Learning how to budget as a couple may not be a staple in the honeymoon phase, but it’s a necessity if you’ll be together for the long haul. The best budgeting apps for couples offer unique perks like shared savings accounts, in-app chats, shared envelope budgeting and alerts when your partner moves money around. And for couples with kids, there are also family budgeting apps with features like household budgets, chore charts, allowances and money games.
Complete with a lovey-dovey name and tons of perks, Honeydue is a finance app that snags the best overall slot because it's a free budgeting app for couples. Honeydue works with over 20,000 financial institutions to link your existing accounts to the app for both partners to see. It has an in-app chat for you and your partner, bill reminders and budgeting tools. You're in control of what you can share with each other, choosing to share both balances and transactions, balances only or nothing at all. Couples can also set household spending limits on custom categories and automatic categorization of spending. Honeydue earns a 4.5-star rating on Apple and a 3.6-star rating on Google Play. A common complaint from customers is that budgets can only be made on a monthly basis, and since it's a free budget app for couples, you'll have to deal with the occasional advertisement.
You Need A Budget, or YNAB, is easily one of the best budgeting apps. It uses the zero-based budgeting method, which means every dollar has a set purpose. The app comes highly recommended, with customers saying the $14.99 monthly fee is well worth it. Couples can share a single YNAB subscription with no additional cost, and it also offers tips and tricks on how to budget as a couple. You can craft your own unique budget or let YNAB do it for you. Link bank and investment accounts, see transactions, make custom bill categories and even use it with your Amazon Alexa and smartwatches. Pay either $14.99 per month or $99 per year for a savings of $80.88, and you can try it out with a free 34-day trial. YNAB has a stellar 4.8-star rating on the App Store and 4.7 stars on Google Play.
Pros
No additional cost to add partner
Automatic budget or craft your own
Link bank and investment accounts
Workshops, planning and guides on couple budgeting
Formerly Truebill, Rocket Money is a financial app that helps cancel subscriptions — helpful for couples looking to merge their finances and subscriptions for the first time. The app lets you share your Rocket Money account with your partner with a simple invite. After adding your partner and linking accounts, you can view all your subscriptions in a single list, upcoming bills and your budget. Rocket Money identifies subscriptions, and then, with the help of a Rocket Money concierge, it helps you cancel the ones you don't want anymore or negotiate the cost. There are also custom budgeting features, but you'll have to upgrade to the premium version. The annual plans are $48 to $60 per year, which works out to $4 to $5 per month. Monthly plans start at $6 to $12 per month. For the annual or monthly plans, you get to pick how much you want to pay within those ranges. It also has a 7-day free trial. Rocket Money holds a 4.2-star rating with Apple and a 4.3-star rating with Google Play.
Empower takes more of a traditional approach to budgeting expenses and investing — and it has no monthly fees. The Empower Personal Dashboard is a free mobile and desktop app, and you can add up to five people, including joint owners of your Empower Personal Cash account. You can sync tons of accounts, including bank accounts, loans, credit cards, mortgages and investment accounts. Add individual labels to keep things organized, set savings goals, and view your income, expenses, deposits and transactions. The mobile app features a classic pie chart for budgeting that separates transactions by type, but Empower is more for viewing everything in one place versus crafting individual budget plans like you'd get with YNAB or Goodbudget. Empower earns a high 4.8-star rating on the App Store and 4.2 stars on Google Play.
Pros
No fees
Add up to five people
Sync multiple account types
Granular tracking
Cons
Doesn't craft budgets
APY
4.70% For Empower Investment Service, Wealth Management, and Private Client clients
Famzoo is great for couples with kids and large families who want to budget together. Famzoo is a child-focused family budget app praised for its customizable chore chart and budget features. Parents can create mock loans, set up 'bill' pay for their kids, assign chores, set up IOUs between family members and budget together with the envelope method. There's no age limit for kids to sign up and no limit on how many kids you can add to your plan, and your first four kids' prepaid cards are free. But Famzoo itself isn't free, starting at $5.99 per month, but you can save some cash if you pay in advance. Famzoo earns a 4.6-star rating on the App Store and 4.7 stars on Google Play.
Pros
Family envelope budgeting
Financial literacy education and tools
Mock loans, chore charts and bill pay
No overdraft fees
Cons
Unavoidable monthly fee
Monthly fee
$5.99
Additional Card Fee
$0 $3 Additional Card Fee (after first 4 free cards)
ATM withdrawal
$0
Card replacement fee
$3
Card type
Debit
Card network
Mastercard
Special offer
Try FamZoo for one month free
Available to Temporary Residents
No
Fee
$5.99 per month
Additional Card Fee
$0 $3 Additional Card Fee (after first 4 free cards)
Goodbudget is more of a hands-on approach to budgeting. The free version lets you create up to 20 envelopes to sort your expenses and spending, and the $8 monthly membership lets you create unlimited envelopes. You can set up a household budget and share it with your partner. When you link accounts, you and your partner will see when and how much money gets moved out of an envelope. You can also track debt payoffs with its Debt Accounts features and plan savings goals. The downsides are that you must manually enter all your purchases and income, and you need the paid membership for email support access. Goodbudget has 4.6 stars on the App Store and 4.1 stars on Google Play.
Zeta is best for couples who want to bank and budget together. For married or unmarried couples alike, Zeta is a joint account with no monthly or overdraft fees. The account comes with two debit cards, and the app has tons of features like an in-app partner chat, the ability to create shared savings goals, weekly or monthly spending trackers, envelope budgeting and virtual cards. You can also link your credit cards to Zeta so it can automatically set money aside to pay down credit card debt. With VIP status, earn up to 2.45% APY on your shared checking balance, which requires depositing at least $1,000 per month or holding a minimum balance of at least $5,000. Zeta earns a 4.5-star rating with Apple and a 3.7-star rating on Google Play, with Android users often pointing out that the app can be buggy at times.
