The best personal financial software enables you to quickly and easily manage and keep track of your accounts, including receipts, payments, and income and expenses.
By essentially eschewing conventional receipts and spreadsheets, it streamlines the process of managing personal finances. The best personal financial software allows you to organise your records, have them all in one location, and back them up as well. For greater flexibility, cloud storage (opens in new tab) is frequently used.
Basic financial planning software only offers a simple interface for managing your money, while more sophisticated programmes offer extra services like debt repayment assistance, budget management, and even financial coaching.
Therefore, to help you decide which would be ideal for you, we’ll examine the top personal financial software now available and highlight each program’s unique characteristics.
Check out our guides to the best tax software and the best accounting software for small businesses if you want to keep your company’s records in more detail (opens in new tab).
The top platforms for personal finance software are listed below, followed by the finest free personal finance software.
What to consider with the best personal finance software
A personal finance software package can be very helpful if you need some organisational strength, especially if you’re managing a small business. You’ll discover that the greatest personal finance packages enable you to stay on top of tasks like cost management and receipt keeping all from within one tool, depending on your needs.
Another benefit is that the majority of personal finance software products let you exchange data with your favourite accounting and tax software. You will therefore be in a lot better position when it comes time to file your taxes. There are personal finance packages designed for both online and offline requirements, and many of them have apps that enable day-to-day spending tracking. All bases are covered since cloud-based personal finance software enables you to save all of your data in a secure location.
Personal finance features to look for
Desktop or mobile?
Consider where and how you’ll apply your personal finance toolkit. A mobile and app-based solution makes a lot of sense because most of us spend money when we’re on the road. This is why having a software package that enables you to log and track outgoings is important. However, the majority of products provide both desktop and mobile options.
Reporting capability
Personal finance software is essential for producing reports in addition to being excellent at helping you manage your finances and keep track of your expenditures. After that, you can use this information to complete things like paying your taxes or sharing it with a person who manages your accounts.
Easy integration
To the best of its ability, any personal financial software you are considering should integrate with other programmes. When documenting things like expenses, this is essential. For far more effective tax filing, make sure your package may be employed to transport figures from one spot to another.
Help and support
As with any software programme, it’s wise to confirm that support will be available if necessary. While some personal finance software solutions offer free help, others only offer it as part of a premium plan. Depending on how comfortable you are using the software, you may require a lot of assistance.
The best personal finance software is Quicken
Receive 10% off Quicken’s regular pricing, the greatest personal finance programme for managing your finances. From a single desktop or mobile app, manage investments, bills, and budgeting.
Best personal finance software of 2022
1. Quicken
Although Quicken’s reputation was founded on a desktop version, it is now accessible to operate as an app on your mobile devices. Quicken is a well-known application for managing personal finances.
A good selection of financial reporting options are provided by Quicken. These are organised around a variety of topics, including budgeting, bills, accounts, and even investing. It gives you the opportunity to input your purchases and income for budgeting so you can compare them both and get a better understanding of how much you are spending in relation to how much you are making.
When it comes to bills, you can also check which utilities and other entities you frequently pay, as well as the remaining funds in your account and the amounts still owing. You can even combine your credit card and bank statements for accounting needs so that you have a very clear sense of how much you’re spending. This is especially useful because people frequently underestimate the financial impact of everyday minor expenditures.
It also gives you the option to track your investments, whether they are a part of your savings, investment portfolio, or 401(k) pension plan. This means that you are aware of the value of your savings and investments, yet it is reasonable to argue that you shouldn’t be alarmed by brief changes in the stock market.
In total, Quicken combines your banking, investment reporting, and budgeting into a single dashboard that you can access from a PC or even a mobile device via the mobile app.
Quicken – Try it for 30 days risk-free!
Start managing your finances with the Starter package for $35.99/year; manage your finances and save with the Deluxe option for $46.79/year (down from $51.99/year); get the most out of your investments with Premier for $70.19/year (down from $77.99/year); or manage both your personal and business finances in one location with Home & Business for $93.59/year (down from $103.99/year).
2. YNAB
YNAB, short for You Need A Budget, is here in case you need to be instructed exactly what to do. Because, hey, you really do need one if you don’t want to spend every every penny you have and more. Perhaps you have more money than you anticipated as well.
As you may anticipate, YNAB’s main goal is to assist you in reducing your expenditure and avoiding living paycheck to paycheck. Maintain the plan and moderate your spending, and soon YNAB will realise that you are using last month’s funds rather than those you just received.
It is simple to install, supports the bulk of transaction data that can be downloaded from banks, and automatically adjusts for use by either individuals or small businesses by altering its monetary categories in accordance with your requirements.
