Best Free Budgeting Apps That Are Actually Worth Using

Here's something that used to frustrate me: I'd search for "free budgeting apps," download the top result, spend twenty minutes setting everything up, and then hit a paywall the moment I tried to do anything useful. The app was technically free. The parts that mattered weren't.

I've been through this cycle enough times that I can now tell you which free budgeting apps are genuinely free — as in, the free version is actually functional enough to help you manage your money. Not a stripped-down teaser. Not a 14-day trial that expires right when you start relying on it.

If you're looking for a budgeting app that won't cost you anything and won't waste your time, these are the ones I'd recommend.

What "Free" Actually Means Here

Before I get into the list, a quick note on what I mean by free. Every app on this list has a free tier that's useful on its own. Some of them also have paid upgrades — I'll be upfront about that. But the free version of each one can stand alone as a real budgeting tool, not a glorified ad for the premium plan.

Mint (by Credit Karma)

Mint has been around forever, and for good reason. It connects to your bank accounts, automatically categorizes transactions, and gives you a snapshot of your spending, income, and net worth. Since Credit Karma absorbed Mint, it also includes free credit score monitoring.

What I like: It's truly free — no premium tier to upsell you into. The automatic categorization is decent (not perfect, but it learns over time). The spending breakdowns by category are genuinely helpful for seeing where your money goes each month. And the credit score integration means one less app to check.

The honest downside: Mint can feel cluttered. There are ads and product recommendations baked into the experience — that's how they make money instead of charging you. The budgeting tools are more reactive than proactive. You can set spending limits by category, but it won't help you plan ahead the way a zero-based budgeting app does. It shows you what happened, not what should happen.

Best for: People who want a free, automatic overview of their finances without committing to a budgeting methodology. If you've never tracked your spending before, Mint is a solid starting point.

Goodbudget

Goodbudget is a digital version of the envelope budgeting method — where you divide your income into virtual "envelopes" for different spending categories. When an envelope is empty, you're done spending in that category for the month.

What I like: The envelope method is intuitive in a way that spreadsheets and account-syncing apps aren't. There's something about visually seeing an envelope go from full to empty that makes spending feel more real. The free version gives you 10 envelopes, which is enough for most people getting started. It also syncs between devices, so if you're sharing a budget with a partner, you're both looking at the same numbers.

The honest downside: You have to enter transactions manually. There's no bank syncing on the free plan. For some people, that's a dealbreaker — it was almost one for me. But I've come around to the idea that manual entry actually makes you more aware of what you're spending. It takes about 30 seconds per transaction, and I find I think twice before buying something when I know I'll have to log it.

Best for: People who like the envelope method and don't mind manual entry. Also great for couples who want a shared budget without paying for a premium app. I'll note that the paid version ($8/month) adds unlimited envelopes and bank syncing, but the free tier is genuinely usable.

Cleo (Free Tier)

I've written about Cleo elsewhere on this site, but it deserves a mention here specifically for its free tier. Cleo is an AI chatbot that connects to your bank account and talks to you about your money — spending patterns, upcoming bills, and where your cash is actually going.

What I like: The free version gives you spending insights, balance alerts, and the ability to chat with the AI about your finances. The tone is casual and a little snarky, which makes the whole experience feel less intimidating. I found myself checking in with Cleo more often than I ever checked a traditional budgeting app, and that awareness alone changed my spending habits.

The honest downside: The free version doesn't include Cleo's savings features, credit building, or cash advances — those are behind the $5.99–$14.99/month paywall. And Cleo isn't a full budgeting system. It won't help you allocate your money into categories or plan ahead. It's more of an awareness tool — which is valuable, but it's not the same thing as a budget.

Best for: People who want a low-commitment way to start paying attention to their money. Pair it with one of the other free apps on this list for a more complete picture.

How I'd Use These Together

If I were starting from scratch with no budget for budgeting tools (which, honestly, is where most of us start), here's what I'd do:

Set up Mint for automatic tracking and credit monitoring. It runs in the background, connects to your accounts, and gives you the big picture without any effort.

Use Cleo as a daily check-in. The chat format makes it easy to ask quick questions like "how much have I spent on food this week?" without opening a full dashboard.

And if you want to get more intentional about where your money goes — not just see where it went — try Goodbudget for a month. The manual entry is more work, but the envelope method gives you the kind of proactive control that passive tracking apps don't.

You don't need to use all three. Pick the one that fits how you think about money, try it for 30 days, and see if it sticks. If it doesn't, try the next one. There's no wrong answer here — the best budgeting app is the one you'll actually open.

If you want to see what I use beyond the free options, I keep an updated list on my resources page with honest takes on every tool.