Best Budgeting Apps of 2022

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Are you tired of using excel for your weekly or monthly budget? Try these top budgeting apps in 2022. These are the best budgeting apps and they offer a variety of great features and tools. On top of this, they all rank high among daily budgeters.

Budgeting is a great tool and can help you better your finances. One of the first steps to building financial strength is budgeting – so start now!

1. Mint

Reasons why we like it:

Mint is the number 1 budgeting app on the market right now and it’s hard to argue that fact. It automatically syncs to your bank accounts and major credit cards, categorizes your expenses for you and is extremely user friendly. Oh, and did I mention it’s free? Here are just some reasons why Mint remains our number 1 choice. 

• High ratings amongst users
• It’s free
• Syncs with most bank and credit card accounts
• Automates categorizing expenses so you don’t have to

Reasons why you might not:

Mint might not be ideal for you if you love tracking each and every expense. Mint will do its best to categorize expenses and put them in the right buckets. You might miss out on accuracy if you hit several budget categories on your weekly Target run. Here are some reasons you may think twice before downloading Mint. 

• Not great for users who like to get into the weeds when tracking expenses
• Some users report problems syncing with bank accounts

Cost: Free

App Store Ratings & Reviews:

• 4.8 out of 5 with 715k ratings
• #36 in Finance

2. EveryDollar

Reasons why we like it:

Followers of the Dave Ramsey baby steps will love this user-friendly budgeting app. The app follows a zero-based budgeting framework which requires budgeters to assign every dollar of their income to a budget category – hence the name. EveryDollar is comparable with Mint with some added features but considerably higher price tag. Here are some reasons you might want to choose this option over Mint:

• Works for those following the Dave Ramsey way of budgeting
• Paid version syncs with bank accounts
• Better framework for budgeting and not just expense tracking

Reasons you might not:

Although the free version might work for some users, the free version doesn’t quite make this list of best budgeting apps for 2022. The real magic happens when users sign up for Ramsey+ but will pay considerably more than any app on this list. Here are some reasons you may want to hold off before downloading EveryDollar

• Free version lacks many of the features that makes this app great
• High cost which requires annual subscription

Cost: Free for bare bones version, $129.99 for annual subscription

App Store Ratings & Reviews:

• 4.8 out of 5 with 56k ratings
• #79 in Finance

3. You Need a Budget (YNAB)

Reasons We like it:

For those who love zero based budgeting, all the automation features of Mint, while paying slightly less than the paid version of EveryDollar may want to consider YNAB. This app is great for budgeters who love that hands on experience while getting an assist with synced bank accounts. Here are some reasons why you need to give YNAB a try:

• Syncs with most bank accounts and major credit cards
• Great tools and resources to help users with their budgets
• Works great for zero-based budgeting

Reasons why you might not:

Just like EveryDollar this app requires users to pay an annual subscription if they want to use the app year after year. This app works great for budgeters who want to get their hands dirty but not so great for users hoping to lean on automation. Here are some reasons you may not want to make YNAB your app of choice:

• High cost compared to free apps 
• Requires users to keep up with monthly budgeting

Cost: $14.99 per month or $98.99 per year. College students can use YNAB for free for a year.

App Store Ratings & Reviews:

• 4.8 out of 5 with 37k ratings
• #184 in Finance

4. Goodbudget

Reasons we like it:

Followers of the Dave Ramsey envelope system who don’t like walking around with cash will love Goodbudget. This app creates digital envelopes for users to plan their monthly budget instead of just tracking their expenses after the fact. Here are some reasons Goodbudget gets our number 4 spot:

• Digital envelop budgeting made easy
• Focuses on planning and not just tracking
• Great for users who want to get more hands on with their expense tracking

Reasons you might not:

Goodbudget would be ranked higher if it wasn’t for its inability to automatically sync with bank and credit card accounts. Users looking for a more automated experience may not be willing to manually key in expenses. Here are some reasons you may think twice before downloading Goodbudget. 

• Must manually enter expenses
• Limited number of envelopes unless you upgrade to the plus version
• Doesn’t track history more than 1 year unless you upgrade to plus version

Cost: Free version, $60 for plus version

App Store Ratings & Reviews:

• 4.7 out of 5 with 13k ratings
• #123 in Finance

Best Budgeting Apps – Summary

There are many budgeting apps that are easily accessible to you. The best part is that a lot of these budgeting apps are completely free to use. These tools can be used to help you build an emergency fund which is something everyone should do. At the end of the day, budgeting is a great habit to start and can have an everlasting effect on your life.