Personal Finance Software

Continuing the discussion from Finances 2 personal finances, personal accounts only:

This obvious bug has ended my Finances2 trial, I just don’t need the hassle in my life. Not being able to see the what if scenario unless change dates to present and then the hassle of changing them back again is just not worth it. Despite the time spent copying data from Banktivity, I am ditching Finances 2 . Banktivity is going after many years due to their ridiculous greedy subscription model, (GREEDY BANKERS), so still looking out for a simple finance system to keep track of my money. Maybe iOS only is the way forward. Spend Stack , looks good and is getting excellent reviews and seems to be in active development.

I will return to a recommendation that I made many years ago … MoneyWell. I just checked. The developers are back to work on the nuke and repave to bring it to a modern era even as they continue to breath life into the old framework for the newest OS and Apple Silicon. Even in its current rather dated UI, I found that MoneyWell combined the best of what folks find in YNAB with a more intuitive UI to approach bucket-type budgeting.

It is not an app for high power finance management to pull down multiple investment portfolios.

It is not (yet) an app when you need macOS and iOS apps.

It is an app that can help you stay more on track with plans for where you could and should be spending your money before you get it (as opposed to tracking where you spent your money after it is gone).


JJW

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I really like Debit & Credit. Meets my needs. Might be worth a look.

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That’s good news about Moneywell! I used it for many years until they sold it and it went downhill. My needs are simple — just tracking my checking+savings accounts — so I really focused on how good the interface was and how nice-looking the program is.

I switched to Banktivity after getting fed up with Quicken’s huge in-app advertising when a “new” version was released. I don’t do the subscription with Banktivity as I don’t need those features. 2020 was the first year I used it to help with tax prep, and I must admit it was not great. The reporting in Banktivity is not good enough for me, so I’ll be looking for a new program.

Don’t get me wrong, I was able to export the data just fine and make my own reports, but that’s not the point. I used to be able to do this directly in Moneywell and Quicken, so I’m hoping to find a program to replicate this.

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Try MoneyWiz. Been using it for a few years now and it’s great. Always kept updated and fresh, it’s a great app.

MoneyWiz working very well for me. I have used it for quite a few years.

I’m using MoneySpire, meets my needs and is on MacOS and iOS

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I’m using this application.

Thanks everyone , Moneywell looks good, might give it a try

You Need A Budget is fantastic, provided you’re okay shifting to accommodate the YNAB Way.

CoPilot might be a bit too simplistic for your needs, but it has a Mac and iOS app, and also a really decent set of iOS 14 widgets. No web access.

Simplifi (by Quicken) has better connectivity than most Plaid-powered software, but no iOS 14 widget. No Mac app, but It supports iOS and web.

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One essential requirement I have is an app that handles attachments for both transactions (eg invoices) and accounts (eg statements). Quicken could do both, but its subscription model became too expensive and I stopped using it. Once your subscription stops however you lose access to your data… that’s not something I wanted in an alternative app! Other requirements I have include the ability to split transactions (with notes for each line item), reconcile accounts, and support balance sheet items (assets and liabilities). Attachments however seem to be a hurdle for many of these apps.

Some apps don’t support attachments at all, some only support certain file types (eg jpg but not pdf), some apps exhibit poor functionality (eg MoneyWiz attachments can only be displayed within a tiny window that can’t be enlarged so its unreadable on-screen). Many apps have good user interfaces but deficient functionality!

I’ve been using Finances 2 for 12 months. It has a good user interface and is fairly easy to use, but it also has a number of technical problems and design deficiencies. The support is not great either. I’m now looking for a replacement!

The life of the apps is also a concern for me. I suspect many of the available apps are from single-person developers whose enthusiasm to keep improving their app may dissipate or disappear over time! Exporting and importing into other apps is often difficult, so you really don’t want to make a bad choice!