The Best Mint Alternatives and How to Choose One

When Intuit closed Mint in March 2024, millions of people lost the app they had used to see all their money in one place. Intuit pointed Mint users toward Credit Karma, but Credit Karma is built around credit scores and offers, not budgeting, so many people went looking elsewhere. There is no single “new Mint” that suits everyone. The right replacement depends on what you actually used Mint for, and on what you wished it did better.

This guide walks through the questions that matter, the main kinds of app on offer, and a simple way to test a shortlist before you commit.

Start with what you used Mint for

Before comparing apps, write down the three things you relied on most. For most people, the list comes from this set:

Seeing every account in one place, with balances updated automatically.
Automatic categories, so spending sorted itself into groceries, dining, gas and so on.
A simple monthly budget with bars that turned red when you went over.
Bill reminders and alerts for low balances or unusual charges.
Net worth and trends, to see whether things were getting better over time.
Free. Mint cost nothing, paid for by ads and offers.

If your list is “see my accounts and get alerts”, you need something different from someone whose list is “plan every dollar with my partner”. Be honest about which one you are.

The main kinds of Mint alternative

Most replacements fall into a few groups. Names change and features move, so treat this as a map rather than a ranking, and check each app’s current features and price on its own site.

Envelope (zero-based) budgeting apps

YNAB (You Need A Budget) is the best-known example. You assign every dollar of income to a job before you spend it, and the app is built around that method. People who stick with it often say it changed how they think about money. The trade-off is effort: it asks more of you than Mint did, and it is a paid subscription.

All-in-one tracking apps with bank sync

Monarch Money, Copilot and Simplifi (made by Quicken) are closest in spirit to Mint: connect your accounts, let transactions flow in, and see spending, budgets and net worth. They differ in design, platform support and how much planning they encourage. Copilot, for example, has been Apple-first. All three are paid subscriptions.

Net worth and investment dashboards

Empower (formerly Personal Capital) offers free tools focused on investments, retirement and net worth. Its budgeting is lighter than Mint’s, and the company also sells wealth management services, which is how the free tools are supported.

Desktop or “full ledger” software

Quicken and similar programs keep a detailed register with reconciliation, splits and reports. They suit people who want accuracy to the cent and deep history, and they ask for more setup than Mint did.

Spreadsheets

A spreadsheet is free and endlessly flexible, but nothing updates on its own. Some people use one alongside an app, or as a temporary home while they decide.

Seven questions that narrow the field

Use these to turn a long list into two or three candidates.

How do you want to budget? A plan per category (“$600 for groceries this month”) or envelopes where every dollar is assigned? Some apps support only one.
Do you need automatic bank sync? Sync is convenient, but it costs the app money to provide, which is one reason most sync-based apps charge. If you are happy importing a file from your bank once a week, more options open up.
Who else uses it? If you share money with a partner, check whether each person gets their own sign-in, whether some accounts can stay private, and whether an adviser can be given view-only access.
Which devices? Web, iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac. A great app that does not run on your partner’s phone is not a great app for your household.
What does it cost over three years? Look past the first-year price to the renewal price. A $100-a-year app is $300 over three years.
How does it make money? If you are not paying, ask how the company is paid. Mint relied on ads and offers. Read the privacy policy for whether data is sold or shared.
Can you leave? Check that you can export all your transactions, in a standard format such as CSV, whenever you want. After Mint, this matters more than it used to.

A worked example: choosing as a couple

Dana and Sam used Mint for five years. Their list:

Both need to see shared accounts, but Sam’s side-business account should stay private.
They want a category budget, not envelopes. They tried envelopes once and found it too much work.
They spend about $5,500 a month and want alerts when dining goes past $400.
Dana uses an iPhone, Sam uses a laptop.
Budget for the tool: under $100 a year.

Running the seven questions removes an envelope-only app straight away, and removes any app that has only one login per account. That leaves two candidates. They try both for a month (below) and pick the one where the shared/private split works the way they expected.

A different household, say a single person whose main goal is watching a retirement balance grow, would end up somewhere else entirely, probably with an investment-focused dashboard. Neither answer is wrong.

Test before you commit: a two-week trial plan

Most paid apps offer a free trial. Use it deliberately.

Day 1: Add your main checking account and one credit card. Import or sync at least two months of history.
Days 2–3: Set up a budget with your ten biggest categories. See how long it takes and whether the categories make sense.
Days 4–10: Use it as your only app. Note every moment you go back to a spreadsheet or your bank’s site because the app could not answer something.
Days 11–14: Export your data. Open the file. If you cannot easily get your transactions back out, cross the app off.

Two weeks of real use tells you more than any comparison table, this one included.

What to bring with you from Mint

If you downloaded Mint’s transactions export before the shutdown, keep it somewhere safe. It is a CSV of your history, with dates, descriptions, amounts, categories and account names. Many apps can import a CSV, so years of history need not be lost. If you never downloaded it, your bank can usually provide statements and downloadable transaction files going back some distance, though how far varies from bank to bank.

Where Kemback fits

Kemback is one of the options, aimed at people who want Quicken-level detail without a desktop program. It runs in any browser, with an iPhone app in beta. It offers category and envelope budgets (you can switch between them without losing anything), a household with shared and private accounts and roles, and a Switch from Mint import that reads Mint’s transactions export and links transfers. Today you bring transactions in by importing OFX, QFX, QIF or CSV files from your bank; automatic bank sync is coming with the planned Plus plan. The Free plan is complete, and you can export everything at any time.

Whatever you choose, pick the app that matches how you actually manage money, test it with real data, and make sure you can always take your history with you.

#mint alternatives #switching apps #choosing software

This article is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. For decisions about your situation, talk to a qualified professional.

The Best Mint Alternatives, and How to Choose the Right One for You