What’s special about Goodbudget?

Goodbudget adapts the envelope system or cash stuffing, a popular budgeting method on TikTok — it involves putting cash into envelopes for different spending categories at the beginning of the month — for digital use. Where you’d previously fill labeled paper envelopes with an allotted amount of cash, with Goodbudget, you do the same, but with animated envelopes. Ideal for beginners or couples who are hesitant about online budgeting, Goodbudget’s Budget Bootcamp walks you through your new routine step by step without piling on too much information at once.

Pros:

Bells and whistles of other apps are certainly fun, but Goodbudget proves that sometimes less is more where your finances are concerned. The free version offers 20 envelopes, which was more than enough for my partner and I to arrange our various purchase groups — we actually had six unused categories once we completed our setup.

My favorite trait about Goodbudget: the courses, articles, and even podcast episodes the brand created to help users achieve their financial dreams. With tutorials like “Get Out Of Debt,” “Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck,” and “Save For Retirement,” not only are you signing up for better budgeting practices, but you’re also getting a financial advisor at the same time. Whenever I had an extra 15 or 30 minutes to spare after going through our weekly purchases, I tuned into a quick lesson, which in turn allowed me to use the app to its fullest abilities.

Cons:

While the overall setup process was relatively simple and quick (it took me less than five minutes), I felt like the app was seriously lacking any personalization features. I was able to change the names of my envelopes, but other than that, Goodbudget felt more like an Excel spreadsheet. Plus, it’s an expensive Excel spreadsheet at that — it rings in at $10 a month, or $80 a year.

I was also pretty disappointed that syncing your bank account and credit cards was not an option at all. Because I had to manually add every single transaction, I found myself forgetting to update the app daily, so I’d occasionally miss a purchase.

Overall Score: 2.5/5

A friend of mine initially recommended Goodbudget to me after it worked so well for her and her partner, so I had high hopes. But after a week, the app felt overly vague. I view budgeting as an incredibly personal thing — especially if you’re aiming to get out of an unfortunate fiscal position — so the missing personalization options were really big deal-breakers and made me dread using the app in the long run.

If I had a do-over, I would spend more time on the official website than the app, because it offered all the instructional information I needed without committing to any long-term subscription.

What’s special about Tandem?

The concept of Tandem is simple: It’s “built by couples, for couples to make money management easier.” The app not only helps you finance everyday purchases with more intention, but it also makes saving for a trip to the Bahamas actually exciting through interactive goals. You can even earn interest together as a couple through a high-yield savings account in the app.

Pros:

Loading our bank accounts took no longer than five minutes and because of the app’s collaboration with Plaid (a financial technology company that safely and securely connects your bank accounts to apps), the whole upload process felt incredibly safe and secure.

The function my boyfriend and I can’t get over? The goals section. Whether you’re manifesting a home, a vacation, new furniture, a car, or even a wedding, Tandem has a separate space devoted just to making your goals a reality, which made us as a pair more motivated to get ahold of our finances. Because of Tandem, we were able to save over $100 for our summer vacation in less than a week.

Cons:

While they have over 11,000 bank institutions to sync to the app, adding your credit card is a fairly new feature for Tandem. So, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t sync automatically — it took over four hours for my recent Sephora splurge to appear in my Tandem purchase history. If you prefer more immediate breakdowns of your purchases, Tandem is not for you.

Yes, Tandem offers a completely free plan; however, it’ll be $11.99 a month if you want access to features like instant access to transactions, unlimited transfers to your partner’s bank account, highly-detailed split history (like where you shopped and when), and chatting with your partner in-app.

It’s also a stage 5 clinger. Less than 15 minutes after I signed up, I received a text from the brand urging me to “nudge my partner to join today.” Not even 12 hours later, I got another notification from the same mysterious number with another reminder to sign up my boyfriend. Give me a second, Tandem. We’re getting there.

Overall Score: 3.5/5

It’s been six months since I conducted this experiment, and I’m still getting texts from Tandem. And yes, I’ve unsubscribed three times now. My last “nudge” was at 3 a.m. last Friday night — it’s giving major creepy-ex vibes. That reason alone is enough to make me delete Tandem from my phone. But other than that, with the slow transaction updates, limited transfers, and no in-app chat, the $12 monthly fee (the most expensive rate on this list) just isn’t worth it, IMO.

What’s special about Buddy?

If you’re someone who experiences financial anxiety (same), give Buddy a chance. Known as the “joyful budgeting app,” Buddy offers an entirely customizable experience. You can change the color palettes, the layout, and even go from dark to light mode — all key optimizations included to make managing your money less terrifying. Even with all the dopamine-inducing features, it’s certainly not lacking in the productivity department.

