YNAB alternatives

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

1. [R9] YNAB 3/5 · US Used to be the gold standard: The app and platform used to be the be all, end all for budgeting, but over the past few years has gotten progressively more expensive, and even more convoluted. If you are already in the YNAB environment, the app is well made, but if you are looking for a budgeting solution as a new user, I would implore you to look elsewhere, to a company that still cares.
2. [R15] YNAB 3/5 · US Progressively Worse: While I like YNAB, it has managed to get both worse and more expensive over the years. The UI changes too often and sadly in ways that make it more difficult to use. The “updates” sometimes introduce bugs. I’d rather they keep the application stable and usable than try to justify the price hikes by constantly tweaking the user experience.
3. [R18] YNAB 3/5 · US What is happening here?!: I’ve been a user since the YNAB 4 days and have struggled to watch the cost of the app tick higher and higher. It’s hard to recommend the app to folks I know who could really benefit from it because it’s so garsh darned expensive. There have been UI changes - some that I’ve loved, some that are just fine - but whatever recent one made entering transactions so hinder som
4. [R46] YNAB 1/5 · US Over 100 bucks: Wouldn’t buy unless you are ready to spend over 100 bucks to use… kind of counter intuitive to my goal downloading this app
5. [R1] YNAB 2/5 · US Used to be awesome: The idea behind this app was really wonderful and taught me to budget in a way that changed the way I look at my finances forever. Unfortunately, all of the app changes lately get in the way of functionality. Transactions have to get submitted multiple times, balances are somehow inaccurate, color coding is no longer accurate, and month-to-month logic is basically nonexistent.
6. [R6] YNAB 3/5 · US Great service, troubling implementation: I love YNAB’s budgeting approach. I love that it is a mobile friendly solution. I don’t love the software updates. It seems they don’t know what they want in an UI and they’re just guessing at where to put things. No matter how they change things, it still feels inconvenient and more difficult. The app also has maddening delays and DRAINS my phone battery.
7. [R12] YNAB 3/5 · US Method works. App is ok.: YNAB Method is still 5/5. The app however, continues to have updates that require more clicks for previously easy to use functions. I don’t think it’s one singular update, but rather the trajectory of the past few updates while of course raising the subscription price in the process. Find myself using the desktop more than the app.
8. [R3] YNAB 3/5 · US Please allow Fidelity connection: I have multiple accounts that i need to manually add transactions
9. [R5] YNAB 5/5 · US Fun, Practical, Helpful: I really like this budgeting app. It teaches you a thing or two about budgeting. I am putting into practice zero-cash dollar budgeting. I have found some difficulty connecting to cards using MX, when not supported by plaid (Sam’s Club Mastercard). I love the way I can reflect on the month as a whole and see where I overspent or did very well in. I would request a new fe
10. [R16] YNAB 1/5 · US Initially great- but not functioning in a helpful way anymore: For two years I used YNAB daily with great success. For the last few months my working balance has been wildly inaccurate and I have been unable to edit my budget. An app refresh did not help. I cannot get human support and the AI support doesn’t care.
11. [R4] YNAB 2/5 · US Not an easy app: This app has a good concept but is unnecessarily complicated to use. Be sure of what you want to achieve here because the concept of “zero based budgeting”, is really not for a basic budgeting app. There should be a class or tutorial on how to use it. Frustrating, and I’ve had it over a year.
12. [R13] YNAB 1/5 · US Beyond confusing.: Basic idea is good. But how the app actually manages your credits, income, transfers within your savings account is the biggest headache
13. [R37] YNAB 1/5 · US Makes no sense: I have worked nearly 30 years in a government budget office and can’t make heads or tails of this budgeting app. Its user interface is pretty to look at but very unintuitive to use. Also, it has no ability to track and analyze past expenditures, which is kind of important to preparing and managing a budget! If for some reason you like this approach to budgeting, you would be better
14. [R44] YNAB 1/5 · US June 2026 update: You now have to do multiple clicks to clear a transaction. The interface was good, now it’s clunky looking. I wish they would keep it simple. It wasn’t broke before, it didn’t need to be changed. Update: 6/15/26 well their customer service is run by AI and doing a poor job. I emailed asking a question about wanting to cancel but I wanted to make certain I would avoid a refund ba
15. [R51] Rocket Money 1/5 · US Not worth the money: This app isn't nearly what it advertises. "Unwanted subscriptions" are any payments of the same cost that seem to occur on a near-monthly basis. It referred to my transferring money to a friend a couple times as a subscription, among other things as well as the cost of me frequenting my favorite smoothie place? Speaking of subscriptions, though Rocket Money advertises clearing
16. [R52] Rocket Money 5/5 · US Rocket Money Worth Every Penny!: Rocket Money has really helped to organize our finances, see our spending clearly and take charge of how and when we spend our money! Alerts are extremely helpful! If you desire to take control of your money instead of having your money control you, then Rocket Money is a must have!! Absolutely love this app!! 5 stars is not enough!!
17. [R54] Rocket Money 1/5 · US Subscriptions: I only joined for subscription. review but it said none. That’s wrong
18. [R55] Rocket Money 5/5 · US No worries about what/when a bill is coming out!: It is a comfort to see at anytime when money is coming out of your account. Right at your fingertips,no searching for a bill - knowing what's coming i out and how much leeway I have for spending without over drawing.
