The Best Budget App For 2025

Keeping track of your money in spending is an absolutely essential resolution for the upcoming new year 2025. Budgeting successfully puts you in a better position where you are able to meet both your current financial needs as well as plan for the future. And whether you are new to budgeting apps or have experience managing your budget, it is essential to find the correct budget app for your specific needs. In this review, we feature some of the most efficient budget apps for 2025, along with their most identifying features, pros, and cons.

Monarch Money

Monarch Money

It is a new budget app which was released in 2024. The app makes it easier for you to create your budget and manage your spending, it also creates savings goals for you to plan for the future. This application can link up to 13,000 accounts, helping you comfortably manage your spending accounts as well as each transaction you make. Here are some pros and cons that you will experience when using Monarch Money: 

Pros

• Can be used in both mobile app and website: Use the app through the mobile app and website, and display real-time transaction data. This makes it more convenient for you to keep track of cash flow and net worth. You can invite other accounts that are not yours to your account, especially members of the household, then you and them will have the same control but separate accounts.
• Automatic rules for transactions: Easy to create rules based on transaction names, vendor names, amount, etc. Also a toast will pop up each time you adjust a transaction, asking if you want to make the adjustment a permanent rule and pretty customizable.
• Connect to all finance accounts: With a capacity of 13,000 accounts, this allows you to connect to all your accounts including bank accounts, credit cards, investments, loans and cryptocurrency accounts so you can easily track your cash flows at once. 

Cons

• No free version: This means users cannot try out the app’s functionality for free. Users must subscribe to use the program, which may deter those looking for free budgeting tools.
• Subscription can be pricey: Many people may be hesitant to consider Monarch given the app’s relatively inaccessible subscription cost. For those on a tight budget or looking for a free budgeting app, Monarch may not be a good choice despite its many features and benefits.

Simplifi by Quicken

Simplifi by Quicken

This is a wonderful selection for users looking for a comprehensive snapshot of their finances. All of your accounts and investments can be accessed from one location. Ads are not displayed within Simplifi, unless a monthly subscription is paid, but that is a small price to pay for a financial management tool designed to help you achieve your goals. Simplifi is equipped with so much more than just tracking features, and can assist you in managing your finances far more effectively than before.

Pros

• Helpful financial info: Searching and adapting to the information presented on the app’s interface is a walk in the park. This gives you the opportunity to have a better understanding of your finances and manage your spending habits more wisely.
• Easy to use: With user friendly menus and tools, new users will not have a hard time getting accustomed to the budgeting app. The look and feel of the app is particularly appealing, which is good for ensuring that the app is used as effectively as possible.
• Financial Reports: The financial report section includes charts of your income, net income, savings, and monthly summary. You can also track cash back from stores to make sure they actually deposit the money onto your card.

Cons

• No free version: To unlock all the budget features within the app, one must register an account and pay for the subscription. However, this also guarantees that there will be no ads while using the app. Make sure to analyze your needs thoroughly before deciding to invest in the app.
• No retirement planning: For those considering the option of incorporating a retirement plan account, this app is not a good sign as Simplifi does not support this feature.

PocketGuard

PocketGuard

You can find this is the best budget app for people who are trying to get out of debt or who want to learn how to manage money with a complete picture of their finances. The app has a debt repayment plan feature that can quickly take your existing debt from your linked accounts and pay it off quickly without any problems.

Pros

• Features around negotiating bills and canceling subscriptions: PocketGuard assists you in negotiating your bills with the provider of the service. It may also help you find better deals or discounts that would lower your monthly expenditures. PocketGuard is also able to detect your active subscriptions and assist you in canceling the ones you do not need or use anymore.
• PocketGuard enables users to create and edit as many spending categories as needed that reflect their personalized budget: Customizable budget categories are tailor-made to the user’s financial status. This feature accommodates users who have more than one source of income, or have varying monthly expenditures as the newly created budget categories can easily be modified to fit their respective needs.
• Adapting to every budgeting style: The app also allows users to work on it without regarding them to any specific budgeting plan. This means that whether you are used to the more complex forms of budgeting, like zero-based budgeting or envelope budgeting, or more simple ones, like listing and checking spending forms, PocketGuard will suit your needs.

