Budgeting is never going to be fun, but at least budgeting apps can make it easier to manage your money or put some aside to save for something big. Certain apps can suggest ways to cut down your expenses, or identify subscriptions you might not be using. And many of these apps are free.
Here’s our pick of the budgeting apps crop.
Current & e-money accounts with budgeting features
Good all round budgeting and savings app: Revolut
Revolut Standard Account
Minimum opening balance
£0
Account fees
£45.00 per month
Interest (AER)
0% AER
Revolut is the app that has it all. Budgeting tools and savings features, as well as investing options, reward points and account integrations. With Revolut, you can link up your other bank accounts so you can have a full view of your finances. Then, within the app, you can auto-sort your salary, use pockets to organise your money, split the bill with friends and even get your salary paid 24 hours in advance. What makes Revolut stand out is that it has easy access interest-paying savings accounts, which are easily set up within the app, as well as a stocks and shares ISA and a general investing account. Revolut gives you the tools to not only manage your money but to grow it as well.
Monzo's app has a wealth of features designed to help your finances, from budgeting to saving to investing to rewards. Monzo is well-known for its Pots, but on its paid plans, its budgeting tools go beyond that. You can link virtual cards to Pots to pay for certain bills, you can also create custom spending categories, create an auto-spreadsheet with your Monzo transactions that can be updated in real time and access your credit score. You can even encourage yourself to save with the 1p savings challenge. Within the app, you can easily set up and manage an Instant Access Savings Pot or Cash ISA, as well as invest using ready-made portfolios. And soon, you'll be able to combine your old pensions into a Monzo SIPP.
Representative example: If you use an arranged overdraft of £1,200, you'll be charged interest at 39% EAR variable.
Pros
Easy to set up
Good for budgeting and categorising spending
Automatic saving feature
Fee-free spending abroad
Slick app with face login
Overdrafts and loans available
Cons
Free ATM withdrawals outside the EEA limited to £200,
£1 fee for depositing cash at PayPoints,
Maximum cash deposit of £1,000 every 6 months
No rewards program
Minimum opening balance
£0
Switch service guarantee
Yes
Account fees
£0
Overseas card transactions
0%
Overseas cash withdrawals
0% conversion fee plus cash fee of 0% on up to £400 per 30 days (3% thereafter)
Starling has a host of budgeting features that come with its joint account, making it a good fit for couples. Both of you can have full visibility of your finances, including auto-categorisation and spending analytics. Starling has also harnessed the power of AI so you can ask it questions and learn about your spending habits - a good jumping off point for joint conversations about finances. Within the app, there are savings spaces and virtual cards to help manage and pay household bills, as well as a salary sort feature which automatically sorts your salary into the assigned spaces at the start of the month.
Representative example: If you use an arranged overdraft of £1,200, you'll be charged interest at 15% EAR variable.
This budgeting app is designed to make it easier to plan, share and spend your money - and best of all, it’s free to use. As its name implies, you can open different “Jars” to allocate and organise your money for different purposes. For example, you could separate your Jars into kids’ clubs, groceries, and bills. You can also share Jars to act as digital kitties for between 2 and 100 people, making it easier to split bills on nights out. The Hyperjar card allows you to spend directly from your Wallet or any Jar, so you’ll know what you’ve spent where, and there are no fees for spending on your card abroad either. There's even an app and card for kids too.
Free to use
You can allocate spending money, bills and savings into separate Jars
Fee-free spending abroad
“H Money” programme lets you lock in cash to spend at certain retailers which earns an Annual Growth Rate until you spend it
Create shared Jars to split bills or joint holidays with family or friends
Kids’ app and card also available
It’s not a bank account so you’ll need to transfer money into it
You’ll need to stay organised to manage your different Jars
Before using your card you’ll need to link it to your Wallet or a specific Jar
The basic version of the Emma app is free and works in the same way as its peers, by pooling your account data. But it focuses on categorising transactions and suggesting where you’re overspending, including which one of your bank accounts is charging you the most in fees. Emma flags subscriptions you could cancel and tells you if you go over budget on any of the category spending limits you set. But it has less in the way of visuals and month-by-month comparisons than some of its rivals. One advantage to Emma is that it can integrate with your pension and investment and cryptocurrency holdings, if your provider is compatible with Emma.
