When it comes to personal finance, there are countless options out there. You can go the old-fashioned route and use a pencil and paper, or you can use one of the many personal finance software programs that are available.
Why You Need a Personal Finance Software
There are numerous good reasons to use personal finance software. First, it can help you keep track of your finances and budget better. In addition, it can help you find ways to save money and reduce your expenses.
Personal finance management software can also help you make better financial decisions. It gives you peace of mind by knowing that your finances are in order.
Personal finance software is not just for people who are bad with money. Even if you are good with money, personal finance software can still be a big help. It can help you stay organized and on track with your finances. It can also help you find new ways to save money and reduce your expenses.
7 Best Personal Finance Software
This list includes some of the best personal finance management software, including free and premium choices. You can select one that meets your financial needs.
Quicken
Quicken is well-known for being one of the fastest personal finance programs on the market. It is both affordable and feature-rich.
You can use it to track your financial activities, from budgeting to debt repayment, savings goals, and even investing guidance. It also includes Excel export capabilities, allowing you to transform and analyze your data to your liking. However, this software may be overwhelming if you’re seeking simple budgeting software.
Bill pay, one of Quicken’s more sophisticated services, allows you to make payments for your bills right from the program. You may even track the present value of your assets to get your overall net worth. The program can handle both personal and commercial expenditures, as well as property management activities like rental payments from renters. It can be used on Windows, iOS, Android, and macOS devices.
Price:
Mint
Mint is arguably one of the best free personal finance software in the market. It is also among the best budgeting financial software available. There are no paywalls or limitations on features, as is the case with most personal finance management software. Mint remains free as it makes money by referring people to financial institutions via its “Ways to Save” section.
Intuit Mint helps you see all of your financial accounts in one place. This makes it easy to track your investments, bank accounts, and credit cards. You can also see where your money is going by looking at reports on the main screen. Intuit Mint also has some great features for setting goals and budgeting. Transactions are automatically put into categories, so you can see where your money is being spent.
The program also keeps track of your credit score. For accountability, it notifies you when bills are due if you enable notifications for payment due dates and low balances. This helps prevent attracting costs on late bank loan repayments and overdrafts. You also receive weekly reports about your finances via email. The software is available for iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows devices.
Price: Absolutely free
YNAB
YNAB is curated to assist you to understand your monthly budget, as well as becoming responsible for your money. Hence, if you are looking to create the best financial habits, YNAB is the tool for you. You Need A Budget (YNAB) provides users with tools and free online tutorials and workshops to learn better financial and budgeting habits.
The software connects to your bank account automatically, incorporating your financial data for analysis and budget management. You may monitor how you’re progressing toward your monthly budget and act if you’re spending too much. It does not, however, provide for investment tracking.
Furthermore, YNAB enables you to establish budgetary goals. You can share these objectives with a partner to encourage each other to pay bills on time and keep track of investments. It gives you the opportunity to make saving targets and celebrates your achievements.
Price: 34-day free trial
Monthly Plan at $14.99 (billed monthly)
Annual plan at $98.99/year (billed yearly)
EveryDollar
EveryDollar is a personal finance software that allows you to budget, save money, and track your spending. You can customize your monthly income and investment strategy, and monitor your spending by creating transactions. It is available via web and mobile apps, both Android and iOS.
EveryDollar zero-dollar budget tool features customizable templates to assist you in planning your expenditure. In addition, it is easy to use.
Price: Free
Plus version at $129/year
Personal Capital
Personal Capital is specifically designed for wealthier individuals. Thus, it may come as a surprise that it is a completely free personal finance software. It is arguably the best personal finance software for users looking for investment advice and wealth management.
So if you have a lot of money in different bank accounts, mortgages, investments, etc., then Personal Capital is the software that will understand and help you keep track of it. Hence, the tool attempts to convert its users with over $100,000 in assets into full-fledged clients.
However, this does not imply that it is exclusively for the wealthy. You can still access the Personal Capital’s savings planner and budgeting tool to track your money.
This software is unique for its net worth calculator and retirement planner features. The net worth calculator subtracts your debts from what you have to find your net worth, while the retirement planner tells you how close to retirement you are. In addition, if you have over $100,000 in assets, Personal Capital will do a free portfolio review for you.
Price: Absolutely free
Tiller Money
If you like well-crafted spreadsheets, Tiller Money is perfect for you. With Tiller Money, you can track all of your money in one place. This is done by updating your bank, credit card, loan, investment, and other account information into a customizable Excel template or Google Sheet.
You can choose from a variety of templates that will arrange your financial data for you, or configure your spreadsheet to meet your specific requirements. Daily emails will also be sent to you with a report of recent balances and transactions.
However, while the price of the software is relatively low, the spreadsheet tracking process may be too complex for some users.
Price: 30-day free trial
Premium at $79/year
MoneyManager EX (MMEX)
MoneyManager EX is one of the best open source personal finance software available. Despite its usability, it is still a compelling personal finance tool.
It has an intuitive interface and an accessible encrypted SQLite database with AES protection. It also gives you tools for analyzing your spending and making future predictions.
Furthermore, the software features fixed assets tracking, payees and categories, stocks and shares, budgeting, multi-language, import and export, etc. These features help keep track of your investments. The software also provides builds for different operating systems so that it operates on all devices.
Price: Free
Choosing the Best Personal Finance Software
There are a lot of different personal finance software programs available, so how do you choose the best one for you?
When it comes to choosing personal finance software, there are several factors to consider. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a personal finance management software:
- Ease of Use: Personal finance software should be easy to use. If it’s difficult to figure out how to input your information or navigate the program, you’re not likely to use it regularly. On the other hand, you don’t want something that is so simple that it doesn’t do what you need it to do. Look for something that strikes a good balance between being easy to use and being feature-rich.
- Goal Setting: A good personal finance program will help you set and track financial goals. You should be able to input your goals and the program should provide you with a way to track your progress.
- Budgeting: Budgeting is an important part of personal finance, and a good software program will help you create and maintain a budget. Look for a program that allows you to input your income and expenses, so you can see where your money is going each month.
- Investment Tracking: If you have investments, you’ll want to choose a personal finance program that allows you to track your investment portfolio. This way, you can see how your investments are performing and make changes as needed.
- Reporting: A good personal finance software program will provide you with reports that can help you understand your financial situation. Look for a program that offers a variety of reports, such as a net worth report, income and expense report, and investment report.
- Customer Support: If you have questions about how to use the personal finance software, or you encounter any problems, you’ll want to choose a program that offers excellent customer support. Look for a program that has an extensive knowledge base or FAQ section, so you can find answers to your questions.
- Price: Personal finance software ranges in price from free to hundreds of dollars. It’s important to find something that fits your budget. However, don’t sacrifice features for price. It’s better to spend a little more and get something that has the features you need than to get something that is cheap but doesn’t do what you need it to do.
No matter what your financial goals are, there is a personal finance software that can help you achieve them. Be sure to consider all the factors mentioned above when choosing a personal finance software. And don’t forget to try out the free trials before you commit to any one software.