Cons

• No free version: Depending on your needs, you can pay for the application to use the application’s features without worrying about money problems or management efficiency when using it.
• Basic features compared to other apps: While PocketGuard is great for basic budgeting, it lacks some of the advanced features found in other apps, such as investment tracking and detailed financial reports.

Goodbudget

Goodbudget

You can link your mobile and desktop apps to easily switch to your preferred platform on the go. The app lets you create digital “envelopes” or categories based on wants and needs. For example, you put $50 in an envelope for work supplies or $100 in an envelope for clothes. You can automatically select pre-made envelopes or create your own.

Pros

• Easy to use: This application is designed to be suitable for everyone, even if you are a new user, you can quickly get acquainted with the features, you can create and learn the features yourself without any problems.
• Create “envelopes”: You create envelopes, then manually enter your account balances, as well as your debt and cash. From there, you can decide how much money is in your envelopes. Each time you spend or receive money, record that amount in your account. The balance of each envelope is shown by a colored bar on the main screen. Green leaves indicate that you have money in the envelope; red indicates that you’re over budget

Cons

• Not sync bank accounts: Unlike many other budgeting apps, Goodbudget doesn’t sync with your bank account and track your transactions for you. If you make a purchase, the app won’t automatically update your receipt. However, you can manually record them and compare them to the transactions on your bank statement.
• Paid to use full function: You can choose to use the free version or if you need to use more features, you can decide to upgrade your version by paying.

Song Nhi

This is a budgeting app integrated with artificial intelligence by NHI Money. You can manage your finances by chatting with AI to get an overview of your finances. At the same time, it supports the Mic talk function for those who want to get quick results when using the app. At the same time, it can guide financial management for those who are not familiar with using the app and increase efficiency in creating a spending mindset.

Song Nhi

Pros

• View & Edit Reports: Chat with Song Nhi to edit/view your transaction history as you like. Get an overview of your transaction history and understand your current financial situation. Plus, use smart filters to track transactions and quickly access your financial goals via pinned pages.
• Share With Members: This is suitable for groups or roommates who need to share rent, utilities, household necessities. Besides, it is also suitable for couples, married people who share all income, expenses and have the same financial goals.
• User – friendly interface: Song Nhi is designed with an easy-to-use interface for beginners with each section clearly divided and marked with easily recognizable colors.

Cons

• Paid to use full function: Although Song Nhi supports a free version for those who are new or first-time users, this version still does not support all the necessary and more advanced features. Therefore, users need to pay to use the app to achieve the best management efficiency and suit their needs.

Best app for planners

EveryDollar

EveryDollar

This app allows you to link your bank account to automatically update your transactions into the app in real time, just like other budgeting apps. However, you have to categorize transactions yourself, which is not a feature of EveryDollar. The Budget tab has 3 sections: Planned, Spent, Remaining, which correspond to your expected amount and goal.

Pros

• Zero-based Budgeting: This method helps you gain greater awareness of your spending and helps you make better financial decisions. It ensures you have full control over your finances, leaving no money behind and reducing the possibility of unplanned spending. Whether your finances are fixed or changing, zero-based budgeting can be adapted to suit your financial situation.
• Has a free version: Users can use the free version which includes essential budgeting features and is accessible to everyone. If users need more advanced features, EveryDollar also offers a paid version and multiple premium plans that give users flexibility.
• Simple and easy to understand: EveryDollar is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, making it easy for beginners to use. The simple layout is easy to adapt and use right away. In addition, the app simplifies the budgeting process by guiding you, so you can quickly set up the financial items you want to plan in just a few minutes.

