Monarch Money

Monarch Money was built specifically to replace Intuit's Mint, which was shut down on January 1, 2024, after 12 years as the leading free budgeting app. The founders recruited several Mint engineers to build Monarch Money with the features Mint users loved (unlimited account aggregation, net worth tracking, spending categorization) plus improvements Mint never added (investment tracking, multi-user budgeting, advanced reporting). For the estimated 10+ million Mint users, Monarch Money is the natural successor. The transition is straightforward—you import your Mint data and continue budgeting seamlessly. The $14.99/month subscription is a departure from Mint's free model, but it signals Intuit's closure was a business decision, not a quality issue. Monarch Money is sustainable and actively developed, unlike Mint which declined under Intuit's ownership. Users consistently report that Monarch Money feels faster, more responsive, and more feature-rich than late-stage Mint.

Monarch Money supports both zero-based and traditional budgeting approaches, accommodating different financial philosophies. You can set category budgets (Housing, Groceries, Dining) and monitor spending against those budgets (traditional approach), or use their flexible budget tools that let you spend intuitively and review afterward. The app doesn't force a methodology, making it adaptable to your style. For couples and families, Monarch Money shines. Both partners can log in, see all accounts and budgets, and contribute to financial planning. You can set household budgets while tracking individual spending separately. For example, a couple might have a shared grocery budget but separate entertainment budgets. Monarch Money manages these splits seamlessly. The collaborative features reduce the friction in household finances and increase transparency. Couples using Monarch Money report improved communication about money since both have visibility. The app supports role-based permissions, so you can grant read-only access to children or limit one partner's editing abilities if desired. This flexibility and multi-user support make Monarch Money superior to YNAB for households.

A critical limitation of YNAB is that it doesn't track investments or net worth—it focuses purely on budgeting. Monarch Money integrates full investment tracking and net worth calculation. You connect brokerage accounts, and Monarch Money aggregates your holdings (stocks, bonds, funds, options, cryptocurrency) into a unified portfolio view. You see total allocation, diversification, performance, and contribution trends. The net worth calculation includes all assets (checking, savings, investments, real estate if estimated) minus all liabilities (credit cards, loans, mortgage), giving you a complete financial picture. This comprehensive view is invaluable for wealth tracking and investment monitoring. Unlike Empower's free tier (which also tracks investments), Monarch Money combines this with superior budgeting and multi-user support. The investment tracking updates daily with market data, showing you at a glance whether your portfolio is up or down. For those building wealth, this integrated view is motivating—you see progress across all accounts and investments simultaneously. Users report that tracking net worth through Monarch Money keeps them motivated to maintain budgeting discipline because they see the direct connection between controlled spending and wealth accumulation.

Monarch Money provides detailed spending reports and financial insights that go beyond simple categorization. You can see spending trends over months and years, compare categories across time periods, and identify anomalies. For example, you might see that your restaurant spending fluctuates between $200-400/month, averaging $300, with July being your highest month. This historical perspective helps with realistic budgeting. The app also provides insights like "Your discretionary spending is 20% above budget this month" or "You're on track to save 15% of income this year." These insights are educational and motivating. Custom reporting allows you to filter by category, time period, account, or user (in multi-user households), creating flexible views of your finances. Tags and subcategories let you track spending at granular levels—for example, distinguishing between restaurant dining and grocery delivery within a "food" category. This flexibility appeals to those who want detailed financial visibility without Mint's simplistic categories. Advanced users can export data for analysis in spreadsheets or other tools.

Monarch Money connects to 15,000+ financial institutions, capturing all your accounts in one dashboard. You see checking, savings, credit cards, investments, loans, and mortgages all synchronized. Bills are tracked with upcoming payment alerts, preventing missed payments. The aggregation is real-time (syncs daily, often multiple times per day), so you always have current information. Unlike apps that limit how many accounts you can add, Monarch Money supports unlimited account aggregation. For those with complex finances (multiple checking accounts, investment accounts at different brokers, credit cards across issuers), this comprehensive view is transformative. Instead of juggling a dozen logins and apps, you access everything in Monarch Money. The security model uses encrypted connections via Plaid, never requiring you to share login credentials. The bill tracking feature sends payment reminders before due dates and tracks whether bills were paid. You can tag recurring bills and see them aggregated to understand monthly obligations. For those prone to missing bills, this tracking is invaluable.