Pros
No monthly fees
Up to 2.45% APY with VIP status
In-app chat function
Budgeting, savings goals and auto bill pay
Cons
Deposit or balance requirements for 2.45% APY
Android reviews point out buggy app
APY
2.45% on balances of $0.01+ 2.45% APY with $1,000 in direct deposit or $5,000 minimum daily average
Ivella is geared toward engaged or married couples, encouraging them to merge and share their savings goals with its joint checking and savings accounts. Ivella has 'pods' that let you budget using the envelope budgeting method. You can separate your savings goals for things like your honeymoon, vacation, wedding, and so on. Each pod has its own routing and account number, so you can set up automatic deposits and withdrawals for each pod. Each pod also comes with its own virtual card. To get the high 5.15% APY and more than two pods, set up direct deposit or pay for Ivella's Pods+ subscription. Without the paid subscription or direct deposit, the savings APY is 1%. Ivella earns 4.6 stars on both the Apple and Google Play app stores.
Pros
No monthly fees with base app
Separate savings goals with envelope pods
High 5.15% APY with simple requirements
Cons
Pods+ paid membership for more than two pods
1% APY if you don't meet membership or deposit requirements
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
5.15%
1.00%
Minimum balance to earn interest
$0
APY
Up to 5.15%
Fee
From $0
on Ivella's secure site
verified_userFDIC Insured
Methodology: How we choose the best budgeting apps for couples
Finder’s banking experts compare over 65 budget apps to find the best apps for couples. The apps must be affordable and accessible across mobile devices and must allow for shared access. We also compare features, app store ratings and monthly fees, and we favor apps with the ability to craft custom budgets and account-linking features. We consider these criteria:
Monthly fee under $15
Can be shared by at least two people
Must offer some budget or tracking tools
Mobile app store ratings above 3.5 stars
How to choose a couples budgeting app
When choosing a budgeting app for two people, make sure you agree on these factors:
Fees. Many budget apps have monthly fees, like the popular YNAB. If paying for a budget app throws a wrench in your budget, consider free options like Zeta or Honeydue.
Budgeting method. Two of the most popular budget tactics these apps use are the envelope and zero-dollar methods. The envelope system sorts your expenses in digital envelopes to see where all your money is going, while the zero-dollar method gives every dollar a purpose.
App reviews. You’ll see more ratings than written reviews, but the people who take the time to leave a written review are usually very happy or very upset. Take some time to read through reviews on both the App Store and Google Play Store to see what users are saying.
Account syncing. Some apps, like YNAB, automatically import transactions from your bank accounts, while others, like Goodbudget, require you to enter all transactions manually.
Account compatibility. Most budget apps use Plaid to sync bank accounts to the app. If your primary bank account isn’t compatible with Plaid, consider Simplifi by Quicken.
How to budget as a couple
Creating a shared budget can be tricky. Consider these five tips to craft a shared budget:
Communication. Open communication is extremely important in creating a shared budget. Be honest about your spending habits, talk openly about savings goals and disclose any debts that need to be paid.
Who’s paying for what? Splitting bills 50/50 sounds fair at a glance, but that would only make sense if you and your partner make the exact same wage. Consider splitting shared expenses in a way that matches your salaries: If you make 60% of all the income, pay 60% of the bills. And make sure you’re on the same page about personal expenses, such as student loans or gym memberships.
Check credit scores. Credit scores don’t merge once you enter a relationship — they don’t even merge once you’re married. Be sure to check your credit reports and scores to locate negative marks and mistakes, and be strategic with who takes out loans for the best APRs.
Double paying. Once you merge your finances, see if there are any bills or subscriptions that you can share, like Netflix, Spotify or Duolingo — don’t pay double for services that only require one subscription.
Savings and retirement. If you’re in it for the long haul, talk about retirement plans and long-term savings goals. Do either of you have a Roth IRA or 401(k)? Do you have an emergency fund that can pay for both of your expenses for at least three months?
Frequently asked questions
Can the Mint app be used by couples?
To the dismay of many, Mint is no longer available as of March 2024. Mint transitioned to Credit Karma, allowing Credit Karma users to import their Mint history and transactions there. But Credit Karma isn’t a good option for couples as it doesn’t allow joint accounts. If you’re looking for an alternative, check out more Mint alternatives.
Is a joint bank account a good idea for budgeting?
A joint bank account can help streamline the budgeting process if you both already have access to all your funds. And with the right joint account, you may not even need a separate budgeting app. Some accounts have built-in budgeting features, like Ally Bank with its envelope budgeting “buckets” and SoFi with its savings Vault feature. Also SoFi and Ally don’t charge monthly maintenance fees.
Bethany Hickey is the banking editor and personal finance expert at Finder, specializing in banking, lending, insurance, and crypto.
Bethany’s expertise in personal finance has garnered recognition from esteemed media outlets, such as Nasdaq, MSN, Yahoo Finance, GOBankingRates, SuperMoney, AOL and Newsweek. Her articles offer practical financial strategies to Americans, empowering them to make decisions that meet their financial goals. Her past work includes articles on generational spending and saving habits, lending, budgeting and managing debt.
Before joining Finder, she was a content manager where she wrote hundreds of articles and news pieces on auto financing and credit repair for CarsDirect, Auto Credit Express and The Car Connection, among others.
Bethany holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan-Flint, and was poetry editor for the university’s Qua Literary and Fine Arts Magazine. See full bio
Bethany's expertise
Bethany has written 386 Finder guides across topics including:
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