Best Personal Finance Software Options of 2024 (2024)

Best Personal Finance Software Options

Best Personal Finance Software Options

Quicken is a full-featured software offering a holistic approach to financial management at a relatively low cost.

Quicken is one of the most establishedpersonal finance software on the market. You can use the software to manage various aspects of your financial life, from budget creation to debt tracking, savings goals, and even investment coaching. It also features Excel exporting, which allows you to manipulate and perform additional calculations on your data.

One of the more advanced features Quicken offers is bill pay, which allows you to set up payments for your bills right from the software. You can even use it to track the value of your assets to have an accurate calculation of your total net worth. The software can be used to manage both your personal and business expenses and even handle property management functions like rental payments from tenants.

Quicken offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. The software starts at $41.88 per year and is available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. However, the lowest cost option, Quicken Starter, is not available on mobile devices.

Mint is our top pick for budgeting because it lets you easily link your accounts, budget, and track your spending for free.

Mint is one of the most popular budgeting and expense tracking tools available. You can have the software pull in your bank and credit card information to analyze your spending and pinpoint areas where you can cut backto improve your finances.

For more accountability, Mint allows you to set up alerts for payment due dates and low balances to keep you on track. These features help you avoid expensive fees on late payments and overdrafts from your bank account.

When you set up budget categories, Mint will give you information about the amount you can spend on things like food and gas. Mint is free to download and use on iOS and Android devices. You can also use it in a web browser on your computer.

You Need a Budget, or YNAB, offers tutorials and tools that can help you learn better budgeting and financial habits.

YNAB is a personal finance software designed to help you improve your financial literacy as you manage your monthly budget. As you create your budget and manage your daily finances, the software provides you with tutorials that will help you tackle some of the tougher financial topics. If you’ve been struggling with bad financial habits, YNAB can help you break those through a few basic financial management rules.

The software automatically links to your bank account, integrating your spending information for analysis and budget tracking. You can keep tabs on how you’re tracking towardyour monthly budget and take action if you’re overspending. But it doesn’t include any investment tracking capabilities.

YNAB offers a 34-day free trial that allows you to use the software while you decide whether it’s right for your personal finance goals. The full software is $14.99 monthly or $99 annually.

Nobody loves filing their tax returns, but TurboTax's handy software helps take the headache out of the process.

You may not necessarily need TurboTax to manage your finances throughout the entire year, but when it’s tax time, the software can come in handy. While it’s one of the pricier tax preparation tools, it’s also consumer-friendly, walking you through your taxes to help you accurately file your return. Entering your tax information is fairly simple—import your W-2 information from your employer or take a picture of it, and the software will transfer the information into the form.

If you’ve used TurboTax before, the software will remember your personal information and ask whether there have been any major changes. The basic version lets you file your federal and state return for freeif all you use is form 1040 with no attached schedules.

On the higher end, TurboTax Live connects you with a tax expert to give you personalized advice and answer questions about your tax return. Paid versions of TurboTax include a feature to help you uncover deductions you may not have known were available to you. While you can use TurboTax on the web, you can also download the software to your device for added security.

TurboTax offers a few tiered plans, ranging from $0 to $129 for federal tax filing on your own. Filing your state taxes will be an additional cost with its higher-tier options. Versions where you can consult with a live tax expert cost even more.

Those who appreciate the option of getting investment advice but managing their portfolio independently may want to consider FutureAdvisor.

If you’re a DIY investor looking for low-cost access to a financial advisor, FutureAdvisor could be a great option. The investment software provides personalized recommendations to help you diversify your portfolio, which you can follow or not follow as you see fit. You're eligible to sign up for the software if you have at least $5,000 in investable assets.

FutureAdvisor manages the assets you transfer into the accountfor a flat annual fee of 0.5% of the managed assets, billed quarterly at 0.125%.When you transfer your assets into the account, FutureAdvisor works to consolidate them into accounts with its partners, Fidelity or TD Ameritrade.

Empower (formerly Personal Capital) offers both budgeting and investing tools to help you stay on track with your day-to-day spending and long-term financial goals.

Empower (formerly Personal Capital) lets you manage all your financial accounts in a single platform. You can include your bank accounts, mortgage, and other credit accounts, plus your investment accounts, to have your complete financial picture right in front of you. If you have multiple accounts, using Empower can save you from having to switch between tabs to understand where you stand.

If you have a portfolio of more than $100,000, you can get personalized financial advice based on your goals. While you’re charged a fee for this service, financial advisors are obligated to provide you with advice that works in your best interest.

Use the software to determine if you’re on track withyour retirement and other investment goals. Even if you’re not quite ready to take advantage of the financial advisor, Empower can help you track your finances and investments in one place. There is no monthly fee, and the annual management fee is tiered based on the investment amount. It starts at 0.89% for balances under $1 million.

If you're a visual person that appreciates a well-crafted spreadsheet, Tiller might be the financial tool you've been looking for to manage your accounts in one place.

Tiller Money lets you see all your money in one place by automatically updating your checking, credit card, loan, investment, and other account data into a customizable Google Sheet or Excel template. You can choose from templates that organize your data for you or customize your spreadsheet to suit your needs. It'll also send you daily emails with a summary of your recent transactions and balances.

The service costs $79 per year,but you can take advantage of the 30-day free trial to decide if it's right for you.

Article Sources

1. Empower. "Wealth Management."

2. Personal Capital. "Wealth Management."