Budgeting is the quintessential tool for creating financial stability in your life and protecting your family in the process. By setting a plan and sticking to it, you can pay your bills on time, create an emergency fund, eliminate debt, and invest in your future. And the process of tracking your expenses couldn’t be simpler nowadays thanks to these best budget apps for families.

To make the process even easier for you, we’ll be highlighting features, pointing out areas for improvement, and sharing the costs associated with using each of the best budget apps for families on our list.

Our ultimate goal is to help you find the right budgeting app for your family so that you can streamline the entire budgeting process and build a foundation of financial security throughout your lifetime. 

Mint 

Mint is a budgeting app originally created by internet entrepreneur Aaron Patzer and recently acquired by Intuit—which also owns Turbotax, Credit Karma, Quickbooks, and Mailchimp. With over 30 million users, Mint is one of the most popular personal finance apps out there.

Best Features 

Mint is such a popular personal finance app for a reason. They provide some really great features for all users including:

• Seeing all of your accounts in one central location
• Identifying which categories you spend the most on every month
• A subscription management service that points out any recurring subscriptions you may have forgotten about
• A bill tracker that informs you when bills are coming due
• A free credit score
• A bill negotiation service that works to lower your bills for you (you pay 40% of the savings if they successfully lower your bills)

Areas for Improvement

Like any app, there are some areas for improvement when it comes to using Mint. 

The first one is that the app is entirely free so you can expect to see some advertisements while using both the app and the website. And that can be pretty annoying when you’re trying to update your budget or see how you’re pacing for the month.

The second area for improvement is that while you do have to log into all of your bank accounts for Mint to keep track of, you can’t actually transfer money from one account to another through their app. So, if you notice that one account is getting short on cash, you have to log out of Mint and log into your bank to complete the transfer.

Cost

Mint is entirely free for all users. There are no additional costs associated with different subscription levels or any hidden fees. With a free download, members instantly have access to all features on the platform. “Free” definitely helps when you're looking at the best budget apps for families if money is tight.

Related Content: How to Create Your Mint Budget in 10 Simple Steps (for Free)

EveryDollar

EveryDollar is a budgeting app created by Ramsey Solutions, a business founded by personal finance expert, radio host, and best-selling author Dave Ramsey. The app is specifically geared to those following Dave Ramsey’s famous money management system.

Best Features

There are some nice features to using EveryDollar and these include:

• Personalizing categories so you can have the ones you actually need
• Being able to split transactions up into multiple categories
• Syncing with more than one device so couples can use it together
• Setting savings goals
• Receiving due date reminders for bills
• Tracking debt payoff (premium version)

Areas for Improvement

While EveryDollar can be a great tool for families who follow Dave Ramsey's money management system, there are some definite downsides when you compare the app to others on the market.

The first downside is that the free version does not allow you to sync your bank accounts so you have to input every transaction manually, and that takes quite a bit of time.

The second noticeable downside is that it does not offer credit score monitoring or investment tracking with any of its subscriptions.

Cost

There are both free and paid versions of the EveryDollar app. 

With the free version, you get access to basic budgeting features like budget personalization, setting up savings funds, and syncing the app across multiple devices. 

With the premium plan—$12.99/mo or $79.99/year—you gain access to added features including connecting your bank accounts, recommendations based on your purchases, and custom income and spending reports.

Related Content: Mint vs. EveryDollar: Which Budget App is Better?

YNAB

YNAB—short for You Need a Budget—is a budgeting app created by a former CPA named Jesse Mecham. Based on a four-rule method of budgeting, YNAB makes our list of best budget apps for families because it helps out people who appreciate being proactive with their finances.

Best Features

YNAB is often recommended by experts in the personal finance space and for good reason. The app has some pretty nice features that make it so successful. These include:

• Ad-free
• Syncing in real-time across multiple devices
• Having a central view of all of your bank accounts, credit cards, and loan balances
• Smart categorization that learns your habits over time and allows you to split transactions
• Ability to have multiple budgets at once 
• Helping you plan for occasional, non-monthly expenses
• Setting spending and savings goals with targets
• Loan calculator
• Custom spending and net worth reports

Areas for Improvement

While YNAB is well-loved among its users, there are areas for improvement with this app as well.

The first issue is that it’s quite a bit pricier than the competition. In fact, it’s one of the most expensive options out there.

The second problem is that it takes more time to figure out than other apps. So, many people may give up on it before they really give it enough time. And that could lead them not to budget at all.

Cost

YNAB is strictly a paid app. While you can try the app out with a free 34-day trial, the app, and all of its features cost $14.99/mo or $99/year.

Monarch Money

Monarch Money is a powerful tool for all users! Whether you a single or a couple, you will find this platform equally powerful. It is a paid tool, but adding other members of your household (think partner, adult children, or even parents who might be living with you) comes at no added cost. Plus, you can determine what data becomes household data, allowing people to keep certain information separate.

It isn't just a budgeting tool either. Monarch Money tracks your spending, analyzing recurring expenses, encourages you to set and progress monitor goals, calculates your net worth, and even offers solid financial advice. It's web based and an app for iOs and Android, so there's a lot of user flexibility as well.