19. [R66] NerdWallet 5/5 · US Why NerdWallet is good for everyone: I started with NerdWallet about five months ago was totally ignorant on investing and actually done some advisor investing and turned out that I profited $2000 in three months and I am so glad I chose
20. [R67] NerdWallet 3/5 · US Not consumer-focused anymore: I loved this app and the website when I found it in 2020. It shows me my net worth, my credit score, etc. In the past year or so they have made a lot of changes that all seem to be based on making them a profit rather than serving their customers. Most things I look for on the website are now only on the app. I used their shopping features to find the most beneficial
21. [R75] NerdWallet 5/5 · US It organized my finances: I was looking for something that could help me organize all my finances in one place and found this through social media
22. [R78] NerdWallet 4/5 · US Great tracker of overall net-worth!: I use this app mainly to keep up with my overall net-worth. It takes awhile to update so it’s not completely accurate but, it’s not far off at all. I like it a lot but, it could be better!
23. [R80] Monarch 5/5 · US Best budgeting app: I’ve been terrible at keeping up with our transactions and seeing where all our money goes. The categories and roll over ability for each month is flawless. Would definitely recommend. Yes it’s a bit pricey but worth every penny. Quality is fantastic only thing I’d recommend is an offline form to see your budget you have to be connected or have signal to view the app.
24. [R86] Monarch 5/5 · US The best: This helped me get our family finances in order and more importantly, collaborate with my partner on our finances. Amazing app, keep going Monarch!
25. [R89] Monarch 4/5 · US I wish it didn’t auto-categorize: I’ve been using this app for 7 months and love everything except the fact that it automatically categorizes all transactions. Several transactions have been miscategorized and we don’t realize it until months later when looking back. If new transactions could be flagged or marked somehow, this app would be perfect.
26. [R92] Monarch 5/5 · US Great for families: My husband got us started on Monarch and at first I was skeptical. Why are we spending money to track our money, but it has really helped us see where we are spending irresponsibly and then make changes. We are saving for a house so knowing where we can cut costs and see our spending habits is a game changer!
27. [R94] EveryDollar 5/5 · US Great app- dedicated to getting out of debt: So happy I found this app. On baby step 2 and have a plan to get out of debt. Love being able to see what i’ve spent in each category. Good visual on spending habits.
28. [R97] EveryDollar 5/5 · US Budgeting: It is very helpful for budgeting!
29. [R100] EveryDollar 5/5 · US Hopeful: How does adding more work (creating/maintaining a budget) help me? I’m already drowning! Well guess what? It does. Once I got my numbers down and created an every dollar budget, I am way more hopeful about my future! I’m very grateful for such an effective tool. In fact I’m so grateful I use one for my household finances and one for my business.
30. [R111] Copilot 4/5 · US Mostly love, sometimes glitchy: Love that it’s a native iOS app and not another web-based money app. It’s not really a budgeting app in the strict zero-based-budgeting way but it’s more of a money tracking and forecasting method of budgeting app. Great for conveniently searching up prior purchases and keeping tabs on where my money went but sometimes it double counts certain transactions and that
31. [R114] Copilot 5/5 · US Amazing personal finance tracker!: I’ve been using this app for almost a year now and love it. It makes it super easy to see all of my transactions across credit cards, Venmo, and investment accounts in one spot and I love being able to categorize transactions and set a budget for each category. One additional feature I would really like to see my save rate on the cash flow page. I can do some m
32. [R120] Copilot 5/5 · US Amazing App: I use this app along with my husband to track all of our expenses and better budget. It’s great for goal setting and planning ahead. It also helps to handle any transactions we’ve let slip through the cracks. Definitely recommend for anyone who wants a better handle of their finances and setting budgets you can stick to.
33. [R10] YNAB 1/5 · US Disappointed: As soon as I created an account, it automatically signed me up for a free trial WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. Now I have to spend time figuring out how much they charge afterwards how to cancel it. I didn’t even have a chance to see if I like the app and what it has to offer. They literally TRAPPED me into this free trial. They not how a good financial app has to work.
34. [R28] YNAB 2/5 · US these reviews have to be bots: You have to pay to use this app. I don’t know why the reviews don’t mention that. why would I want to pay for an app that’s meant to help me save money.
35. [R36] YNAB 3/5 · GB No support for Amex: Says that American Express is supported, but trying to connect multiple times, same result: failure. Doing a web search, seems it’s a known issue. May be in the Amex side, may not be, but without the bulk of my spending available here, app is worthless.
36. [R2] YNAB 5/5 · US Changed our finances: I am a CPA. I am familiar with budgeting in general so I was looking for an app that would meet my high standards in what I think a budget should be. This exceeds expectations! Using this app has allowed us to save enough money to invest in a higher interest savings account. The monthly interest earned exceeds the monthly cost of this app. This app pays for itself!
37. [R11] YNAB 5/5 · US Life Changing: The app is fairly simple to use and easy to navigate. It takes discipline as does every budgeting system, but it does its job well. I went from wondering how much disposable income I had at any given point and being stressed about bills, to having 6 months of bills covered, a travel fun, savings, plus disposable income for the random nights out and impulse buys. I finally tapped int
38. [R17] YNAB 5/5 · US Best budgeting app!: I honestly love this app. It does take awhile to get a hang of it but once you link your account and understand how it works, it’s amazing. You just have to pick which category you’re spending from and it tells you how much you have left or how much you’re saving. It doesn’t keep track of subscriptions but I just make a category for it to know that I have money on the side.