I Tested 10 Budget Apps. Here Are the Free Ones Worth Using
I run a small business, my income isn't the same every month, and I've quit more budget apps than I can count. So I installed nine popular ones on my iPhone, put them next to Monefy – the app I use every day right now – and tried to do one simple thing in each: log a single expense. On Android? Keep reading – half of these apps are on Android too, and the table below shows which ones.
I didn't link a bank. I counted the screens before my first expense, wrote down what each app asked for, and checked what's actually free once the trial ends. Then I read the recent 1–3 star App Store reviews for each one.
Quick picks
What I use every day
Fastest logging of all ten: minus or plus, amount, category. Free with ads.
Simplest new app
Expense logged in about a minute. Use it free with limits – skip the weekly plan.
Most generous free plan
Free forever with 20 envelopes – if the envelope method works for you.
Best free monthly plan
The nicest setup of all ten. Free version is manual; needs a Ramsey account.
All 10 side by side
Prices in USD from the US App Store, checked November 5, 2026. "First expense" is what it took me, without linking a bank.
| App | Free after trial? | Bank needed? | First expense | Paid price | iPhone | Android |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMonefy | Yes, with ads | Not needed | Right away – 3 taps | Premium $59.99/yr | Yes | Yes |
| FFinro | Yes, with limits | Not needed | 4 screens, about a minute | $5.99/week or $119.99 once | Yes | No |
| EEveryDollar | Yes (manual) | Not in the free version | Didn't get there – account required first | $17.99/mo or $79.99/yr | Yes | Yes |
| GGoodbudget | Yes, forever | Not needed (sync is paid) | ~1 minute, but via "envelopes" | $10/mo or $80/yr | Yes | Yes |
| BBudget – Simple Money Tracking | Yes | Not needed | ~10 screens, then 2 taps | $9.99/yr or $19.99 once | Yes | No |
| GGoodMoney | Yes (on one device) | Optional | Didn't get there – long questionnaire | Monthly or yearly "Plus" | Yes | No |
| YYNAB | No – 30-day trial | Pushes you to link it | Didn't get there in 5 minutes | $14.99/mo or $109/yr | Yes | Yes |
| MMonarch | No – 7-day trial | Pushes you to link it | Didn't get there | $14.99/mo or $99.99/yr | Yes | Yes |
| CCopilot | No – 1-month trial | First thing it asks | Didn't get there | $13/mo or $95/yr | Yes | No |
| BBudget Bestie | No – short trial | Not needed | Didn't get there – lessons first | $4.99–$8.99/mo or $49.99–$69.99/yr | Yes | No |
What I learned
- The biggest names want your bank before your first expense. YNAB, Monarch and Copilot all allow manual entry, but their setup leads straight to "connect your account." I left all three at that step.
- "Free" often means "free trial." Four of the ten have no free plan at all. In recent bad reviews, the most common complaint across almost every app is price – especially finding out after a long setup.
- Learning a method is a real barrier. Goodbudget and Budget Bestie are built on envelope budgeting. If you don't already know it, you're reading lessons instead of tracking money.
- The simple ones won. The two I'd keep using – Monefy and Finro – ask the fewest questions: open, tap plus or minus, type the amount.
Each app, one by one
M1. Monefy
Best for: People who want the fastest possible way to log spending, every day.
What's free: Logging expenses and income, categories and the monthly picture – with ads. Premium ($59.99 a year) removes ads and adds more features, including sync through your own Google Drive or Dropbox.
My first 10 minutes: This is the app I use every day, so it gets more than ten minutes from me. It opens straight to a ring of your categories and two big buttons: minus for spending, plus for income. Tap minus, type the amount, tap a category – done. Switching months is a swipe at the top. My one real frustration: when I cancelled a few subscriptions, I couldn't figure out how to remove the recurring payments from the app.
What it doesn’t do: It’s a tracker, not a planner: it shows where money went, not what’s safe to spend next or what to pay first.
My daily driver for logging. Simple enough that I actually keep doing it.
F2. Finro
Best for: People who just want to log spending and income, fast.
What's free: You can skip the paywall ("proceed with limits") and log expenses, income and a goal. Premium unlocks extra analytics, comparisons and unlimited goals.
