Mint is about to go away — here are some alternative budget apps to consider

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.

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.

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.

You Need a Budget (YNAB)

While Mint showed you where your money went after you spent it, YNAB uses the zero-based budgeting system 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.

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.

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.

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.