When looking for a budgeting app to help you improve how you save and budget, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. With so many options to choose from it can be time consuming to find the app that best fits your needs.
We’ve done the homework for you and created this list of the best budgeting apps for 2021. From apps that simply let you know when your bank account is low, to apps that use the zero-based budgeting method, you’ll find a solution on our list.
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The best³ budgeting apps for 2021
- Best App for Budget Beginners: Porte
- Best App for Achieving Short-Term Financial Goals: Digit
- Best App for Lowering Monthly Bills: TrueBill
- Best App for Zero-based Budgeting: YNAB
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Best App for Budget Beginners: Porte
Cost: Free
Porte is a great place to start if you’re brand new to budgeting. After creating and funding your Porte account², you’ll have access to Porte’s Activity Tracker. You can input your monthly budget, then as you use your Porte account throughout the month you’ll be able to easily track how your spending aligns with your overall budget.
Not sure what your monthly budget is? Read our Beginners Guide to Budgeting Like a Boss to get started.
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Best App for Achieving Short-Term Financial Goals: Digit
Cost: Free trial for 30 days, then $5/month
Digit is an app that aims to make saving money as easy as possible. Through the app, Digit is able to analyze your spending habits to determine how much money you can be saving, then every few days it automatically moves that money into a Digit savings account. Digit is particularly helpful in reaching short term savings goals, like creating a rainy day fund, saving up for that dream vacation, or paying off a credit card.
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Best App for Lowering Monthly Bills: TrueBill
Cost: Free, with optional services for a fee (Premium features cost between $3 and $12/month, or between $36 and $48/year)
Truebill makes it easy to optimize your spending, manage your subscriptions, and see an overall snapshot of your finances within the app. You can link your bank and investment accounts as well as your credit cards. The app feature Truebill is most known for is their recurring expenses tracker. This tracker makes it easy to identify subscriptions and other expenses that you’re no longer using, potentially saving you money.
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Best App for Zero-based Budgeting: YNAB
Cost: Free trial for 34 days, then $11.99/month or $84/year
YNAB (short for You Need A Budget) is a software tool that is based on the zero-based budgeting method. With this method you create a budget for every dollar you earn. While there is a learning curve to this type of budgeting, YNAB’s robust software, user guides, budgeting advice, and free workshops help users quickly understand the ins and outs of this method.
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The views expressed within the blog are those of Porte and do not necessarily represent or reflect the view of Netspend®, Pathward, N.A., or Association.
