The best budgeting apps for 2026

Source: Engadget

My Search for a New Budgeting App

As a former Mint user, I had to find a new budgeting app not too long ago. Intuit, the parent company of Mint, shut down the service in March 2024 and prompted users to transition to its other financial app, Credit Karma. After testing Credit Karma myself, I found it to be a poor Mint replacement—so I needed to branch out and look elsewhere for a trusted app to:

• Track all of my financial accounts
• Monitor my credit score
• Follow a monthly spending plan
• Set goals (e.g., building a rainy‑day fund, paying down my mortgage faster)

I tried out Mint’s top competitors in the hopes of finding a new budgeting app that could handle all of my financial needs. Hopefully my journey can help you find the best budgeting app for you and your money as well.

Best Budget Apps of 2026

(Insert your ranked list or table of apps here)

Other Budgeting Apps We Tested

PocketGuard

PocketGuard used to be a solid free budget tracker, but the company has since limited its “free” version to a seven‑day trial. After the trial ends you must choose one of two paid plans:

When I first tested it, I found it more restricted than NerdWallet, but still a decent option. The main overview screen shows:

• Net worth, total assets, and debts
• Net income and total spending for the month
• Upcoming bills
• A reminder of when your next paycheck lands
• Any debt‑payoff plan you have
• Any goals

Like some other apps (including Quicken Simplifi), PocketGuard promotes an “after‑bills” approach: you enter all recurring bills, and the app shows you what’s left—your disposable income—to budget.

Pros

• Easy‑to‑understand UI
• Clear overview of net worth and cash flow

Cons

• UI lacks polish; the “Accounts” tab feels busy and doesn’t show totals for categories like cash or investments.
• Copy occasionally has odd phrasing or punctuation, making the app feel janky.
• It sometimes prompts for updates when none are available.
• The web version is essentially a blown‑up mobile view and doesn’t take advantage of larger screens.
• With the free tier gone, the value proposition has diminished.

How We Test Budgeting Apps

Before I dove in and started testing budgeting apps, I did some research:

1. Google & Reddit – compiled a list of popular options.
2. App Store reviews – read user feedback.
3. Friends & colleagues – asked what they use for money management.

Some apps are free but supported by ads (or “offers”). Most require paid subscriptions, typically topping out around $100 / year or $15 / month. (Spoiler: my top pick is cheaper than that.)

All of the services I chose to test needed to do several things:

• Import all of your account data into one place.
• Offer budgeting tools.
• Track spending, net worth, and credit score.

Except where noted, all of these apps are available for iOS, Android, and the web.

Testing Process

1. Shortlist – I narrowed it down to six apps.
2. Account import – I added every account (no matter how small) to each app.
3. Two‑factor authentication – I endured a “Groundhog Day” of entering passwords and one‑time passcodes for the same banks multiple times.

Hopefully you only have to do this once.

Budgeting App FAQs

What is Plaid and how does it work?

Each of the apps I tested uses the same underlying network, Plaid, to pull in financial data.

• Founded: 2013 (fintech startup)
• Coverage: Over 12,000 financial institutions in the US, Canada, and Europe.
• Clients: More than 8,000 third‑party apps and services rely on Plaid.

You don’t need a dedicated Plaid app; the technology is baked into the budgeting apps themselves. When you select “Add an account,” you’ll see a list of common banks plus a search field. After choosing your bank, you’ll enter your login credentials and, if enabled, a one‑time passcode.

Plaid acts as a passthrough for information such as:

• Account balances
• Transaction history
• Account type
• Routing or account numbers

Plaid uses encryption and claims it does not sell or rent customer data. However, in 2022 Plaid was forced to pay $58 million to consumers in a class‑action suit for collecting “more financial data than was needed.” As part of the settlement, Plaid agreed to change some business practices.

“The crux of the non‑financial terms in the settlement are focused on us accelerating workstreams already underway related to giving people more transparency into Plaid’s role in connecting their accounts, and ensuring that our workstreams around data minimization remain on track,” — Plaid spokesperson (as quoted by Engadget).

Why did Mint shut down?

When parent company Intuit announced in December 2023 that it would shut down Mint, it did not provide a specific reason for the decision. It did say that Mint’s millions of users would be funneled …

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“Credit Karma is thrilled to invite all Minters to continue their financial journey on Credit Karma, where they will have access to Credit Karma’s suite of features, products, tools and services, including some of Mint’s most popular features,” Mint wrote on its product blog.

In our testing, we found that Credit Karma isn’t an exact replacement for Mint — so if you’re still looking for a Mint alternative, you have some decent options.

What about Rocket Money?

Rocket Money is another free financial app that tracks spending and supports features such as balance alerts and account linking. If you upgrade to 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.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/best-budgeting-apps-120036303.html?src=rss