Quicken is one of the oldest and most recognized personal finance programs available, with more than three decades of history behind it. But for many users, Quicken just doesn’t cut it. What, exactly, is wrong with Quicken? Well, it’s old.
![Quickbooks for mac reviews Quickbooks for mac reviews](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125384126/320900446.png)
QuickBooks for Mac has been developed with the knowledge that most business users of Mac’s will need to communicate heavily with Windows users. As such, the system is capable of sending QuickBooks files to Windows users. Here’s an article on the Top Ten QuickBooks Alternatives. I won’t rehash all of these, but can say that I’ve heard others talk [] Comment by Henry Sage on September 18, 2015 at 2:12 pm.
And while that wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if the software had simply kept up with the times, unfortunately, that’s not been the case. Quicken has been around since 1983. And that’s about how long I’ve been on hold with tech support. OK, just kidding, but the product has become synonymous with technical troubles, very few new or updated features and lackluster customer support. Here are some common complaints:. Synchronization Issues — Some Quicken users have reported problems synchronizing with their financial accounts. Crappy Customer Service — Now, to be fair, since Intuit sold Quicken in 2016, support has gotten better.
But there are still numerous complaints coming in. If you want “priority access” to a human on the phone, you’ll need to purchase either a Premier or Home & Business product. Mobile App Requires Desktop Software — More and more consumers (especially Millennials) have elected to skip the desktop and do all of their computing via a mobile device. Well, they won’t be able to use Quicken because, while there is an app for Android and Apple devices, it requires purchasing and synching with the desktop version. What About Quicken Online? Now, if you’ve been a Quicken user, you might remember a product called Quicken Online. About ten years ago, this was a pretty innovative service.
Quicken Online was a solid web-based personal finance tool along the lines of Mint and Personal Capital. It was even free for a while!
But then Intuit, the company that owned Quicken (along with TurboTax and QuickBooks), purchased Mint.com in 2009. Shortly after that, Quicken Online was scrapped.
And in 2016, the flagship Quicken product was sold to H.I.G. Now, if you’re among the many who have decided to, there are a bunch of replacements to choose from. Some are even free! Quicken Alternatives by Feature So let’s take a look at Investor Junkie’s favorite alternatives to this personal finance dinosaur. What feature are you looking for in Quicken? Chances are, there’s an alternative that can do it just as well or better.
From Bill Pay to Retirement Planning, here are our picks. Feature Recommended Service Budgeting Bill Pay Investment Tracking Bill Management Retirement Planning, Tax Reporting Transaction Reconciliation Our Favorite Quicken Alternatives Here’s some more information about our top Quicken alternatives. They range from handy mobile apps to full-blown software. Mac users, there are ideas in here for you, too! Betterment I know what you’re thinking — “What?!
Betterment is a. How is it an alternative to Quicken?!” Well, Betterment is one of the top apps for managing your investments. The service allows you to see all of your investment accounts — including external accounts. You can also use it to track your path to retirement. You can even purchase extra packages of personalized financial advice tailored to your savings and investing goals.
There’s no minimum investment required to use Betterment. Fees are as low as 0.15% of your portfolio. True, you can’t budget or pay your bills using Betterment, but for managing your investments, it’s top-notch. Cons. Not for DIYers. Cannot Asset-Allocate With External Accounts.
No REITs or Commodities 2. YNAB YNAB (stands for You Need a Budget) focuses on four basic principles: Stop living paycheck to paycheck, give every dollar a job, save for a rainy day, and roll with the punches. Like Personal Capital, it’s less about tracking where your money went and more about telling it where to go. This is a great software option for those especially interested in zero-based budgeting.
This app has a cult-like following with fans who love its strategy of giving every dollar a job. YNAB is budget-first and is designed to make you think about how you and your family spend, save or invest every single dollar you earn. It will send you alerts if you’ve overspent. You can either manually enter all of your transactions into the YNAB app, or you can connect it to your financial institutions and let YNAB do all the heavy lifting for you. The choice is yours. Now, YNAB isn’t free.
But it is very affordable: only $6.99 billed on an annual basis. That’s less than what I spend on my Netflix subscription.
