Monarch Money Budgeting App Review: Excellent for Hands-On Budgeters

What Is Monarch Money?

Monarch Money is a paid budgeting app that brings all your financial accounts into one place. Instead of bouncing between bank apps, credit card portals and investment dashboards, you can use Monarch to see your balances, spending, investments and debt all in one clear, easy-to-read dashboard.

Unlike other budgeting apps, which may offer free and paid tiers, Monarch charges a subscription fee for all users. You can use Monarch through a web browser or the iOS and Android apps. Everything stays in sync across devices, so the numbers you see on your phone are the same ones you'll see later on your laptop.

Learn more: How to Make a Budget

How Does Monarch Money Work?

After you create an account, Monarch connects to your financial institutions and pulls in account balances, transactions and investment data.

From there, the app organizes that information into dashboards, budgets and reports that help you understand your spending patterns and overall financial health. Here are some more details about its top features.

Account Aggregation

Monarch supports connections to more than 13,000 financial institutions using multiple data providers. That includes major banks, smaller credit unions, investment platforms and lenders.

You can link checking and savings accounts, credit cards, retirement accounts, brokerage accounts and loans. Monarch also connects with Zillow to estimate your home's value and supports cryptocurrency tracking through Coinbase. Once linked, accounts update automatically, so you don't have to manually enter transactions or log in to separate websites.

Transaction Management

Monarch tracks every transaction across your connected accounts and automatically categorizes spending using AI. Most purchases land in the right category, but you can easily adjust them if something looks off.

You can search transactions, review and edit them, and even tag them for other people to verify if you're sharing the account. That's especially useful for couples trying to figure out who made which purchase.

The app also identifies recurring expenses and displays them in a calendar or list view, making it easier to spot subscriptions you forgot about and plan ahead for upcoming bills.

Cash Flow Budgeting

Monarch offers two budgeting styles, depending on how hands-on you want to be:

• Category budgeting: This option lets you set spending limits for specific categories like groceries, dining or entertainment. This works well if you like detailed control over where your money goes.
• Flex budgeting: This style takes a broader approach by grouping spending into fixed expenses, flexible expenses and non-monthly costs. Instead of tracking dozens of categories, you focus on how much flexible spending you have left each month. It's a good option if traditional budgets feel too restrictive.

Both budgeting styles support rollover balances, spending alerts and future spending forecasts. You can customize categories and use visual progress indicators to track how you're doing.

Investing Tracking

Monarch also pulls in your investment accounts and shows how your portfolio is performing. You can view asset allocation, track gains and losses and monitor overall trends.

While it doesn't replace a dedicated investment platform, it's useful for keeping tabs on your investments alongside your everyday finances without switching apps.

Goal Setting and Planning

The Monarch app allows you to set savings goals for things like financial emergencies, travel or major purchases. You choose a target amount and timeline, and Monarch calculates how much you need to save each month.

Progress bars show how close you are to each goal, which can make saving feel more tangible and motivating.

Customizable Dashboard and Reports

Monarch's dashboard is fully customizable. You can rearrange widgets to highlight what matters most to you, whether that's net worth, spending trends, upcoming bills or investment performance.

The reports section offers deeper insights, including spending breakdowns, cash flow summaries and net worth tracking over time. You can adjust date ranges, filter by category and export data if you want to analyze it further.

Learn more: How Do You Calculate Net Worth?

Collaboration

Monarch is especially useful for couples or households managing money together. You can invite partners, family members or even a financial advisor at no extra cost.

Everyone sees the full financial picture, and transactions can be assigned for review. This shared visibility helps reduce confusion and keeps everyone on the same page without constant back-and-forth conversations.

How Much Does Monarch Money Cost?

Monarch Money costs $99.99 per year when billed annually, which works out to about $8.33 per month. A monthly billing option is available, though it costs $14.99 per month.

New users get a seven-day free trial with full access to all features. If you decide it's not a good fit, you can cancel before the trial ends without being charged.

Pros and Cons of Monarch Money

Monarch offers a lot of functionality in a clean package, but the subscription fee may not be right for everyone. Here are some benefits and drawbacks to keep in mind.

Is Monarch Money Safe?

Monarch uses robust encryption for storing and transmitting your data. You can add two-factor authentication for extra security when logging in.

When linking your financial accounts, Monarch connects with read-only access. In other words, the company can see your transactions and balances, but it can't move money or make changes to your actual accounts.

Even if someone got into your Monarch account, they couldn't transfer money out of your bank.

Also, the company says it doesn't sell user data to third parties.

Is Monarch Money Worth It?

Monarch is an excellent choice if you manage multiple accounts across different institutions and want everything in one place. It's especially useful for households, couples or anyone who wants budgeting flexibility alongside investment tracking.

The annual cost may be easier to justify if Monarch replaces several other financial tools. However, if you prefer free apps, have only a few accounts or don't need investment tracking, you may not get as much value.

If you're uncertain about whether it's the right fit, consider a free trial. The seven-day trial gives you plenty of time to link accounts, poke around the features and figure out if Monarch's approach clicks with you before you have to pay anything.

Monarch Money Alternatives

If you're shopping around, here are some other apps worth checking out:

• You Need a Budget (YNAB): YNAB goes all in on zero-based budgeting and costs $109 per year, with a 34-day free trial. The app is great if you want to plan expenses down to the penny, but it can feel intense if you prefer a more relaxed approach.
• Goodbudget: Goodbudget uses the envelope budgeting system and offers both a free version and a paid plan at $70 per year. The free version limits you to 20 envelopes and one account, while the paid version gives you unlimited envelopes and account syncing.
• PocketGuard: The PocketGuard app calculates how much you can safely spend after bills and savings goals with its In My Pocket feature. The app costs $74.99 per year and works well for people who struggle with overspending.
• Honeydue: Honeydue is completely free and designed specifically for couples managing money together. You can choose what financial information to share with your partner, chat about transactions in the app and set bill reminders. The downside: It's mobile-only with no web version and lacks some of the advanced features paid apps offer.

Learn more: Best Budgeting Apps

Frequently Asked Questions

Take Control of Your Finances

Monarch Money pulls all your financial accounts into one place, keeps everything synced automatically and lets you customize what you see. Because it's subscription-based, there are no ads and no pressure to push financial products you didn't ask for.

At $99.99 per year, it's pricier than free apps, but you're getting stronger account connections, two flexible budgeting styles and unlimited sharing for partners or advisors. It's a great fit if your money is spread across multiple banks or if you manage finances with someone else. If your setup is simple or you prefer free tools, it may be more than you need.

Regardless of which option to choose, pairing a budgeting app with free credit monitoring from Experian can give you a more complete picture of your financial health.