My first 10 minutes: Three short intro screens, a paywall I could skip, then an empty home screen that says "Tap + to get started." Plus, amount, category, account – done. I also added income and a goal without any help.
What reviewers complain about: Too new to have reviews. My own complaint: the weekly price works out to about $311 a year – the most expensive app here if you pay weekly. It also warns you that your balance will go negative on your very first expense, because you haven't entered a starting balance yet.
The only one that felt simple enough to keep using. Stay on the free version.
E3. EveryDollar
Best for: People who want a monthly plan and follow (or like) the Ramsey approach.
What's free: A manual monthly budget: your categories, your numbers, you enter transactions yourself. Bank connection and extra tools are Premium (14-day trial).
My first 10 minutes: The best start of the new apps I tried: one calm question ("how do you feel on payday?"), my income, categories picked by tapping bubbles, a debt payoff goal. Then, to see my plan, I had to create an account by email on a separate Ramsey website – no Sign in with Apple. I stopped there.
What reviewers complain about: Price is the top complaint in recent 1–3 star reviews (about 4 in 10) – mostly that people didn't realize what was paid until after setting everything up. Bank sync problems come next.
Great free planner if you don’t mind creating a Ramsey account.
G4. Goodbudget
Best for: People who already know and like envelope budgeting.
What's free: Free forever with 20 envelopes (10 monthly, 10 annual), one account, two devices, a year of history. Premium adds unlimited envelopes and bank sync.
My first 10 minutes: No bank, no forced sign-up. But the app is built around envelopes and never really explains them. It suggested envelopes, then offered to "Fill for me" – and my first transaction was $348 of income I didn't actually have.
What reviewers complain about: About a quarter of recent 1–3 star reviews say it’s confusing to learn. Others mention bugs and sync issues.
Genuinely free, but only if the envelope method clicks for you.
B5. Budget – Simple Money Tracking
Best for: People who like tapping a category tile and typing an amount.
What's free: Basic tracking is free. The Pro plan (which unlocks budgets, recurring payments, more charts and more) was $9.99 a year or $19.99 one-time when I checked.
My first 10 minutes: Nine screens of features, reviews and a paywall before I could do anything. After that, logging was the fastest of all: tap "Food & Drink," type 20, done. Then it immediately asked me to rate the app – the second time in three minutes.
What reviewers complain about: In reviews of the app I believe this is (Budget App – Spending Tracker, Inner Grow), price and subscription lead the complaints, followed by bugs; a few reviewers say totals didn’t add up or transactions disappeared.
Fast logging once you get past the sales pitch. The one-time price is fair.
G6. GoodMoney
Best for: People who want to set up all their bills and subscriptions up front.
What's free: The tracker is free and stays on your phone. Paid Plus adds backup and sync, unlimited receipt scans, extra wallets and export.
My first 10 minutes: It lets you choose: link a bank, upload a statement, or enter things yourself. I picked manual and got a long yes/no questionnaire – income, rent, subscriptions, insurance, debts, goals – before any expense. Tapping subscription logos with real plan prices was a nice touch.
What reviewers complain about: Too few reviews to say. When I went to delete it, the app had put a "77% OFF" offer into the home-screen menu.
Thoughtful, private, but a lot of questions before you start.
Y7. YNAB
Best for: People ready to learn a full system and pay for it.
What's free: Nothing after the 30-day trial. Manual entry is possible, but it’s not where the app sends you.
My first 10 minutes: About 15 screens: four screens of text about money stress, my name, where I heard about them, my goal, an account, then the subscription screen (trial plus auto-renew checkbox) – all before I could log anything. Next it wanted my bank.
What reviewers complain about: The most common complaints in recent 1–3 star reviews: price (about a third), hard to learn (about a quarter), and redesigns that made entering a transaction slower.
Powerful and loved by people who stick with it. Not free, not simple.
M8. Monarch
Best for: Couples and people with many accounts and investments who want one dashboard.
What's free: Nothing after the 7-day trial. You can add manual accounts or import a CSV, but they’re at the bottom of the list.
My first 10 minutes: Sign-up, a four-step questionnaire (including whether I work with a financial professional), the trial screen, then a dashboard showing a sample $708,000 net worth that wasn’t mine. The main button was "Add account" – meaning my bank.
