Mint is one of the most popular budget management tools in the world today.
Mint offers apps for tablets and smartphones. It syncs directly with your bank account and genuinely tries to help you meet your financial goals each month.
But Mint isn’t for everyone. Some people don’t like how Mint recommends credit cards and other paid services to you. Other people have just had a bad experience with Mint.
Whatever the reason may be, there are lots of good Mint alternatives available online. Today, I’m going to show you a few of those alternatives.

You Need A Budget

You Need A Budget – or more simply, YNAB – is a paid software program that offers unique management features and cross-platform capabilities.
It’s available on iPhone, Android, and desktop computers, for example, making it easy to manage your finances wherever you go. That cross-platform functionality also makes it a viable alternative to Mint.
If you’re looking for a basic, colorless, and boring budget management software program, then this is not it.

Instead of looking like boring accounting software, YNAB features a colorful UI and plenty of fun budget management options. You can create easy-to-read charts, for example, and view your monthly budget breakdown in the form of a multicolored pie chart.
Managing a budget doesn’t have to be boring. With YNAB, it almost feels like a video game. But don’t let the friendly exterior and colorful menus fool you: YNAB has all the features you need to comprehensively manage your household’s finances – including cloud syncing and automatic transactions.

Moneydance

At first glance, you might get “Moneydance” confused with iTunes. Both programs feature a similar Mac OS X-inspired design.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, that’s a huge advantage if you enjoy using Mac OS software. Fortunately, MoneyDance is available for all major desktop operating systems, including Linux, Mac OS, and Windows.

Key features of MoneyDance include:
-Automatically download transactions and send payments online from hundreds of connected financial institutions
-MoneyDance automatically categorizes and cleans up your downloaded transactions
-You can use the built-in graphing tool to view visual reports of your income and expenses. Create a bar graph or pie chart, for example, and watch your net worth grow over time.
-Use the account register to manually enter, edit, and delete account transactions. It’s very similar to a paper checkbook register, but it will automatically summarize and sort your transactions for you.
-Track investments and watch your portfolio grow over time. MoneyDance features full support for stocks, bonds, CDs, mutual funds, and other assets. You can view the total value of your investment portfolio or download up-to-the-minute pricing information.
Like all good budget management tools, MoneyDance also supports mobile devices. No Android apps are available, but MoneyDance works on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

BudgetSimple

Today, most of the popular budget apps advertise themselves as a “simple” solution.
That makes sense, since most people don’t want a complicated budgeting solution. With BudgetSimple, you can enjoy a simple but robust budgeting experience.
The self-stated goal of BudgetSimple is to “make finance easy” using a “fast, secure, and simple environment for an exceptional budgeting experience.”
Like Mint and the other programs listed here, BudgetSimple features a colorful interface. Fortunately, it’s not too overly colorful and the menus and icons take very little time to learn.
In addition to providing basic budget support, BudgetSimple can provide additional financial services: like investment advising or debt settlement information.

There’s a free “basic” version of BudgetSimple available as well as a Plus plan which costs $4.99 per month. The Plus plan lets you link bank accounts to the software and also download the mobile app.

MarketRiders

One of the complaints about Mint is that it’s not a specialized investment portfolio management tool: instead, it provides general budget management.
That’s where MarketRiders does something different. MarketRiders is a web-based platform that caters to retired people and helps them “stay in control of their investments.”
It’s important to note, however, that MarketRiders is less of a budget software program and more of an investment tool. In exchange for creating a low-tax, moderate-growth portfolio on your behalf, MarketRiders charges you a monthly fee while also deducting a certain percentage in fees and taxes.
Anyways, you can try it for free for thirty days without any obligations. If you’re trying to save for retirement but are having trouble finding the right platform, then this may be the solution for you.

PowerWallet

PowerWallet rounds out our list of Mint alternatives. I like PowerWallet because it’s full-featured enough to handle all your money management needs, but it’s user-friendly enough to make everything feel super easy.
PowerWallet lets you easily setup a budget a monitor that budget using the mobile devices of your choice.
Like with other popular budget software, PowerWallet creates colorful graphs and breaks your budget down into percentage-based pie charts. You can track your income and expenses at a glance and combine all your account information into one easy-to-monitor space.

Other helpful features include the ability to setup bill alerts to avoid late fees and access detailed financial advice from PowerWallet’s experts. You can track the amount of income you have left over from each month to create a more accurate, intelligent budget plan.
If you’re the type of person who rules their life around a calendar, then PowerWallet may be the best option. The platform features an interactive calendar that lets you see your financial timeline at a glance. You can add bill reminders in a few clicks along with payroll period information and many other types of alerts.
From the calendar to the colorful budget tracking, PowerWallet offers a number of unique features that make it one of the most popular Mint alternatives available online today.

Conclusion – What’s the best Mint alternative?

When you look for budget management tools online, “Mint” seems to always be there. It’s not a bad platform, but there are plenty of superior alternatives out there. If you’re constantly wondering “where did all my money go?” after each paycheck, then the budgeting platforms listed above could change your life.