We’ve all experienced an extra tightening of the purse strings recently, and with that stiffening only set to continue, money management has never been so important.
One of the best ways to stretch the pennies as far as possible is to budget. But what if you haven’t got the financial know-how to do so? Well, using the services of personal finance budgeting apps could provide the answer!
So, here at Skint Dad, we’ve taken the opportunity to pool together 15 of the best budgeting apps in the UK to help you battle those ever-rising bills.
Best budgeting app
Emma is a premium money management budgeting app that helps track debt, manage your subscriptions, and find cheaper alternatives while you save money.
Cost:
- Standard Emma: Free
- Emma Plus: £41.99
- Emma Pro: £89.99
Features
- Links directly to and actively assesses your bank account and other monetary apps
- Makes money-saving recommendations based on the information gathered
- Provides cashback offers through company partners
- Plus and Pro packages have fraud detection functionality, bill alerts and a “True Balance” to provide a real-time assessment of your budget
- Pro package also enables users to monitor net worth and update the balance of separate accounts
Pros:
- Broad and varying paid features
- Delivers live and accurate assessment of finances
Cons:
- Paid services only represent value for money if you use all of their features
Available for:
One of the UK’s first app-only banks, Monese puts your money where its mouth is, offering users dual UK and EU bank accounts and making banking available to all.
Cost:
- Monese Simple: Free
- Monese Classic: £4.95/month
- Monese Premium: £14.95/month
Features
- Globally applicable Mastercard debit card (contactless)
- Live spending notifications
- Apple Pay functionality
- In-depth spending analysis
- Direct debit management
- Single-swipe balance check
Pros:
- Free payments (in the UK & abroad)
- Intuitive budgeting tool
- Wide range of accounts
- Integrates with PayPal
Cons:
- Post office and pay point deposit fees
- £200 ATM cash withdrawal is low
- Lack of savings account options
Available for:
Money Dashboard is a free personal finance app designed to simplify your saving experience by providing easy budgeting, saving options and even a forward planning function.
Cost:
Features
- Split transactions
- Spending history review
- Low balance warnings
- Accounts transfer function
- Manage bills and subscriptions in one place
- Set budgets
Pros:
- Income and expenditure prediction function
- Comprehensive free service
Cons:
- Relatively complex set-up and operation
Available for:
Revolut is a free budgeting app that’s true value rests in its overseas support. So, if you’re a keen traveller, Revolut could be the best budgeting app for you.
Cost:
Features
- Categorise spending habits
- Monthly budget and spending goals
- Smart savings
- Free transfers to other Revolut users
- Apple & Google Pay are supported (in some countries)
- Supports direct debit
Pros:
- Supports several currencies
- Every-growing range of features
- Premium subscription provides value for money
- In-built budgeting
- Limited free cash withdrawals abroad (5/month)
Cons:
- Direct debit is limited to EU countries
- Accounts can be frozen temporarily due to security processes
Available for:
The curve is a budgeting app that consolidates your bank accounts into one single debit card, thus streamlining your ability to track all your spending in one localised place.
Cost:
- Curve Blue: Free
- Curve Black: £9.99/month
- Curve Metal: £14.99/month
Features
- Curve card integrates with all accounts
- Spending categorisation
- Multiple pay options supported (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay etc.)
- Ability to move transactions from one account to another 14 days after
- 1% Curve Cashback reward scheme (selected suppliers)
- Insurance (premium clients)
Pros:
- One curve debit card for all your accounts
- Cash reward programme is substantial
- Transaction account transfer is intuitive
Cons:
- No budget limit function
- Expensive paid subscriptions
Available for:
Plum’s stand-out feature is its AI Assistant, designed to automatically analyse and save your money when and where it can without eating into your budget.
