YNAB Reviews

by JMS43094

I really liked the idea of YNAB. I signed up for a trial subscription. So far I’ve found this pretty frustrating. It’s very glitchy. You add your accounts by signing into them, but then you need to go an additional step and add them...annoying. I have accounts at Capital One. I spent the better part of an hour trying to link the accounts on and off, getting an error message with a message telling me it’s a temporary problem try again later, then I finally found some info within YNAB that there is a known issue with connecting/linking to Capital One, and it’s been an issue for many months possibly a year. So, that’s just bad business not to let me know that; turns out I’ll need to export a quicken form from my Capitol One accounts to add it to this app app; I’m not know for my record keeping which is why I Need A Budgeting APP that works seamlessly. I’m not impressed, I’m a fool with my money, but at least I’ll deeply consider spending $84 for a year or $12 a month for this glitchy app. I’ve been using Truebill which woke me up but doesn’t have the tools for budgeting I need like YNAB, so I’m disappointed. I had no problem at all connecting my account to Truebill including my Capital One account. Oh, I want to mention: I sent an email to CS about Capital One and adding my accounts and the reply is that they will get back to me in 24 hours. Yeah, this isn’t looking good.

by Scott&julia

I love this app. It has helped completely reconstruct our finances and has been amazing for us.. but the other day they were forced (I believe) to start using a new account link server because do an acquisition and the new server is awful. It seems to work ok when it works but when it doesn’t work, the server takes an astronomical amount of time to relink accounts. For some reason I have to constantly relink my discover accounts, I always have, but now that process which used to take seconds takes minutes every time. I’m not sure if Discover or this app is to blame but the new server is significantly drawing out the process. Other accounts which have been historically not able to connect at all but maybe once a week (commerce bank) is showing as connected with the new server but is not actually syncing. So that’s confusing because at least with the older server it would tell me when it wasn’t synced and was so when it was I could rely on the information but now it’s not even telling me so I can’t rely on it at all ever, I just have to manually balance.

It’s unfortunate that this has happened because this app was awesome, and still is but I am very hopeful they can work out the issues with the new server which seem to be pestering others besides myself according to reviews.

by Rp.xray

Update 6/3/20: please for the love of budgets can you create a way to upload files from Dropbox or files within YNAB ? My local bank is not supported for direct link and this is becoming so cumbersome on iPad. I don’t want to have to go to a computer every single time but the process is becoming bogged down to the point of annoyance.

I really love this app! It has helped us tremendously with our budget and is easy to use. For me, YNAB is a bit smoother and simpler to use than the website. Here is my conundrum: We use a small town bank that does not have direct download, so we have to manually download our transactions. I don’t want to fire up the laptop just to do this, as it doesn’t really take that long. So it goes, sign into bank website, download transactions, sign into this app website, which using an iPad means go to this app site, choose Request Desktop Site, then login, then import.
Understandably, being it is a small bank, there may be no direct link in the near or distant future. I have no desire to move to another larger bank (there aren’t any close enough) that has direct link. So, I have one request, could we have a way to upload our manual transactions from YNAB instead of having to go through the website every time? It would make it a tad smoother process on the user end. I still love this app and will continue to use it. Never hurts to ask, right?

by Trinijenna

I love the interface and all of the features of YNAB. The only thing that brought down my rating is the heavy use of shame and blame on one of their top resources (podcast on getting out of debt - Rule one priority) displayed prominently on YNAB . It really brought the whole process into a negative light and it made YNAB less appealing or friendly to use because now I feel berated and pressured into doing it. It’s no longer a fun experience to open YNAB and use it. While shaming someone with doom and gloom into doing the right thing works for some, it doesn’t work for all. If people are using your app and resources, they are already making the right move and therefore don’t need to be reminded of their past failures or bad financial decisions in such a disparaging manner.

this app should closely monitor the podcasts and resources they allow to represent their company. At the very least the link should be called Tough Money Talk or something similar to better match the tone of the message contained which seems to be “You don’t deserve any happiness in life until you pay off all of the unnecessary debt you brought on yourself that should’ve been avoided.” Now I need to repair my self-esteem and re-assess. Thanks a lot. But I’ll be back!

