The discontinuation of Mint in 2024 meant many people now needed a new platform to manage their finances. Monarch Money became one of those platforms where people used Mint but then wanted to move elsewhere. The difference between Monarch Money and other similar platforms like Mint is the fact that it is not free, which is precisely the topic of discussion in this review.
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Key Benefits of Monarch Money
- One dashboard for budgeting, net worth, and investment management
- Provides integration with over 13,000 credit cards, banking institutions, and investment accounts
- Shared household access lets couples manage one budget together
- Forward-looking cash flow projections instead of just past-transaction tracking
- Completely ad-free, with no incentive to sell user data
About Monarch Money
Company Overview
Monarch Money was established in 2019, and the startup founders were formerly employed at Mint and were determined to create what Mint could not develop. Monarch Money is a product whose business model depends on subscriptions alone and not advertisements or any other method, as is seen in its predecessor, which is free to use and earns money from ads. The application does not require the user’s login credentials but uses third-party data feeds.
Who Monarch Money Serves Best
Couples and households managing shared finances are the core audience, alongside individuals who outgrew a simple expense tracker and want net worth and investment visibility in the same place. Monarch Plus additionally targets power users and small business owners who want to model cash flow or separate business expenses without a second piece of software.
Plans & Pricing
Monarch introduced a second tier in 2026. Both plans include full account syncing and the AI Assistant; the difference is in forecasting depth and business-adjacent tools.
| Plan | Price | Built For |
|---|---|---|
| Monarch Core | $14.99/month or $99.99/year | Individuals and couples who want budgeting, net worth, and investment tracking in one dashboard |
| Monarch Plus | $199/year | Power users who want forward-looking cash flow modeling and tools for tracking small business finances alongside personal accounts |
There is no permanent free option; rather, there is a 7-day trial period that comes with all the features. An annual billing method will cost about $8.33 per month using the Core plan, which is less expensive than the monthly subscription method.
Core Features
Budgeting and Cash Flow
The app not only offers conventional budget categories but also a zero-based budgeting approach along with the future projection of cash flow, which predicts future balance based on predictable revenue and expenses.
Net Worth and Investments
Connected investment accounts will be rolled into one net worth figure, which updates itself automatically to have one single number to monitor along with the monthly expenses.
AI Assistant & Household Sharing
A built-in AI Assistant answers questions about spending patterns in plain language, and the Household feature lets two people share one subscription and one financial view without sharing login credentials for individual accounts.
Security & Data Privacy
Monarch doesn’t store bank login credentials directly; account data is transmitted through encrypted third-party data providers, the same general approach used across most account-aggregation apps. The app supports multi-factor authentication and read-only access to linked accounts, meaning it can view balances and transactions but can’t move money. The subscription-only revenue model is worth noting here too, since there’s no advertising business creating pressure to monetize spending data.
Monarch Money for Small Business Use
Monarch Plus leans into small-business relevance by letting solo owners and freelancers tag and track business expenses alongside personal accounts, useful for a sole proprietor who doesn’t want to pay for separate bookkeeping software just to see cash flow in one place. It isn’t a substitute for real accounting software once a business has payroll, invoicing, or multiple entities to manage, but for a single-owner side business, the added visibility is a genuine reason to consider the higher tier.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Connects to 13,000+ financial institutions in one dashboard | No free tier; only a 7-day trial before billing starts |
| Shared household access lets two people manage one budget together | No live phone or chat support, only email and help articles |
| Cash flow forecasting and an AI Assistant go beyond basic tracking | Sync reliability with certain banks is the most common complaint |
| Ad-free, subscription-only model with no data-selling incentive | At $99.99–$199/year, it’s pricier than several close competitors |
| Monarch Plus adds light small-business expense tracking |
Monarch Money vs YNAB
YNAB is the other name that comes up constantly in this comparison, and the two take genuinely different approaches to the same problem.
| Factor | Monarch Money | YNAB |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $99.99/year ($8.33/mo) | $109/year ($14.99/mo) |
| Core philosophy | Broad financial dashboard: budgeting, net worth, investments | Zero-based budgeting: assign every dollar a job |
| Investment tracking | Built in on both tiers | Not a core feature |
| Household sharing | Included at no extra cost | Included at no extra cost |
| Learning curve | Lower; more visual and informational | Higher; requires adopting a budgeting method |
| Best for | Households wanting one dashboard for everything | Budgeters who want a strict, behavior-changing system |
Calling one app “better” wouldn’t really be fair. They solve different problems. Monarch is easier to recommend if you want a complete picture of your finances without following a strict budgeting philosophy. YNAB, on the other hand, is built for people who want to change the way they budget. The focus isn’t on looking back at where the money went. It’s on deciding where it should go before you spend it.
Is Monarch Money Worth It?
Definitely worth it if you are likely to use the app regularly, are interested in both investing and tracking your net worth along with budgeting, and like a streamlined, ad-free interface that gives a family perspective. Not worth it if all you need is basic expense tracking because the price tag of $99.99+ per year isn’t defensible if you don’t use most features of it.
FAQs
Does Monarch Money have a free version?
No. There’s a 7-day free trial with full access, but no permanent free tier after that.
Is Monarch Money safe to link my bank accounts?
It uses encrypted third-party data providers and read-only account access, so it can view your data but can’t move money. It also supports multi-factor authentication.
Can two people share one Monarch Money subscription?
Yes, the Household feature lets two people share a single subscription and a combined financial view.
Is Monarch Money good for small business finances?
Monarch Plus adds light business expense tracking, useful for a solo owner or freelancer, but it isn’t a replacement for dedicated accounting software once a business gets more complex.
Is Monarch Money better than YNAB?
Depends on your goal: Monarch offers broader financial visibility, while YNAB offers a stricter, more hands-on budgeting method.
Final Verdict
Monarch Money earns its reputation as one of the strongest post-Mint replacements, combining budgeting, net worth, and investment tracking into a genuinely well-designed dashboard. The household sharing and forecasting tools solve real problems for couples and anyone who outgrew a basic expense tracker.
The tradeoffs are real, too: no free tier, no live support, and sync issues that show up often enough in reviews to mention upfront. For someone who’ll actually use the app regularly, the subscription is a reasonable cost. For someone who just wants to log expenses occasionally, a simpler or free alternative will likely serve just as well.
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