There are tons of budgeting apps to choose from, and many offer similar features. The best one for you depends on your money management style and preferences, but Rocket Money is a great place to start.

9.4

Rocket Money

Like

• affordable

• easy to use

• savings goals

• credit score and net worth tracking

• bill negotiation and cancellation services

Don’t like

• free version is limited

• no debt playoff planning features

• no investment tools

• fees for bill negotiation

Formerly known as Truebill, Rocket Money won CNET’s 2024 Editors’ Choice award for best budgeting app because it’s easy to use, affordable and has all the features the average budgeter could need (plus additional perks like subscription cancellation and bill negotiation). It has a free and a premium version, and the premium version’s price tag of $6 to $12 per month puts it on the low end of the price spectrum for top budgeting apps.

Is Rocket Money right for you? Read on to find out.

How does Rocket Money work?

The Rocket Money budgeting app links to your bank accounts to track your income and spending. It can automatically sort your transactions into specific categories, such as groceries or housing, to take some of the legwork out of budgeting. You can also edit individual transactions and create rules for sorting future transactions.

Rocket Money allows you to set spending goals and shows you how much you’ve spent to date in each category. You can adjust your budget at any time to account for unexpected expenses.

The free version of Rocket Money is limited but provides basic budgeting functions like expense tracking that may be sufficient for some users. The paid version, which costs $6 to $12 per month, offers advanced features like custom budget categories, automated savings and credit reports and net worth tracking.

What we like

• Affordable price: Rocket Money Premium costs $6 to $12 per month. How much you pay is up to you, and you’ll enjoy the same features regardless of the amount you choose.
• Easy to use: Rocket Money’s mobile app and online platform are both intuitive to use. Information is presented in a clean, easy-to-understand way that tells you what you need to know without overwhelming you.
• Lots of notifications: You can choose to receive a wide variety of notifications to stay on top of your finances, from bill increase and bank fee alerts to identity theft and credit score alerts.
• Savings goals: Rocket Money Premium offers a Smart Savings account to make setting money aside easier. You can set savings goals and schedule regular automatic transfers to this account. Smart Savings accounts are held by an FDIC-insured partner bank, so your money is safe up to $250,000 per account holder.
• Credit score and net worth tracking: Rocket Money Premium offers credit score viewing and credit report and net worth trackers. (The free version offers credit score viewing only.)
• Bill negotiation: Rocket Money also offers a bill negotiation service that’s available to both free and paid users. Rocket contacts your service providers — like your cell phone or internet provider — for you to try to lower your bill. You’ll pay a fee if they succeed, but it may be worth it for you if you hate haggling with customer service reps.

What we didn’t like

• Free version is limited: You may be able to get away with using Rocket Money’s free version, but it’s pretty barebones. If you want features like custom budget categories, you’ll need to pay for the premium membership.
• No debt payoff planning: Some budgeting apps, like PocketGuard, provide debt payoff planning to help you reduce your debt load. Rocket doesn’t. You can link your credit card accounts to monitor your balances, but that’s about it.
• No investment tools: You can connect your investment accounts to Rocket Money and view your balances, but if you want help with investment planning, you’re better off with an app like Empower, which provides tools to assess and adjust your strategy.
• Traditional budgeting approach: Rocket Money uses a basic budgeting method: You set your budget categories and spending goals upfront, and you can tweak them from month to month. This strategy may not work for everyone. If you want a more granular approach to your budget or need help getting a handle on your spending, you may be better served by zero-based budgeting apps like EveryDollar and YNAB or by Goodbudget’s envelope method.
• Bill negotiation fees: If Rocket Money’s bill negotiation service succeeds, you’ll pay them 30% to 60% of your first year’s savings (you choose your percentage). You could contact your service providers yourself and save on this cost.

Is Rocket Money safe?

Yes, the Rocket Money app is generally safe. It uses 256-bit encryption — the same encryption many banks use — and partners with the payment network Plaid to link to your accounts rather than storing your login information. That said, your financial data could still be at risk if your phone is ever lost or stolen, so you should know how to remotely wipe your phone in this event.

Who is Rocket Money best suited for?

Rocket Money offers all the essentials you need to create and maintain a budget. It’s accessible to a wide range of budgeters, easy to use, and the premium subscription is affordable.

Because of this, we found Rocket Money to be a solid replacement for Mint, the popular budgeting app that disappeared in March 2024.

Alternatives to the Rocket Money app

Rocket Money offers something for everyone, but it isn’t the only budgeting app on the market. You can explore your options by checking out our best budgeting apps roundup.

Finally crush your budgeting goals with Rocket Money.

Details

CNET’s editors choice winner for best budgeting app

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