by Kmarchand

Love YNAB. Started using YNAB ~3 months ago. I have always managed my money pretty well but have had slightly more difficulty since I got married 15 years ago. I’ve tried making a budget with my wife several times but one of the biggest obstacles has always been tracking how much we’ve spent together and how much is left for the month. YNAB lets you easily track how much you’ve spent. You can manually add transactions or link your bank account which will automatically cross over to your budget tool. The best option is doing both, however. Immediately entering the transaction allows you to know exactly how much money you have in each category before you spend. You can also move money between categories anytime your priorities change.

Since starting using this budget tool, I was able to save several thousand dollars In the first few months and paid off the rest of my undergrad loans. Now I can visualize what I am saving every month toward emergency savings, new car fund, vacation, etc! Strongly recommend YNAB . Consider the 100 dollars a year an investment. You will likely save far more than what you spend on YNAB .

by Randombobarc

YNAB /methodology/paradigm(s) have really revolutionized the way I approach my own finances and i cannot recommend it enough from that regard as a service & function. I have budgeted myself for well over a decade and have done alright, but always felt there was some missing piece or rather a “hole” that seemed to be getting in my way. YNAB/way of tagging and budgeting really helped me see in a very adult way, the ways in which I was failing to connect some financial dots and keep myself from doing as well as I should have been; it made sense after I really pressed myself to drop my bad thinking that I had developed to try and work around the natural holes in a standard budget logic.

Having said all of that, I find myself using my iPad Pro to access the web client, as YNAB itself is so kiddy and limited that it makes it actually harder to digest the information presented and make the most sense of it. So much information but it’s all so “big” that you can’t see the big picture, almost simply because the text and forms are so LARGE. Really YNAB could be and needs to be as feature-rich and dense as the web app; basically take the web app and adapt it to be touch targets and color coded like YNAB is. It could be so much BETTER than the web interface with all the screen real estate on the iPad and the easy entry and basic structure they have in place for it already. I really look forward to the iPad app “growing up.”

by Gnomeanna

I signed up for this app a year ago and have made it an integral part of how I receive and spend money. I initially signed up for it after bouncing a check and realizing I needed to make a change in my own “money behavior,” and since signing up (and, most importantly, learning how to use the this app system) only twelve months ago I have saved a significant amount of money towards an emergency fund, and paid off even more in debt. I never, ever, ever thought I’d be able to get where I am in just one year. As long as you stick to the system and make it a part of your daily life, this app can change your life and make you feel secure and in control of your own money. It’s completely worth the subscription fee.

The mobile app is easy to use and I’ve never experienced any bugs or crashes. It alone got me where I am today. It’s one of the few apps I use every day. Very recently I learned that this app also has a web app for desktop which offers even more functionality, so now I use that when I have time to sit down and spend a few minutes with my budget and use the mobile app when I need to budget on the fly. I love this app and I want everyone to get as much out of it as I do!

by Just Another White Girl

I didn’t want to like this app. I’ve been proudly budgeting for years (even got myself out of credit card debt..... before going right back in), using Excel and envelopes. But I was ready to try something new, and poured myself into this app. It’s worth it to read all the articles, enroll in the webinars, watch the videos, etc. I stumbled a bit at the start, even tried out some of the other budgeting apps in frustration but none of them had the bells and whistles or the ease of use that this app has. After creating my 3rd this app budget all I can say is, IT WORKS.
I didn’t think I needed to learn anything else about budgeting, but this really reframed how I think about my money. The tools are so easy to use, once you get the gist (give yourself at least 3 months, especially if you’re used to another budgeting system - - and use their exceptional tech support when you get confused or stuck), that my budget is now something I’m both proud of and look forward to doing. The online and phone apps work seamlessly, so it’s easy to keep up with everything and see what’s coming up.
this app helped build my confidence while teaching me new skills. Thanks, Jesse and friends! ❤️❤️❤️

by Developingdan

We love this app! The subscription has definitely been worth it to us (we used a well-known “free” money tracker for many years prior to this…remember “free” means you’re the product…) – we love being able to manually enter transactions, schedule recurring transactions, and know when a transaction is pending and when it’s cleared the bank. And the transition from our prior service was pretty painless – this app “just made sense.”