If you stray from your course, YNAB, which is surprisingly understanding and forgiving for a piece of software, will inform you what to do to get back on track. You’ll have to make some compromises, but if direction is what you need, this stands out from competitors like Quicken.
YNAB – Get a free 34-day trial
YNAB is a great choice to think about if you want to better manage your finances. You may presently take advantage of a free 34-day trial to test out all the features and functions without having to pay anything.
3. Banktree
When working simultaneously with various currencies, BankTree performs a good job of supporting them by providing balances in multiple currencies rather than rounding them off to a single total. The ability to scan receipts with its mobile app and input them later makes it useful for keeping track of anything else.
Although BankTree doesn’t have the most attractive interface and is a little bit trickier to use than some of its more sophisticated brethren, it does provide some quite neat reports that can be broken down by time or payee. Before deciding to buy this one, it would be worthwhile to try the free trial.
Although you are limited to using the desktop programme on one PC, it comes with a year of updates and support. There is a fee for using the software on any subsequent PCs. Additionally, a browser-based version is accessible.
Regardless of the version you choose, BankTree offers a 30-day free trial so you can see if it’s right for you before making a purchase.
BankTree – Personal Finance
Software from BankTree Desktop Personal Finance is currently offered for only £35.00. You will receive free updates, bug fixes, and email support for the most recent version of BankTree Desktop Personal Finance, version 3.0. The software can be set up on a single computer. The cost for any further installations is merely £5.00 per computer.
4. Money Dashboard
The iOS/Android app for Money Dashboard isn’t trying to revolutionise banking or offer anything truly ground-breaking, but it is perhaps one of the best money management tools available. Connect all of your UK bank and credit card accounts, and you’ll be able to log in once to access all of your balances in one location. That is reason enough for us to suggest it.
Money Dashboard will track your expenditure and provide you with a comprehensive pie chart showing your spending on loans, consumables, transportation, and other expenses. You can quickly see your total balance, which details the amount of money you have available in all of your accounts.
You can also compare this number to the one from the previous month to gauge how effectively you’ve been handling your money. That’s a powerful inducement.Money Dashboard locks down your login with security on par with that of your bank, and it is entirely read-only, so your money isn’t leaving your account.
Surprisingly, apps are available for both Android and iOS, and both are free to use.
Money Dashboard – Popular money management
The award-winning Money Dashboard app is used by more than 500,000 people, making it one of the most well-liked personal financial options available. You may sign up for a free account quickly and easily to explore all of the features and capabilities.
5. Moneydance
Moneydance is a desktop money management programme with a very slick single-window layout that was designed especially for Mac users (but it is also available for Windows and Linux). You may instantly check your accounts, impending invoices, current expenses, and more when you load it up. When you click on an item in the left sidebar, the main content updates to reflect your selection.
One of Moneydance’s most helpful features is its account register, and its reporting capabilities are solid though not very eye-catching. This works on a very similar concept if you’re old-school and used to maintain a chequebook. Additionally, there is an iOS app for recording transactions while on the go, which afterwards syncs with the desktop software.
UK users must manually download their transaction history to stay on top of it and switch to their bank’s own app to transfer money because Moneydance is unable to support the connection protocols used by UK banks. However, US users are well-covered.
You are authorised to run the offered plan on as many desktop computers as you like at home because it is licenced per household rather than per computer. A 90-day money-back guarantee is touted, however there is no free trial offered.
Moneydance – Buy now for just £44.41
No matter how many computers you install Moneydance on, operating systems you use, users you have, or data files you produce, you should only purchase one licence per household for personal use. Please purchase one licence for each computer that Moneydance is installed on for business usage, or for each data file (on a shared network), whichever is smaller.
Best free personal finance software
1. Buxfer
An online tool that’s not coated in effects and colours, Buxfer performs an excellent job of presenting your finances in a clear, professional manner. It cutely brags about the fact that it’s now helping its users manage over four trillion dollars in funds, so it’s got a solid user base behind it.
You don’t have to provide Buxfer your personal banking details if you’re uncomfortable doing so – you can opt for offline manual syncing with your bank account instead – but if you do trust it, there’s a layer of high-level encryption to protect your data and the company is routinely audited.
We like its budgeting tools best of all – the visual reporting is quite powerful, and the fact that it doesn’t force you into predefined categories and instead lets you to classify spending however you see fit means Buxfer should fit perfectly into most people’s banking routines.
The free edition offers you five budgets, accounts and bill reminders, the Pilot version adds on automated tagging and bank syncing, the Plus version gives you unlimited budgets, and the Pro version includes online payments, advanced projections and more besides. Get it all though with a Prime version.
2. HomeBank
If you operate across different platforms or don’t typically use Windows, HomeBank will be appealing. HomeBank is a portable app that may be installed normally or as a personal finance app. It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and an Android app is in development. You can import data to avoid starting over if you’ve been managing your finances with another tool, like Quicken or Microsoft Money.
