Budgeting & Tracking

We tested dozens of services to bring you our top picks as you look to turn knowledge into action

Rocket Money (Truebill)

Track your spending and lower your bills

All of your banking, investing, and credit accounts linked and tracked in a single interface
Helps identify and cut down unwanted expenses
Easily identifies recurring bills to cancel (even if you think you don't have any)
Will cancel subscriptions for you with a tap of a button
Negotiates bills lower on your behalf
Tracks your regular spending to help you craft a budget
Helpful notifications about spending more or less than usual
Tracks your net worth
Clean, easy user interface
Simple sign up
Easy bank linking through Plaid
Free version and low fees for premium services - you get to choose what you pay, as little as $3/month

Defining and tracking your budget upfront takes a little work
Not every subscription can be automatically canceled
You have to be comfortable linking all of your financial details through one interface
Truebill does take a commission if they are able to negotiate your bills lower
Rocket bought Truebill and renamed it to Rocket Money

Worthy alternatives

Empower

Track your wealth

Easily link all of your bank and investment accounts for a complete wealth picture
Tracks and reports income, expenses, trades, and fees
Provides detailed asset allocation picture
Reports performance across all of your accounts
Projects retirement scenarios for long-term planning
Totally free
Responsive customer service
Spending and bill pay alerts
Complimentary introduction to a financial advisor

You will have to turn down a financial advisor if you don't want to pay for one, but it's free to use the tool
Not many budgeting features, more geared towards investments

Worthy alternatives

Bright

Automate your debt reduction

Artificial intelligence analyzes your income and bills to reach your goals
Helps do the budgeting work for those with limited time, working paycheck-to-paycheck
Bright automates transfers, putting aside extra funds when you can afford it
Choose your own goals and priorities - build savings, improve credit, or pay off debt
Customize which cards you want to pay down first
User-friendly interface
Easy set-up and Plaid account linking
Solid customer support with integrated chat
Accessible educational content
Savings account is FDIC insured up to $250,000

Fees are low, but not insignificant
The system is inherently complex, requiring users to place trust in their algorithm
For it to work well, you have to be comfortable linking all of your bank accounts and allowing Bright to make transfers on your behalf
It's not that necessary if you don't have credit card debt
Better for those with stable, recurring income

Worthy alternatives

Rocket Money (Truebill)

Track your spending and lower your bills

All of your banking, investing, and credit accounts linked and tracked in a single interface
Helps identify and cut down unwanted expenses
Easily identifies recurring bills to cancel (even if you think you don't have any)
Will cancel subscriptions for you with a tap of a button
Negotiates bills lower on your behalf
Tracks your regular spending to help you craft a budget
Helpful notifications about spending more or less than usual
Tracks your net worth
Clean, easy user interface
Simple sign up
Easy bank linking through Plaid
Free version and low fees for premium services - you get to choose what you pay, as little as $3/month

Defining and tracking your budget upfront takes a little work
Not every subscription can be automatically canceled
You have to be comfortable linking all of your financial details through one interface
Truebill does take a commission if they are able to negotiate your bills lower
Rocket bought Truebill and renamed it to Rocket Money

Worthy alternatives

Empower

Track your wealth

Easily link all of your bank and investment accounts for a complete wealth picture
Tracks and reports income, expenses, trades, and fees
Provides detailed asset allocation picture
Reports performance across all of your accounts
Projects retirement scenarios for long-term planning
Totally free
Responsive customer service
Spending and bill pay alerts
Complimentary introduction to a financial advisor

You will have to turn down a financial advisor if you don't want to pay for one, but it's free to use the tool
Not many budgeting features, more geared towards investments

Worthy alternatives

Bright

Automate your debt reduction

Artificial intelligence analyzes your income and bills to reach your goals
Helps do the budgeting work for those with limited time, working paycheck-to-paycheck
Bright automates transfers, putting aside extra funds when you can afford it
Choose your own goals and priorities - build savings, improve credit, or pay off debt
Customize which cards you want to pay down first
User-friendly interface
Easy set-up and Plaid account linking
Solid customer support with integrated chat
Accessible educational content
Savings account is FDIC insured up to $250,000

Fees are low, but not insignificant
The system is inherently complex, requiring users to place trust in their algorithm
For it to work well, you have to be comfortable linking all of your bank accounts and allowing Bright to make transfers on your behalf
It's not that necessary if you don't have credit card debt
Better for those with stable, recurring income

Worthy alternatives

Pick the platform that makes things easier for you

At the end of the day, it's all about what's right for you. With something like budgeting, debt management, or investing, the most important criteria is that you feel comfortable using it. Otherwise, you're not going to build the confidence to take your future into your own hands. If you're buying basic stocks and funds to hold for the long term, you can do that almost anywhere. Just find a respectable institution that charges low or no fees and has an interface you don't hate using.