And this app works great for budgeting as a couple! We’re able to use flags to indicate things we need to discuss, and whichever of us is available to work on the budget is able to do so without confusing the other (this is especially made possible by the fact that auto-entered transactions from the bank are clearly marked as needing attention, so we don’t have to wonder if the other person categorized it or if that’s just the automatic categorization on the imported transaction…this is in stark contrast to that other free tracker we used to use).

In short, this app is a great tool for envelope budgeting and for managing shared finances. I’m glad to financially support this team in continuing to make a great product.

by Ula VL

I’ve used this app since I was a broke college student, and it’s helped me keep my financial life on track despite barely breaking the poverty line for my first few years out of school. I have never struggled to make rent or pay for my necessities, and I’ve stayed free of consumer debt. Because of this app I have been able to carefully weigh any debt I did take on (training for a career switch, a car) and pay it down without any stress. I clung stubbornly to the desktop app until I convinced my partner to start using it, and saw how far the web/mobile app had come, at which point I promptly switched over. I have a thing about app subscriptions (hate ‘em), but the this app team is consistently rolling out improvements and features, all of which have been rock solid and helped me plan for my financial future even better. It’s one of the rare cases where I get enough value from the service that I’m not only willing but HAPPY to pay to help the company grow. I could not recommend YNAB more highly. If you’ve ever struggled to save money or pay down debt, if you regularly get clobbered by predictable but irregular payments (6 month insurance premiums, replacing your computer/phone/car), if you need more accountability to make sure you’re spending your money in line with your values, there is nothing better on the market for helping you get there.

by Oliviahernon

i have been religiously using this app for 3 years now. I don’t know how I would successfully go through life without it. I’ve recently converted 5 of my closest people and i can also say it changed their life. Even if you are not good at following a budget- you at least know what’s going on in your finances. You can run expense reports and break your spending down into infinite categories. You can log future transactions to watch and make sure you have those expenses funded before they are auto payed from your account. Their mindset is to slowly fund life’s expenses overtime so when your computer craps out on you- you’re not stressed about replacing it because you’ve logged away $500 over the last year.
You can set goals to track your weekly spending, save for a specific thing by a specific day, or just be reminded to save a set $$ amount every month indefinitely.
In 2018 i knew I could afford a little higher of a car payment because I had been tracking my finances and knew I was spending a LOT of money eating out so I could just eat out a little less and still afford my car payment!

by Bella Snow

I started my budgeting journey about 4 years ago using a free app. I was budgeting to zero every month but I continue to blow my budget and live on the credit card float. I could never figure out what I was doing wrong. I was paying extra money to pay off debt and everything looked right on paper but I kept having to borrow from savings and I just couldn’t figure out what was wrong. In a desperate search to figure out why my budget wasn’t working, I started watching video reviews of budgeting apps. I found this app and I will never look back. I learned I was budgeting money before I earned it and then having to float expenses until payday and I wasn’t embracing my true Expenses. Hence my continuing to blow my budget month after month. Now I’m working on saving enough to be a full month ahead in my pay and I have accounted for all my true expenses. Absolutely life changing. Two months in and I haven’t blown my budget at all. I realized I was paying way too much a month extra on my debt. Now that I know what my true expenses are I know how much extra I can actually afford to put towards debt. I haven’t slept better in years. It’s such a relief. Best app ever!!

by Addicted To Budgeting

An update for your app is one of the few app updates that I am excited to see! I’ve already noticed a couple of the fixes and they are SO helpful! Your app is just plain packed with good stuff! You’ve just thought of everything! Thank you so much! I love using the desktop (cloud) version too. Sometimes my phone screen is just not big enough. Kind of like being cramped in the car on a long car ride and it feels good to stretch your legs...and see my budget on a bigger screen. I like to visualize my budget and using this app is the best way to do it. I’ve tried so many other ways to budget the last 25 years...and none has been successful until I started using this app. I love the new cloud version. I got frustrated with this app 4 for several reasons and gave it a break (and used the free version of Every Dollar, which was nice to look at, simple and easy to use, and smooth in many ways but lacked a lot). When I tried this app again after about 9 months, almost everything I was frustrated with was fixed, and now about a year later, everything is fixed. I’m VERY impressed with your developers! Thank you for your hard work!! Make sure they see this!

