The best free Mint alternatives in 2026 (now that Mint is dead)
Intuit shut Mint down in early 2024 and funneled everyone into Credit Karma — which, if you’ve tried it, you already know isn’t a budgeting app. It shows you balances and tries to sell you a credit card. It does not help you see where your money goes.
So a couple of years on, millions of ex-Mint users are still drifting between apps trying to find the one that sticks. I’ve used most of them. Here’s the honest version: what’s actually free, what’s worth paying for, and what to skip.
First, what made Mint worth using
It helps to be clear about what you’re replacing. Mint did three things well:
- Auto-pulled every account — banks, cards, loans — into one screen.
- Auto-categorized your transactions so you could see spending by type.
- Was free. That’s why it had ~25 million users.
The catch: Mint was free because it sold you financial products. Most replacements flipped that model — they charge a subscription and don’t upsell you. A few are still free. Let’s start there.
The free options
Empower (formerly Personal Capital)
The closest thing to “free Mint, but for net worth.” It links your accounts and is genuinely strong on investments and net-worth tracking. Weaker on day-to-day budgeting, and you’ll get the occasional nudge toward their advisory service. Still, for a free dashboard of everything you own and owe, it’s the default pick.
Actual Budget
Open-source, free, and private — your data stays on your machine. It uses zero-based (envelope) budgeting like YNAB. The trade-off is setup: there’s no slick auto-sync out of the box (you import or use a third-party connector), and it’s more hands-on. If you’re a little technical and care about privacy, it’s the best free budgeting tool that exists.
PocketGuard (free tier) and Goodbudget
PocketGuard’s free tier centers on one useful number — “In My Pocket,” what’s safe to spend after bills and goals. Goodbudget is a digital envelope system with a free tier, good if you budget as a couple. Both are fine; both push you toward paid tiers fairly quickly.
If you’d rather just ask where your money went
A newer angle worth knowing about: instead of staring at a dashboard, you link your accounts and ask. MaliMoney is an AI you talk to about your money — you can connect a bank and have it break down (or, if you ask for it, flat-out roast) your spending in plain English. The “roast my spending” feature is free to try without a subscription, which makes it an easy zero-cost way to get the one thing Mint actually gave you: a clear, slightly uncomfortable picture of where it’s all going. It’s a different shape than a spreadsheet-style app, so try it alongside one of the trackers above rather than as a full replacement for account dashboards.
The paid ones that are actually worth it
Monarch Money
Where most serious Mint refugees landed. Polished, fast, great for couples (shared budgets), solid auto-sync. Around $100/year. If you want “Mint but better and you’re willing to pay,” this is the consensus answer.
YNAB (You Need A Budget)
Not a Mint clone — it’s a method. Every dollar gets a job before you spend it. Steeper learning curve and pricier (~$110/year), but the people who click with it swear it changed their finances. It fixes overspending; it’s less about passively watching.
Copilot and Quicken Simplifi
Copilot is the best-looking option if you’re on Apple devices (iOS/Mac only). Simplifi is Quicken’s lightweight app — clean, cheaper than Monarch, strong cash-flow projection. Both are good; pick on ecosystem and price.
Rocket Money
Worth a mention for one specific job: finding and canceling subscriptions you forgot about. It’s mediocre as a full budgeter and the “pay what you want” model gets pushy, but if your main problem is subscription creep, it earns its keep.
What about Credit Karma?
Skip it as a Mint replacement. Intuit moved Mint users there, but it’s a credit-monitoring and product-recommendation app, not a budgeting tool. Fine for checking your credit score; useless for understanding your spending.
How to actually switch (the part people skip)
- Export your Mint data if you still can, or pull 3–12 months of transactions from your bank.
- Pick one tracker and one habit. The app matters less than checking it weekly. The best app is the one you’ll open.
- Find your top three leaks first — delivery, subscriptions, “small” daily spend — and fix those before optimizing anything else.
Bottom line
If you want free: Empower for the full picture, Actual Budget if you’ll put in the effort, and a free spending roast when you just want a blunt answer to “where did it all go.” If you’ll pay: Monarch for most people, YNAB if you want to actually change your behavior. Whatever you choose, the tool is only half of it — the other half is looking at the number every week.
No affiliate links in this article. The apps are listed because they’re the real options, not because anyone paid to be here.