Take Control of Your Financial Life
Personal financial apps are designed to help you make sense of your money. How much do you have? How much do you owe? Are you spending wisely? What do you need to do to get a mortgage or car loan? The best personal finance services help you answer these questions and others. More than anything else, they educate you on money matters.
The most popular and well-known personal finance apps work on the premise that better money management comes through centralization and visibility. If you can see all your accounts and spending habits, your credit history, or the billable hours across your business all in one place, you are better equipped to make good decisions about your financial situation.
Home → Personal Finance Software Reviews. Wrapping your brain around your money with personal finance software make money management better as you sync data between your devices, check balances, manage accounts and track purchases via a full-featured budgeting program, geared primarily for personal home use.
Best Overall Personal Finance Service
Mint.com remains PCMag's top pick among personal finance services, because it's useful every day. While some apps specialize in one area, Mint does a little bit of everything. Mint tracks your spending and account balances, helps you pay bills on time, monitors monthly budgets that you establish, encourages you to set financial goals, provides your credit score, and gives you one of your credit reports.
The Mint mobile app lets you check your account balances and monthly budgets before making a purchase. If it's the end of the month and you already spent more than you should on expensive coffee, Mint tells you as much, which will hopefully influence your spending decisions going forward.
Best for Credit Reports and Scores
There are two online services we like for credit reports: Credit Karma and WalletHub. Credit Karma pulls your credit report and score from both Experian and
Personal Finance Software Reviews 2018
Both WalletHub and Credit Karma alert you when changes occur on your credit report, giving you an opportunity to catch errors early. A unique feature in WalletHub is an excellent graph that charts changes to your credit score over time. Credit Karma, meanwhile, has a handy tool that anticipates how your credit score might change if you take certain actions, such as applying for a new credit card or car loan and whether you are accepted or rejected.
Best for Household Management
A more unusual personal finance tool, called Doxo, is a digital filing cabinet as well as a bill payment hub. Doxo automatically collects electronic statements from all kinds of providers, from utility companies to banks and other businesses. It saves them in one central account. You can also upload other kinds of family and household documents to your digital filing cabinet, such as medical bills. It certainly is an invaluable tool you'll really appreciate the next time you have to dig up months' worth of statements for a loan or a legal matter.
Doxo's real financial feature, however, is bill payment. Doxo lets you schedule bills to be paid to various providers—all from one place. It's often free, but that depends on whether the provider is in Doxo's network and on a few other details, such as whether you use a bank account or a credit card to make the payment. Sometimes the payment comes with a small fee, either around $2.99 or about 3.5 percent of the payment amount if you use a credit card or if the provider is not in Doxo's network. For smaller service providers, such as regional gas and electric companies, I recommend checking directly with the provider first to be sure they can process payments from Doxo. Once it's set up, however, you can manage and pay all your bills from one place, as well as save all your statements.
Best for Manual Entry
Most personal finance apps have moved away from offline desktop software due to the vast benefits of online connectivity. That said, not everyone wants to connect to their bank accounts directly and manage their finances online. Quicken remains the big name in this space. Quicken is desktop software that gives you an option to manage your finances locally. Quicken has a few versions of its software, including the reasonably priced Quicken Starter Edition ($39.99), which offers income and expense management as well as budgeting tools. There are optional online aspects, too, such as bank transaction import and bill-pay.
Another app that has been very popular for its offline service is YNAB (which stands for you need a budget), but even that app has moved online recently. Luckily, the latest version of YNAB still gives you an option to manage your budgets manually instead of automatically. When you choose this option, you never have to connect to any of your bank accounts for the budgeting app to work.
While older versions of YNAB are no longer supported, you can still download and install a copy of YNAB 3 and 4 for Mac and Windows if you are a legacy user and want to continue with the older app.
Best for Freelancers
Although some might assume personal financial software is all about budgeting the money you already have, that's not the whole story. Before you can have any money, you have to get paid, and if you've ever worked as a freelancer you know that the onus is on you to track your time and submit invoices for work you've done. Harvest is an excellent solution for freelancers and small businesses that need to track their time and bill clients for hourly or project-rate work. The app offers both time-tracking tools and complete invoicing software in one package. It's among the best time-tracking apps for its ease of use and ability to integrate with dozens of other online services.