by SarahCook

So this app is slowly changing my life after using it for one month. I retired last year and having a budget has been something I’ve been meaning to do for the last 30 years. I learned some painful credit card lessons early on, and haven’t been paycheck to paycheck living for many years. But I had no idea where my money was going, nor did I really have it following my life goals. In the past, my way of budgeting was to keep trying to get promoted, and/or be scared and stop spending. I can think of a few weddings/life experiences I missed because I had no budget. And I think I’ve been much less generous than I could have been because I was so scared I wouldn’t have enough. I had no idea if/how much I could spend responsibly, what I could give, what I could plan, etc. After just one month of using this app, I have so much less anxiety and am excited to budget and assign the jobs to every dollar! You can do most everything in YNAB that you can online - though I prefer to see it all on the laptop screen. But it’s great to have YNAB for when you’re out and about. I’m now obsessed and look at it all the time! So stop living in the dark and get this app!

by Valuedrift

I had started using this app but ended up losing the habit because there would be times when a purchase made on the go couldn’t fit into any existing categories I had set up on the web app, and I had no way of changing things until I had long lost track of purchases.

Now, the new app lets me do literally everything I used to have to go on my computer to do, and it does so in a beautiful, easy-to-use package. With the most recent update, YNAB went from feeling 8 years outdated and nearly unusable to one of the best-designed apps on my phone. I used to have to apologize for it - “if you can get over the outdated app, the system works really well” - and now I can wholeheartedly recommend the this app system to people who ask for help with budgeting.

Don’t fall for the convenience of automated budget tracking with other apps! this app’s manual system forces you to pay attention to the consequences of every single purchase. The learning curve is difficult at first, and it does take an hour or two to get everything set up. But the payoff is literal - managing my money tightly with this app lets me spend more comfortably by making sure I have what I need for expenses and savings. This is hands-down the best budgeting system available.

by ItsBader !

App is great, service is great and life changing. Been using it for two years and finally can keep up with my spending and seeing improvement But anyways this is a review of YNAB not the service and I currently have a few issues

1. My girlfriend and I (she is more enraged than I am) loved how easy it was to change budgets in the old app! Now We have to go through a very long journey just to change the budget! And I have 3 different budgets (sometimes 4 if I am traveling) I wish there was an easy way to switch between them (while we are at it, the web app could use easier budget switching ..). Also, maybe add in a title somewhere which budget I have opened? A few times I have logged in things in the wrong budget, because I didn’t realize I had the wrong one open

2. The keyboard to enter a transaction as of 21st of January. I like the overhaul of the page, I love how everything is in one page, but hate the new keyboard! My eyes bleed every time I look at it .... this app has designed such an aesthetically pleasing app, why did they do that!! And it bothers me that the keyboard covers the clear button (yes it’s silly I know). I hope the great developers behind YNAB can find it in their hearts to make the keyboard visually pleasing ...

by Magsita

Adding myself to the list of folks who say this. I’m good with finances, but only looked backward at what I was spending, then made reasonable, gut-based decisions about what we could afford. We had a byzantine suite of accounts with which I wrestled monthly, transfer if from one account to another, writing everything out in tiny writing in a notebook then doing quarterly reports for myself. That’s to say, I put in a lot of work. But we didn’t get to the point of having extra money on hand, ever, and carried a fluctuating debt balance, always. I’m doing this app in a dedicated fashion, now, and I spend an hour or two a week keeping it up, revising my categories, and reviewing our expenses. I am failing at reconciling, but it’s a learning curve, and parenting two little people gobbles some goals.
We’ve been able to save up for a new fence, a new dish washer, and are saving to replacing our water heater. The dish washer and water heater were simple bad timing, not discretionary decisions. The fence we saved up for! We’re able to do all this without paying any financing. It’d be killing us, a year ago, to have that all happen in 3 months time. And I’m really happy to have simplified how we manage our money. What a relief. Thank you, this app!!!!

