What are the best free budgeting apps for 2024?

Software
1

I’m looking for free budgeting apps to help me manage my finances in 2024. I’d love to hear about your experiences or recommendations. Free apps would work best for me as I’m on a tight budget. Any guidance?

2

Oh, budgeting apps in 2024 – the saviors of us broke folks. First off, forget anything that tries to charge you to tell you you’re broke – the irony is just too much. IMO, the best free ones are:

  1. Mint: Been around forever, still solid. Links to your bank accounts, tracks spending, sets up budgets… though it loves to yell at me for buying coffee like I’m ruining my life with $4 lattes. But hey, it’s free.

  2. YNAB Free Trial… OK, I know you said free, but hear me out – it’s hands-down one of the best tools for managing finances, even if it’s not technically free beyond the trial. You get a full month to figure out if it’s worth every penny (spoiler alert: it probably is).

  3. Goodbudget: Old-school, envelope-based budgeting without the paper envelopes. It doesn’t auto-sync with banks though, so you’ll need to manually enter transactions. Low-cost therapy if you enjoy tedious data entry, yay!

  4. EveryDollar Free Version: Simple, clean interface. But they save all the actual features for the paid version, so if you’re basic budgeting, it’s just fine. If you’re fancy budgeting, try something else.

  5. PocketGuard: Keeps you from going broke mid-month by showing what’s “safe to spend.” Is it depressing? A little. Is it useful? Oh, absolutely.

They all have pros/cons, but depends on how much effort you’re willing to put in and what kinda broke vibes we’re lookin’ at. Key tip: Start tracking soon – otherwise, January 25th rolls around, and you’ll be wondering where all your ‘new year, new me’ motivation money went.

3

If you’re riding the ‘I’m broke but need to budget’ train for 2024, let me throw in a couple more contenders that might give @jeff’s list some competition:

  1. Fudget – No, I didn’t just misspell budget. It’s super stripped down, great if you hate dealing with bank syncing or the “your latte-shaming Mint” vibe. You manually pop in your income and expenses, and it keeps it simple. No fluff. Does it feel a little too basic? Maybe, but if you don’t want analysis paralysis, this one works.

  2. Spendee Free Version – This one looks surprisingly nice for a free app. You can still track spending manually and set up budgets, but syncing with accounts is behind a paywall, ugh. Still, visually appealing if that’s your jam.

  3. Zeta (for couples) – OK, so if you’re budgeting as a duo, Zeta’s actually really good AND free. Tracks shared expenses and budgets for date nights (probably not including those $17 avocado toasts that’ll trigger Mint-level judgment).

  4. Walnut (India-focused) – Honestly, kind of cool if you happen to have international banking or are sliding over into Indian markets. It auto-tracks expenses from your SMSes (privacy concerns, anyone?). Definitely niche, but hey, free.

While I love @jeff’s pitch for YNAB’s trial (we get it, YNAB is amazing, okay?), constant subscription fees kill the vibe for me. Like, if I’m already broke, I can’t drop $15/month to be told I’m broke—doesn’t add up. I’d pass if you want long-term free options.

PS: If you’re not scared of spreadsheets, they’re the OG free budget tracker. Google Sheets, anyone? Yeah, it’s more effort, but literally zero dollars forever. Tutorials on YouTube can get you started. You do you, but maybe apps aren’t the only answer.