The Mint budgeting app will officially shut down on March 23, 2024, when users will no longer have access to their data on the app.
Intuit®, which owns Mint and other personal finance platforms like QuickBooks® and TurboTax®, is inviting current users to migrate to Credit Karma, which it also owns. But that's far from the only option.
Budgeting apps are a great way to get a grip on your finances. Typically, they link to your banking, credit card and investment accounts and can track your purchases and show you how close you are to reaching your savings goals.
Below, CNBC Select looks at budgeting apps to consider when Mint closes.
What we'll cover
- Credit Karma
- Rocket Money
- YNAB
- Empower
- Goodbudget
- Bottom line
Credit Karma
Intuit is telling Mint users to switch to Credit Karma, its free app best known for tracking credit scores. You can access some Mint-style features with Credit Karma — including viewing linked accounts, transactions, cash flow and your spending and net worth over time — as well as unique offerings like credit monitoring of your Experian and TransUnion reports and recommendations for responsible credit use.
Mint still have to create a Credit Karma account if they don't have one, however, and Credit Karma lacks Mint's budgeting features.
Credit Karma
On Credit Karma's secure site.
Cost
Free, with some paid features available to opt in
Credit bureaus monitored
2-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Equifax and TransUnion®
Credit scoring model used
VantageScore®3.0
Dark web scan
Yes
Identity theft insurance
No
Terms apply.
Rocket Money
Rocket Money is best known for being able to cancel unwanted subscriptions but it offers a suite of personal finance tools. The free tier allows users to link their accounts, track spending, create budgets, get balance alerts and manage subscriptions.
The subscription-cancellation concierge service, which cancels unwanted subscriptions for you, is part of Rocket Mortgage's paid Premium tier — along with credit score monitoring, unlimited budgeting and premium chat support.
It also includes a bill-negotiation service that involves a live representative working with your creditors to lower your bills. On top of the monthly premium fee, however, you'll have to pay a sliding scale of between 30% and 60% of the savings you receive.
Rocket Money
Cost
Free, with the option to upgrade to Rocket Money Premium for a fee of $4 to $12 per month (with 7-day free trial). Bill negotiation costs between 30% to 60% of the 12-month savings achieved as a result of the negotiation.
Standout features
Easily cancel unwanted subscriptions, track your spending and credit score, automate savings and get help lowering bills
Categorizes your expenses
Yes, Rocket Money instantly identifies your top spending categories
Links to accounts
Yes, bank and credit cards
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android), as well as online
Security features
Rocket Money accesses users' transaction data via an encrypted token, uses Plaid API so user credentials are never stored, provides bank-level 256-bit encryption and hosts servers on secure Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is used by the Department of Defense, NASA and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
Terms apply.
Pros
- Negotiates cell phone and cable bills, plus helps you get refunds for some bank fees
- Free version available
- Syncs to your bank accounts and credit cards
- Instantly finds and tracks your subscriptions
- Website says 80% of people save money by using Rocket Money (formerly Truebill) to find and cancel unwanted subscriptions
- Provides breakdown of user spending and notifies of upcoming charges and low balance alerts
- Helps users create a budget
- Users can see their Experian VantageScore 3.0 credit score and get access to their credit report
- Provides an interest-free pay advance up to $100 directly to qualifying users' checking accounts
- Users can set goals, save money with autopilot Smart Savings feature
- Concierge service available to identify bills to be lowered and, for a fee, Rocket Money (formerly Truebill) will negotiate on users' behalf for the best rates (non-refundable negotiation fee is anywhere from 30% to 60% of the 12-month savings achieved as a result of the negotiation)
- Rocket Money (formerly Truebill) Premium Service features include free access to Smart Savings feature, unlimited budgeting categories, custom spend categories, real-time account balance updates, premium chat, subscription cancellation concierge, “Truebill Offers" and educational material
- Coming soon: Users can track their net worth
- High Trustscore rating of 4.3/5 stars (from 392 reviews)
Cons
- Costs between $4 and $12 per month to upgrade to Rocket Money Premium Service
- Non-refundable negotiation fee anywhere from 30% to 60% of the 12-month savings achieved as a result of Rocket Money's bill negotiation on users' behalf
- Less than 10 Better Business Bureau reviews
- Does not negotiate internet, landline phones, cable/phone/internet bundles, alarm and security systems, satellite radio/TV or electric bills
You Need a Budget (YNAB)
While Mint showed you where your money went after you spent it, YNAB uses the zero-based budgetingsystem to assign every dollar a "job." That can be more helpful if you're focusing on future spending.
While it is a paid service, YNAB claims the average user can save $600 in the first two months and $6,000 in the first year.
You Need a Budget (YNAB)
Cost
34-day free trial then $99 per year or $14.99 per month (college students who provide proof of enrollment get 12 months free)
Standout features
Instead of using traditional budgeting buckets, users allocate every dollar they earn to something (known as the "zero-based budgetingsystem" where no dollar is unaccounted for). Every dollar is assigned a "job," whether it's to go toward bills, savings, investments, etc.
Categorizes your expenses
No
Links to accounts
Yes, bank and credit cards
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Encrypted data, accredited data centers, third-party audits and more
Terms apply.
Empower
Both a budgeting and investing tool, Empower has several free features, like being able to track spending and view your net worth. If you want to use their investment management service, you'll have to pay a percentage of the funds being managed.
While Mint allowed you to connect investment accounts to track your net worth, there wasn't any way to manage those accounts.
Empower
On Empower's secure site
Cost
App is free, but users have option to add investment management services for 0.89% of their money (for accounts under $1 million)
Standout features
A budgeting app and investment tool that tracks both your spending and your wealth
Categorizes your expenses
Yes, but users can modify
Links to accounts
Yes, bank and credit cards, as well as IRAs, 401(k)s, mortgages and loans
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Data encryption, fraud protection and strong user authentication
Terms apply.
Compare investing resources
Goodbudget
If you want a free alternative to Mint, Goodbudget uses the envelope method, with users allocating specific amounts to various categories like groceries, rent and bills. It doesn't automatically sync accounts, so you must manually add transactions.
Goodbudget's paid version allows you to create an unlimited number of envelopes and store account history for up to seven years, among other premium features.
Goodbudget
Cost
Free for 20 total envelopes; $8/month (or $70/year) for unlimited envelopes
Standout features
Allows users to plan their household's spending using the "envelope method," where they allocate a certain amount of their income into categories like groceries, rent and debt payoff. Users are only supposed spend what's in their envelopes and if they go beyond their budget the envelope will show red to indicate that they overspent
Categorizes your expenses
Yes, but users can customize
Links to accounts
No, users manually create "envelopes" and input their transactions
Availability
Has a web-based version, and also offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
256-bit bank grade encryption in a secure data center
Terms apply.
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Bottom line
Mint is going away, but many other budgeting apps can help you on your personal finance journey. Whether you choose another free service or spring for a subscription, select one with features you'll get the most out of.
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Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