Cost:
- Plum Standard: Free
- Plum Plus: £1/month
- Plum Pro: £2.99/month
- Plum Ultra: £4.99/month
Features
- Integrated AI Assistant analyses spending and conducts regular savings calculations, sending the calculated sum to a linked saving account
- Split and tracked spending categories
- Automated investments and deposits
- ‘Lost money’ and ‘Utility Switch’ functions flag overcharged bills and suggest cheaper alternatives to wasteful subscriptions
Pros:
- AI assistant genuinely enhances the savings experience
- Simple and intuitive user operation
- Automatic deposits can be tailored to preference
Cons:
- Savings rate of 0.4% only available with paid subscription
Available for:
Take a read of our full Plum savings app review.
Moneyhub uses open banking to pull together multiple bank accounts into one manageable space, providing easy access, analysis and advice for individuals, professionals and businesses.
Cost:
- Desktop: £0.99/month, £9.99/year
- Apple: £1.49/month, £14.99/year
- Free trial: 6 months
Features
- The spending analysis tool provides insights into spending habits
- Localised, multiple account management
- Spending goals
- Bill notifications
- Financial help/advice function
- Split transactions
Pros:
- Easy setup process
- Active alerts and reminders
- In-depth analysis and budgeting
- Comprehensive planning function
Cons:
- It doesn’t support all providers
- No free option after six months
Available for:
Founded collectively by a former CEO and an Ex-Managing Director of Virgin (rather than a certain rapper), Snoop is sold as the smart answer to saving while living.
Cost:
Features
- In-app energy, mortgage and broadband switching suggestions
- Credit card tracker and assessment
- Spending categorisation
- Bill-tracking function
- Weekly and monthly spending summaries
- Daily balance alerts
Pros:
- Easy set-up
- Intelligent switching solutions
- Localised access to separate savings account(s)
Cons:
- Relatively young app (still developing)
Available for:
Another automatic savings app, Chip’s port of call, is another automatic savings app to redress the imbalance between saving and spending. As such, it calculates and saves small sums daily, depending on your budget and spending activity.
Cost:
- Chip Standard: Free
- ChipX: £3/28 days
Features
- Automatic, flexible depositing
- Tracks spending behaviour
- Multiple financial savings goals (holiday, house etc.)
- Bank account connectivity
Pros:
- Automatic savings deposit based on budget
- Easy set-up
- Automatic savings function
- Set savings goals
Cons:
- You cannot split savings between multiple accounts
Available for:
Read up on our Chip app review.
Monzo enables users to easily manage their current accounts, track spending, and set budgets. Moreover, with its focus on reducing fees abroad, it’s another app to consider for those of us with wanderlust.
Cost:
- Standard Monzo: Free
- Monzo Plus: £5/month
- Monzo Premium: £15/month
Features
- Apple and Google Pay supported
- Current and joint account connectivity
- Savings pot bill payment function
- Free ATM withdrawals (in the UK and abroad)
- Credit score tracker
- Direct debits
Pros:
- 1.00% AER gross interest (Monzo Plus)
- Instant payment notifications
- Easy bill splitting
- A savings pot enables one to categorise bill payments
Cons:
- 1.00% AER gross interest only available with paid subscription
- Free ATM withdrawals abroad come with limitations
Available for:
11. Budget by Koody
Koody enables its users to set budgets, upload physical receipts and manage all of their finances from one place without being connected to a bank account.
Cost:
- Koody Standard: Free
- Koody Pro: £1/month, £10/year
Features
- In-depth spending insights and monitoring
- In-built budgeting, including transaction forecasting
- Expense categorisation
- Regular expense, direct debit and subscription reminders
- Upload receipts
Pros:
- Ten currency options
- Track current and savings accounts in one place
- Comprehensive personalisation
Cons:
- No bank account connectivity
Available for:
Yolt focuses on empowering you with a simplified understanding of your spending habits. It highlights your budget in advance of upcoming bills and localises all your bank accounts from one simplistic money dashboard.
Cost:
- Free
- Prepaid debit card fees include £0.95 for ATM withdrawals, 0.5% conversion fee (abroad transactions) and £5.50 for replacement physical cards.
