As an avid Mint user, the shutdown of the popular budgeting app left me searching for a replacement. While Credit Karma was suggested as an alternative, it wasn’t able to compete with Mint’s features, providing only basic information about monthly spending and transactions. To find the best replacement, I tested several budgeting apps with varying features, prices, and approaches, all of which were available for both iPhone and Android.
The budgeting apps I tested included PocketGuard, Rocket Money, YNAB, Quicken Simplifi, and WallyGPT. I was specifically looking for an app with customizable categories, the flexibility to adjust budgets, a simple user experience, valuable insights, and an affordable price. After testing out these apps simultaneously for several weeks, I found Rocket Money to be the best replacement for Mint, based on its features and user interface. Rocket Money offers both free basic budgeting features and more advanced options with its paid tier.
Rocket Money stood out to me due to its clean interface, ease of use, and sliding pricing scale. The app provides features similar to Mint, as well as bill negotiation, net worth tracking, credit report viewing, and automated savings. Additionally, Rocket Money offers a seven-day free trial for its premium features, allowing users to test them out before committing to a subscription. The affordability and various features of Rocket Money made it my top choice as a replacement for Mint.
PocketGuard, another budgeting app that I tested, came in as a close second to Rocket Money. It offers similar features to Rocket Money, including bill negotiation, automated savings, and customizable budgets. However, PocketGuard’s pricing was a bit higher compared to other options I tested, and the app lacked a free trial for its premium features. Editing transactions and budgets in PocketGuard was not as intuitive as Mint, which was a downside for me during testing.
YNAB, or You Need a Budget, uses a zero-based budgeting approach, assigning every dollar to a specific category until none are left. While this method can be effective for some, it was not my preferred way of managing money. YNAB also had a higher price point compared to other apps on the list, but it does offer a lengthy trial period for users to test out its features. Quicken Simplifi, another app I tested, offers a range of features beyond budgeting, such as investment monitoring and net worth tracking. However, I found the user experience to be clunky and not as intuitive as Mint.
Overall, choosing a budgeting app is a personal decision, and what works for one person may not work for another. While Rocket Money was my top choice as a Mint alternative, users may find PocketGuard or other apps to be a better fit based on their preferences and budgeting needs. Since many of these apps offer free trials, it’s a good idea to test them out to find the best fit for individual requirements.