Best Features

Monarch Money has a ton of features that we love. Some of the ways that Monarch stands out from other budgeting apps include:

• A fully customizable dashboard that allows users to work with the data they want and need
• Ability to add other household members with separate log-in criteria
• Read-only data access and bank-level security to keep your account information protected
• A focus on future goals and progress to achieve them
• An ad-free experience that never includes any product upselling

Areas for Improvement

One of the most impressive aspects of Monarch Money is how responsive they are to user feedback. In fact, they actively request input for what their platform should tackle next.

Some suggestions we have would be for the to incorporate more cryptocurrency exchanges. They currently only support Coinbase. While we know that is a very popular crypto exchange, it certainly isn't the only one.

Additionally, we would be interested in seeing them offer the ability to track your credit score. While this information is readily (and freely!) available in multiple places, having it included in the Monarch dashboard seems reasonable enough.

Cost

After a free 7-day trial, you have to payment options. You can either pay month-by-month or pay a one-time annual fee.

Monthly: $14.99

Annual Fee: $99, or $8.33 per month

Honeydue

Honeydue is a personal finance app geared to helping couples manage their money together. Originally created by Eugene Park and Thien Tran, Honeydue was later acquired by Mission Lane—a financial technology company.

Best Features

Honeydue has nice features for couples looking to budget together and keep each other accountable for their joint spending and savings goals. The features couples who use the app enjoy most are:

• Having all individual and joint bank accounts, loans, and investments visible in one spot
• Receiving bill reminders before due dates and tracking bills that have already been paid
• Being able to communicate with your partner about certain transactions right in the app
• Having access to a joint bank account with no fees or minimums
• Keeping certain expenses private by assigning them to you only

Areas for Improvement

While Honeydue is a great budgeting tool for partners, there are a couple of ways the Honeydue app could be improved.

First, there is no desktop version of the tool, only the app. So, couples looking to budget together will have to sit together looking at one phone or each of their phones separately instead of looking at one large computer screen.

Second, their customer support is limited to a telephone number, an online forum, and an address you can write to. Users do not have access to instant messaging.

Cost

Honeydue is a free mobile app. Plus, the joint banking account within the app has no fees or minimums.

Related Content: Date Night Ideas That Aren't Boring

Empower

Empower, formerly known as Personal Capital, is a budgeting app that also offers an investment tool so you can track your income, expenses, investments, and net worth all in one place.

Best Features

Empower is a powerful tool that can help you see your entire financial picture at a glance. Some of the best features on the platform include:

• A dashboard with your net worth, assets, and liabilities all in one place
• A list of all of your monthly transactions including any deposits and expenses
• Cash flow charts 
• Budgeting tool
• A glance at your entire portfolio including your holdings and allocations
• An investment checkup tool with data on your concentration, sectors, and style as well as the fees you’re currently paying

Areas for Improvement

There are two noticeable downsides to using Empower as a budgeting tool.

The first is that it’s pretty complex and while many people find great value in all of the features and customization available, those who are looking for a simple, easy-to-use budgeting app may feel overwhelmed by how much this app can actually do.

The second issue is that once you have $100,000 in investable assets visible on the Empower app, you can expect to start getting sales calls from their advisors. While you certainly don’t have to allow them to manage your retirement portfolio, you will be asked to—at least once per year.

Cost

Empower is a free app for all users. However, you do have the option to allow their licensed fiduciaries to manage your investments at a rate of 0.89% for portfolios less than 1 million dollars.

Related Content: Empower Review: Free Tools to Help You Build Wealth

Tiller

Tiller is an automated personal finance service created by Peter Polson that tracks all of your financial transactions—including income, expenses, and account balances—through a spreadsheet. Compatible with both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, Tiller is a great option for those who prefer using spreadsheets.

Best Features

For being a spreadsheets-only tool, Tiller has some impressive features including:

• A variety of budget templates 
• Multiple budget dashboards 
• Automated data importation so you don’t have to enter anything manually
• Having the ability to categorize transactions automatically and to create custom category labels as necessary
• The option to use zero-sum budgeting
• Customized reports
• No ads

Areas for Improvement

Tiller is quite different from many of the other budgeting tools out there. That being said, there is one area for improvement that you should know about.

Tiller does now have a downloadable app. It is essentially desktop only unless you want to download your spreadsheets to your phone using the Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel apps themselves.

Cost

Tiller is a paid subscription app. After a 30-day free trial, users pay $79/year which bills annually and works out to only $6.58/mo.

Related Content: Tiller Money Review: Take Your Spreadsheet Budget to the Next Level

Final Thoughts on the Best Budget Apps for Families

With so many great budgeting apps on the market these days, you’re sure to find one that meets your particular needs. And using one of these tools regularly can help you build financial security to last a lifetime.

After all, when you're looking for the best budget apps for families, the best one is the one your family will consistently use.

---

Which of these best budget apps for families is your favorite? Are you using a budget app right now for your family finances?

Please let us know in the comments below.

---