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Best personal finance software of 2019: budget for your savings and spend

Best personal finance software
(Image credit: Pixabay)

The wide availability of digital devices and mobile apps means that managing your personal finances is no longer such a challenge as it used to be. Rather than juggling pieces of paper, you can now run everything through a single software package.

Because the records are digital it means they are easy to store and backup, and different applications can be used either just on your PC or sometimes also on your smartphone.

The basic ones simply provide an easy portal for managing your finances, but some of the more advanced ones can help with reducing debt, managing budgets, or even provide finance advice as an additional service.

We'll therefore look at the best on the market for personal finance software, and show you the standout features of each one so that you can get a better idea of which would be best for you.

If you're looking to keep your business books with a bit more detail, check out our guide to the best accounting software.

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Best personal finance software - at a glance

  1. Quicken
  2. Buxfer
  3. YNAB
  4. Banktree
  5. Money Dashboard
  6. Moneydance

(Image credit: Quicken)

1. Quicken

Speed up accounting with this super-fast tool

Fair pricing
Secure online backup
Desktop and app

Quicken is a long-established tool for managing personal accounts, and while its reputation was built on a desktop version, it's now available to run as an app on your mobile devices.

Quicken offers a good range of financial reporting tools. These are set around a few different areas, namely budgeting, bills, accounts, and even investments. For budgeting, it offers you a chance to input your purchases and income so you can compare them both together to get a better idea of how much you are spending compared to how much you are earning.

In terms of bills, you can also see which utlities and similar you are constantly paying out to, and see both the amounts to be paid and how much money you have left over. For accounting purposes you can even bring your banking and credit card bills together in one place so that you have a very clear idea indeed of how much you're paying out. This is especially handy as people easily underestimate how much regular small purchases can add to costs.

For investments it also offers the ability to track these, whether as part of your savings, investment portfolio, or 401k pension plan. This means you have a clear idea of how much your savings and investments are worth, though it's fair to say you shouldn't panic about short-term fluctuations in the stock market.

Altogether, Quicken brings together your budgeting, banking, and investment reporting into a single dashboard, which you can view from your desktop or even via your cell phone from the mobile app. 

Pricing starts at $34.99 a year for the Starter Plan which covers most of the basic features, though the Deluxe plan at $39.99 a year allows for additional budgeting and goal setting.

(Image credit: Buxfer)

2. Buxfer

Perfect for managing personal finances

High level of encryption
Free version
Reporting options are limited

An online service that's not slathered in effects and colours, Buxfer does a good job of presenting your finances in a clean, professional manner. It cutely brags about the fact that it's currently helping its users manage over four trillion dollars in funds, so it's got a solid user base behind it.



The free version gets you five budgets, accounts and bill reminders, the Pilot version ($1.99 per month) adds on automatic tagging and bank syncing, the Plus version ($3.99 per month) gives you unlimited budgets, and the Pros version ($4.99 per month) includes online payments, advanced forecasts and more besides.

(Image credit: YNAB)


The service that grabs your attention

Free trial
Easy installation
Limited features

Just in case you need to be told explicitly what to do, along comes YNAB - short for You Need A Budget. Because, hey, if you don't want to spend every single penny you have and more, you absolutely do need one. And perhaps you have more money than you thought?




(Image credit: Image Credit: Banktree)

4. Banktree

For tracking in multiple currencies

30-day free trial
Supports multiple currencies
Can be a bit tricky to navigate


It's not the prettiest software around, and it's slightly more awkward to use than many of its more refined cousins, although Banktree does produce very neat reports which you can break down by time, or by payee. It may be worth experimenting with the free trial before you choose to invest in this one.

(Image credit: Money Dashboard)

5. Money Dashboard

Features personalized tags that make budgeting easier

High security
Easy to use




(Image credit: Moneydance)

6. Moneydance

Money management made easy with a simple interface

90-day money-back guarantee
Strong reporting features
No Android app


Its reporting features are quite strong if not spectacular to look at, and one of Moneydance's most useful sections is its account register. If you're old-school and once managed a cheque book, this operates on a very similar principle. There's also an iOS app for logging transactions on the go, which later syncs with the software on your desktop.