Pros:

I love to splurge on little treats, so Buddy’s daily budget feature (which notifies you if you’re about to exceed your set daily spending limit) quickly became my trusty financial coach. But even with the consistent reminders, the app didn’t discourage spending money on things or experiences I truly wanted. It would even notify me if I had an extra bit of moola available one day (*chef’s kiss*).

Buddy also helped us cut down on frivolous spending, starting with pulling up all our subscriptions off our bank statements and allowing us to cancel the ones we had inevitably forgotten about in the app. And did I mention you can sync up all your credit card, checking, and savings accounts? I’m obsessed. Unlike the other apps, Buddy even helps you raise your credit score by sharing personalized suggestions based on your spending history.

Cons:

When my boyfriend and I first signed up for Buddy, he still had an Android phone (he has since come over to the dark side aka Apple). Even though Buddy is available for both Apple and Android users, we noticed a few functions, like the recent transactions and cash flow pages, weren’t as efficient on his phone as they were on my iPhone. While this problem could’ve just been his awful phone acting up, with the number of times it occurred, we felt it was worth it to note.

On top of that, all these amazing features do not come for free. After a seven-day free trial, you can pay $49.99 a year, or $0.96 a week, to get all the perks Buddy has to offer.

Overall Score: 4/5

The subscription fee aside, Buddy seems like a logical way to combine self- and financial care (yes, that’s a real thing). Would I have loved it even more if it was free? Of course, free samples are my love language. But after assessing how much money I saved by canceling those other unused subscriptions and cutting down on my girl lunch purchases, the $50 annual fee was the least of my worries.

Just think, in girl math terms, you’re saving money by spending the $50 on the app instead of a $200-plus appointment with a financial advisor.

What’s special about Monarch?

Rated the “Best Budgeting App” of 2024 by the Wall Street Journal, Monarch’s objective is to help you and your partner reach your financial goals quicker and more efficiently by tracking your balances, transactions, and even your investments. And even though you’re technically working with your partner to maintain your finances, Monarch assures you have total control over how much information is or isn’t shared with them. It basically does everything for you, while still taking your preferences into account.

Pros:

As soon as I signed into my account, I realized this app has everything. The longer you use it, the more positives pop up (i.e., it compares your previous and current month standings). Monarch also never wants you to be surprised by a purchase. To avoid that, the app organizes all your recurring purchases onto a separate calendar and notifies you before they appear on your credit card statement, because there’s nothing worse than forgetting you’re about to lose funds.

Though we didn’t use it long enough to receive this feature, through research I learned Monarch sends out a monthly email report that debriefs all your purchases and waves any red flags they see with your spending customs — thus, making you and your partner more aware of every time you press “place order.”

Cons:

Much like Buddy, after a seven-day free trial, the app costs $99.99 a year (or $8.33 a month).

Overall Score: 4.5/5

To say Monarch is the mothership of budgeting apps would be a severe understatement. It’s like if someone took notes on what my partner and my dreams are for a budgeting app and made them come true, from how easy it is to stay up to date on what we owe each other to the expansive cash flow section.

What’s special about Honeydue?

Logging into multiple accounts before paying your bills is probably one of the most annoying things about the entire process. (Can’t they all just have face recognition and call it a day?) Couples finance app Honeydue — which aims to help you “argue less, and save more with your soulmate” — displays both your individual *and* joint bills, budgets, and balances in separate pop-ups, so you can easily dart back and forth among your spending habits, your partner’s, and couple’s expenses.

Pros:

Unlike the rest of the apps on this list, Honeydue is 100% free, so as someone with one too many in-app subscriptions, I was sold immediately. The app also has a “split expenses” feature, which organizes how much you owe your partner and even allows you to “settle up balance” in the app — a game-changer for a couple with separate banking accounts.

Another green flag from Honeydue? It works with over 20,000 banks, so no matter where you’re located, you can keep a close eye on your bank account balance (even if you’re from a small town in the Midwest like I am). I also loved Honeydue’s chat option, where I could talk through concerns or questions with my boyfriend in real time. By limiting our financial conversations to only while using the app, we were able to save our face-to-face time for more meaningful heart-to-hearts.

Cons:

The only beige flag I noticed? The app doesn’t support debit cards when it comes to tracking your purchases. But as a credit card-only user myself, this small issue didn’t matter.

Overall Score: 4.75/5

Honeydue really is *that* girl. Thanks to the app, creating a budget and sticking to it finally doesn’t feel like a chore. I wasn’t sure if it would be possible to find an app this great without spending any money, but Honeydue does everything the paid apps do and more! Plus, it’s aesthetically pleasing and incredibly straightforward to use — even for new iPhone users like my SO.