Budgeting has become easier with the help of apps like Mint, YNAB (You Need A Budget), and Good Budget. Saving money is also more effortless with Rakuten and Caddle. You can likewise use your spare change with apps such as Wealthsimple Roundup and Moka.
Budgeting can be challenging when you manually input all your expenses and income using a spreadsheet on a computer or go traditional with a pen and paper. However, with virtually everyone using smartphones these days, keeping your finances on track using apps is now much easier.
Even better, many of the budget apps and finance tools covered below are free on iPhone and Android. In this post, I will cover the best apps for creating budgets, saving money while shopping, investing, and rebalancing portfolios.
Key Takeaways
- The best free budgeting app in Canada is Wally, while the best paid ones are YNAB, Good Budget, and Spendee.
- The best apps for saving and investing spare change are Moka, EQ Bank, and Wealthsimple Roundup. The Passiv app is the best tool for rebalancing investment portfolios.
- Using these personal finance apps makes the task of budgeting simpler and more effective, with users reporting reduced spending and more savings.
Best Budgeting Apps and Personal Finance Apps
Here’s a quick summary of some of the best money apps you should consider today.
- Best free budgeting app: Wally
- Best paid budgeting apps: YNAB, Good Budget, and Spendee
- Best money saving apps: Rakuten, Tangerine, Caddle, and Checkout 51
- Best apps for saving and investing your spare change: Moka and Wealthsimple Roundup, EQ Bank
- Best investment portfolio rebalancing tool: Passiv
1. YNAB (You Need A Budget)
YNAB is a premium finance app that takes budgeting to a totally different level. The app functions around four major rules and is one of the best budget apps for iPhones:
Rule 1: Give every dollar a job. This is similar to the cash envelope system (without the paper envelope), in which you assign every dollar a task in your various spending categories and then execute your plan throughout the month.
Rule 2: Embrace your true expenses. The app helps you save towards large and less frequent expenses, so you won’t have to break the bank when disaster strikes.
Rule 3: Roll with the punches. You can adjust your budget easily as you learn more about your spending habits.
Rule 4: Age your money. Learn to save and spend less than you earn.
As per its website, the YNAB budgeting tool helps new budgeters save $600 in their first two months and more than $6,000 in their first year.
YNAB comes with a free trial for your first 34 days. After, it costs $14.99 per month or $99 per year.
2. KOHO
KOHO is a reloadable prepaid card and app that functions as a prepaid spending card, a money-saving app, and a budgeting tool. It is available on iPhone and Android.
The KOHO app and card offer the following benefits:
- Effortless budgeting with real-time insights into your spending (daily, weekly, and monthly) and savings
- Roundup feature that automatically saves your spare change
- Up to 5% cash back on your purchases
- Up to 5% savings interest rate is earned on your balanceÂ
- You can set savings goals (both personal and joint), and the app shows you how to reach them
- Unlimited transactions
- Joint accounts and is a great budget app for couples
The KOHO app is not your typical budgeting app. It does much more than that and can almost replace your bank. Learn more in this KOHO review.
3. Good Budget
Goodbudget is a budget app that offers both free and paid plans. The app works based on the envelope budgeting method and offers the following benefits:
- Sync and share budgets between various devices and family members
- Save gradually for big expenses and pay down debt
- Plan and track your spending
Goodbudget is available on your computer, Android, or iPhone. The paid plan, which offers unlimited envelopes, syncing across devices, and 7 years of history, costs $8 per month or $70 per year.
4. Wally Budget App
Wally is a basic personal finance app available on iPhones and Android. It is free and has received top ratings in many countries. The app makes it easy to track your expenses, scan receipts, create budgets, and set goals.
Wally offers a premium plan that costs $39.99 yearly. Also called Wally Gold, this plan includes category and custom budgeting, advanced filters, currency conversion, joint accounts, and more.
5. Spendee
Similar to the Good Budget, Spendee offers a free and paid plan. You can connect your bank accounts and view all your money in one place. If you spend cash, it is easy to enter the information manually.
The app provides a beautiful-to-look-at overview of your finances and is great at setting smart budgets. It allows the sharing of information among family members, accommodates multiple currencies, and will alert you of upcoming bill payments and budget overruns.
Spendee has two paid versions that cost $14.99 or $22.99 per year. The app is available on iPhone and Android.
Best Money-Saving Apps in Canada
It is easier than ever to save money when you make purchases online or in-store with these money-saving apps that give you rewards points or cash back. The best part is that you are rewarded for the expenses you make anyways.
6. Rakuten Canada
Rakuten (Ebates) is an online cash back app that rewards you whenever you shop online through their website. Rakuten has partnerships with more than 750 stores in Canada (and 3,000 in the U.S.), so it is pretty easy to earn rewards.
You can redeem your cash back through PayPal or cheque. So far, they have paid more than $2 billion to members.
Visit Rakuten ($30 bonus after your first purchase of $30 or more).
7. Caddle
Caddle is a great shopping cash back app and can be used in conjunction with Checkout 51 to double up on your cash back rewards. The app has new offers every week that you can purchase at a select (or any) store.
Upload your receipt using the app and cash out via cheque when you have $20 or more in your account.
In addition to product offers, Caddle also pays you to watch product advertisements and complete surveys.
8. Checkout 51
Checkout 51 is one of the best cash back apps for saving money on groceries, and it is free to join. After opening an account, you receive multiple offers every week that are on your regular grocery shopping list.
