Managing your finances can be at best annoying, and at worst, filled with blind spots and uncertainties that can really cost you over time. Personal finance apps can give you the tools to take charge of your finances! Being in the finance industry for nearly two decades I have a few favorites that will help you figure out anything from tracking your monthly budgets to avoid overspending, to managing your savings and investment portfolio for retirement, to automating basic transaction processes like making sure your bills are paid on time.
Here's my list of the five best personal finance apps. All the apps on my list are available on both iOS and Android, so you can enjoy them no matter which smartphone you have.
#1 Personal Capital
What kind of app is it?
Personal Capital is an account aggregator and investment portfolio analysis tool. It also has some other features like bill and budget management.
Why I recommend it:
It is by far the best portfolio analysis (asset allocation, sector, style, concentration, and efficient frontier) app I have seen. The only other easily accessible tool like this I have seen is on the E-Trade Brokerage website, but it’s not an app and is more of a one-time analysis versus a real-time live-updating tool you can check on a weekly basis.
Why you may want to think twice:
Since they were acquired by Empower they really seemed to have stagnated rolling out new features.
Cost: Free and Premium versions
Apple Store Rating: 4.7 stars
Google Play Rating: 4.3 stars
#2 WealthFront
What kind of app is it?
WealthFront is an investment tool that lets you create a personal portfolio then over time, it automatically rebalances it and diversifies your deposits.
Why I recommend it:
Robo-advisors came into their own a few years ago by giving “the average investor” access to more sophisticated portfolio optimization and tax-loss harvesting tools that had traditionally only been available to high networth individuals. There are many of these sorts of apps but based on my research, WealthFront offers the most diverse sets of assets that they use to construct their portfolios.
Why you may want to think twice:
Robo-advisors were innovative and novel several years ago, but now most mainstream financial companies (such as Schwab) also offer something similar. The competition is driving better features and lower costs so it is definitely worth comparison shopping to find a service that best suits your particular needs.
Cost: Free and Premium versions
Apple Store Rating: 4.8 stars
Google Play Rating: 4.6 stars
#3 Mint
What kind of app is it?
Mint is an account aggregator and money management tool.
Why I recommend it:
Mint (and Yodlee before it) is one of the original account aggregators and has always done it super clean and easily. Their bills and spend management feature is the best I’ve seen. They were acquired by Intuit and have integrated into Quicken and TurboTax for example.
Why you may want to think twice:
I don’t really see any downside to Mint unless you find a more specialized app for your specific needs. For example I find Mint portfolio analysis is weak, and so I transitioned to Personal Capital as a result.
Cost: Free and Premium versions
Apple Store Rating: 4.8 stars
Google Play Rating: 4.4 stars
#4 SplitWise
What kind of app is it?
SplitWise is an easy way to split expenses amongst friends, roommates, group trips, and more.
Why I recommend it:
It’s way, way better than managing this stuff on a Google Sheet, a napkin, or worst, not managing it at all.
Why you may want to think twice:
It only does this one thing.
Cost: Free
Apple Store Rating: 4.3 stars
Google Play Rating: 4.3 stars
#5 Investing.com
What kind of app is it?
Investing.com gives you real-time market quotes, news and notifications.
Why I recommend it:
I found their catalog of assets is quite extensive (global stocks, indices, commodities, crypto, etc.). Also, I use Android and I find their widgets & notifications are quite good.
Why you may want to think twice:
The native Apple app may be sufficient if your needs are not too advanced.
Cost: Free and Premium versions
Apple Store Rating: 4.7 stars
Google Play Rating: 4.4 stars
Here’s a handy comparison chart to see how each app stacks up...
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