Budget Apps Compared: YNAB vs Mint vs NerdWallet vs Others (2026)

Choosing a budgeting app can feel overwhelming when there are so many options — each with its own philosophy, price tag, and interface. The truth is that the best budgeting app is the one you'll actually open every week. But to get there, you need to know what each one does well and where it falls short.

Here's an honest breakdown of the top budgeting apps in 2026.

YNAB (You Need a Budget)

Cost: $14.99/month or $99/year | Free trial: 34 days

YNAB is the most opinionated budgeting app on the market, and that's both its biggest strength and its biggest weakness. It's built around four rules:

1. Give every dollar a job
2. Embrace your true expenses (save for irregular costs monthly)
3. Roll with the punches (adjust when reality hits your plan)
4. Age your money (work toward spending last month's income, not this month's)

YNAB works on a forward-looking envelope system. Every dollar you have is assigned to a category before you spend it. When you overspend in a category, the app asks you to cover it by pulling from another category — which forces deliberate trade-off decisions.

What YNAB does best:

• Behavior change. YNAB users regularly report transformative results — not because the software is magic, but because the methodology is sound and the friction is intentional.
• Active engagement. The app is designed to be opened regularly, not just synced passively.
• Education. YNAB offers free live workshops, YouTube tutorials, and a massive community.

Downsides:

• The learning curve is real. New users often feel confused for 1-3 weeks before the system clicks.
• It's the most expensive option at $99/year.
• It requires active participation. If you want a set-it-and-forget-it passive tracker, YNAB isn't it.

Best for: People serious about changing spending habits who are willing to spend time learning the system.

Mint (now part of Credit Karma)

Cost: Free

Mint has changed significantly since Credit Karma absorbed it. The standalone Mint experience has been sunset and the budgeting features now live inside the Credit Karma app. The core functionality still exists — account aggregation, spending categorization, budget alerts — but the interface has shifted.

What Mint/Credit Karma does well:

• Free, with no subscription required
• Connects to bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and investments in one place
• Automatic transaction categorization (though it needs manual corrections)
• Credit score monitoring built in

Downsides:

• The transition from Mint to Credit Karma has been rocky; many long-time users are frustrated
• Categorization errors are common and require manual cleanup
• The budgeting features feel secondary to Credit Karma's credit-monitoring focus
• The app generates revenue by pushing financial product offers

Best for: People who want a free, passive spending tracker and don't mind ads and product recommendations.

NerdWallet

Cost: Free

NerdWallet is better known as a comparison site for financial products, but its budgeting and tracking features have improved significantly. The app connects to your accounts, tracks spending, monitors your net worth, and integrates with NerdWallet's product recommendations.

What NerdWallet does well:

• Clean, modern interface
• Good net worth tracking across all accounts
• Credit score monitoring
• Useful for people actively shopping for credit cards, savings accounts, or loans
• Uses Plaid for secure bank connections

Downsides:

• Budgeting tools are more basic than YNAB
• Like Credit Karma, it's a lead-generation platform at its core — expect product recommendations
• Less focus on behavior change, more on account aggregation

Best for: People who want a free, simple tracker with good net worth visibility and don't need deep budgeting tools.

Copilot

Cost: $13/month or $95/year

Copilot is an iPhone/iPad-only app that's been getting a lot of attention as a beautifully designed, intelligent alternative to Mint. It connects to your accounts and uses machine learning to categorize transactions more accurately than most competitors.

What Copilot does well:

• Best-in-class transaction categorization
• Beautiful design
• Smart rules for recurring transactions
• Good merchant data (logos, correct names, right categories)

Downsides:

• iOS/Mac only — no Android or web access
• Subscription cost on par with YNAB but less methodology depth
• Relatively new, smaller community

Best for: iPhone users who want a polished, mostly-automated spending tracker.

Monarch Money

Cost: $14.99/month or $99/year

Monarch is often cited as the best Mint replacement and has attracted a large portion of displaced Mint users. It supports multiple users/couples, has good collaboration features, and a clean interface.

What Monarch does well:

• Excellent for couples managing finances together
• Clear net worth tracking
• Good reports and charts
• Works on all platforms (iOS, Android, web)
• Strong customer support

Downsides:

• Subscription cost comparable to YNAB
• Less methodology depth than YNAB — it's more tracker than behavior-change tool
• Still building out some features

Best for: Couples who want a shared, clean financial dashboard.

Personal Capital / Empower

Cost: Free (basic) | Paid advisory services available

Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is the best free option for people primarily interested in investment tracking and retirement planning, with basic budgeting on the side.

What Empower does well:

• Excellent investment portfolio analysis
• Retirement planning tools with projections
• Free 401k fee analyzer
• Clean dashboard showing total net worth

Downsides:

• Budgeting tools are basic — this isn't a budgeting-first app
• The free service exists to generate leads for their wealth management advisory (expect calls)
• Designed for people with significant investment assets

Best for: People with investment accounts who want to track net worth and retirement progress; not ideal as a primary budgeting tool.

Spreadsheets (Google Sheets / Excel)

Cost: Free to $9.99/month (Microsoft 365)

Don't underestimate the power of a well-designed spreadsheet. Many financially disciplined people use Google Sheets with a simple template — income, fixed expenses, variable expenses, savings targets.

What spreadsheets do well:

• Completely customizable to your situation
• No subscription, no data sharing with third parties
• You understand exactly what's being tracked
• Full privacy

Downsides:

• Manual data entry (unless you add a Plaid integration, which requires some technical setup)
• No push notifications or alerts
• Requires discipline to maintain
• No community or built-in methodology

Best for: People who are detail-oriented, comfortable with spreadsheets, and value privacy/customization.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Which App Should You Choose?

Choose YNAB if: You've tried other budgeting methods and failed. You want to genuinely change your relationship with money. You're willing to spend 20-30 minutes learning the system.

Choose Mint/Credit Karma or NerdWallet if: You want something free and mostly hands-off. You care more about tracking than transforming your behavior.

Choose Copilot if: You're on iPhone and want the most polished, automated experience and don't mind the price.

Choose Monarch if: You're managing finances with a partner and want a collaborative, clean dashboard.

Choose a spreadsheet if: You value privacy, customization, and have the discipline to maintain it manually.

The Real Answer

The best budgeting app is the one you'll open at least once a week. No app will fix your finances if it lives unopened on your phone. Start with a free option (NerdWallet or Mint/Credit Karma), get comfortable with the habit of tracking, and upgrade to something like YNAB if you decide you want more structure and accountability.

The tool is secondary. The habit is everything.