So many personal finance softwares, so little time! That’s why I’m going to break things down for you today in this comparison of the different offerings of each budget app so you can decide for yourself which is the best free budgeting tool.
To start, a brief history. First, there was Mint, which is now owned by Intuit. Monarch came onto the scene in 2021 after raising $4.8 million in seed funding. Interestingly enough, Monarch was actually founded by Mint’s first Product Manager, Val Agostino.
In terms of pricing, Mint does custom pricing models depending on what budgeting features users would like, with a free version in the form of a freemium offering. Monarch has a free trial, but after that trial period is $9.99/month.
Both products have mobile offerings (apps available for download on iOS and Android). We love this chart by SaaS Worthy that compares all the different features Mint and Monarch have (or don’t have) in common. Two key differences are that Mint does not offer financial reports or tax reports, while Monarch does not offer loan management or the ability to manage multiple currencies.
To start, Mooch is designed to automate your budget and put your finances on autopilot. This is a fundamental difference in function compared to Monarch and Mint. Mooch does your budgeting for you, while Monarch and Mint serve as more of financial education or financial management tools. Something else to note is that Mooch is designed for individuals, no matter the income, including freelancers and students who may only receive an allowance. Monarch and Mint do not offer services for freelancers, focusing instead on enterprise offerings to medium and small businesses.
All three tools require you to link your bank account and give the app access to your bank information, including granting the ability to transact. All three tools also offer elite security features for your finances like encryption and multi-factor authentication (Mooch uses face ID). Mooch is the only app that processes bank transactions on the blockchain and stores money in stablecoins.
In terms of pricing, Mooch is the only totally free budgeting app with no fees, ever. Mooch is also the only app that will pay users bonuses (that end up amounting to about a two percent interest rate per year). Monarch and Mint both charge fees for users, and Mint charges more as your add additional features.
So if what you want to do is purely budget based, Mooch is the way to go. If you’re looking to pay more for financial analysis tools, you may want to consider these other budget options.
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