Best Budgeting Apps for November 2024

Guide to Choosing the Best Budgeting App

What Is a Budgeting App?

Budgeting apps are personal finance tools that allow you to create a budget. Many apps require you to sync your bank accounts so you can track your monthly income and categorize expenses. All of your data is automatically imported into the app, which calculates how much money you have left over each month. This can give you an idea of where you can cut your spending and how much money you can set aside savings.

How to Choose a Budgeting App

Consider the following tips as you research budgeting apps to choose the right one for you:

• Your goals: Determine why you want to use a budgeting app, whether that’s to set savings, create an emergency fund, or help you fund a large purchase for the future.
• Availability: Determine how you want to use the app and whether it is compatible with your device. It’s always a good idea to see if the apps you’re researching have desktop capability if you ever need to use them on a computer.
• Free trial: Does the app offer a free trial? Free trials allow you to test the features without committing to or paying for an app.
• Features: Your financial goals and situation will dictate which features you should seek. Don’t commit or pay for an app with too many bells and whistles if you want to make simple changes to your financial life.
• Automation: Ask yourself a few key questions. Do you want the app to work for you automatically or are you willing to manually track your finances? Can the app sync with your bank account and other financial accounts? Keep in mind that you may have to do some manual tracking with certain automated budgeting apps—especially if you use cash for certain transactions.
• Cost: How much are you willing to pay for the app? It doesn’t make sense to sign up for a complicated app when you can’t afford it, especially if it comes with features you won’t use. There are also a lot of free budgeting apps that can help keep you on track.
• Security: This is important, especially if you intend to link your bank accounts and credit cards to the app. You want to make sure that your financial information is safe and secure from hackers.

The best way to ensure that you have the right app for you is to read reviews and/or get recommendations. You can also speak to a financial professional to see if they can help guide you in the right direction.

Why Having a Budget is Important

Budgeting allows you to stay on track and meet your financial goals—even if you have money to spare each month. You can use a budget to track your income and expenses each month. This can help you cut back on wasteful spending, save money for the future, and reach some of your financial goals, whether that’s to save up for a car, vacation, or a new home.

When you’re budgeting, make sure you track every dollar that comes and goes out of your hands and your bank account. This includes any money you earn and your fixed and regular monthly bills (rent/mortgage, utilities, credit cards, loans, etc.) as well as any irregular expenses like travel and dining out.

How to Create a Budget

Follow these steps to create your budget:

1. List your goals. Why are you creating your budget and what would you like to do with your savings? You may be saving up for a big purchase, a vacation, for retirement, or to set aside a rainy day fund. Whatever your goals are, make sure they are realistic.
2. Determine your monthly income. This includes all of the money you earn every month. Do not include things like tax refunds as things like this will inflate your monthly earning figure.
3. Calculate your expenses:
4. Fixed monthly expenses. This should be all fixed expenses, such as housing, car payments, and student debt. Include any other things you pay for that come at a fixed, predictable cost.
5. Flexible monthly expenses. This list should include anything you spend money on each month that comes with a flexible cost. Groceries, entertainment, travel, and other similar items fall into this category.
6. Don’t forget expenses that occur semi-regularly. Property taxes, insurance, and other expenses that you don’t pay monthly but must still be accounted for should go on this list.
7. Choose your strategy. With the envelope strategy, you set aside cash each month for specific spending goals, such as groceries and entertainment. The 50/30/20 plan involves spending 50% of your income on necessities, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings.
8. Rework your spending to fit your strategy. Make sure you make adjustments to your habits so you stick to your plan. Consider brown-bagging your lunch rather than buying it or giving up that morning brew from the neighborhood coffee shop to help keep you on track. You may also want to give up the credit card and start using cash.
9. Automate your bill payments. Setting up automatic debits can make your life easier because it takes the guesswork out of making your payments and keeping track of them.
10. Track how you’re doing. Keeping tabs on your progress and making minor changes can help you stay on track. For instance, if you’ve paid off a debt, you can put that money to use in a different category.

Budgeting Apps vs. Expense Tracking Apps

You may have heard about expense tracking apps and are probably wondering how they differ from budgeting apps like the ones we highlighted above.

Budgeting apps allow you to actively manage your money. This means you have a solid grasp of what your income and expenses are each month. This includes setting aside a certain amount of money for groceries and entertainment so you stay within your limits. If you’re using budgeting apps, you probably have clear goals about where and how you want to spend your money. Put simply, there are no surprises when it comes to your money because you know how and when it comes in and where it goes.

Expense tracking apps, on the other hand, allow you to paint a picture of how you spend your money each month. These apps record your bill payments and other expenses, such as your nights out, the clothes you buy, and the morning coffee you stop in for on your way to work each morning. At the end of the month, you get a clear picture of where your money went so you can determine if and where you can make adjustments to help you save money.

Check out our list of best expense tracking apps.

Pros and Cons of Budgeting Apps

Alternatives to Budgeting Apps

Keeping up with a budget is always a great idea but you don’t necessarily need an app to do it. Here are some other popular options in both the digital and analog realms that might work better for you: 

• Budgeting software: If you’re not keen on using your phone, you can do most—if not more—of the same things on a desktop computer that a mobile app would let you do. You may be able to log in to a program online or download a program on your computer.
• Expense tracking apps: Budgeting can seem overwhelming and a good first step for many people is to simply track their spending. If that’s the case, a more streamlined app might be better for you.
• Spreadsheet budgeting: Many people choose to make a DIY budget using a paper spreadsheet or a program like Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. This lets you customize it how you want, although it is more work to put together and maintain. 
• Cash envelope budgeting: You’ll take out paper cash and put it into categorized envelopes such as food, clothing, and gas with this method. This lets you set a stricter budget cap for yourself if you’ve had problems spending too much in the past.
• Pay yourself first budgeting: If you hate the idea of budgeting, this method allows you to sidestep it entirely by setting up automated transfers into your savings account, with the remainder left over to spend as you wish. 

Why You Should Trust Us

Budgeting is a challenge for many people. While many folks want to reel in spending, it can be tedious to manually track expenses with a spreadsheet, making giving up all too easy. Luckily, there are budgeting apps to automate the process. But, the market is flooded with free and subscription-based apps, and most people don’t have the time or energy to test each out. Fortunately, we did the heavy lifting for you.

We considered 15 of the best companies on the market, comparing each app’s budgeting functionality, pricing, free trials, and user reviews. We compared the features, educational tools, security, and how each app accesses your financial data. All our picks are free, offer a free version, or have a free trial, so you won’t have to waste money on a budgeting app that doesn’t suit your needs. Investopedia launched in 1999 and has been helping readers find the best budgeting apps since 2020.

Guide to Budgeting Apps