Best Mobile Personal Finance Apps
All the personal finance software mentioned here consists of apps that run on the desktop or in a web browser. Many of them have companion mobile personal finance apps, but they are not exclusively for mobile.
Mobile apps can be an important component, however, because they give you access to your financial situation when you're out in the world and perhaps spending money. That's exactly when you want to be able to see the balances of your bank accounts and credit cards, check where your budget stands, and so forth.
Are Personal Finance Apps Secure?
One very important concern many people have about personal finance apps is security. Typically, personal finance apps and online services use 128-bit bank level or 256-bit military-level encryption and are verified by TRUSTe, VeriSign, and MacAfee. Apps that pull detailed information from your accounts have read-only access, meaning they can see the information, but they can't change the information or make requests to move money.
The exception is for bill-pay services. A few apps, such as Mint and Doxo, include a bill payment service that lets you authorize payments to be made from accounts you authorize to the biller (or sometimes a third party that facilitates the payment). In both Mint and Doxo, this part of the service is optional, so you can skip it if you do not want to give those apps any authority to move money.
Is there a risk
Other Financial Tools
The tools in this list of the best personal finance software are designed primarily for individuals and households, although as the name suggests, Quicken Home & Business offers some tools for small businesses as well. For more tools for people who work for themselves, you can read our roundup of the best online accounting tools.
While you're thinking about your money, you might also want to read our feature on the best tax preparation software.
Featured Personal Finance Service Reviews:
Credit Karma Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Pulls credit reports and scores from two bureaus. Great for learning about credit. Pros and cons listed on offers. Useful credit simulator tool.
Cons: Underdeveloped tools for tracking spending. No features for budgeting, financial goals, or bill payment.
Bottom Line: Credit Karma lets you see your credit reports and scores, and it provides a good deal of information about how to change them. It's free, though it does serve you some targeted financial ads.
Read ReviewHarvest Review
MSRP: $12.00Pros: Includes invoicing and expensing. Offers team management and scheduling. Excellent integration options.
Cons: No desktop apps for Windows or Linux. Expensive.
Bottom Line: Whether you're a freelancer who needs to need to track time and expenses, or you run a small business and need to manage team members and bill clients, Harvest handles it all.
Read ReviewMint.com Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Highly automated personal finance tracking. Integrates with all major U.S. and Canadian banks and financial institutions. Excellent bill payment features. Quick and simple. Useful ads.
Cons: No percentage-based savings goals. U.S. and Canada accounts only.
Bottom Line: Mint is the best personal finance software available. It's free and ad-supported, but even the ads bring value to this fantastic tool for keeping an eye on your money.
Read ReviewLearnVest Review
MSRP: $19.00Pros: Free tools for tracking expenses and income. Shows spending trends over time. Neat tools for analyzing credit card debt repayment options.
Cons: No way to automate simple, recurring corrections. Budgeting tools could be more complex. Works with U.S. bank accounts only.
Bottom Line: The online personal finance tool LearnVest provides free tools for tracking your spending habits, determining your financial goals, and budgeting your money. It's a great solution if you also happen to be on the hunt for a personal financial planner.
Read ReviewQuicken Home & Business 2017 Review
MSRP: $119.99Pros: Most comprehensive personal finance manager available. Connects to multiple types of accounts. Revamped user interface. Online bill-pay. Can track your home's value. Robust planning and investing tools. Dozens of report templates. Enhanced mobile app.
Cons: User interface still looks dated. Tools don't co-exist smoothly. Can't access all data remotely.
Bottom Line: No other personal financial management application offers the depth and breadth of tools found in Quicken, but its very completeness can be overwhelming.
Read ReviewYNAB Review
MSRP: $5.00Pros: Personal budgeting app built on a solid philosophy. Flexible. Great tutorials and education material. Good Web interface.
Cons: Take a while to get learn. No multifactor authentication. More expensive than the competition (which is mostly free).
Bottom Line: YNAB stands for You Need a Budget, and it's true: You do. Built on a philosophy of financial responsibility, this online app helps you learn about personal finance while getting your spending on track.
Read ReviewWalletHub Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Free. Monitors your credit report and score. Updates daily. Great educational resource. Useful financial calculator.
Cons: No tools for budgeting or monitoring individual accounts and transactions.
Bottom Line: If you want to know your credit score, monitor your credit report, and learn more about personal finance, give WalletHub a try. It's one of the better free credit-reporting apps.
