5 Reliable Quicken Alternatives for iPad

Quicken is a very comprehensive financial management app that can help you control spending and saving. Like many such apps, it was initially designed for enterprise so there are many features we would never use. If you think this app a little too in-depth for your needs, these five reliable Quicken alternatives for iPad could be just the thing.

Financial management apps are a great way to keep finances in order, budget effectively and save up for big ticket items. Many are free and some cost money. If you’re serious about managing your finances, these could be one way to do it. I have tested some of the leading Quicken alternatives for iPad to see if they measure up to the hype. Here is what I found.

Mint.com

Mint.com is an online Quicken alternative that you can use with your iPad. It is owned and run by Intuit, the guys who just sold Quicken. It apparently has over 15 million users and has evolved into a very capable financial platform. It is free to use and contains no paywalls. Instead, Intuit make money on referrals from sponsored services.

Mint.com is great for budgeting and managing your credit score. There are also custom alerts which can help you avoid overspending or tapping your overdraft. You can pay bills, track investments and calculate and monitor your net worth.

Some elements of the site are a little clunky though. Data doesn’t always sync, the site now has banner ads and generating reports can be slow. Other than that, it is a very reliable Quicken alternative.

Personal Capital

Personal Capital is more focused on investing than managing finances but is another credible Quicken alternative. It is designed more for wealthier people wanting to track net worth, investments, taxes and assets but does everything very well.

There are two services on offer, a free financial tracking app that does many things that Quicken does and a wealth management app that goes more in depth on the investing side of your finances. Both are rated very highly in financial circles for their usability. The wealth management service costs money while the financial tracking app does not. Both are straightforward to use and feature a wide array of planning and analysis tools.

Both sides of Personal Capital are very good at what they do. All UI elements contain help contexts and there is a lot of help and advice on the site. Whether you are a beginner investor or seasoned veteran, there is a lot to recommend Personal Capital.

Banktivity

Banktivity is another reliable alternative to Quicken that you can use on iPad. Run by IGG Software, Banktivity helps you pay bills, manage savings, track spending and manage budgets. It is important to note up front that this app isn’t free and costs $59.99. While Mint.com and Personal Capital are mostly free, Banktivity is not. It may be worth the investment though.

Banktivity can securely connect directly to your bank, automatically update balances and budgets, offer investing advice and real-time data, has specific iPad tools and works well in almost every situation. It is also fairly straightforward to get to grips with although has a steep learning curve once you get past the basics.

Banktivity can also sync all your financial data to your iPad or iPhone so you always know where you are and where you stand. This is useful if you like being up to date at all times. As it was written for Mac OS and not converted to it, Banktivity seems to work flawlessly. The initial sync of your data may take a while, but incremental updates after that are done in seconds. Data is easily accessible and there are a lot of analysis tools within the app to keep you abreast of what’s going on.

CountAbout

CountAbout is another reliable Quicken alternative for iPad that is well worth trying. It isn’t free though. It costs $9.99 per year for basic use and $39.99 per year for premium. The main difference between the two is automatic downloading of your bank data. The basic membership doesn’t provide this while premium does.

The system is very usable, with the main transactions window appearing as soon as you log in. All your data is only a click or two away and you can import data directly from your bank, from Quicken or Mint.com too. That makes the transition from Quicken simple as can be.

CountAbout offers the ability to pay bills, import your financial data and generate reports on spending and saving. There are also no ads as this is a paid-for service. On the downside, you cannot pay bills through the app and there is no investment aspect to the program whatsoever. Despite this, if you’re looking for help with budgeting and managing cash savings, it delivers a very credible experience.

YNAB

Another widely respected Quicken alternative is YNAB. YNAB stands for ‘You Need a Budget’ and boy is it right! The app was created by a CPA couple who wanted something to manage their own budget. It proved so successful that they released it into the wild as YNAB. It now has millions of users across the country. It does cost $50 a year to use though.

The interface is colorful and very clear. It makes seeing where money goes very simple and helps manage every single dollar. There is a regular blog and an active community too.

YNAB is all about the budget. It doesn’t offer investment tools or try to do too many things. What it does, it does well. Not only does it make it easy to manage your savings and spending, it also offers genuinely actionable advice on managing money. So while it might cost $50 a year to use, it could save you much more than that in the guidance it gives.

A note about security

Each of these services prioritizes security as much as possible. All have a good track record of security and include data encryption and HTTPS as part of the deal. As far as I can tell, these platforms are as safe as a bank and do everything they can to safeguard your data. That said, any financial data stored online is theoretically at risk so keep an eye on your finances in all meaning of the word!