What reviewers complain about: Price is the top complaint, then bank connections breaking or duplicating transactions, then slow support.
Excellent if you want everything connected. Overkill if you just want to know where money goes.
C9. Copilot
Best for: iPhone and Mac users who want automatic, beautiful tracking of linked accounts.
What's free: Nothing after the trial. A manual "Cash" account exists – it’s the last card on a long screen.
My first 10 minutes: Sign-up, Face ID and two-factor setup, then a screen of empty "Link a new account" boxes with a big "Connect your first account" button. There’s a Demo Mode on the first screen if you just want to look around.
What reviewers complain about: Price, bank connections breaking, bugs and slow support. Some reviewers also say it asks for a rating too often.
Built for linking your bank. If you won’t, it’s not for you.
B10. Budget Bestie
Best for: People who love cash stuffing and the playful style.
What's free: No free plan – you pick a monthly or annual subscription before the trial starts.
My first 10 minutes: Seven questions (name, theme color, reminders, whether I’ve "cash stuffed" before…), then five lessons on the envelope method, then three types of envelopes to set up. Choosing a paid plan is the last step of setup.
What reviewers complain about: About 6 in 10 recent 1–3 star reviews are about price – mainly finding out it isn’t free after a long setup, and asking for a cheaper or one-time option.
Fun if the method is your thing. Know it’s a subscription before you set it up.
Why I'm building my own
Disclosure: this is my app. It isn't in the App Store yet, so it isn't ranked above.
After ten apps, I still wanted something none of them did all at once:
- Free forever for the basics – logging spending and income, categories, monthly totals.
- Log in one line, typed or spoken: "gas 40."
- No bank connection and no method to learn first.
- Works whether you get a steady paycheck or money that comes in unevenly – it shows what's safe to spend and how long your money will last, based on what you actually have.
- Debts in one place, with the order to pay them.
- The price for extra features shown up front, before you set anything up.
See what's free, what's paid and how it works →
Want it when it's ready?
One email when the app is live on the App Store. No spam.
How I tested
I installed each app on my iPhone in early November 2026 and went through it as a new user, taking a screenshot of every screen. I didn't link a bank, and I closed paywalls whenever the app allowed it. "First expense" means the number of screens and time until I could save one expense. Prices and free-plan details come from the apps' own paywalls and App Store listings, checked November 5, 2026. Review themes come from roughly 3,000 recent US App Store reviews, sorted by topic – the percentages are approximate. Five of the ten also have an Android version – see the "Android" column (for the ones marked No, I couldn't find one as of November 2026). Prices change often, so check the App Store before you subscribe.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a completely free budget app?
Yes. Of the ten I tested, Monefy is free with ads, Goodbudget has a free-forever plan (20 envelopes, one account), EveryDollar has a free manual version, and GoodMoney and Budget – Simple Money Tracking let you track spending for free. Finro is usable for free with limits. YNAB, Monarch, Copilot and Budget Bestie have no free plan after the trial.
What's the simplest budget app?
Monefy and Finro. Monefy opens straight to big minus and plus buttons – amount, category, done. Finro has three intro screens and a paywall you can skip, then plus, amount, category. Budget – Simple Money Tracking was the fastest at logging once set up, but showed nine screens of features and a paywall first.
Which budget app doesn't need a bank connection?
Finro, Budget – Simple Money Tracking, Goodbudget (free version), EveryDollar (free version), GoodMoney and Budget Bestie all work without linking a bank, and so does Monefy. YNAB, Monarch and Copilot allow manual accounts, but their setup steers you to link a bank first.
What's the best budget app for irregular income?
None of the ten is built around income that changes month to month – most ask for a monthly paycheck amount up front. If your income varies, pick an app that lets you log income when it actually arrives (Monefy, Finro, Goodbudget, EveryDollar's free version) instead of assuming a fixed salary. That gap is the reason I'm building my own app.
Is there a free alternative to YNAB?
Goodbudget and EveryDollar's free version are the closest: both are plan-first budgets you can use without paying. Goodbudget uses envelopes; EveryDollar uses a monthly zero-based plan. Neither syncs your bank for free.
This page shares my own experience with these apps. It isn't financial advice. I'm not paid by any of the apps listed.