Financial Literacy

Free budget app, connects your checking, credit and savings accounts and detects recurring bills and income. Then it shows how much is available for everyday spending by subtracting upcoming bills, savings goal contributions and pre-budgeted money from your estimated income (Source: Nerdwallet) .

Zeta is a free budgeting apps designed specifically for couples, joint finances or not. The app caters to all types of couples, including those who are living together, engaged, married, or new parents. You can sync various accounts to track spending, see your net worth, and manage bills together (Source: Investopedia).

Honeydue, which is new to the 2021 list, allows you and your partner to see both financial pictures in one spot, including bank accounts, credit cards, loans and investments. (However, you can choose how much you share with your significant other.) The free budget app automatically categorizes expenses, but you’re also able to set up custom categories (Source: Nerdwallet).

Personal Capital scores high because the company offers the best free tools for wealth building. You can sync your financial accounts in one place to track your net worth, plan for the future with the Retirement Planner, and use the Fee Analyzer to check portfolio fees (Source: Investopedia).

YNAB is a zero-based budgeting app option that also offers educational resources. Once your accounts are synced up, YNAB will suggest allocations across various categories such as savings, spending, and debt. Used long term, it will teach intentional use of each dollar you earn. Though it is pricier than other options, they do offer a free trial year for college students.

EveryDollar is another zero-based approach to tracking your budget. This app does not require you to sync your financial accounts, but that does mean that you need to enter every transaction. If you would like to sync your accounts, you will need to upgrade to the paid version.

Goodbudget uses the envelope budgeting method, where you allocate your incoming funds towards different envelopes or categories. However, since the basic and plus versions do not sync with your bank accounts, you will need to manually enter income and spending.