Kemback vs Quicken Classic

The verdict

Stay with Quicken Classic if you track investments with cost basis, rely on its tax reports, pay bills from inside Quicken, or run rental property or a small business through it. Kemback does none of those yet, and Classic has decades of depth behind it.

Choose Kemback if what you use Quicken for is the register, budgets, bills and reports, and you want that in the cloud, shared with your household, without a yearly renewal. The trade-off: you import bank files until Kemback’s Plus plan brings sync, and anything investment- or tax-related stays elsewhere.

Who Quicken Classic is for

Quicken Classic is desktop software for Windows and Mac, with a companion mobile app and web access. It connects to over 14,000 financial institutions, budgets with unlimited tags and categories, and imports almost any financial file format. Its higher tiers add the things many long-time users depend on: investment analytics, tax reports, bill pay on Premier, and rental property and business tools on Business & Personal.

Your data file lives on your computer (“Your data stays local”, in Quicken’s words), which some people prefer. Plans are billed annually; Starter is $4.49 a month, and the first year for new members on the other tiers runs up to $10.99 a month for Business & Personal, and the subscription renews at the then-current price. There’s no free trial, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Who Kemback is for

Kemback is for Quicken users whose real work is the register and the budget. It keeps the parts that make Quicken feel trustworthy: accounts with split transactions, linked transfers, cleared and reconciled status, and statement reconciliation that locks reconciled transactions. Rules rename payees and set categories, and new transactions wait in a review inbox.

Around that, the Free plan adds envelope or category budgets, bills and recurring transactions on a calendar with a warning when a bill goes up, safe to spend, a 90-day projected balance, savings goals, and net worth and spending reports by category, payee or tag.

Desktop file or shared cloud household

This is the heart of the choice. Quicken Classic can be installed on every computer in your household, but a data file can’t be open on two computers at once, so couples often pass a file back and forth or let one person keep the books.

Kemback is a cloud service. Each person in the household signs in separately, from any browser or the iPhone app in beta, and sees the shared accounts at the same time. Accounts can be shared or private, and roles set who can change what: owner, editor, viewer, and advisor for an accountant who needs view-only access. The household also keeps a tamper-evident activity log. The Free plan covers a household of two; Plus is planned for up to six.

What Kemback doesn’t do yet

Be clear about the gaps before you switch. Kemback doesn’t track investments (holdings or cost basis), produce tax reports, pay bills, or offer business or rental property tools. It doesn’t download from your bank automatically yet either; that’s coming with Plus, which isn’t on sale. If these matter, Classic is the better choice, or you can keep Classic for investments and use Kemback for the household budget.

Moving from Quicken Classic to Kemback

Kemback’s Switch from Quicken wizard reads a QIF export:

1. In Quicken for Windows, choose File, Export, QIF File, pick All Accounts, leave the dates as they are, and tick every box under “Include in Export”. On a Mac, choose File, Export, QIF File, with all accounts, transactions and categories.
2. Create a free Kemback account and choose Switch from Quicken.
3. Check what’s coming across: Kemback shows each account with Quicken’s balance beside it.
4. Bring it across. Kemback checks every balance against Quicken’s to the cent and tells you about anything it left behind, such as investment accounts.
5. Build a budget from your history in one click, and add your bills.

Exporting doesn’t change your Quicken file, so you can run both side by side. The Quicken switching page has the details.

Bottom line

Quicken Classic is the deeper product, especially for investments, taxes, bill pay and business. Kemback is the free, shared, cloud version of the register-and-budget core, with your history brought across to the cent. Automatic sync is coming with Plus; join the waitlist on the pricing page.

Questions

Is Kemback a free alternative to Quicken Classic?

For budgeting, the register, bills and reports, yes: Kemback's Free plan has no time limit. It doesn't replace Quicken Classic's investment tracking, tax reports, bill pay or business tools, so if you rely on those, Classic still does more.

Can I bring my Quicken Classic history to Kemback?

Yes. Export a QIF file from Quicken with all accounts, choose Switch from Quicken in Kemback, and it brings across your accounts, categories and transactions, checking every balance against Quicken's to the cent. Investment accounts aren't brought across yet, and Kemback lists anything it left behind.

Does exporting change anything in Quicken?

No. Exporting a QIF file leaves your Quicken data file as it was, so you can run both until you're happy.

Can my spouse and I both use Kemback at the same time?

Yes. Kemback is a cloud service: each person signs in separately, from any browser or the iPhone app in beta, and sees the same household at the same time. Accounts can be shared or private, and roles control who can change what.

Does Kemback download transactions from my bank like Quicken?

Not yet. Today you download OFX, QFX, QIF or CSV files from your bank and import them; Kemback skips anything it has already seen. Automatic bank sync through Plaid is coming with the Plus plan, which isn't on sale yet.

Is Kemback made by Quicken?

No. Kemback is an independent product and isn't affiliated with Quicken Inc. Quicken is a trademark of Quicken Inc.