The 13 Best Budgeting Applications In Canada
By Maude Gauthier | Published on 23 Nov 2023
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Regaining control of your finances begins with budgeting. Of course, you can create one by recording your income and your expenses in different columns on a sheet of paper or in an Excel file, but there are a growing number of easy-to-use applications that can make your life easier. With a high number of budgeting apps on the market, learning to manage a budget is within reach. No matter which budgeting method you prefer, there is an app for you! Here is a list of the best mobile budgeting apps.
1. Hardbacon
Of course, this app is our favourite! Hardbacon is a budgeting, planning, and tracking application. You can link all of your bank accounts to the app to keep tabs on your spending, as well as set limits for each category. When Hardbacon’s algorithm determines that you are likely to exceed the limit set in a particular spending category, you’ll receive an alert to urge you to slow down.
Hardbacon also provides an overview of your recurring spending as well as a list of the businesses and categories in which you spend the most. Based on your behaviour, Hardbacon gives you personalized suggestions to help you become wealthier faster. The Hardbacon app is available for free.
How much does it cost?
The Hardbacon app is 100% free.
Number of stars
App Store: 4.2/5
Google Play: 3.8/5
Average: 4/5
2. KOHO
KOHO is an application used to track your expenses. App users must use the KOHO Mastercard Prepaid card for their expenses, which can be used as a substitute for a chequing account, since you can receive your pay directly into your KOHO account. Using a prepaid card allows you to pre-load the amount you need for your personal expenses, making it easier to manage your budget and avoid overspending.
Key features include cash back rewards on your spending (up to 2%), rounding of your purchases to the nearest dollar and real-time insight into your spending. KOHO also offers paid memberships that provide even more features like more cash back and higher interest on your balance.
How much does it cost?
KOHO offers a free version as well as 3 paid subscription plans:
- Easy: $0/month
- Essential: $4/month
- Extra:$9/month or $84/year
- Everything: $19/month
Number of stars
App Store: 4.8/5
Google Play: 4.6/5
Average: 4.7/5
3. Wallet
Wallet is a flexible budgeting app. In addition to budgeting features, Wallet offers educational resources on personal finance on their website. With the free version, we have to enter our data manually. The premium version provides charts to give you an overview of your financial situation, automatic categorization of your transactions and connection to an unlimited number of bank accounts. Wallet allows you to plan spending for the month ahead, and can give you advice based on analysis of your cash flow to eliminate losses.
How much does it cost?
There is a free version of the Wallet application as well as a paid version that costs $21.99 per year.
Number of stars
App Store: 4.6/5
Google Play: 4.4/5
Average: 4.5/5
4. EveryDollar
EveryDollar is a free app that lets you create a budget and monitor your spending. EveryDollar also offers a paid version that links to your bank accounts in order to add each of your transactions automatically to your budget. The premium version also allows you to view your account balances and receive educational content on financial topics such as debt, retirement, savings and more.
How much does it cost?
EveryDollar has a free version, as well as a premium plan that costs $12.99 per month.
Number of stars
App Store: 4.7/5
Google Play: 4/5
Average: 4.35/5
5. YNAB
You Need A Budget (YNAB) is an application that helps you manage your daily budget. YNAB teaches you how to manage your cash flow, save money and get rid of your debt. The particularity of this application is that it uses the budget envelope method. This method leads the user to allocate their money in different envelopes corresponding to different categories of expenditure. This app has a unique rule that “makes every dollar work”. This means that every dollar earned has a specific purpose (paying off debt, travel, studies, etc.). These features include real-time spending updates, goal-based tracking and progress reports.
How much does it cost?
YNAB does not have a free plan. There is a monthly plan for $14.99 and an annual plan for $99.
Number of stars
App Store: 4.8/5
Google Play: 4.2/5
Average: 4.5/5
6. Good Budget
Good Budget is a personal finance app that lets you budget, track your debts, and manage your money. The application, which is available in both web and mobile format, stands out by allowing its users to share their budget with loved ones. Good Budget also generates useful reports to help you make better decisions about your budget and expenses, including income and expense reports, debt development report and expense reports by category.
Goodbudget offers a free plan that lets you create 10 envelopes, connect to a single bank account and save your transaction history for 12 months. The paid version allows an unlimited number of envelopes and accounts, as well as storing your transaction history for the past 7 years.
How much does it cost?
Good Budget has a free version as well as a paid version, which charges an annual fee of $70, or $8 per month.