Grouping all your accounts in one easy app will make budgeting easier
Stylish app with a number of budgeting features
Monthly savings prompt could help you save an affordable amount each month
Can integrate with all the big banks and a couple of the rising digital banks like Monzo and Starling
Track your cryptocurrency balances alongside your more conventional bank accounts
No week-by-week or month-by-month comparison feature. Makes it harder to track changes to spending habits
Like most budgeting app, it’s read only – so you can’t move money between accounts or make payments yet
Cost
Free (paid-for plans available)
Cancel subscription
Yes
Spending categorisation
Yes
Spending analysis
Yes
Budgeting tools
Yes
Automatic switching service
Yes
Saving pots
Yes
Account types
Current accounts Savings accounts Credit cards Investments Loans Cryptocurrency
If you're struggling to save and need a kick-start, Plum is the savings app for you. Plum uses AI and automation to support deposits to its range of "Auto Savers", which are 8 different savings challenges designed to encourage your savings habit. These include the 1p savings challenge, where you can ask Plum to save an extra penny every day for a year, and the 52-week challenge, where you set aside an extra £1 every week for a year. However, some of these challenges are only available on Plum's paid-for plans. Plum also has a range of other features to make sure you're making the most of your money, including savings accounts, investing options and pensions.
Integrates with all the major UK banks including digital banks like Starling and Monzo
Automated savings deposits determined by “savings moods”
Alerts if you’re overpaying on household bills
Interest Pockets for all subscribers
Opportunities to consolidate existing pension schemes
If you choose to invest with Plum, your capital is at risk
Access to money isn’t instantaneous, it can take 24 hours
Customer funds are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (apart from money in Interest Pockets, which is held on trust at the Investec banking group)
Rooster Card Subscription is free for current Natwest Group customers (card for ages 6-17, offer T&C's and other fees may apply).
Rooster Money has a big emphasis on keeping track of pocket money – and the chores that kids do to earn it.
Rooster Money comes in 2 parts. The first is a free app, designed for children as young as 3, to earn stars for small jobs they’ve done or things they’ve achieved. They can then see these stars add up and turn into rewards, such as their weekly pocket money, which parents will need to hand over in cash.
The second part of Rooster Money (which involves a yearly subscription) is a prepaid card with an app for parents and kids. It's for children aged 6-18. Parents can load it with money, and set controls in the app on where that pocket money is spent using the card.
Pros
Great educational value; a slick app with lots of features to personalise the way you teach your children about finance.
Children as young as 4 years old can use it (6 for the card).
Total control over where your children use the card and how much they can spend.
Safe and secure. The card can be frozen from the app.
No fees for using the card (including abroad).
One-month free trial.
Cons
If not a NatWest customer, monthly/annual fee to access the full range of features.
Caps on the maximum number of parent account loads per day and per month.
No interest paid on the account balance.
UK cash withdrawal fee
£0
Loading fee
Free
Replacement card fee
Free for the first replacement (per household), £5 thereafter
Chip makes saving easy with its AI savings tools and variety of savings accounts. You can take your pick from instant access or easy access accounts, a cash ISA with a competitive interest rate or Chip’s unique Prize Savings Account, where you can win a share of £75,000 in prizes. Chip also uses AI to calculate how much you can save each month, taking the mental load off your shoulders. Alternatively, you can set up recurring deposits, which let you choose the amount, day of the week, and the savings account you want to deposit money into.
How we chose these budgeting apps
From among the products featured on the site, we highlight those which our scoring, expert analysis and testing show are the best fit for specific categories, and then we display these picks in relevant guides on the site. The list includes apps that are not partners – our experts consider the whole of the market. A “good for” pick can mean that we felt several apps were about equal, so there was no “best” winner. Our picks might not be best for all circumstances, so it’s important to consider what your needs are before you choose your budgeting app. More details in our guide to how we rate budgeting apps.
Why should I use a budgeting app?
You don’t have to. You could whip up a financial modelling spreadsheet instead to track your incomings and outgoings each month using an array of formulae…! You could even update your spreadsheet every day and keep hold of receipts and track your expenses.