And if you’re a student, you can enjoy YNAB for 100% free. Cons. No Phone or Email Contact. Not a One-Stop Shop for All Things Financial. Lacks Two-Factor Authentication 3. Moneydance Moneydance used to just be a desktop app, but it’s made the move to mobile.
(And hey, Linux lovers can use it too!) This app allows you to create a budget, gives you bill-pay reminders, generates helpful financial charts and graphs and offers investment support. You can link your accounts online for automatic updates or enter your information manually. Out of all the other alternatives, we think Moneydance comes closest to Quicken. Its interface resembles a good old-fashioned ledger, and you can even import all your data from an existing Quicken account. Moneydance gives you helpful graphics and reports that can help us visual-thinkers picture our expenditures and budgets. And the app will also track your investment portfolios and keep you up to date on what’s going on with your stocks.
It’s also super affordable: There’s just a one-time purchase of $49.99. Cons. Transferring Data From Quicken Can Be Difficult 4. Moneyspire Moneyspire was created to help streamline the task of money management. This is an app that can help you not only establish your budget and track your bills, but it can also monitor your investments. Best of all, Moneyspire is very simple to use and makes seeing your financial picture a no-brainer. With this app, you’ll spend most of your time looking at your dashboard screen, so you don’t need to jump back and forth between views.
You can create a budget and download transactions from your bank. Moneyspire offers support for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Moneyspire is free to try and can be downloaded from the company’s website. However, take note that the mobile version is available for iOS only, with no Android support.
Cons. Cumbersome Setup. No Android Support. Possible Bank Fees. Free App Is Limited 5. Banktivity Hey, Mac users! This one’s for you.
Banktivity is one of the few native applications for Apple’s MacOS operating system, along with Moneydance and Moneyspire. Of these three, Banktivity is the one with the most features. Also, like Quicken for Windows, Banktivity offers mobile synchronization with your iPad, iPhone, and even your Apple Watch. This Mac-first app looks and feels natural for Mac computers rather than just putting a Windows program in a Mac wrapper. Banktivity is easy to navigate, and you can quickly find what you need.
Or you can set up workspaces (pages) to see exactly what you want when you want it. Cons. Requires Latest macOS. Odd Portfolio Categorization 6. Personal Capital While many other personal finance programs focus on budgeting and where you’re money has gone, Personal Capital emphasizes where your money is going. That’s because it stresses the importance of investing and saving for retirement.
Sure, you can track your expenses with the Personal Capital app, but you can also create an investing plan — and even have Personal Capital analyze your investing fees and come up with a way to help you avoid them. Personal Capital summarizes all of your accounts in one dashboard to give you a holistic financial picture. You can link it to your checking, savings, credit and investment accounts, and Personal Capital will calculate your budget patterns.
But on top of this, it will use your financial data to estimate your retirement income. Using this information, Personal Capital can help you create an ideal asset allocation and retirement plan. Best of all, Personal Capital is FREE. Here’s a good testimonial for you: Larry Ludwig, our editor-in-chief, has replaced Quicken with Personal Capital. Cons. Asset Allocation Is Not Customizable. Budgeting Tool Needs Improvement.
Cannot Reconcile. Expensive Wealth Management Service. High Minimum for Wealth Management.
No Import Option From Quicken. Sales Calls from Personal Capital 7. CountAbout CountAbout is an online service that automatically downloads your transactions into one central place and allows you to create budgets with ease. Unique to CountAbout, you can import your existing transactions from Mint or Quicken.
Sign up for the free 15-day trial. It is rare to find a web-based personal finance app that can import from Quicken or Mint, but CountAbout has you covered. And you can access your data from your phone. While CountAbout is not free, it offers a clean, ad-free experience.
Cons. No Bill Pay. Annual Fee. No Financial Planning 8.
PocketSmith Not only does web-based PocketSmith let you track your spending, but it generates projections of your future financial picture. You can also create monthly, weekly or even daily budgets that start on any day you choose (no waiting until the first of the month). PocketSmith is easy to set up and use, and it’s flexible and convenient. Plus, its unique calendar feature is extremely handy and gives you a window on the future of your finances.