Number of stars
App Store: 4.6/5
Google Play: 3.8/5
Average: 4.2/5
7. Spendee
Spendee helps you better understand your finances, manage your daily expenses, and optimize your budget to save you money. The app links with your bank accounts, e-wallets and crypto wallets automatically to give you the most up-to-date financial profile possible. With Spendee you can invite family members who share the same expenses as you, in order to split certain expenses in two.
How much does it cost?
Spendee provides a free version so that you can create a budget without linking a bank account. Spendee also offers two paid plans; these are Spendee Plus, which costs $14.99 per year and Spendee Premium, which costs $22.99 per year. These plans offer features like linking to bank accounts and budget sharing.
Number of stars
App Store: 4.6/5
Google Play: 4.2/5
Average: 4.4/5
8. Emma
Emma is a budgeting app designed to help you save money. This app analyzes your personal finances by logging into your bank accounts. In fact, until you have connected a bank account, you cannot access the app. Among its features are the ability to identify recurring expenditures and schedule the repayment of debts.
Emma also has paid plans for those who want to go one step further. They let you connect more accounts, including a corporate account, and offer credit building features.
How much does it cost?
In addition to the free basic version, Emma Plus costs $41.99, Pro is $83.99 and Emma Ultimate is $124.99 per year.
Number of stars
App Store: 4.6/5
Google Play: 4.1/5
Average: 4.35/5
9. Wally
Wally is a personal finance application that uses Chat-GPT’s artificial intelligence to help you analyze and plan your goals. Don’t hesitate to ask questions!
Wally helps you monitor your spending and budget so you can easily reach your financial goals. It also gives you access to all your transactions organized into categories. You can also receive a complete overview of your budget and your upcoming expenses thanks to its “Highlights” and “Insights” functionality. Wally is a perfect mobile app for families or anyone with whom you share the same expenses. One of its features allows you to share your budget in order to keep your loved ones informed of all expenses.
How much does it cost?
Wally has a free version, but there is a $3.99 fee to link your account (per month). Monthly and annual subscriptions are available for $11.99 and $52.99 respectively.
Number of stars
App Store: 3.4/5
Google Play: 2/5
Average: 2.7/5
10. Fudget
Fudget is a budgeting app that helps you create income and expense lists to better understand the state of your finances. This app is easy to use and allows you to create a budget in just a few minutes. Add a star next to an income or expense item to indicate that it is recurring. You can also select a currency symbol of your choice from a list in order to take foreign currencies into account. Fudget has a paid version that enables you to share your budgets with your loved ones. You can save your data to a Dropbox account or export it in CSV format and open it in Excel.
How much does it cost?
Fudget has a free version and the Plus version costs $27.95 a year or $20.96 every six months.
Number of stars
App Store: 4.5/5
11. Daily Budget
Daily Budget is a personal finance app that lets you create a simple and comprehensive budget in minutes. It offers a free version that features a daily budget calculator, a savings planning for upcoming larger expenses, and basic categories with which to categorize your expenses. (The paid version offers personalized expense categories.) You can also export your budget via Dropbox or to a CSV document. The paid version of Daily Budget provides you with even more analytical charts of your spending. Daily Budget is only available on the App Store.
How much does it cost?
Daily Budget offers a free version. The paid version of Daily Budget costs $9.99 (one-time payment).
Number of stars
App Store: 4.7/5
Google Play: 4.2/5
Average: 4.45/5
12. PocketGuard
PocketGuard is an application that helps you stay in control of your finances. Its features include building a budget based on your goals, and tracking expenses. You can add your credit cards or other bank accounts to see all your transactions and account balances. The “In my pocket” feature shows you exactly how much discretionary income you have left after paying your bills and saving. PocketGuard identifies the expenditures you’re no longer using in order to save you money.
Like any budgeting app, PocketGuard lets you select your goals and helps you reach them and track your progress. An “Autosave” feature helps you reach your goals even faster by saving you a predetermined amount of money over a predefined period of time. PocketGuard does have a paid version, “PocketGuard Plus”, which gives you access to even more features.
How much does it cost?
PocketGuard is offered in a free version. It also has a paid version costing $34.99 per year or $7.99 per month.
Number of stars
App Store: 4.7/5
Google Play: 3.5/5
Average: 4.1/5
13. Buddy
Buddy is an app that helps you manage your budget and track your expenses. You can keep your budget to yourself or share it with your loved ones. It provides you with an overview of your expenses, income and savings. With the Buddy app, you can easily create savings plans to pay off debt or fund future goals such as travel, a vehicle purchase, or education. Buddy is available in a free version as well as a premium version. The app is only available on the App Store.
How much does it cost?
Buddy offers a free version as well as a paid version for $9.99 per month or $49.99 per year.
Number of stars
App Store: 4.7/5