Shop at your favourite store as usual, and then upload your receipt via the app to receive the cashback advertised for each purchase. The cash back discounts can be as high as 30% on some items.
Your cashback is credited to your account and can be redeemed via a cheque in the mail when it reaches $20 or more. The Checkout 51 app is available on iPhone and Android devices and is present in Canada and the U.S.
Best Apps for Saving and Investing your Spare Change
When you live paycheque to paycheque, saving and investing for your future may be swept under the carpet. However, these roundup investing apps are here to help.
Even if you can’t give up a chunk of money, they move small bits of change you won’t notice and help you build wealth.
Let’s look at some of the best money management apps I use.
9. EQ Bank
EQ Bank is a popular online-only (digital) bank in Canada. Its app is available on both iOS and Android, and the bank offers high-interest savings accounts with:
- High interest rates
- Free unlimited transactions, bill payments, and Interac e-Transfers
You can keep your money in a general savings account or use a TFSA, RSP, or GIC.
The EQ Bank app supports automatic savings plans and goal setting, which can help you keep your finances on track.
10. Wealthsimple Roundup
Wealthsimple is Canada’s most popular robo-advisor. Its app has a roundup feature that helps you to invest your spare change inside a low-cost ETF portfolio. Wealthsimple puts your investment portfolio on autopilot, saving you time and money so you can grow your investments faster.
Other benefits of Wealthsimple:
- Automatic portfolio re-balancing
- Diversified low-cost portfolios
- Nobel Prize-winning investing strategies
- Automatic deposits
- Dividend re-investing
- Multiple accounts, including RRSP, TFSA, RRIF, RESP, LIRA, and joint and corporate accounts
- CIPF insurance up to $1 million
- Free financial advice
- Low management fees (0.40% to 0.50% per year)
Click to join Wealthsimple (get a $25 cash bonus).
11. Moka (formerly Mylo)
Moka is an automated saving and investing app that automatically rounds up your spare change and invests it in low-fee exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
For example, when you buy a cup of coffee for $2.50, the app rounds up your purchase amount to $3 and saves the $0.50. You can choose to invest multiples of your roundups, e.g. 5x. For the example above, you invest $2.50 (i.e. $0.50 x 5) instead of just $0.50.
Moka charges a $7.99 monthly fee, and you can invest inside a TFSA, RRSP, or non-registered investment account. The service also offers socially responsible investing and cash back offers.
Your funds are insured by the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF) for up to $1 million.
Click to visit Moka (plus a $5 welcome bonus).
Best Tool for Rebalancing Your Portfolio
If you have a brokerage account you use to purchase stocks or ETFs; a rebalancing tool can help you readjust your asset allocations when it goes out of sync.
12. Passiv
Passiv can sync with your Questrade or Interactive Brokers brokerage account and:
- Help keep your portfolio balanced
- Notify you when you have cash or dividends
- Help you execute trades with one click
- Help you manage multiple accounts at once
It is worth checking out if you want to spend less time working on your investment account.
Fees: $0 per year for a Passiv community user account; $99 per year for an Elite member account (Passiv Elite is free for Questrade clients).
Learn more about how it works in this Passiv review.
Best Personal Finance Apps in Canada
| App | Cost | Features |
| YNAB (You Need A Budget) | Free 34-day trial; $14.99/month + tax; annual plan of $8.25/month; $99/yr | Goal tracking, multiple money plans, split transactions, spending and net worth reports, ad-free, bank-grade security |
| Rakuten Canada | Free | Up to 2x cashback, 750 stores with up to 30.0% cash back, receive cash back on your orders, double cash back offers, daily and weekly deals |
| Wealthsimple Roundup | Free | Automatic portfolio re-balancing, diversified low-cost portfolios, automatic deposits, dividend re-investing, low fees, earn 4% interest on your cash |
| Passiv | Free (Community User); Elite member at $99/yr ($0 for Questrade Clients) | Goal tracking, one-click trades, advanced currency handling, portfolio drift notifications, multi-account portfolios, account consolidation, asset exclusions, cash management, performance reporting, 100% money-back guarantee |
These budgeting and personal finance apps help meet your basic budget and financial management needs and are available on the Apple Store and Google Play.
Conclusion
This list of budgeting and personal finance apps can help you improve your finances. Try a few out, and stick with the ones that work best for your needs.
With the help of these apps, you can get an overview of your financial situation, develop the ability to set financial goals and identify where you may be overspending. Over time, you will be able to gain maximum control over your money.
Do you know if one can import historic data from Quicken into any of these apps?
@Hilary: I think you can import Quicken data into YNAB, but not Mint.
Are any of these budgeting apps Canadian, host their data in Canada? Do you know of any FREE expense tracking app that stores their data on Canadian soil? Thank you
I have been using QUBER and it is really has helped me save money from my kids activities to vacations. From saving disaster to starting my savings has been a journey. Separating my savings from bank account helps me not to spend. They have some cool things like challenges, and tips to save- its free too. If they introduced a little interest like banks it would hard not to use QUBER instead of the banks that charge hefty fees.
EQ Bank is really good too and the interest rate is 2.35%
@Lulu: Just a quick edit – EQ Bank is currently 2.30% and is one of the very best rates available now.
I have done a full review of EQ Bank here:
https://www.savvynewcanadians.com/eq-bank-review/