Looking for a Mint replacement

Mint was free, and that's the part everyone remembers. It's also why it closed. The product got paid for by pointing you at credit cards and loans, which works out better for the referrer than for you. Every serious replacement costs money now. You were paying for Mint too — just not in dollars.

Most people leaving Mint want the same three things back: every account in one place, spending sorted without being asked, and bills that turn up before they land. Mint did all three well. What it never did was look forward. It told you where the money went, not what you can spend next.

We do all three, plus the one Mint never got to: a safe-to-spend number that's already taken the rest of the month's bills off the top. We read CSV, OFX and QFX, so whatever you exported before the lights went out isn't stranded. And if you never got around to exporting, reconnecting the same banks rebuilds most of it.

What to ask before you commit

Whichever one you pick, put these four to it. They're what separates an app that shows you a number from one that can back it up.

• Can it reconcile against a statement? If it can't, a missed transaction or a duplicate stays wrong forever.
• Will it open a file? Plenty of small banks and credit unions won't connect. With no CSV, OFX or QFX import, those accounts simply can't be tracked.
• Does a transfer count as one movement? Money you shift between your own accounts isn't spending. An app that logs it as spending overstates what you spend, every month.
• Can you get all of it back out? You're handing over years of history. Check the exit before you walk in.

We answer yes to all four. So does YNAB, at twice the price — here's that comparison. Monarch and Copilot both answer no on reconciliation, and Copilot won't open a file at all.