Best Personal Finance Software (Home Accounting & Budgeting)

Quick Summary:

Choosing the right personal finance software could transform your financial game, so dive into our guide, where we simplify features, pros, cons, and pricing for Mac and Windows options. Hopefully, by the end, you will have all the knowledge to make a wise choice so that you can take full control of your finances.

If you need to get your personal finances in order, learn more about money management, or get better at budgeting, you need to know about the top home accounting and budgeting solutions out there. So, we’ve prepared this list of the best personal finance software for you!

In this article, you’ll get an overview of the top 16 personal finance tools currently available, with their features, pros, and cons explained.

So, jump in and find the best tool that will help you get your finances in order!

Best Personal Accounting Software Comparison Chart (Top 10 Highest Rated)

When it comes to personal finance software reviews, the internet is exploding with good and bad advice. Before we launch head-first into this super-duper list of 22 personal finance and accounting platforms, let’s give a quick glance at the top ten software solutions, their prices, what each is best for, and quick links to their websites.

What Are the Best Personal Finance Software 2024? Here’s Our Top 16 List:

Of course, you want a good personal finance system, but you also don’t want something to break your budget. After all, that's the whole point of using such software, right? So let’s not waste a moment longer in getting into the 16 best personal finance software of 2024.
 

1. Quicken (Best Personal Finance Software Overall)

Why We Chose It:

Quicken, our number one personal finance system overall, was initially released in 1983. The Intuit Inc. company develops it. It’s a general tool and budgeting software to manage bills, credit cards, and other cash flow management functionality, as well as financial planning and retirement planning.

Pros:

Quicken is a desktop app for Mac and Windows. It runs a pretty powerful engine.

With Quicken, you can sync bank account transactions from over 14,000 financial institutions. 

Quicken will automatically sort your income and expenses as well as let you create custom rules for your own categorization.

Quicken is an overall great system for achieving financial goals with a suite of budgeting tools, tax planning, and investment features.

The reporting is highly detailed and accurate for investment accounts, expense tracking and other financial management dashboards.

Overall, Quicken is the best financial software to master your spending habits and set goals for your investment portfolio.

Cons:

There is no dedicated mobile of the Quicken products, although Simplifi, by Quicken, does have its own app. You have to use a mobile companion app for Android or iOS.

There is no free Quicken plan.

Pricing:

• Quicken Starter plan is $3.49 per month billed annually

• Quicken Deluxe plan is $4.99 per month billed annually

• Quicken Premier plan is $6.99 per month billed annually

• Quicken Home and Business plan is $9.99 per month billed annually

Visit site
_{Go to Quicken’s official website}
 

2. YNAB (Top Personal Finances Program)

Why We Chose It:

Standing for, You Need A Budget, YNAB takes second place in our top personal finance app. This is a sweet-looking tool for a mobile app or desktop and is a great choice as a personal finance solution.

Pros:

You can use this software on any device and sync all your accounts for a one-place budgeting app and financial data platform.

Target-setting features let you set goals and track progress. There’s even a loan calculator for borrowing situations. 

YNAB has a great set of graphs for net worth reporting and cash flow figures.

Cons:

There’s no free version, but at least the annual price gets you a solid discount.

Pricing:

• Monthly plan is $14.99 per month

• Annual plan is $8.25 per month billed annually

Visit site
_{Go to YNAB’s official website}
 

3. Personal Capital (Best Free Personal Bookkeeping Software for Home Use)

Why We Chose It:

Personal Capital is one of the best home bookkeeping software which offers free tools for personal financial management. And they have a picture of George Clooney on their homepage. This is an Empower Company.

Pros:

The tool has great wealth management features ranging from socially responsible investing, holistic 501K management, and personal strategic plans.

Free tools which you can use on the Personal Capital mobile app include a unified dashboard for all your accounts and basic investment management. 

Personal Capital saves you time in online banking tasks and helps track spending.

Cons:

This is not a totally lightweight app, so to get the most out of it, be prepared to take the time to learn the ins and outs of all the features.

There is no clear pricing information on the website.

Pricing:

• Contact Personal Capital for pricing details

Visit site
_{Go to Personal Capital’s official website}
 

4. Moneydance (Best Money Management Software for Mac)

Why We Chose It:

Moneydance is a pretty straightforward personal finance manager for Mac OSX, but it also works well with other operating systems. It also puts a lot of emphasis on security. It is made by Infinite Kind, which also makes SyncSpace. 

Pros:

You can download all your transactions to a bank account manager as the system automatically learns how to categorize them.

There is a strong financial situation summary interface which may not look too pretty. However, it is easy to navigate.

You can also get real-time notifications and reminders for when bill payday is due to ensure your credit score doesn't get hurt by late fees.

