Human coaching maximizes app success: Pairing a money tracking app with free, personalized financial coaching dramatically increases your ability to cut bills and build lasting savings habits.
For years, Mint was the undisputed king of free budgeting apps. After a 17-year run, it shut down in 2024, and people have been searching for Mint replacement apps ever since.
Unfortunately, free budgeting apps are increasingly hard to find. Many of the best budget apps for 2026 — such as Monarch Money, Copilot Money and YNAB — charge a subscription fee. Some people may be tempted to turn to AI tools to create a free budget, but while ChatGPT and Gemini might be able to help with general budgeting advice, that’s not the place to enter sensitive information such as account numbers or bank statements.
Still, there are free money management apps if you know where to look. Some of them are 100% free while others require a subscription to access all features. If you feel overwhelmed by options, here are some of the best free budgeting apps available.
| Budgeting App | Plan Options | Free Features | Best For |
| SoFi Relay | Free | Credit score monitoring Online budgeting Spending tracker Debt summary |
Expense tracking |
| Debt Payoff Planner | Free Pro ($2/mo) |
Debt organization Compare debt payoff strategies Track progress |
Debt deletion |
| EveryDollar | Free Premium ($17.99/mo) |
Customizable budget Savings funds |
Budget creation |
| Empower | Free | Expense tracking Budgeting Portfolio analysis Retirement planning |
Saving and investing |
| Zogo | Free | Gamified learning Earn rewards |
Financial education |
1. Expense Tracking: SoFi Relay
For a comprehensive budgeting app, try SoFi Relay. It offers both budget planning and expense tracking in one place. You can also monitor your credit score, investments and property values in the app.
The SoFi app can connect to more than 12,000 financial institutions, making it easy to access all your account data in one place. Use it to plan for upcoming bills, spot recurring subscription charges and gain insights into which spending categories are claiming most of your money.
There is even an option to get professional help if you need it. SoFi members can request a 30-minute call with a financial planner for free.
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2. Debt Deletion: Debt Payoff Planner
If debt is your primary concern, try the Debt Payoff Planner. In a survey of users, more than 90% reported greater motivation, increased determination and a faster payoff timeline.
Most people will find the free version of the app meets their needs, and adding debts is simple. To get started, you’ll only need to enter the balance, APR and minimum payment of each debt. Then, the Debt Payoff Planner will help organize those debts and create a payoff strategy.
With charts, countdowns and progress celebrations, this app is designed to keep you on the path to financial freedom.
3. Budget Creation: EveryDollar
Based on Dave Ramsey’s philosophy of giving every dollar a job, EveryDollar is a zero-based budgeting app. In other words, you decide how every dollar you earn will be spent or saved.
“It’s nice because it wants you to account for every dollar and that forced me to pool money for different things like phone, groceries, gas and eating out,” says Stephanie Siegler of Allegan, Michigan, who has used the app for several years. “I’m able to adjust as needed and see where my money is going.”
While the app has a paid version that automatically links to accounts, Siegler says she prefers the free version. EveryDollar says that most new users can “find $3,015 in 15 minutes” by identifying places to reduce their spending..
[Read: How to Talk to Your Kids and Parents About Money: A Generational Finance Guide]
4. Saving and Investing: Empower
Empower combines budgeting tools with investment and net-worth tracking.
“I use Empower Personal Dashboard, mostly to track my net worth, but it also offers a view of all my transactions and some limited budgeting functionality,” explains Harlan Vaughn, a personal finance writer. “It’s helpful to see everything in one place and get charts of top spending categories.”
The app can link to accounts from more than 16,000 financial institutions, including banks, mortgage lenders, brokerages and credit card companies. Once linked, you can review spending trends, track savings and plan for retirement.
5. Financial Education: Zogo
Budgeting confidently starts with having the proper knowledge to back up your decisions. That’s where Zogo comes in.
This isn’t a budgeting app in the sense that it will allow you to create a budget and monitor finances, but it offers more than 1,200 short modules to teach you the ins and outs of managing your money. Zogo gamifies the learning process and offers rewards, such as gift cards, to those who continue to log on and learn.
The catch is that you can only sign up for Zogo through a participating financial institution. More than 250 banks, credit unions and financial technology firms currently partner with Zogo, so check to see if your institution offers it.
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Bonus: Budget Coaching from Money Canvas
Pairing a budgeting app with personal coaching can be a good way to get ahead financially. Money Canvas isn’t an app, but it is a free service that anyone can use to understand the budgeting process better and implement their spending plan.
The service matches participants with coaches, and the program includes three 60-minute sessions on Zoom. The sessions build on one another and cover organizing finances, trimming bills and creating healthy spending habits. Users report an average monthly savings of $645.
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These Are the 5 Best Free Budgeting Apps to Use originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 06/09/26: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