Features
- Prepaid debit card
- Spending notifications and tracking
- Savings goals
- Budgeting
- Supports multiple accounts in one place (including total balance)
- Subscription tracker
- Apple and Google Pay support
Pros:
- Multiple account integration
- Budget and spending settings
- Prepaid debit card
- Free
Cons:
- Immediate spending notifications are only available for transactions conducted through card
- 0.5% conversion fee on transactions abroad
Available for:
Squirrel budgets your salary by separating it into categories of your choice, e.g. bills, savings and disposable income.
Cost:
- Standard Squirrel: £3.99/month
- Free trial: 3 months
Features
- Split savings sections
- Monthly income estimation and budgeting
- Desired spending setting
- Payment tracker (past and present)
- Easy access to customer service and FAQs
Pros:
- Easy set-up
- Transaction tracker
- Clean user experience
Cons:
- No in-built savings or current accounts
- Doesn’t represent an alternative to bank accounts
Available for:
Starling Bank provides a full banking service, 24/7. That means you have access to all the money management tools you need in the palm of your hand.
Cost:
Features
- Card freeze (in the event of loss or theft)
- Saving spaces, including direct bill payment
- Instant spending notifications
- In-app statements
- Free cash withdrawals (abroad)
- International transfers (0.4% fee)
Pros:
- Contactless payment limit modification
- Free cash withdrawals abroad
- No transaction fees abroad
- 24/7 accessibility
- Easy set-up
Cons:
- Available to UK residents only
Available for:
Moneybox is an investments and savings app that rounds up the cost of every purchase you make and puts that extra aside into a savings account. For example, if you buy a sandwich for £3.50, Moneybox will round the cost up to £4 and place the extra £0.50 into your savings.
Cost:
Features
- A broad range of savings accounts, including Simple Saver and Lifetime ISA.
- Users earn interest on savings
- Spending round up
- Mortgage advice
- Multiple saving options
Pros:
- Easy Set-up
- Significant AER variable
Cons:
- Cannot move money between accounts
- Limited to withdrawal/month
- Long withdrawal notice periods for subscriptions above Simple Saver
Available for:
FAQs
Absolutely, the Money Dashboard budgeting app is compatible with desktop PC and iPhone and Android operating systems.
Moneybox is owned by co-founders and co-CEOs Ben Stanway (Bloom & Wild) and Charlie Mortimer.
Like many budgeting apps, Emma may share your personal data with relevant, trusted third-party companies to enhance the user experience. However, said third parties will only use your information as directed by Emma.
Snoop is a legitimate, Financial Conduct Authority-regulated savings app despite its potentially ill-judged name. So, if you like the package it presents, don’t be put off by its name.
At £89.99, Emma Pro is the most expensive of the budgeting apps on our list and, thus, represents a substantial expense for those willing to subscribe. As a result, its worth is an entirely subjective estimation.
At Skint Dad, we feel that, while Emma Pro provides many advanced savings features, the additional expense doesn’t quite qualify its paid subscriptions as being “worth it” for those whose personal finances necessitate budgeting apps.
Moreover, as some of the other budgeting apps available offer many advanced features at a cheaper price, we’re inclined to conclude that an alternative is probably best. However, if you feel that Emma Pro is the perfect package for your circumstance, then by definition, it is worth it.
Final thoughts
Clearly, there are many personal finance apps available in today’s market for those of us who want to create budgets and save. While many of the apps provide many of the same functions and features, each has its own characteristics, virtues and negatives.
Thus, when searching for the best budgeting app, UK residents must take the time to assess which is the best for their specific circumstances before taking the plunge. For that reason, we would recommend trialling one of the free budgeting apps initially.
This will help to provide an informed assessment regarding the needs of your specific finances and, indeed, which apps and functions match them moving forward.
Naomi knows the burden of living on very little and became debt free by following her own money saving tips and tricks. She is an expert on saving money at the supermarket and side hustles.
