Managing your finances might be a tiring task. Luckily, we have access to the enormous amount of apps for any and every purpose, including finance management. But how do you know that the app is good and will help you?

OctaFX team has checked it for you. Five different people from our social team have been using five budgeting apps to sum up their experience and help you get your perfect app on the first try. Here are the top 5 financial apps to help you build and manage your budget.

1. Toshl finance

Interface 

  • It’s super easy to understand even if you haven’t used the app before.

Design

  • Funny little characters make the app easily recognisable.
  • The details and functional parts of the app are nicely highlighted.
  • Main features that show the categories you have spent your funds on (food, clothes, bills, transportation, etc.) make it easier to track expenses and give clear visuals.

Extra features

  • You can scan QR-codes and receipts to add to the app and track your expenses better.
  • It also has a nice little feature that allows you to write down whether someone owes you money.

Reminders and notifications

  • You can synchronise the notifications and let the app send you SMS-reminders.
  • It also can remind you to make payments in advance (if you have a mortgage, for instance).

Anything special that surprised you?

  • No.

Efficiency

  • It helps visually represent all your expenses and see whether you have spent too much on a specific category this month.

Would you continue using this app?

  • It’s nice enough to continue using again, I will definitely consider this.

Overall rating: 7/10

  • It’s a nice and easy-to-understand app.
  • It doesn’t give you the best budgeting experience ever, but it’s a good starting point for tracking your expenses.

2. Spendee

Interface

  • Easy to understand and user-friendly enough.
  • However, the ‘Budgets’ option took some effort to figure out.

Design

  • It looks much better compared to many other apps.
  • You won’t miss all the necessary features.
  • It’s easily accessible so that you won’t miss anything.
  • You might get some issues trying to identify which option is highlighted when you check the Overview though.

Extra features

Spendee has an incredible range of features. It includes:

  • Limits you can set for different categories of your expenses
  • Separation of your expenses and income by categories
  • Easily customisable categories that you can merge and hide
  • Transfers that might include your transfers to other people or cash
  • Calculator

Reminders and notifications

  • Once you exceed any limits you have set in the app, it sends you a notification.
  • It also sends daily reminders to write down your expenses. That one can be a bit annoying.

Anything special that surprised you?

  • Overview option unlocks once you make several transactions within the app, and it’s not like you can read somewhere about it. That was quite an unpleasant surprise.

Efficiency 

  • Not all the features work correctly and are worth of subscription.
  • Synchronising your bank account with Spendee doesn’t guarantee you will see all your transactions made before downloading the app.
  • Balance for the cards you have linked to the app is not always displayed correctly.
  • It’s not easy to understand all the options right away, so you will need some time to figure it all out.

Would you continue using this app?

  • Only if they fix the bank account sync, as well as their other bugs.

Overall rating: 6/10

  • High expectations that were set by the app’s design and description were not met entirely.
  • It’s a bit disappointing how technical bugs can get in the way of great ideas.
  • Spendee does not live up to its expectations, but it does its job nonetheless.

3. You Need a budget

Interface 

  • You have to work your way through the interface to get how it works.

Design

  • The simplistic design might have been more attention-grabbing.
  • Different categories could use some pictures to show what exactly they represent.
  • The black-red-green colour scheme gets dull with time.

Extra features

  • You can add and customise different categories of your expenses.
  • Even if you don’t want to do much, the app has an already available bunch of categories.
  • You can select your county’s currency in the settings and change it later (works great for travellers!).
  • The app offers you tips on finance and budgeting.

Reminders and notifications

  • The app has notifications about all your transactions, and you can quickly turn them off if you don’t like getting those.

Anything special that surprised you?

  • Once you change the currency, it doesn’t change the value. 1,000 USD will turn into 1,000 EUR without considering the exchange rates. Not the best kind of surprise.

Efficiency 

  • Once you get the hang of it, it’s quite enjoyable to use.

Would you continue using this app?

  • I would instead prefer something that has my native language available, something with a lighter design.

Overall rating: 6/10

  • A nice app for beginners, though its developers have a lot of features to work on.

 4. Goodbudget

Interface

  • The app doesn’t have any introductions when you sign in, it’s easy to get lost in the interface. But Goodbudget has default settings, so it’s easier to grasp how it works.
  • Bonus point, it’s free.

Design

  • The logo is friendly. It makes you less scared of budgeting since it’s quite a significant matter.
  • The design itself is a bit old-school - works fine with the app but doesn’t add any aesthetical value.

Extra features

  • The app uses ‘money envelopes’ system, so it’s exactly what you need if you wanted to try those.
  • Goodbudget offers you courses, articles, and podcasts about budgeting, as well as visual reports of your expenses.

Reminders and notifications

  • No reminders or notifications.

Anything special that surprised you?

  • I have never seen an app using ‘money envelopes’ system, so that was a surprise.

Efficiency 

  • If you are ready to invest your time learning how to budget, you’ll find it efficient.
  • The app teaches you how to think according to the system it offers.
  • If you want to try something else in the future, you’ll already know the basics.

Would you continue using this app?

  • Yes, as well as other budgeting apps I’m already using.

Overall rating: 7/10

  • A great app that uses a unique system of ‘money envelopes’ that might be interesting for those who are not new to budgeting.

5. Mint

Interface 

  • The app is easy to navigate as it offers only the necessary sections on the menu, nothing extra.

Design

  • It’s easy to understand how everything works with the way the app is designed.
  • The calming colour scheme adds to the pleasant experience, as well as the ‘how it works’ section you can find in the app.

Extra features

  • Besides the basics - tracking your expenses and budgeting - the app offers additional features.
  • My favourites are the calculator to help you estimate paying off any loan and the option to personalise tracking of your expenses.

Reminders and notifications

  • Just like any other app, it has notifications.
  • Mainly it reminds you to make sure transactions and pay the bills.

Anything special that surprised you?

  • Nothing particular surprised me, but it helped me think of budgeting and get the basics.
  • Notifications also helped - I tend to be easily distracted and forget about things.

Efficiency 

  • It helped me a lot.

Would you continue using this app?

  • Yes, I think I will.

Overall rating: 9/10

  • A simple and efficient app that works exceptionally well for those who don’t want their budgeting routine to distract them.

Bottom line

These are just the prime examples of apps you can use to regulate your expenses and build your budget. Don’t hesitate to explore more options and let the world know about your experience like we did - it will help someone else get a grasp of their finances for sure.