10 Top Financial Planning Tools and Apps in 2024
Written by
Kathy Evans
Edited by
Gary Dudak
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Whether you’re trying to build wealth, saving for college or planning for retirement, financial planning tools can help you budget for day-to-day expenses and reach your long-term financial goals.
These 10 top financial apps and tools can help you save money while planning for your future.
10 Top Finance Apps at a Glance
| App | Pricing | Best for | Pros and Cons |
| Acorns | Bronze $3/month, Silver $6/month, Gold $12/month | Individual long-term retirement investing | Pro: Only $5 to begin investing Con: No direct bitcoin investment access |
| Buddy | $9.99/month, $49.99/year | Sharing budgets across multiple accounts | Pro: Can customize categories and colors Con: Only available on iOS |
| EveryDollar | Free, $17.99/month or $79.99/year | Providing structure in giving, saving and spending | Pro: Can create unlimited budgeting categories Con: Limited features in free version |
| Fudget | Free, $14.99/6 months, $19.99/year | Providing a simple web-based and mobile budgeting system | Pro: 7-day free trial with bi-annual and annual plans Con: Only one budget on one device with free version |
| Goodbudget | Free, $80/year | Those who like the envelope budgeting concept | Pro: Email support with paid version Con: Only community support with free version |
| Honeydue | Free | Couples who manage finances together | Pro: Available on Android and iOS Con: Many customer-reported bugs and issues |
| PocketGuard | Free, $6.25/month or $74.99/year$12.99/month or $155.99/year | Detail-oriented budgeters | Pro: Lots of features for the price of paid versions Con: Basically useless unless linked to bank accounts |
| Spendee | Free; $14.99/year; $22.99/year | Those who want to manage money on the go | Pro: Connect to more than 2,500 banks worldwide on premium plan Con: Can’t share wallet with others on free plan |
| YNAB | $9.08/month, $109/year or $14.99 monthly plan | Providing a flexible method for managing money | Pro: 34-day free trial Con: No free version after trial |
| Monarch | $5.83/month, $69.99/year | Tech-savvy personal investors | Pro: No in-app ads or credit card offers Con: Steep learning curve due to many features |
1. Acorns
Banking with Acorns lets you automatically save and invest your money. You’ll have access to some of the highest available APYs — 3% on checking accounts and 5% on emergency fund accounts. Starting with your spare change, you can sign up quickly to pursue your money goals with an Acorn-recommended investment portfolio. The Acorns app has articles and videos for new and experienced investors to learn strategies and build confidence in investing, saving, earning and other financial topics.
2. Buddy
This simple budgeting app, Buddy, lets you track your expenses to prevent overspending. It’s completely customizable, and you can invite others to share your budget and sync their transactions with yours. Another key feature is connecting multiple accounts, including debt, to monitor your net worth. You’ll always know which bills are paid by whom.
3. EveryDollar
Based on the zero-based budgeting concept, EveryDollar helps you plan your giving according to your beliefs, save for emergency expenses and spend money on what you need to be debt free. You can download your budget to a CSV file using the free version. EveryDollar’s financial roadmap feature lets you track your debt payoff progress and see your net worth in real time.
4. Fudget
The Fudget budgeting app is free to download on Windows and Mac desktop platforms and Android and iOS mobile platforms. Each paid subscription includes a seven-day free trial, unlimited budgets and entries, and the ability to share your budget and account with others at no additional charge. Fudget is a simple financial tool that basically works like a calculator without syncing your bank account.
5. Goodbudget
Goodbudget modernized the time-tested envelope budgeting system designed with families in mind to help you track your income and expenses. It’s ideal for couples and families to stay on top of household spending. Financial planning with Goodbudget prevents surprises.
Registering your household for free with Goodbudget gives you 20 envelopes that you can track with one bank account. You also get unlimited debt accounts and debt payoff envelopes, can sync the web app with up to two mobile devices and retain a year’s worth of transaction history.
6. Honeydue
Honeydue may be the answer to harmony in the home regarding couples sharing bills and budgeting. Whether you’re newly married or dating or have been wed for decades, you can track your bank accounts, loans and investments in one place. The app even reminds one or both partners before bills are due.
7. PocketGuard
PocketGuard features include an advanced bill payment tracker in which you can pay your bills on time, manage your subscriptions and prevent late fees by using automatic bill reminders. You can see and organize your bills in one location and track them manually or automatically, even those paid offline.
8. Spendee
You can control your finances with Spendee, including your bank accounts, crypto wallets and e-wallets. Use Spendbee’s smart budgets feature to help you save for future expenses and emergencies. Spendee uses a three-step approach to managing personal finances: Track cash flow by connecting your bank accounts, understand and analyze your spending habits with visuals in the app, and use smart budgets to prevent overspending.
9. YNAB
YNAB uses four rules to manage personal finances: Assign every dollar a job, plan and account for irregular expenses, be flexible and regroup when life happens and stay ahead of the game by using last month’s money to pay for this month’s expenses. YNAB takes the stress out of managing money.
10. Monarch
Monarch lets you manage and track your finances in one app, including investment transactions. Collaborating with your financial advisor or another family member is easy and at no additional cost. You can access Monarch on the web, Android and iOS devices. Monarch uses AI technology to create transaction rules, categorize expenses and predictably organize your payments.
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