Cons:

The look and feel might turn some people off as being a bit square, but that’s a personal choice.

Tools to manage your investments, like stocks, bonds, CDs, and mutual funds, are not as advanced as with other competitors.

Pricing:

• Moneydance is a one-time purchase of $49.99 per household

• For business, Moneydance is one license per computer 

• Moneydance offers a 90-day money-back guarantee

Visit site
_{Go to Moneydance’s official website}
 

5. Mvelopes (Great Online Money Management Software)

Why We Chose It:

Mvelopes is all about budgeting, lowering your debt, starting savings, and getting in an overall positive mindset about your spending habits.

Pros:

Getting started is a quick onboarding process, and you can have a working budget plan in very little time.

Mvelopes has a range of interactive reports that make personal finance management simple and almost enjoyable.

For an online tool, you need decent support, and Mvelopes has some.

Cons:

Regarding support, it’s only for the more premium plans, but the Plus plan does get you coaching sessions, a personalized financial plan, and a dedicated personal coach.

Pricing:

• Basic plan is $5.97 per month

• Premier plan is $9.97 per month

• Plus plan is $19.97 per month

Visit site
_{Go to Mvelopes’ official website}
 

6. QuickBooks (Top Bill Management Software)

Why We Chose It:

Brought to you by Intuit, here we have QuickBooks, a very well-known accounting solution. QuickBooks is very popular with self-employed people as well as startups and small businesses.

Pros:

First off, QuickBooks is one of the best bill manager software options for doing tax-related accounting. You can use it as a simple small business tax software to track sales tax and for everyday tax minimization/tax deduction maximization.

Small businesses can also leverage Quickbooks to accept online payments with credit cards and Apple Pay with multi-currency support. 

The tool helps you keep track of all transactions in well-designed interfaces.

Lots of good customization in terms of things like roles, permissions, reporting, and custom fields.

Also a great mobile experience for Android and iOS.

Cons:

This one is among the best accounting software that has great finance features, so for the individual business owner, it can work, but for purely personal reasons, not so much.

No free plan, but they do often have promotions like 50% off when you buy it without the 30-day money-back guarantee free trial.

Pricing:

• Self Employed plan is $15 per month

• Simple Start plan is $30 per month

• Essentials plan is $55 per month

• Plus plan is $85 per month

• Advanced plan is $200 per month

Quickbooks Review 

Visit site
_{Go to QuickBooks’ official website}
 

7. TurboTax (Good Free Personal Accounting Software)

Why We Chose It:

TurboTax isn’t completely free for everyone to take advantage of all their features, but they do offer a great TurboTax free personal finance software for simple tax returns.

The best part? You can use TurboTax online, download the tool on your computer, or file your taxes using their CD. Our TurboTax Online vs Desktop Download vs CD comparison can help you make a well-informed decision.

Pros:

The free TurboTax tool includes a simple tax form prep, print, and e-file kit, and you can easily snap photos of your W-2 to import into the TurboTax system. 

TurboTax is also one of the best software for handling mortgages and properties, as well as maximizing tax deductions from things like charitable donations. 

At the even pricier end, you can do your personal taxes with the help of a tax expert or use TurboTax’s live full service.

There are separate modules for freelancers, self-employed people, and even military folk. 

The TurboTax mobile app has a TaxCaster refund estimator tool.

Cons:

A lot of emphasis here is simply on doing your taxes, so someone looking for a broader personal finance tool may not elect TurboTax all year round.

Not all taxpayers will be able to access the free tools, terms and conditions, etc.

Pricing:

• TurboTax has a free plan

• Deluxe plan is $59

• Premier plan is $89

• Self Employed plan is $119

• More prices available for expert help services

Visit site
_{Go to TurboTax’s official website}
 

8. Mint (Best Personal Budget Software Freeware)

Why We Chose It:

Mint is also made by Intuit, like QuickBooks, TurboTax, and Mailchimp. Mint is really great for the on-the-go mobile personal finance user.

Pros:

It’s completely free to sign up for Mint and download the app from the App Store or Google Play store. 

Merge your spending and financial accounts into Mint’s cute little mobile interface. 

Stay on top of cash flow like transactions, subscriptions and expenses. 

Get notifications when the system is forecasting that you’re about to break your budget through overspending.

Get the edge on your credit score by managing credit card accounts, loans, investment tracking, and overall net worth data. Mint even has got free credit scores and credit reports.

You can also use Mint to file and manage your IRS tax refund, another reason it’s up there with the best home budget software.

Cons:

While Mint is a killer for controlling your financial life from your mobile device, there will inevitably be people who want a desktop version for Windows or Mac for such software.

