5 Best Budgeting Apps Like Rocket Money - Cushion (2024)

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5 Best Budgeting Apps Like Rocket Money

The shutdown of Mint and Prism had people scrambling to find a new budgeting app. If you’re a Mint or Prism refugee, then you’ve likely stumbled upon Rocket Money in your search.

Chances are, you tentatively joined Rocket Money’s 3.5 Million members. But if you’re reading this, then you aren’t completely sold on the value that Rocket Money provides.

But instead of investigating the best budgeting apps like Rocket Money on your own, why don’t you stay awhile and listen to our findings first?

What are Rocket Money’s Main Features?

To find the best budgeting apps like Rocket Money, then first we better figure out what Rocket Money is all about. So here are all the features that Rocket Money currently offers:

1. Subscription Management
2. Budgeting Tools
3. Autopilot Savings
4. Spending Insights
5. Credit Score & Credit Report Monitoring
6. Bill Negotiation

What are Rocket Money’s Free Features?

To accurately compare Rocket Money’s features to its alternatives, then we’ll need to separate the free features from the paid ones.

Here is the list of Rocket Money’s Free Features:

1. Subscription Management (not including subscription cancellation)
2. Account Linking (bank accounts, investments, credit cards)
3. Balance Alerts (checking account)
4. Expense Tracking (main budgeting tool)
5. Credit Score Tracking (Vantage 3.0 from Experian)

What are Rocket Money’s Paid Features?

Rocket Money Premium costs $6.00 – $12.00 per month (plus tax). However, this price can go down to $4.00 per month if you pay annually.

Here are the features you can expect if you’re willing to pay for Rocket Money Premium:

1. Subscription Cancellation Assistant
2. Access to Expert Advice
3. Custom & Unlimited Budget Categories
4. Net Worth Tracking
5. Full Credit Report Monitoring
6. Joint Accounts
7. Smart Savings Account
8. Bill Negotiation (charges a fee based on 30% – 60% of your first year’s savings)

💡 Note: The Rocket Money Gold Premium Membership will be discontinued on May 2, 2024. Those who are subscribed to this plan will be transitioned to the most affordable Premium Membership.

What’s the Downside of Rocket Money?

The number one complaint about Rocket Money is that it has issues linking to accounts that don’t use Plaid. Here is a list of accounts that often have connection issues with Rocket Money:

1. Apple Card
2. Synchrony Bank Accounts
3. Fidelity
4. Venmo
5. Comenity
6. Nordstrom
7. Wex Health
8. Principal Financial
9. Coinbase

Related articles:

What are the Best Budgeting Apps Like Rocket Money?

1. You Need a Budget (YNAB) – Best for Goal Tracking

Best Features:

• Goal Tracking
• Shared Budgets (YNAB Together)
• Innate Budgeting Strategy
• 34-day Free Trial (1-year Free Trial for students)

Downside:

• YNAB costs $14.99 a month or $99 annually (plus tax)

YNAB is a great alternative for those who just want some help with budgeting and nothing else. It offers all of the budgeting features that Rocket Money offers, plus Goal Tracking.

Unfortunately, YNAB is 40% more expensive than Rocket Money despite having fewer features overall. Worse yet, YNAB has no free version. But the price is worth it based on our calculations (as long as you commit to your budget).

2. Empower – Best for Investment Tracking

Best Features:

• Free Expense Tracking
• Free Net Worth Tracking
• Free Investment Tracking

Downside:

• Budgeting is limited to tracking your expenses in the past month

Empower has free budgeting features like Rocket Money but it’s limited to tracking expenses that you’ve already made. This means that you can’t plan for next month’s expenses with this app (not automatically anyway).

So this alternative is the best for those who want a free budgeting app that also allows them to track their net worth and investments.

3. EveryDollar – Best for Free Budgeting Features

Best Features:

• Free Customizable Budget
• Free Savings Fund
• Rollover Budgeting

Downsides:

• Paycheck Planning & Goal Setting are limited to the paid version
• Manual Categorization is required

EveryDollar costs $17.99 per month or $79.99 annually, and it offers a variety of free budgeting features. But the free budgeting feature that makes it stand out among the apps in this list is the rollover budgeting.

This feature allows you to roll over your excess budget to the next month. It may not seem impactful but this saves a lot of time in the long run. So this app is perfect for those who want to save both time and money.

Best Features:

• Shared Budgets
• Rollover Budgeting
• Budget Category Icons

Downside:

• No Free Version ($14.99/month or $99.99/year)

Monarch allows you to track your spending through budgeting categories and subcategories (now with icons!).

However, Monarch takes things a step further by allowing users to share access to their budgets. This opens up various possibilities, like budgeting with a partner or allowing a financial advisor to make adjustments to your plan.

5. Cushion AI – Best for Managing Recurring Payments

Best Features:

• Bills and BNPL Tracking
• Sync Due Dates to Calendar
• Build Credit with Recurring Payments

Downside:

• Currently only reports to Experian (TransUnion and Equifax coming soon)

Cushion is the most powerful way to make recurring payments. You can track and pay both your bills and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) loans in the Cushion App. And if you pay them using the Cushion Debit Card, you can build your credit history with these recurring payments as well.

Better yet, you can manage your BNPL loans using custom categories and sync your due dates to your Google Calendar!