Mint is gone. Intuit shut it down in early 2024 and migrated users to Credit Karma, which is a credit monitoring tool, not a budgeting app. If Mint was your budgeting system, you need a replacement. If you never had a budgeting app, now is as good a time as any to try one.
The best budgeting app is the one you actually use. A complicated system you abandon in two weeks is worse than a simple one you check every few days. Here are the options that work for most people.
YNAB (You Need A Budget)
YNAB isn’t free. It costs $14.99 per month or $99 per year. But it has a 34-day free trial, and it’s worth mentioning because it’s the most effective budgeting system available for people who struggle with money management.
YNAB uses zero-based budgeting: every dollar gets assigned a job before you spend it. The method forces you to make decisions about your money proactively rather than reactively. Users report saving an average of $600 in their first two months and $6,000 in their first year.
The learning curve is steeper than other apps. It takes a week or two to understand the philosophy. But the people who stick with it tend to become evangelists. If you’ve tried simpler budgeting methods and they haven’t worked, YNAB’s structure might be what you need.
EveryDollar (free tier)
Dave Ramsey’s budgeting app. The free version gives you a basic zero-based budget where you manually enter your income and assign categories. No bank account linking on the free tier. You enter transactions by hand.
Manual entry sounds tedious, but some people find it more effective because the act of typing each purchase makes you more aware of your spending. If you buy a $7 coffee and have to manually log it, you think about it more than if it auto-imports.
The paid version ($17.99/month) adds bank linking and transaction tracking. For most people, the free version does the job.
Goodbudget
Digital envelope budgeting. You create virtual envelopes (groceries, gas, dining out, entertainment) and allocate money to each one at the start of the month. As you spend, the envelope balance decreases. When it hits zero, you’re done spending in that category.
The free version allows 10 envelopes, which is enough for most people. It syncs across devices so both partners can track the same budget. No bank linking. All manual entry.
Goodbudget works well for people who overspend in specific categories. When the dining out envelope is empty, you cook. Simple constraint, effective result.
PocketGuard
PocketGuard connects to your bank accounts and shows you one number: how much you have left to spend after bills, savings goals, and necessities. That “in my pocket” number is the core feature.
The free version handles basic tracking and shows spending by category. The paid version ($7.99/month) adds bill negotiation, savings automation, and more detailed reports.
PocketGuard is for people who want a quick answer to “can I afford this?” without setting up detailed category budgets. Glance at the app, see the number, make the decision.
Spreadsheets
Google Sheets is free and fully customizable. Several good budget templates exist online. Tiller Money ($79/year) automatically pulls bank transactions into Google Sheets or Excel, combining the automation of an app with the flexibility of a spreadsheet.
Spreadsheets work for people who want complete control over categories, formulas, and tracking methods. They don’t work for people who won’t open a spreadsheet regularly.
Picking the right one
If you want something simple and automatic: PocketGuard.
If you want the envelope method: Goodbudget.
If you want structure and are willing to learn: YNAB.
If you want free and zero-based: EveryDollar.
If you want full customization: a spreadsheet.
Download one today and use it for two weeks before deciding if it fits. The budgeting method matters less than the habit of checking where your money goes. Any app that makes you look at your spending regularly is doing its job.