Intuit has announced it will shut down the personal finance app Mint in 2024. Intuit is asking Mint users to move to Credit Karma, one of the company's other personal-finance platforms.
Mint had over 20 million users and about 4 million monthly active users. What a shame to shut it down. If you are one of Mint's users, here are the best Mint alternatives for budgeting, cash flow analysis, net worth tracking, and retirement planning.
For background, I have written over 2,500 personal finance articles on Financial Samurai since 2009, when this site was founded. I worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse (RIP) from 1999 – 2012, got my MBA from Berkeley, and have lived in San Francisco since 2001.
One of the main ways I achieved financial freedom at age 34 was by using financial tools to help track and invest my money. Otherwise, I'd probably still be working today. I'm 46.
Why Is Intuit Shutting Down Mint? Lack Of Size And Profitability
Despite having ~20 million users, Mint was not very profitable for Intuit. Mint's product was free, which meant it made money mainly through advertisement and affiliate partnerships. Intuit has found it has squeezed as much profitability as possible out of Mint, and it should better focus its resources elsewhere.
Unfortunately, Credit Karma is nowhere near as user-friendly and helpful for personal finance management as Mint.
Intuit acquired Credit Karma in December 2020 for $4.7 billion, near the top of the market. As a result, there is pressure on Intuit to extract as much value as possible from its ~100 million users.
Credit Karma Is A Poor Replacement For Mint
Make no mistake about it. Credit Karma is a lead generating company for mostly credit cards and personal loans. Credit Karma is nowhere close to a quality budgeting and money management app like Mint.
Some but not all Mint features are transitioning to Credit Karma, according to an FAQ on Intuit's website. Users will still be able to view their bank accounts, transaction history, spending, cash flow, and net worth on Credit Karma.
However, Credit Karma will no longer offer monthly budgets or spending by category – two features that were previously available on Mint. In summary, while Credit Karma will preserve some of Mint's key features like transaction tracking and net worth, budgeting tools will be discontinued as part of the transition from Mint to Credit Karma.
If you've been using the Mint app for its budgeting features, here are the best Mint alternatives.
Best Mint Alternatives
Here are the best Mint alternatives to manage your money, analyze your cash flow, and plan for retirement.
Empower
I've used Empower (previously known as Personal Capital) since 2012. I also consulted for Empower from 2013-2015, helping them grow their content and marketing intiatives.
Empower is the current best Mint alternative given it has budgeting, cash flow analysis, investment analysis, fee analysis, and retirement planning analysis.
Empower is also free to use. And if you want a wealth advisor to management your money, Empower will assign a Registered Investment Advisor to you. You can go through a free two-session consultation first before you decide to become a paying customer.
Empower is one of the best free wealth management tools today. Below is a snapshot of the Empower Retirement planner.
YNAB – You Need A Budget
YNAB is a popular budgeting platform that began as budget software and has expanded to offer more financial tools. YNAB helps you create a category budget through its four-rule method.
With the first rule, you'll implement a zero-sum budget, which means you'll assign every dollar you earn a purpose.
The second rule requires you to factor in non-monthly expenses, such as holiday shopping or car maintenance.
The third rule reminds you to be flexible with your monthly budget and make adjustments if you see that you're overspending in a certain category.
The fourth rule encourages you to age your money. Essentially, the last rule points out that once you've focused on mastering the first three rules, you'll know where your money is going and spend less than you earn.
Ultimately, the four rules make sure you think about where all your money is going and how to adjust for your future savings.
YNAB can be used on the computer or through the mobile app. It costs $14.99 a month or $99 annually, which comes to about $8.25 monthly.
The app is rated 4.8 out of 5 stars in the Apple store and 4.6 out of 5 stars in the Google Play store.
Monarch Money
Monarch Money was founded in 2018 and lets you create a customizable budget. For better money management, Monarch Money encourages users to create their own categories to track their spending for certain areas.
In addition, Monarch tracks all of your investment holdings in all of your accounts, so you can analyze your entire portfolio's performance and allocation. Mint tracks your account balances, and captures some holding information.
Unlike Mint, Monarch makes money through a subscription not advertisement.
The mobile app has a monthly or annual plan. The monthly plan costs $14.99 a month. The annual plan is $99.99 a year, which breaks down to about $8.33 a month.
Monarch Money has 4.8 out of 5 stars in the Apple store and 4.6 stars out of 5 in the Google Play store.
NewRetirement
NewRetirement is a Mint alternative because it helps you move beyond budgeting. The company was built from the ground up to help employees reach retirement in the best way possible. Once retired, NewRetirement offers powerful tools to help retirees stay retired and live their best lives.
NewRetirement has been building many new tools such as WhatIf Retirement Scenarios, Passive Income Analysis, and more. You can see all the NewRetirement updates.
If you're focused on retirement planning, NewRetirement's basic plan is free and costs $120 a year for its powerful PlannerPlus product.
Plenty – Wealth management for couples
Finally, another Mint alternative is Plenty. Plenty launches at the end of April 2024 and has budgeting and cash flow tools with the focus on money management specifically for couples.
Money consistently ranks as the #1 or #2 reason for fights and divorces. Therefore, one of Plenty's main missions is to make money management as easy as possible for couples. With a multi-player model, couples can see and manage their finances jointly and apart.
Wealth is easier to build with a partner. However, combining or managing separate finances can get more complicated over time. Plenty will provide powerful tools to help couples achieve financial peace, together.
Plenty is a subscription based tool that will initially cost $200 a year for a couple or $150 a year for an individual. Over time, Plenty will offer new products and services from life insurance, mortgages, taxes, and more to help users solve all their financial needs in one place.
I've met the Plenty of team in person in San Francisco and believe in their mission to make money management better for couples. If you join, tell them that Sam Dogen sent you. You'll likely get a discount if you do.
Budgeting And Tracking Your Money Will Always Be Important
I started Financial Samurai in 2009 and have been diligently tracking my money through budgeting and cash flow analysis ever since. Using a tool like Mint or one of its alternatives like NewRetirement or Empower can help you grow your net worth farther than if you don't diligently track and invest your money.
Too many people wing it when it comes to their finances. They don't track their money with a personal finance app and wonder where all their money went 10 years later! Don't be like these people. Use one of the above Mint alternatives.
Make sure you have enough money and cash flow available to cover your desired living expenses when you no longer want to work. There is no rewind button in life.
The Best Mint Alternatives Is A Financial Samurai original post. There are other Mint alternatives including Simplifi by Quicken, Honeydue, PocketGuard, Rocket Money, and Zeta. But they don't make my top alternatives list.
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