didn’t make enough money to justify keeping the service operational. Since Intuit owned a “similar” app called Credit Karma, they decided to consolidate the two services.
Is Credit Karma free?
Yes it is! You can download it right now, sign up and test everything without paying a cent.
Are all the Mint features available in Credit Karma?
Nope. The budgeting, goal setting and customizing categories from Mint are all gone completely. Expense tracking, net worth updates and bank data syncing are all be available.
Is YNAB worth it?
Yes, we definitely think so. If you want to get serious about paying off debt, sticking to a budget and growing wealth, YNAB is an awesome money management app.
The Bottom Line:
Change is hard. And it sucks that Mint announced their shut down without leaving users much time to find a new solution. But, the good news is there are plenty of robust Mint alternatives, some of which are free. Whether you’re looking for a simple app for occasional use or a professional software to get serious about money management, there are modern apps to help!
Our advice – don’t let this shut down prevent you from continuing to stay on top of your finances. It’s extremely important to track your net worth, stay on top of expense tracking, and budget. Start downloading and signing up for free trials for these Mint alternatives and find something that suits you. The devil is in the details and you won’t know unless you try these apps.
Related posts:
