Monarch Money Review: Is It Worth Paying For?
Monarch is a paid app that pulls every account into one place — checking, credit cards, loans, brokerage and retirement — and builds a budget and a net worth figure from it.
It is worth paying for if you share money with a partner or hold accounts at several institutions. If you have one bank and one card, a free app or a spreadsheet does the job.
Monarch Money is a personal finance app built for people who want budgeting and investment tracking in the same place. It became one of the most common recommendations after Intuit shut down Mint at the start of 2024, because it covers most of what Mint did and adds proper investment and household features. It does not show ads and does not sell your data, which is why it charges a subscription.
What it actually does
Connects your accounts. Monarch links to banks, card issuers, lenders and brokerages through data aggregators, then pulls in balances and transactions automatically. You can connect the same institution more than once, which matters if you and a partner bank at the same place.
Categorises spending. Every transaction is assigned a category. You can edit them and create rules, so the same merchant lands in the right place next month without you touching it.
Builds a budget two ways. You can set a limit for every category, or use a looser setup that separates fixed bills, flexible spending and everything else. The second suits anyone who has tried a forty-line budget and abandoned it.
Tracks net worth and investments. Brokerage, IRA and 401(k) balances sit alongside cash and debt, and Monarch charts the total over time. You can see holdings and allocation across accounts rather than one brokerage at a time.
Shares with a household. You can invite a partner or financial advisor at no extra cost. Both people see the same accounts and budget, which is the feature that most separates it from free apps.
What it costs
Monarch offers a free trial and then charges a subscription, billed monthly or annually. The annual plan works out cheaper per month. Prices change, so check the current figure on the sign-up page before committing.
The fair way to judge the price is against what it replaces. If it takes over a spreadsheet you update by hand every Sunday, the time saved is the argument. If it replaces nothing, because you never tracked anything, it only earns its keep if you actually open it.
The trial is long enough to connect every account and run one full month of spending through it, which is the only real test. See Monarch.
How it compares
| Option | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Monarch | Subscription | Couples, several institutions, budgeting and investments together |
| YNAB | Subscription | Strict zero-based budgeting, every dollar assigned |
| Empower dashboard | Free | Investment tracking, with light budgeting |
| Your bank's own tools | Free | One bank, one card, simple spending view |
| Spreadsheet | Free | Full control, if you will keep it updated |
The real choice is usually Monarch or YNAB. YNAB is a method as much as an app: it asks you to assign every dollar before you spend it, and it works best for people who want that discipline. Monarch is looser and stronger on the full picture, including investments. The budgeting app comparison goes through all three in more detail.
Who should pay for it
- Couples managing money together. Shared access with no extra charge is the clearest reason to choose it.
- Anyone with accounts in four or more places. Checking at one bank, savings at another, a brokerage, an old 401(k): this is where the single view pays off.
- People who want net worth, not just spending. Seeing debt fall and investments rise on one chart is a motivator many budgets lack.
Who should skip it
- One bank, one card, no investments. Your bank's app already shows your spending.
- Anyone who will not open it. A budgeting app you ignore is a subscription with no return. Try the 50/30/20 rule with separate accounts first.
- People who want strict rules. YNAB's method is more structured.
Getting the most out of it
Connect everything on day one. A partial picture is worse than none, because it makes spending look lower than it is.
Spend twenty minutes fixing categories in the first week. Create a rule every time you correct one. By month two it runs almost unattended.
Review monthly, not daily. The value is in the trend, not today's coffee.
Common questions
Is Monarch Money free?
No. It has a free trial, then a paid subscription billed monthly or annually. There is no permanent free tier.
Is Monarch Money safe to connect to my bank?
It connects through established data aggregators and uses read-only access, so it can see balances and transactions but cannot move money. Use a strong password and turn on two-factor authentication.
Is Monarch a good Mint replacement?
For most former Mint users, yes. It covers budgeting, categorisation and net worth, and adds better investment tracking and shared household access. The difference is that it charges instead of showing ads.
Can two people use one Monarch account?
Yes. You can invite a partner at no extra cost, and both see the same accounts, budget and goals.
Figures and rules in this article are checked against the official sources below. Where they disagree with us, they win.