Pricing:

• Signing up for Mint is free

• Mint mobile apps have in-app purchase options

Intuit Mint review

Visit site
_{Go to Mint’s official website}
 

9. Tiller (Great Online Money Management Software)

Why We Chose It:

Tiller is an online personal financial software that takes as its main tool the power of spreadsheets, that’s right, good ol’ simple spreadsheets. But Tiller makes it work.

Pros:

Whether you love Microsoft Excel spreadsheets or Google Sheets, Tiller is an automated finance service that can boost the power of spreadsheets to a higher level of money management.

You do not have to waste time manually entering any data into Tiller’s spreadsheets, as this is automated for you.

Tiller templates, which are ready for spreadsheets, are very useful, with templates for monthly or yearly budgets, transaction sheets, balance sheets, and more.

You can build and use your own rules-based automated workflow triggers to help categorize new transactions.

Cons:

There is no free version of Tiller.

Being mainly a spreadsheet tool, it may disappoint some people who thought they were getting serious interactive dashboards and interfaces.

Pricing:

• Tiller is $6.58 per month billed annually 

Visit site
_{Go to Tiller’s official website}
 

10. BankTree (Good Home Banking Software)

Why We Chose It:

BankTree hails from the United Kingdom, so don’t be taken aback if you see their price list written using funny little symbols known as pounds.

Pros:

BankTree has an online version, but it also offers a downloadable desktop version, and for this reason, it is a good personal banking software.

The online version works with web browsers like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari, while the desktop version works on Linux, Windows, and Apple Mac.

Even though this is a UK vendor it does support multiple currencies.

You get investment tracking tools like real-time updated prices for exchanges like the NASDAQ and FTSE 100, or to track your investments in stocks and shares or dividends.

BankTree has excellent customer support for its subscribers.

Cons:

If you are in the USA, Canada, Australia, or elsewhere, you may find BankTree’s offerings are best suited mainly for the UK and other Europan countries.

The aesthetics of this app are a bit bland.

Pricing:

• Online Starter plan is $4 per month or $40 per year

• Online Premier plan is $5 per month or $50 per year

• BankTree Desktop plan stuarts at $40

Visit site
_{Go to Bank Tree’s official website}
 

11. Money Dashboard (Good Free Personal Finance App)

Why We Chose It:

What started with a small team of dedicated personal finance and software enthusiasts in Edinborough in 2010 has now become a rising brand called Money Dashboard, also a British company.

Pros:

Lots of interesting supported connections with Money Dashboard, including institutions like Amazon, credit card company American Express, Capital One, Bank of Scotland, Coinbase, Sainsbury, Tesco bank, and Wise fka TransferWise.

This is a free mobile app, although there are possible premium options you can buy once you get going.

The app makes it easy to create a spending plan, categorize your transactions, and make payments between accounts. The UI on the app is also very pretty looking.

Cons:

No desktop or web browser version, which will be a turn-off for more serious people.

Unclear about hidden charges down the road, if any. If not, it’s because they’re making money off your data, which can be used to give you a better experience.

Pricing:

• Free app download

Visit site
_{Go to Money Dashboard’s official website}
 

12. Credit Karma (Top Free Credit Profile Management Tool)

Why We Chose It:

Credit Karma has an interesting platform. The main idea is that it reviews your personal finance credit profile, and with this info, it suggests curated offers like loan opportunities, showing you your odds of getting them.

Pros:

Credit Karma has what you might call a credit card shop, where you can browse cards and apply to get them. Break it down by credit limits, fees, credit-building opportunities, or rewards programs.

Some credit card examples include Citi Mastercard, Capital One Venture, Petal 2 Visa, Discover, and more.

Credit Karma also helps you shop for personal loans, including some same-day loan options. There are debt consolidation services, emergency loans, and even special-case personal loans for bad credit profiles.

Credit Karma has programs for home loans and auto loans as well as tax software.

Cons:

While Credit Karma does have mobile apps for Android and Apple, they are not top-notch per se.

If there are in-app purchases after the free download, it is unclear whether the app is completely free or not.

Pricing:

• Free Credit Karma app download

Visit site
_{Go to Credit Karma’s official website}
 

13. Simplifi (Top Personal Finance Planning System)

Why We Chose It:

Simplifi is made by Quicken. You can even say it is the cheap and light version of Quicken. It is mainly a mobile app.

Pros:

The power of Quicken but crammed into a neat little mobile application, nice UIs, simple functionality, no frills, no bells, no whistles.

Manage all your finances in one place, and plan your future spending and budget habits with the same unified set of tools.

Reporting is solid, not too crowded, just the right amount of metrics and data on colorful charts and graphs.

Very affordable plans regardless of your budget, making it one of the best personal financial planning software that won’t break the bank.

Cons:

While the mobile version is great, the browser version could stand for some upkeep.

Contrary to what you might think, Simplifi does not get to work with data from Quicken.

