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The Best Budgeting Apps to Replace Mint
As a long-time Mint user, I was frustrated to say the least when news broke at the end of 2023 that Intuit would shut down Mint, its popular free budget-tracking app. I, like millions of others, enjoyed how easily Mint allowed us to track all accounts in one place and monitor credit scores. I also used it regularly to track spending, set goals like pay my mortgage down faster, and with general money management.
Finding Alternatives to Mint
So I set out to find the best Mint alternatives in the wake of its disappointing demise. I gave Credit Karma, Intuit’s other financial app, a try but found it to be a poor Mint substitute. The following guide lays out my experience testing some of the most popular Mint replacement apps available today in search of my next budgeting app.
Quicken Simplifi
Our pick for best Mint alternative remains Quicken Simplifi. Even months after the Mint shutting down, thanks to its easy-to-use app, good income and bill detection, and its affordable price, I can recommend it.
- Monthly cost: $4
- Tracks spending: Yes
- Investment tracking: Yes
- Links to bank accounts: Yes
- Mobile app: iOS, Android
Quicken Simplifi is a complete, easy-to-use app that costs less than the competition. It offers neat, almost playful visualizations without ever looking cluttered. The app is highly customizable, allowing users to create budgets and set financial goals.
Monarch Money
Monarch Money, on the other hand, is a robust budgeting app that’s a little harder to use than our top pick, but not prohibitively so. Its unique approach to budgeting and its help with setting financial goals make it a great alternative to Mint.
- Monthly cost: $9
- Tracks spending: Yes
- Investment tracking: Yes
- Links to bank accounts: Yes
- Mobile app: iOS
Monarch Money is a well-designed app that uses colors, emoji, and graphs to help users understand their spending habits. It also offers Amazon and Venmo integrations, allowing users to see transaction details.
NerdWallet
NerdWallet, on the other hand, is a free budgeting app that offers one of the best free budgeting apps I found in my research. Its free plan shows loads of ads, but most of the available apps require paid subscriptions.
- Monthly cost: $0
- Tracks spending: Yes
- Investment tracking: Yes
- Links to bank accounts: Yes
- Mobile app: iOS, Android
NerdWallet is a well-rounded app that offers credit score monitoring, budgeting tools, and tracking of spending, net worth, and credit score.
Two Free Budgeting Apps to Consider
Two free budgeting apps to consider are PocketGuard and Copilot Money. While both apps are not as polished as some of the paid alternatives, they offer great value for their price.
- PocketGuard: Offers a free plan with limited features, as well as a premium option for $7.99/month or $34.99/year.
- Copilot Money: Offers a free plan with limited features, as well as a premium option for $7.92/month or $95/year.
Plaid and Its Role in Budgeting Apps
Plaid is a fintech startup that has become the industry standard in connecting banks with third-party apps. It uses encryption and says it has a policy of not selling or renting customer data to other companies.
To be clear, you don’t need a dedicated Plaid app to use it; the technology is baked into a wide array of apps, including the budget trackers I tested for this guide. Once you find the “add an account” option in whichever one you’re using, you’ll see a menu of commonly used banks.
My Top Mint Alternatives in 2025
To conclude, you might be wondering what app I decided on for myself after all of this research. The answer is actually two apps: Quicken Simplifi, my overall top pick, and Copilot Money.
How to Import Your Financial Data from the Mint App
Mint users should consider getting their data ready to migrate to their new budgeting app of choice soon. Unfortunately, importing data from Mint is not as easy as entering your credentials from inside your new app and hitting “import.”
To download a CSV file from Mint, do the following:
- Sign into Mint.com and hit Transactions in the menu on the left side of the screen.
- Select an account, or all accounts.
- Scroll down and look for export [number] transactions in smaller print.
- Your CSV file should begin downloading.
How We Tested Mint Alternatives
Before I dove into the world of budgeting apps, I had to do some research. To find a list of apps to test, I consulted trusty ol’ Google (and even trustier Reddit); read reviews of popular apps on the App Store; and also asked friends and colleagues what budget tracking apps they might be using.
What About Rocket Money?
Rocket Money is another free financial app that tracks spending and supports things like balance alerts and account linking. If you pay for the premium tier, the service can also help you cancel unwanted subscriptions. We did not test it for this guide, but we’ll consider it in future updates.
What About Plaid and How Does it Work?
Each of the apps I tested uses the same underlying network, called Plaid, to pull in financial data, so it’s worth explaining in its own section what it is and how it works. Plaid was founded as a fintech startup in 2013 and is today the industry standard in connecting banks with third-party apps. Plaid works with over 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, and Europe.
To be clear, you don’t need a dedicated Plaid app to use it; the technology is baked into a wide array of apps, including the budget trackers I tested for this guide. Once you find the “add an account” option in whichever one you’re using, you’ll see a menu of commonly used banks.
What is Plaid and How Does it Work?
Plaid was founded as a fintech startup in 2013 and is today the industry standard in connecting banks with third-party apps. Plaid works with over 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, and Europe.
Plaid uses encryption and says it has a policy of not selling or renting customer data to other companies.
Conclusion
To conclude, you might be wondering what app I decided on for myself after all of this research. The answer is actually two apps: Quicken Simplifi, my overall top pick, and Copilot Money.
What About YNAB?
YNAB is a budgeting app that promotes a different, more hands-on approach to budgeting. It only requires you to have an account at your bank in order to start tracking spending and doesn’t ask for your take-home income or set up recurring income payments.
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