One of our favorite budgeting apps is 50 percent off for new users

With a new year just around the corner, now is the perfect time to take stock of your finances. A budgeting app can help with that, and right now you can get 50 percent off your first year of a Monarch Money plan. All you need to do is enter the code MONARCHVIP at checkout and you’ll pay $50 for the initial 12 months instead of the regular price of $100. Note that the offer only applies to new users.

Monarch Money was the runner-up in our guide to the best budgeting apps in 2025, and it was definitely a grower. Initially we found the experience of using the app to be needlessly complicated compared to some of its rivals, but get over that hurdle and it’s impressively fully-featured. There are plenty of customization options, a helpful “goals” feature and a thorough month-in-review recap that beats out similar features from some of its competitors. We also like how you can grant account access to others.

Besides the steep learning curve, we also noted that the mobile app is less intuitive to use than the web version, which might pose a problem if you were hoping to do most of your accounting on the go. We also had some issues with the app failing to distinguish between bills and other recurring expenses, as well as a few bugs along the way.

All things considered, Monarch is definitely one of our favorite budgeting apps, only being beaten out by Quicken Simplifi. As you might expect, the biggest strength of Simplifi is its simplicity, and how it eases you into using its various features. If you value that kind of user experience, it might be a better choice for you, but there’s unfortunately no free trial to take advantage of.

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