Cons

• Time-consuming: Meanwhile other apps help you to update and categorize transactions, you have to do this yourself when using Every Dollar. Some people will find this useful but others.
• Limited customization options: The app’s simplicity can be a drawback for users who want more control over their budget categories and financial goals.

Best app for investors

Personal Capital

Personal Capital

It is a free personal finance app that contains account consolidation, budgeting, investment tracking, and retirement planning features. It tracks your spending and net worth like many other apps, but it is the best budget app that tracks your portfolio performance and allocation more powerful than other apps. The Personal Capital app is the best budget app free to use and available on both desktop and mobile. Users can easily access the app and use it for their work for free.

Pros

• Fast support: When bugs occur, the app is fixed quickly within days so users can use it with peace of mind. Support tickets can be opened and the cause will be identified and fixed. 
• Useful features: Easily tracks users’ portfolio across many brokerage accounts including daily movement for all stocks, tracks budget and income in relevant categories and basic retirement calculator with life events, and social security and inflation Estimates.
• Comprehensive Financial Overview: Personal Capital gives you a real-time overview of your entire financial landscape.  Various aspects of your finances combine into one cohesive platform, making it easier to track and manage everything in one place, including budgeting, investment and retirement planning. 

Cons

• Can’t do complex splits: Users can’t track their gross pay and expense out the deductions. If you have an income transaction, you can’t even access any expense categories in a split.
• Limited budgeting features: While Personal Capital excels at investment tracking, its budgeting features are more basic compared to other apps.

Best app for beginner budgeters

Wally

Wally

This is an AI-powered app that helps you manage your expenses as well as answer your questions about investing or financial information to help you get a better overview of your cash flow. It lets you connect to over 15,000 banks in 70 countries. The app automatically tracks your income, budgets, expenses, and pretty much anything related to finance.

Pros

• Queries system: A query is an  AI-powered item that Wally must complete to answer questions or automate users’ labor. For example: Users may ask “How much money I have to save until my goal?” or “How can I start an emergency savings account?” and Wally will answer immediately. 
• Free to use: Instead of purchasing a premium plan, users can use the free version unlimited but with fewer features than the premiums. 
• User-friendly interface: Wally’s interface is well-looked and simple, making it easy for beginners to get started with budgeting.

Cons

• Lack of support: Even though Wally doesn’t provide much obvious assistance, the program is still simple enough for newbies that it’s not going to have problems. Even synchronizing to bank accounts appears to be quite simple. However there is a chat-bot-style option on their website.
• Basic features compared to other apps: While Wally is great for beginners, it lacks some of the advanced features that appear in other budgeting apps.

Best app for over-spenders

PocketSmith

PocketSmith

Best feature of this app is Future financial forecasting, which projects your financial future up to 30 years ahead, using your current data and even estimates daily bank balances, helping you understand the impact of your spending habits over different time periods. Whether you’re planning a vacation or anticipating a significant life change pocket, Smith can help you make informed financial decisions. 

Pros

• Easy to use: The dashboard is incredibly flexible, allowing you to add widgets for checking, bank, accounts, credit cards and budgeting. Users can even create multiple dashboards, so they have separate spaces for personal finances, business expenses. 
• Integration with multiple financial accounts: PocketSmith integrates with a wide range of financial institutions, making it easy to sync your accounts.
• Live bank feed updates: Available in premium packages for current data, easier tracking of spending habits and management across multiple bank accounts.

Cons

• 30 days to use without credit: This app provides a freemium version for users. They can experience the full features of the app and if they want to continue using the app, they will have to pay after 30 days to use full features.
• Steeper learning curve: The app’s advanced features can be overwhelming for beginners, requiring some time to learn and master.

Best app for couples

Honeydue

Honeydue

This is the best budget app that you can share with your partner or someone you want to share with, maybe your sibling. It allows you and them to see each other’s spending without creating any misunderstandings about each other’s finances. It also allows you and your partner to text and ask each other real-time questions about financial fluctuations within the app to see where the money is going. 