by Berrivas

I just switched away from a much deteriorated mvelopes, which I’ve used for years, and signed up for this app. Overall, it is a much better implementation of a very similar and useful approach to budgeting— I really like it. Customer support is responsive, the interface is nice, and it nails all the essentials except for one thing— the way it handles reimbursements. I spend money for work costs in one month and am fully reimbursed the next. I never used to have to worry about it and it was useful for making sure I was capturing all my reimbursable expenses. Whereas with mvelopes I used to be able to carry over that negative balance into the next month, which would resolve when I get paid, this app forces the balance to zero when the month turns over and moves the debt into my credit card accounts. This in turn forces me to have to allocate my personal funds to cover expenses I know will be reimbursed, or track down where the debt was created and manually allocate the payment to my credit cards. It makes a simple process that should have no impact on my personal budget MUCH more complicated than it needs to be. this app says they are working on creating a dedicated reimbursement category to address this issue, and I will be 100% happy with this app when they do.

by 93Stephen

This is one of the best things I have ever done for myself. I have always lived paycheck to paycheck. It’s been very difficult for me to save, and when expenses would pop up, like car repairs, I would have high anxiety. I had tried making a budget for myself before, using various spreadsheets designed for budgeting, but most had me try to figure out what I would bring in in a year and what I would spend in that year. It was something I could never figure out very well or stick to. this app starts by only having you budget the money you have right now. Every dollar gets a job. It makes it so much more manageable. In just a short period of six months, I’ve gone from having debt, to a point where that debt is gone and I just reached 30 days of the age of my money, which gives me so much more choice and MUCH less anxiety.

The other great thing that sets YNAB apart is the help you receive. There are tons of online training sessions daily, and any time I hit a snag where I wasn’t sure how to handle something, I could get a hold of someone almost immediately who would walk me through the issue I was having.

I would highly recommend YNAB to anyone who wants to get control of their personal finances and live a bit more at ease day to day.

by Jloasmomt

Budgeted on and off with various methods over the past 30 years. Whenever life got crazy I left it by the wayside and just flew by the seat of my pants. I operate off of approx 8 accounts and I guess it’s a little complicated for most people but works for me. It took a huge learning curve to get used to this app. I left it twice over the course of three months and tried other apps but kept coming back mostly because of its customizability. I originally started because I wanted to ease of automatic downloading of bank accounts. Unfortunately of the three banks I deal with NONE of them work (CapOne, PNC and a local bank) however I put almost every thing on my AmEx card which does automatically download. Also by this point I don’t care because I love YNAB and would use it even if I had to manually download every transaction. Best features for me are the ease with which it handles split transactions, credit card transactions/payment, and the ease of switching money between categories. And the customization of course. It is pricey as far as these apps go but imho so worth it. I highly recommend Nick True’s videos to help you get through the process in addition to this app’s videos.

by BM-ATX

YNAB seemingly is good for someone with one or two accounts and a level of transactions that they are comfortable going through all the time and comparing with this app Vs your account ledger. IMO, YNAB is an electronic way to balance a check book, nothing more. I made the mistake of adding all of my cash accounts and credit card accounts since I liked the function of credit card spend automatically going to your budget. However, the transferring around of money from one account to the other when paying is a nightmare in how it affects your “budget” on the application. Additionally, the auto function of reconciling accounts never works and my accounts were inaccurate most of the time. Another big problem with multiple accounts and banks is there is always connection issues that are blamed on the bank yet I ran mint along side and never had issues with Mint on same accounts. 30 day trial is NOT long enough for you to realize all the issues you will have with this application. Apple will NOT refund your $90 and this app will point you back to Apple. Be very careful on this tool, Mint is far better in every aspect and doesn’t cost you a dime.

