Best Budgeting Apps After Mint Shutdown (2025)
As a former Mint user, I needed a new budgeting app after Intuit shut down Mint in March 2024 and encouraged users to migrate to Credit Karma. After testing Credit Karma and several top competitors, I found Credit Karma wasn’t a full replacement for Mint. I tested a short-list of budgeting apps to find alternatives that import accounts, track spending, show net worth and monitor credit — and I’ve shared my findings here to help you choose the best app for your needs.
Top alternatives and quick notes
- NerdWallet — solid free tools and financial product comparisons.
- Quicken Simplifi — polished budgeting and a good alternative for those who liked Mint’s structure.
- PocketGuard — used to be a strong free tracker but now limits the free tier to a 7-day trial; still uses an “after bills” budgeting approach.
- Rocket Money — tracks spending, links accounts, and offers subscription-cancellation help on premium plans.
- Personal Capital — better for investment and net-worth tracking; not as focused on granular monthly budgets.
- YNAB (You Need A Budget) — excellent for hands-on budgeters who prefer a proactive budgeting method.
PocketGuard deep dive
PocketGuard’s main screen shows net worth, total assets/debts, net income and spending, upcoming bills, paychecks, debt payoff plans and goals. The app favors an “after bills” method: you enter recurring bills and it shows disposable income to spend. However, PocketGuard’s UI lacks polish, with a busy accounts tab, missing category totals (cash/investments) and occasional copy/UI glitches. The web version is essentially the mobile app scaled up, so it doesn’t fully take advantage of larger screens. Importantly, PocketGuard no longer offers a meaningful free tier beyond a 7-day trial.
How the apps were tested
To build a shortlist I consulted Google, Reddit, app-store reviews and colleagues. I tested six apps by adding every account (even small ones), which led to repeated two-factor authentications across services — so expect some setup friction. Key testing criteria: ability to import all account data, budgeting tools, spending tracking, net worth tracking and credit-score monitoring. Unless noted, the apps tested have iOS, Android and web clients.
About Plaid and data access
Most budgeting apps use Plaid to connect bank accounts. Plaid is an API provider that links apps to thousands of financial institutions to pull balances and transactions. It uses encryption and says it does not sell customer data, but it did settle a class-action suit in 2022 for $58 million over allegations it collected more data than necessary — a settlement that required changes to some practices. When you add an account in a budgeting app, you may be prompted to enter banking credentials and any 2FA codes; Plaid acts as the middleman passing that data to the app.
Why Mint shut down
Intuit announced Mint’s shutdown (service ended March 2024) and invited users to transition to Credit Karma. Intuit did not provide a detailed public explanation for the move; Credit Karma focuses more on credit monitoring and related product recommendations and doesn’t fully replicate Mint’s budgeting features.
Further reading (non-Engadget sources)
- PYMNTS: Intuit to shut down Mint, invite users to Credit Karma — coverage of the shutdown and migration invitation.
- Tiller: Mint shutdown FAQ — FAQ and comparison of Mint features vs. alternatives.
- Rocket Money: Mint app shutting down — discussion of alternatives and feature gaps after Mint’s closure.
Note: The original article for this roundup appeared on Engadget. Per request, links pointing explicitly to the Engadget RSS item have been removed; the summary above draws on independent sources and firsthand testing notes.
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