
Mint Is Dead. Here Are the Best Alternatives in 2026
Mint was the most popular budgeting app in the US for over a decade. Then Intuit — the company behind TurboTax and QuickBooks — shut it down in January 2024, migrating users to Credit Karma instead.
The migration wasn't popular. Credit Karma is primarily a credit score tool, not a budgeting app. Mint users lost their transaction history, their budget setups, and the app they'd been using for years.
Eighteen months later, a lot of former Mint users are still looking for a real replacement.
What Happened to Mint?
Intuit acquired Mint back in 2009 but never fully monetized it the way a free product needed to be monetized. Mint made money by recommending financial products — credit cards, loans, accounts — based on your spending data.
By 2023, Credit Karma (which Intuit acquired in 2020) was doing that same thing more profitably. Mint became redundant from a business standpoint, and the decision was made to shut it down.
The shutdown took effect on January 1, 2024. Users had a few months' notice and the option to export their data, but many didn't realize what was happening until the app stopped working.
What Mint Users Are Looking For in a Replacement
The recurring themes in Mint user feedback since the shutdown:
- Automatic transaction sync — Mint's core feature was pulling bank data automatically. Many users want that to continue.
- Spending category breakdowns — Where did the money actually go?
- Monthly budget tracking — Setting a number and seeing progress toward it
- Transaction history — Some users had years of data in Mint and want continuity
- Free, or close to it — Mint was free. Users are reluctant to pay significantly.
Not every replacement ticks all these boxes, but here's what's worth trying.
Monarch Money — Best Mint-Like Experience
Price: $14.99/month or $99.99/year (free trial)
Bank linking: Yes — core feature
Platform: iOS, Android, web
Monarch Money is the most direct Mint successor. It syncs transactions automatically, has strong categorization tools, shows a clear spending breakdown, and supports household budgets for couples or families.
The interface is clean and the data is genuinely useful. It costs money — $99.99/year — which Mint didn't, but for users who want the closest experience to what Mint was, Monarch is it.
Import from Mint is supported if you exported your data.
Best for: Former Mint users who want automatic sync and are willing to pay for it.
YNAB — Best for Serious Budgeters
Price: $14.99/month or $109/year
Bank linking: Optional
Platform: iOS, Android, web
YNAB is more than a Mint replacement — it's a full budgeting methodology. You assign every dollar to a job (zero-based budgeting) before the money is spent, which is a fundamentally different approach than Mint's passive tracking.
If you were just using Mint to see where your money went without really changing behavior, YNAB's approach will feel like more work. But if you want to actually get control of your spending, the framework is excellent and the community is one of the most supportive in personal finance.
Best for: Anyone ready to move from passive tracking to active budgeting.
Expenly — Best for Privacy-First Users Who Don't Want Bank Sync
Price: Free to download; subscription for full features
Bank linking: None
Platform: iPhone only
Expenly doesn't replace Mint's automatic sync — it's deliberately manual. You log each expense yourself, in seconds, from your iPhone.
What you get in return: complete privacy, zero data collection, full offline operation, and spending data that's genuinely yours. Apple has verified that the developer collects no data from the app. For a full breakdown of what bank linking actually involves, see Is It Safe to Link Your Bank Account to a Budget App?
Expenly is built for the segment of former Mint users who felt vaguely uncomfortable with their bank data living on Intuit's servers — and now that Mint is gone, want something that works without any of that.
Features that matter: custom spending categories, monthly budget tracking with color-coded progress, spending insights, timeline and calendar views, CSV/Excel/PDF export, home screen widgets, and daily reminder notifications.
Best for: iPhone users who value privacy, prefer manual tracking, and don't want to pay a monthly subscription.
Free on the App Store
Expenly
No bank login, no account required. Your spending data stays on your device.
Empower — Best for Investment Tracking (Free)
Price: Free
Bank linking: Yes — required
Platform: iOS, Android, web
Empower (formerly Personal Capital) is free and adds something none of the other apps here offer: investment portfolio tracking alongside spending. If you have brokerage or retirement accounts you want to watch, Empower gives you a single view of your complete financial picture.
It monetizes by offering wealth management services and will reach out about them. But for the base budgeting and net worth features, it's free and functional.
Best for: Users with investment accounts who want an overview of their full financial picture.
Copilot — Best Automated Experience on iPhone
Price: $13/month or $95.99/year
Bank linking: Yes — required
Platform: iPhone and iPad only
Copilot is iPhone-native and AI-powered. It learns your spending patterns, categorizes transactions with impressive accuracy, and has the most polished interface of any budgeting app on iOS.
It's expensive by budgeting app standards, but for Apple users who want bank sync done beautifully and don't mind the cost, there's nothing better.
Best for: iPhone power users who want the best automatic tracking experience and don't mind paying for it.
Rocket Money — Best for Canceling Subscriptions
Price: Free (basic), $6–$12/month for premium
Bank linking: Yes — required
Platform: iOS, Android
Rocket Money (formerly Truebill) made its name on subscription cancellation — it scans your accounts for recurring charges, identifies ones you might not remember, and can negotiate to cancel them on your behalf.
As a full budget replacement for Mint, it's less comprehensive than Monarch or YNAB. But if your main frustration was not knowing what you were subscribed to, Rocket Money addresses that directly. The free tier is functional for basic tracking.
Best for: Users whose primary goal is finding and eliminating forgotten subscriptions.
Which Mint Alternative Is Right for You?
| What you need | Best choice | |---|---| | Closest thing to Mint, willing to pay | Monarch Money | | Full budgeting methodology, not just tracking | YNAB | | Privacy, no bank sync, iPhone only | Expenly | | Free + investment tracking | Empower | | Best iPhone experience, automatic | Copilot | | Find and cancel forgotten subscriptions | Rocket Money |
The honest summary: if Mint's automatic sync was the feature you loved most, Monarch Money is your best bet. If Mint's free price was the feature you loved most, Expenly or Empower are the options closest to free. If subscription creep was your pain point, Rocket Money handles that specifically.
Free on the App Store
Expenly
No setup, no bank linking, works from the first tap.
Also read: Budget Apps Without Bank Linking: Why You Should Consider One · Is It Safe to Link Your Bank Account to a Budget App?