by Happyfeetsterdead

I have used this app for a while and love it. I do use YNAB on a daily basis. I highly recommend this for people who want their budget to work with them instead of being a hassle. They make it easy to organize categories and adjust things as you go. I also love the charts and reports that they offer.
One thing that is frustrating: the “cover with” feature. When you overspend in one category and want to simply and quickly cover it with another category. It is easy on the website but the mobile app is frustrating. YNAB offers to take money out of the category you have selected (which is always the one I want to ADD money to) and put it somewhere else. I don’t know why it doesn’t work the same way the website does.
One thing I would like to see is something in the reports about projected debt payoff information and tools. I love to watch my net worth love but it doesn’t have any calculators that project pay off or reaching wealth goals.
Overall an amazing app. Thank you guys!

by Anton Graham

YNAB is just absolutely awesome, it helped me gain so much in such a short time I was able to set up my budget. It offers carry over of your income for instance let’s say you have a particular savings where you put money in every month it rolls over to the next month wants it untouched and love that about it. YNAB allows to create goals let’s say you have a debt to pay off in a certain date it advises the amount you must put away a month and if you don’t go track it adjusts to it can gives you the new figure and also tells you what you need to stay on track. You can see past month expenditures and it helped me too really allocate money properly each month and I was able save a lot more cause of this I became more aware of what I am spending my money on am so glad for YNAB. Thank you to the creators of YNAB. Probably to only thing that was a bit difficult for me was the payment only offers yearly and not monthly. But they have good reasons and it is worth it.

by JeffersonLB

More than an app, this app provides tutorials, podcasts, videos and workshops to help change the fundamental ways you think about income and spending. The philosophy behind it is that even if you’re doing a great job, you can do better. The money you work hard for can work harder for you if you follow a few simple rules and adjust some behaviors that are getting in the way of maximizing your financial well-being. This is a tool (one I found as the #1 recommendation by the New York Times) that takes advantage of technology in simple but powerful ways. It’s organizational more than computational, intelligent without being punishing. It doesn’t “gamify” budgeting, it just has you follow some simple guidelines (e.g. give entry dollar a job and age your money) and apply some organization to your finances that is a total game changer. It’s a serious tool but so user friendly that it makes it simple to know each day where you stand financially and via goal setting exactly where you’re headed.

by Birthday Freak

Been using this app for a couple years now and before that, budgeting was done on the fly by seeing how much money I had to spend. Very scary at times unfortunately. Since using this app, my life has been transformed entirely with a piece of mind that I cannot fully explain. And, the addition of the new webapp based phone app has simply made the platform even better. However, when I added YNAB to my brand new iPad, my budget crashed unexpectedly on both my tablet and my phone.

After freaking out to customer service, the only solution I could come up with so that I could still use YNAB on my mobile devices was to delete the iPad app and use the webapp on the iPad instead. Then, everything went back to normal and this app now functions normally. Plus, there is the added benefit of using the webapp on the tablet, which adds more functionality. So, maybe it worked out for the better.

Suggestion: delete the iPad app or don’t install it, the webapp actually works on the tablet quite well.

by Krimbley

I have written reviews on products or apps maybe five times in my long history of online purchasing. I am a stickler and do a lot of research before purchasing anything, and am rarely blown away by the quality of something, even if it meets my expectations. I’ve been using this app for several months now, and it is hands-down, the best, most intuitive, most user-friendly app of ANY kind that I’ve ever used. I’ve used other budget and personal finance apps, including the most popular ones you’ll consider if you are on the hunt for one. Trust me on this...give this app an honest try. YNAB itself is brilliant. There is a learning curve for some transactions - I had to start over a couple times. However, I am now very comfortable with this app. One of the reasons for that level of comfort is their mind-boggling customer service. I can’t write enough glowing adjectives to describe my happiness with their stupendously great service. Words of advice: Go through the tutorials - they really helped me understand this app. Ask the team questions...they’re wonderful. this app has changed the fundamental way I budget. Every dollar we earn has a job. Brilliant!

by Relkriv

Four years ago, I was about $30,000 in debt and money was evaporating out of my wallet at every turn. We spent $2000 more than my wife made one month (thankfully we had savings to cover that!) and my wife finally agreed that we need a budget! We started using this app and went from $2000 over budget to a month ahead on all our expenses, because we gave every dollar a job and were able to immediately age our money! With this app, my wife and I have much better transparency and communication about money, we’re more generous, putting 10% of our money in our donations category and actually donating it, and putting about 12% of our income away for retirement and a little bit each month for my daughter’s college! And most importantly to me, we are DEBT FREE!! I dragged my student loans around from age 18-34, and we paid them off in April.