Or if you’re a bit lazier, you could download a budgeting app today and it could take care of all of that for you.
The real benefit of these apps over manual budgeting and traditional banks is simplicity and ease of use. And most of them are free.
But it’s worth remembering that lots of digital banking apps are free, too (such as Revolut, Monzo, Starling, and Monese). So if you have a current account with one of these, you can also visualise your spending on-the-go and in real time.
If they’re free, how do budgeting apps make money?
Some of these apps are drawing in customers with free services, and will then offer add-ons or a premium version, or other services that will generate revenue. A couple of ways the free apps generate money right now are: selling anonymised spending insights to market research companies or offering potentially better deals, and then making a commission if you sign up to any of them.
What about free banking apps?
The challenger banking brands that started offering a basic account have started to diversify into other banking products (such as savings accounts, loans and kids’ cards). These products provide revenue sources. They’ve also launched premium versions, which generate revenue through a monthly fee. Some offer budgeting features too.
What about regular savings accounts?
If you’re looking for interest on your savings, then a regular current or savings account from a challenger bank (and indeed from many traditional banks) might not be for you. Interest rates have been low for years, and that doesn’t look likely to change.
While a few do offer interest (see below), most don’t.
The way budgeting and banking apps help you is by acting as pocket accountants, automatically categorising transactions so you can budget better.
If you think you’re spending too much on eating out, then take a look at the cold hard numbers. Many apps provide graphs and charts to ram home the message.”
In terms of helping you save up, apps like Revolut use algorithms to work out how much you can afford to squirrel away. If you choose, they’ll also automatically transfer the money to a savings pot.
Which of these apps can I earn interest from?
Longer-term savers may be looking to earn interest from accounts with a better rate. However, there are some options for saving and investing from among the challenger apps.
Tandem offers a fixed savings account. Check out our Tandem review to find out more.
Starling offers (a very small amount of) interest, so it’s worth considering.
So does Monzo, but you need to be able to put aside at least £1,000 to open a Savings Pot.
Moneybox is an easy and simple investment app which works by rounding up your transaction to the nearest pound and investing the spare change in a share portfolio.
Here is a list of factors to consider when deciding which budgeting app is the best for your needs.
The cost. Some budgeting apps are free, but the more complex apps will charge a one-off fee or a paid subscription.
Do you want to connect with your bank accounts? Is it important for you to see your balance(s) in real time? Only some budgeting apps allow this.
Desktop or mobile? Do you want to be able to use your budgeting app on desktop, mobile or both?
Do you want to monitor your investments? Some apps offer investment monitoring services, but others don’t.
Do you want to automate your savings? Some apps, like Chip and Plum, will automatically move funds into a savings account for you. Is this a desire of yours?
Do you want help reaching a savings goal? Some apps are designed to help you save more money. Others simply work as an accounting tool.
Bottom line
Most Brits would like to be more organised with their money and budgeting apps provide the perfect tool to make this a reality. These apps are either free or very affordable and can help you make smarter financial decisions.
Frequently asked questions about budgeting apps
Budgeting apps help to clarify where you’re spending money and where you can stand to spend less, in order to save more. However, it’s you that needs the financial discipline to actually budget more responsibly.
Some budgeting apps are free to use. Others charge a one-off fee, while some require a paid subscription.
The main of focus budgeting apps is to help you better understand where you’re spending your money, so you can make more intelligent budgeting decisions.
Accounting software is primarily aimed at those who need a detailed log of the income and outgoings, perhaps for tax purposes.
The thought of connecting budgeting apps to your bank account might cause you concerns about privacy. This is largely unnecessary, though.
All of the apps we mentioned in this guide use Open Banking regulations when connecting to bank accounts. On top of that, they each use an acceptable standard of online security measures.
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Kate Steere is an editor at Finder, specialising in fintech, banking and cryptocurrency. She has previously written for The Motley Fool UK and Fitch Solutions, where she covered a wide range of personal finance topics and kept a close eye on market trends. Kate has a Bachelor of Arts in Modern History from the University of East Anglia. When not working, she can usually be found curled up with a good book or heading out for a run. See full bio
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