Pros

• Free to use: You can use it free of charge. Using it with your partner increases the trust and commitment of each other. 
• Design for couples: To easily manage financial, expenses and set goals, this app is the best budget app designed especially for couples. You can also control what your partner sees. While the app is all about financial openness, you can pick whether your partner can view everything (balances and transactions) or simply the balance (transactions remain a secret). You can also instruct your partner to not view any information from a specific account.
• Easy to use: Honeydue’s interface is user-friendly, making it easy for couples to get started with budgeting.

Cons

• Limited customer services: The lack of support when encountering errors while using the application will make you quite uncomfortable. But you can still use the application with peace of mind without worrying that these errors will affect your daily life. You can wait until the error is fixed and continue using it with peace of mind without worrying about bugs.
• No desktop version: Not having a desktop version is a disadvantage when you want to have a broader view than on your phone. It’s easier to see what you and your partner are spending without having to restrict your view. At the same time, the lack of real-time connectivity to the mobile version makes it difficult to control and track your money when you’re not at hand.

Methodology to identify the best budget apps

Methodology to identify the best budget apps

To determine the best budget apps for 2025, we looked at how well these apps help users achieve their financial goals, whether it’s saving money, reducing debt, or investing for the future:

• Considered user reviews: To understand real-world performance and user satisfaction, we screened and analyzed user feedback from these budgeting apps.
• Evaluated app features: Expense tracking, budgeting tools, goal setting, and bank account integration were all reviewed and tested to assess how effective the app was for users.
• Assessed ease of use: We know that it is important for users to have an easy experience with the app. Therefore, the app’s interface also needs to be invested in to suit user tastes, ensuring that beginners can easily use it. We evaluated based on the function buttons as well as the display colors and how quickly budget items can be created or canceled in the app. From there, we gave the best rating based on the user experience.

Checked compatibility with financial institutions

It is necessary to check how many and which institutions each app supports to know if the app syncs seamlessly with a variety of banks and financial institutions From which users can link to any bank they want.

Examined Financial Goal Achievement

Finally, we assessed how well the best budget apps help users achieve their financial goals. This includes:

• • Saving Money: Assisting users in setting aside money for future needs.
  • Reducing Debt: Helping users manage and pay down their debts.
  • Investing for the Future: Offering tools for tracking investments and planning for long-term financial security.

How to create a budget

In order to manage your personal finances successfully, it is necessary to create a budget which involves the following steps using top budget apps in 2025:

• Have a record on your income and expense: First, list all sources of income and keep track of your expenses for one month.
• Arrange your expenditure in categories: Separate your expenses into housing, meals, transportation, entertainment, and savings.
• Set financial objectives: Identify and set your financial goals in the short term, like paying off a debt and in the long term, like saving for a holiday.
• Distribute your funds: Distribute your income among all expenditures by ensuring your expenses are not greater than the income.
• Keep track and make changes: Make sure to check your budget often and make any changes needed in order to help achieve your financial goals.

What is a budgeting app?

These are the apps that are essential for managing your personal finances, personal investments, and budgeting. You can use these apps to monitor your finances and set up goals while avoiding expenses. Because you can link your bank and credit card accounts to the app and help you save by budgeting. Make sure to choose one of the best budget apps to find the one that suits you immediately,

How do you choose a budgeting app?

Finding the correct budgeting app comes down to your financial goals and preferences. The following points will help you decide which is the best budget app.

• Forecasting Ease: You can search for an app that has a seamless interface so tracking your expenses and income becomes a walk in the park.
• App Integration: Ensure that you can integrate the app with your bank accounts.
• Functionality: Think about the features of management you need. And how you will set the budget.
• Adaptivity: Seek an app that permits you to change the categories and financial aspirations you wish to work on.

Recommended reading:

• Best New Cash Advance Apps
• How To Budget Money On Low Income

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