The programme allows you to link an endless number of accounts together for simple money transfers, however all of this depends totally on human editing. When sufficient data is provided, a variety of reports, including practical forecasting reports for things like car ownership, can be produced. This personal finance app was created with the typical person in mind and is for those who detest personal finance apps.
3. AceMoney Lite
AceMoney Lite sets a high bar for itself by advertising itself as a Quicken replacement, but it succeeds in doing so even in its stripped-down, free version. AceMoney Lite only supports two accounts, however this should be sufficient for most users. The application can even be used to monitor your PayPal account.
It’s simple to manage accounts in several currencies, but this free personal finance programme requires data entry rather than transaction import from your bank account. Nevertheless, you can import downloaded statements to save time over manual entry if you download them from your online bank account. AceMoney Lite is a suitable financial tool for anyone trying to get control over their finances because it also makes tracking your expenditures and investments simple.
4. GnuCash
GnuCash is flexible enough to be used by small enterprises in addition to being simple enough to be used for personal accounts. Although the software is simple to use, it is only appropriate for small business accounting because a number of unexpected supplementary functions are there, such as support for double-entry bookkeeping and payroll management.
This free personal financial software is generally simple to use, although it does require some expertise with accounting software. Since you can import data in QIF and dOFX formats, switching from another programme is straightforward. This software’s support for spending monitoring makes it the perfect tool for getting ready for tax season, and there are a tonne of reporting options to make sense of your cash flow. Before thinking about any of the premium options, it is strongly advised that you try out this fantastic programme, which is available for macOS, Windows, Linux, and Android.
5. Buddi
Buddi maintains a level of simplicity that is about as basic as it can be, demonstrating that free personal financial software doesn’t have to be difficult. You can quickly set up each account you require and begin monitoring your receipts and disbursements.
Money may be readily withdrawn from and transferred between accounts, and Buddi can produce a wide range of reports about your profits and expenses broken down in a number of various ways. The programme can assist you in adhering to a budget if you’re trying to save money, and the Buddi website includes a number of useful starting guidelines for those who are absolutely unfamiliar with accounting.
The drawbacks of Buddi include the need for Java, which not everyone will like, and the fact that the programme itself hasn’t seen an update in a while. Despite these two drawbacks, we nonetheless urge you to check out the application because it might be exactly what you’ve been looking for.
How to choose the best personal finance software
Choosing a personal finance software programme is a fairly simple process. The most important thing is to think about what you’ll need it for and how frequently you’ll use it. After all, buying a high-end personal finance package that has numerous features you’ll never use serves little use.
Keep it simple if you have fairly basic budgeting requirements, such as managing your finances and tracking your spending. Many products may be set up to operate as much or as little as you require, which is fantastic.
For instance, you could struggle with organisation when it comes to budgeting, so using software that can assist with goal-setting might be really helpful. Setting up your personal financial software to help you achieve goals and make sure it alerts you if you’re falling behind schedule can be really helpful.
A more advanced personal finance package might be what you need if you handle your money quite well and with confidence. You can invest with some of the more complex solutions, which provide a broad range of tools for making your money work more effectively.
When it comes to managing one’s own finances, every person has distinct needs. This implies that there is a wide variety of the finest personal finance software solutions, which is fantastic for us, the customers.
Determining how complicated you believe your financial situation to be is therefore a good place to start if you’re looking for the best personal finance software solution. A basic bundle will more than meet your needs if you maintain orderly operations and are responsible with your money.
Think about things like your monthly dining expenses and the credit card terms you’re dealing with, such as managing monthly payments. You might wish to take into account how much money you need to save aside for retirement. These and other issues can be resolved with the best personal finance software.
If you’re not organised, you should look at more sophisticated personal financial software that can handle a lot more of the grunt work associated with money management. You can improve your budgeting skills, keep track of your income and expenses, and create an archive of your financial transactions with more sophisticated packages.
As many personal finance software packages integrate with some of the best tax software (opens in new tab) available, this can also be advantageous when it comes time to file taxes.
How we tested for the best personal finance software
Keep in mind that, if you’d prefer, you can still use a spreadsheet tool like Microsoft Excel (opens in new tab). The beautiful thing about personal finance software, though, is that it was made particularly to meet those demands.
The diversity of features and functions, together with ease of use, are what we seek for in the finest personal financial software products. We also evaluate the software’s performance, particularly in an app or mobile setting. Being able to manage finances while on the road is a popular choice because many of us are time-constrained.
Naturally, we’re also checking the software’s efficiency at handling jobs, particularly for users with more complicated personal finance situations. A programme that can integrate with the best accounting software (opens in new tab) or tax preparation software will also keep your data safe and secure.