Read ReviewDoxo Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Free to use. Includes bill pay for utilities, credit cards, and other services. Flexible and customizable. Digital filing cabinet aspects work well.
Cons: Connecting to some providers is somewhat slow. Bill payment setup takes longer than it should. Bill payment fees and explanations aren't shown until the end of the payment process.
Bottom Line: Doxo is a capable bill payment hub and online filing cabinet for all your household documents. Paying bills is often free, but sometimes can incur a small charge. If you're trying to go paperless, it's worth a try.
Read Review
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Personal Finance Software Reviews
Money management software can help you take control over your finances. Setting up a budget and really understanding where your money goes is a challenge for most people. When you use money management software you can track spending, create a savings plan, a debt reduction plan and even retirement planning. This allows you to make better use of your income so that you can reach your financial goals. We have evaluated the financial software available on the market today and have chosen the programs that are easiest to use and understand. These software choices will do the best job of providing you will better control over your money, allowing you to spend money on the things that really matter.
Most Popular Personal Finance Software
Personal Finance Software Reviews 2018 Uk
QuickBooks Premier
The QuickBooks Premier Software is available for Windows based PC’s. The software is easy to use and provides everything you need to manage your finances, bank online, pay bills online, establish and maintain a budget and track your investments. QuickBooks Premier is also able to track multiple currencies to provide you with money management for overseas accounts. This feature also helps with planning for international trips or even international living. QuickBooks Premier will categorize your spending and can automatically send payments to multiple financial institutions. This allows you to track spending and pay bills more conveniently and accurately. The software will establish graphs and charts making it easy for you to see your spending at a glance, manage your investment portfolio with summary pages, to allow you to understand your complete financial picture all in one convenient place.
- Provides financial overview
- Notifies you of upcoming payments or transactions
- Provides exchange rate information
- Reconcile bank statements quickly and easily
- See detailed account information at the click of a button
Personal Finance Software Reviews 2018 Vs
– Anthony Dawson
Best Overall Personal Finance Software
TurboTax Deluxe
The Intuit-TurboTax-Deluxe software is made specifically for the Mac and PC computers. This software will organize your finances and create an easy method for keeping up with spending. The software gives you access to all of your accounts in one place. This enables you to see where your money is spent and manage your finances with more accuracy. The Intuit-TurboTax-Deluxe software is easy to stall and includes step by step instructions for operating the software and managing your finances most efficiently. The software allows you to see daily balances, upcoming bills and paychecks. This provides a simple way to keep track of spending, manage receipts and reduce debt. There is a snapshot screen which allows you to see the overall financial picture. It then provides details for each area of your financial management, for better budgeting and more accurate assessment of your financial situation. TurboTax-Deluxe can help you save money on bank fees and late fees. It can track investments and help you create a better and more diversified portfolio that will more accurately reflect your investment goals. The Intuit-TurboTax-Deluxe also provides for easy importing into Turbo Tax.
- All accounts can be seen in one place
- Enables user to create and maintain accurate budgets
- Tracks investments and savings along with monthly spending
- Debt reduction tracking
- Attaches receipts to spending allowing users to manage receipts, tax deductions and warranties
– Anthony Dawson
Best Budget Personal Finance Software
Intuit – Quicken Deluxe 2019
Personal Finance Software Reviews 2018 For Sale
The Intuit-Quicken-Deluxe-Download software is a software program that will assist in organizing your finances. Once the software is downloaded, there is a step by step set up that will walk you through everything you need to do to create an easy to understand and convenient money management system. There is on line support with set up that is free, you can get tips from Quicken forums along with a 60 day money back guarantee. The Intuit-Quicken-Deluxe-Download software will allow you to connect all of your financial data in one place. Organize your bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and investments in one location. The software will then track spending and help establish and maintain a working and accurate monthly budget. The Intuit-Quicken-Deluxe-Download has the ability to track receipts through its mobile app. Just take a picture of the receipt and attach it to an expense. The Intuit-Quicken-Deluxe-Download software can track tax deductions, warranties, rebates, and other important expenses. The Intuit-Quicken-Deluxe-Download is built to import information into turbo tax for easy tax preparation.
- Provides access to all accounts in one location
- Creates a working budget with assistance in keeping the budget
- Tracks spending and savings
- Provides debt reduction strategies
- Maintains receipts for taxes, warranties, and managing large expenses
Best Personal Finance Software
– Anthony Dawson