YNAB itself was an amazing improvement from the old app, and I LOVE budgeting on my phone in the morning while I drink my coffee. My only wish for YNAB is that reconciling could be a phone app feature as well.

by TiffanyLayne

I love seeing exactly how much we have and what categories we are saving for etc. I’ve been using this app for over a year now and have really gotten into my groove with our budget. It does take time and commitment...in the beginning. Now I spend about 5-10 minutes every morning reconciling my accounts...I actually look forward to it! I try for monthly budget chats with my husband so he can see where we’re at. I have added things and tweaked my budget over the past year, and now I don’t think there is a thing that we’re not planning for. (A solid emergency fund for the totally unexpected stuff). I definitely spend less, because I know exactly where our money is and where we want it to go. With three teens in the house and college coming up, we need to be on top of things. I’ve tried MANY budgeting apps and this is the only one that finally allowed me to give up my Excel spreadsheet. We are a debt free family (no mortgage, no car payments, etc), but we do have a Lake house rental business (reasonable mortgage on that). this app has kept us SO organized!!! Love!

by Ready And Abel

My husband and I have been using this app for almost a year now and I cannot speak highly enough about it! I have tried to budget in so many different ways and this was the only system that stuck and actually works for us. I love the integration with YNAB and the desktop, we are able to do most everything we need to on YNAB (I personally prefer setting the budget for the month on the desktop so I can see it all more clearly but this is just a personal preference). YNAB is easy to use and if you set up integration with your accounts, transactions automatically flow into YNAB within about a day or so of posting. YNAB has made keeping up with budgeting so easy with my busy schedule as it is something you can do every day in a few short moments. We have saved so much money with this app by giving each dollar a job and holding ourselves accountable. It has absolutely changed the way we think about money, budgeting, saving, and goal setting. The ease of use of YNAB is a huge part of that success for us. Thank you this app, you have truly impacted our lives in such a profound way and I will be forever grateful!!!

by Hellojeffmclean

I had started using this app but ended up losing the habit because there would be times when a purchase made on the go couldn’t fit into any existing categories I had set up on the web app, and I had no way of changing things until I had long lost track of purchases.

Now, the new app lets me do literally everything I used to have to go on my computer to do, and it does so in a beautiful, easy-to-use package. With the most recent update, YNAB went from feeling 8 years outdated and nearly unusable to one of the best-designed apps on my phone. I used to have to apologize for it - “if you can get over the outdated app, the system works really well” - and now I can wholeheartedly recommend the this app system to people who ask for help with budgeting.

Don’t fall for the convenience of automated budget tracking with other apps! this app’s manual system forces you to pay attention to the consequences of every single purchase. The learning curve is difficult at first, and it does take an hour or two to get everything set up. But the payoff is literal - managing my money tightly with this app lets me spend more comfortably by making sure I have what I need for expenses and savings. This is hands-down the best budgeting system available.

by TheThrist

I can say so many great things about this app and how helpful it’s been for our family’s budget. The iPad app especially is easy to use, customer service is human and always friendly, and there’s a helpful community at your finger tips if you have questions.

YNAB itself is so much better than the one on a phone. It’s easier to add accounts, move money from category to category, and budget month to month.

I only gave it four stars because it’s missing two incredibly important features that the web app has: searching and reports. If you want to look at say, how much you spent at Starbucks for the year, you can’t search at all on YNAB . This is a really basic feature and not having it on here is especially frustrating (you can’t access the web app through Chrome on the iPad either, it automatically redirects you to the iPad app). Since there’s a yearly cost to use the program I’d expect YNAB and web app to have identical features.