Importing your data to Simplifi can take a bit of time and effort.

This is only good for US banks and US subscribers.

Pricing:

• Simplifi is $3.99 per month billed annually

• Or $5.99 per month

Visit site
_{Go to Simplifi’s official website}

14. Moneyspire (Best Personal Financial Software for Windows)

Why We Chose It:

Moneyspire is based out of South Carolina and was founded in 2007. Today it is used in over 100 countries for personal finance management.

Pros:

This is some of the best software to manage personal finances for the Windows platform, as it works with Windows versions 7 through 11. 

The tool is also pretty decent for Mac, working with OS 10 through 13. Booth PC and Mac versions are included in one purchase.

Moneyspire is equally effective for personal, household, and small business finance management.

Managing your accounts, tracking your bill payments, staying on top of your payee list and customizing your tags and categories are all a piece of cake with Moneyspire.

Importing and exporting files is also pretty easy, whether from CSV, QIF, QMTF, OFX, or QFX, among other file types.

Cons:

Moneyspire is only available as a download. There are no web browser versions or mobile apps.

In the end, the feature list could come across as lightweight at first, but most users who take the time are satisfied.

Pricing:

• Moneyspire Standar5d plan is a one-time purchase of $79

• Moneyspire Pro plan is a one-time purchase of $99

• Check for deals and promotions

Visit site
_{Go to Moneyspire’s official website}
 

15. Banktivity (Best Personal Finance Software for Mac)

Why We Chose It:

Is Banktivity really the best personal finance software for Mac? It is definitely up there, having dedicated versions only for macOS and iOS.

Pros:

Banktivity is really easy to set up and has a very minimal learning curve for its tools and features.

Employs envelope-style budgeting which is a holistic strategy taking into account your current cash flows, debt obligations, and budgetary goals.

Strict adherence to personal privacy. Your data is safe with Banktivity and is likely used only in the most careful cases to enrich their data for more value for the customer experience.

Simple cloud syncing between Macs, iPhones, and iPads.

Cons:

If you love PCs, Windows, or Microsoft, stay clear of this one.

The design of the interfaces is a bit old-fashioned, but that doesn’t bother everyone. 

Pricing:

• Banktivity Bronze plan is $4.17 per month billed annually

• Banktivity Silver plan is $5.84 per month billed annually

• Banktivity Gold plan is $8.34 per month billed annually

Visit site
_{Go to Banktivity’s official website}
 

16. NerdWallet (Good Free Home Accounting Software)

Why We Chose It:

First things first, this software wins in the category of best name, hands down. Don’t you imagine an accountant with thick glasses and a pocket protector and calculator sitting by your side waiting to help you?

Pros:

NerdWallet can help you find and apply for the best credit card and credit program to suit your budgetary needs. This also includes looking for the best travel reward plans.

You can use NerdWallet to manage personal loans, mortgages, and insurance, as well as for small businesses.

If you are interested in getting into the investment game, NerdWallet is a good tool to walk you through those first steps and get a portfolio going. 

Even students can take advantage of NerdWallet for their student loan management. For college kids, this might just be the best free financial software for home.

Cons:

Depending on how complicated your small business is, NerdWallet could be just enough, or it could be lacking the more advanced tracking and reporting tools.

The NerdWallet customer support is nothing to be excited about.

Pricing:

• Free app download

Visit site
_{Go to NerdWallet’s official website}

What is Personal Finance Software & What Does it Do?

Unlike online banking platforms for businesses, such as Mercury, personal finance software has a totally different purpose. We should quickly list for reference sake what personal financial management software can do for you in terms of tools, features, and benefits.

• Syncs all your bank accounts together from all financial institutions

• Monitors and manage cash flows, including income, expenses, and bill payments

• Uses automation to categorize transactions

• Helps apply for credit cards and manage your credit score and credit profile

• Helps track investment opportunities in the stock market, bond market or derivative markets

• Gives you budgeting tools and shows you ways to achieve your financial goals

• Works with student loans, small business loans, home mortgages or automobile loans

• Shows you various insurance plans and helps decide which is best

• Analyzes your financial data and gives you visual bar, chart, and graph reporting

Which is the Best Personal Money Management Software for Me? Our Conclusion

Many other online lists of the best personal finance management software stop at five or ten, but we do not shy away from giving you 16 amazing platforms.

Sure, Quicken takes the number 1 spot, and other known names are close behind, like Quickbooks, YNAB, Personal Capital, TurboTax, Mint, and more. But really, we don’t like to dictate to everyone what their number one app should be, as it depends on your personal needs, preferences, and budget.

Whether you are still looking for the best accounting software for home use or something for a small business, what’s important is that you’ve taken the time and done your proper reading here, with us, to make the most informed decision.