Quicken Simplifi is a combination budgeting and expense tracker app that stands out for its customizable features and focus on goal-setting. On top of basic operations like categorizing transactions, users can create a monthly spending plan, allocate dollar amounts to various categories, track their net worth and get alerts about upcoming bills.
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Unlike most personal finance platforms, Simplifi has an investments dashboard with pulldowns that allow you to track individual investments (including cryptocurrency) and chart their performance over time.
Below, CNBC Select dives into Quicken Simplifi's features and looks at how it stacks up to the competition.
Quicken Simplifi
Cost
$2.99 per month. No free trial, but users can request full refund within first 30 days.
Standout features
Users can run customizable reports based on their spending, income and savings. Personalized spending plan adjusts in real-time.
Categorizes your expenses
Yes, but users can modify.
Links to accounts
Yes, bank, credit card and investment accounts and loans
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Financial data from bank servers transmitted using 256-bit encryption
Terms apply.
Pros
- Syncs with bank, credit card and investment accounts
- Customizable reports based on income, spending and savings
- Robust investments dashboard
- Refund tracker
- Credit monitoring
Cons
- No free tier
- No bill pay feature
- Quicken data can't be imported
Quicken Simplifi review
Overview
Quicken has gotten into the budgeting app business with Quicken Simplifi, a web-based platform that's both easy to use and highly customizable. While other apps force you to manually input transactions, Simplifi syncs directly to your bank accounts, credit cards and loans. It also connects with your investment accounts, a feature not commonly found in this space.
And while there is no free version, Simplifi is considerably less expensive than competitors with comparable offerings.
The simple design and numerous goal-setting features make Quicken Simplifi one of the best budgeting apps out there. If you're looking for more advanced financial management tools, however, you may want to investigate some alternatives.
Features
Quicken Simplifi has a broad selection of features to help you reach your budgeting goals.
Alerts
The Notifications dropdown alerts users about upcoming bills, spending limits and unusual transactions.
Savings goals
You can set personalized savings goals, like a wedding or vacation, and regularly check how close you are to reaching them. Assign a month and a year for each goal and Simplifi will tell you if you're ahead or behind and by how many months.
Spending plan
Quicken Simplifi users can see their monthly income after accounting for recurring bill payments and savings goals, giving them a good idea of what's available to spend. You can look up to a year in advance, filter by category or look at other spending not tied to bills or planned expenses. All three categories — available, planned and "other" — combine to create a pie chart, letting you view how much money is available by month and day.
Customized reports
One of Simplifi's best features is the customizable reports you can set up based on your spending, income or savings. The information is presented both in raw numbers and in graph form, making it easy to digest
Expense tracker
Unique to Simplifi, users can assign spending categories with unique tags and flag transactions to keep an eye on. Worried you're spending too much on coffee? Create a Watchlist for coffee and see what you've spent on lattes this month, what your monthly average is and whether you've gone over your budget.
Refund tracker
Another unique feature: Plug in your expected refund and Simplifi will notify you when it comes in — or if it doesn't. It'll also let you know if the refund doesn't match what you expected.
Investment dashboard
Few budget apps include investments, but Simplifi lets you track retirement accounts, brokerage accounts and more, and lists both their current market value and today's changes. You can get details on the assets in each account, including the current price, the dividend yield and relevant news.
Sharing
You can share your Simplifi account with one other person — whether that's your spouse, a financial advisor or someone else — even if they don't have a subscription.
Credit monitoring
Simplifi's Credit Score feature allows users to track their monthly VantageScore® 3.0 credit score and review credit reports from Equifax®. It also shares tips on improving and protecting your credit score.
Achievements
If you need some moral support to stay on track with your money goals, Simplifi issues badges for unlocking financial objectives like logging in once a week, staying on budget and hitting net worth milestones.
Price
Quicken Simplifi is only available as an annual subscription for $35.88 (equal to $2.99 a month). There is no monthly billing or free version, but the cost is far lower than other budgeting apps with similar features, which can cost between $8 and $15 a month.
While there is no free trial, subscribers can request a full refund within the first 30 days of signing up, either directly from Quicken or from Google Play or the Apple App Store.
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How Quicken Simplifi compares
Here's how Quicken Simplifi compares to two top competitors in the budgeting app space.
Quicken Simplifi vs. Empower
Like Simplifi, Empower syncs to your accounts — and it provides many of the same money-management tools for free, including a budget planner, net worth tracker and cash flow tracker. But it's more focused on overall wealth, rather than daily spending habits. That can give you a good bird's eye view of your financial standing but isn't as helpful if you're trying to cut back on spending or remember to pay your credit card bill next month.
As a broader financial services platform, Empower offers its own investment accounts. Deposits over $100,000 come with personalized investment and retirement planning advice. Learn more with CNBC Select's review of Empower.
Empower
Cost
App is free, but users have option to add investment management services for 0.89% of their money (for accounts under $1 million)
Standout features
A budgeting app and investment tool that tracks both your spending and your wealth
Categorizes your expenses
Yes, but users can modify
Links to accounts
Yes, bank and credit cards, as well as IRAs, 401(k)s, mortgages and loans
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Data encryption, fraud protection and strong user authentication
Terms apply.
Quicken Simplifi vs. YNAB
You Need a Budget (YNAB) relies on the zero-based budgeting system: Users map out a plan for virtually every dollar that comes in, rather than just track how much they spend. The app automatically syncs to bank, credit card and investment accounts, but you have to categorize your spending yourself. That can make you more intentional about how you spend your money, but it also means more work.
Unlike Simplifi, YNAB offers both a monthly plan ($14.99 per month) and annual plan ($99 per year). Another difference: YNAB has a 34-day free trial. Learn more with CNBC Select's review of YNAB.
You Need a Budget (YNAB)
Cost
34-day free trial then $99 per year or $14.99 per month (college students who provide proof of enrollment get 12 months free)
Standout features
Instead of using traditional budgeting buckets, users allocate every dollar they earn to something (known as the "zero-based budgeting system" where no dollar is unaccounted for). Every dollar is assigned a "job," whether it's to go toward bills, savings, investments, etc.
Categorizes your expenses
No
Links to accounts
Yes, bank and credit cards
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Encrypted data, accredited data centers, third-party audits and more
Terms apply.
Enter to win an iPad from CNBC Select. We're giving away an iPad to one lucky winner who fills out our survey about personal finance interests and habits. (NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Open to legal residents of the 50 US states or DC who are 18 or older. Ends 5/8/24. Limit 1 entry per person. Sponsors: CNBC Select and NBCUniversal Media, LLC.)
FAQs
How much does Quicken Simplifi cost?
An annual subscription to Quicken Simplifi costs $35.88, equal to $2.99 per month. There is no monthly subscription option.
Does Quicken Simplifi have a free version?
Quicken Simplifi doesn't have a free tier but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Is Quicken Simplifi safe?
Quicken Simplifi uses secure socket layer technology and 256-bit encryption to transmit users' financial data from bank servers. It's a one-way connection: While data can be imported, Quicken Simplifi can't access your transactions or balances.
Does Quicken Simplifi work with Quicken data?
No, Quicken Simplifi is not compatible with Quicken data. While Quicken owns Simplifi, it is a standalone online product.
Bottom line
Quicken Simplifi offers detailed savings plans, customizable reports and in-depth expense tracking at an affordable price. It's a great option for both serious planners and beginner budgeters trying to get a handle on where their money is going.
Why trust CNBC Select?
At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of personal finance products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best budgeting and expense tracker apps.
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