Monarch Money
The app most people moved to after Mint shut down. Best in class for couples and anyone tracking more than a couple of accounts. It is not free, and that is the whole trade.
Cost
$99.99/yr
$49.99 first year with the discount
Free trial
7 days
Card required, cancel in settings
Best for
Couples sharing financesEx-Mint usersNet worth trackingMany accountsShort version. Monarch costs $99.99 a year for Core or $199.99 for Plus, after a 7-day free trial. There is a working discount that takes 50% off your first year, so Core lands near $49.99. It is the strongest option if you share money with a partner or you are replacing Mint. If you only want to cancel forgotten subscriptions, Rocket Money is cheaper. If you want strict envelope budgeting, YNAB does it better.
What is Monarch Money?
Monarch is a paid personal finance app that pulls every account you own into one place. Bank accounts, credit cards, loans, investments, even property values. It then builds a net worth picture, a budget, and forecasts off the back of it.
It was founded in 2018 by Val Agostino, who was on the original Mint product team, along with Jon Sutherland and Ozzie Osman. That matters more than it sounds. When Intuit shut Mint down at the start of 2024, Monarch was the app built by someone who already knew what Mint got wrong, and it absorbed a huge share of the people leaving.
The company is private and its revenue comes entirely from subscriptions. There are no ads in the product and it does not sell financial data, which is the core argument for paying for something you could sort of get free elsewhere.
How much does Monarch Money cost?
Two plans, both billed annually or monthly. These are the current published prices.
Core Most people
$99.99/year
$49.99/first year
About $4.17 a month. Renews at $99.99.
- Full net worth across every account
- Budgeting with two different approaches
- Custom spending reports
- Savings and debt goal tracking
- Bill and subscription reminders
- Investment performance and diversification
- Automatic categorisation with custom rules
50% off applied at signup · cancel anytime
Plus
$199.99/year
Works out to $16.67 a month
- Everything in Core
- Retirement path forecasting
- Business income and expense tracking
- Profit and loss reports plus tax-prep exports
- Deeper investment analysis including unrealised gains and asset allocation
- Equity compensation tracking
- Will creation
Only if you need P&L or equity tracking
Most people want Core. Plus is aimed at self-employed readers who need P&L reports, or anyone with equity compensation and a real retirement model to run. If you are not sure, start on Core. You can move up later.
Both plans can be paid monthly instead of yearly, but the annual price is the one worth quoting because paying monthly costs meaningfully more over a year.
7-day free trial · 50% off your first year · cancel anytime
Is Monarch Money free? And is there a free trial?
Monarch has no permanently free tier. That is a deliberate choice on their part, and it is the single biggest thing to understand before signing up. Every account is a paid subscription once the trial ends.
There is a 7-day free trial on both plans. It requires a payment method up front and it converts automatically unless you cancel in settings before day seven. Monarch also runs a money-back guarantee, so if you get billed and immediately regret it, that is worth asking about rather than eating the charge.
Set a reminder. Seven days is short and the card is already on file. Put a calendar alert on day five so the decision is yours rather than the default.
Monarch Money promo code and discount
There is a genuine discount that takes 50% off your first year, which brings an annual Core plan from $99.99 down to roughly $49.99. That is about $4.17 a month for the first year.
The discount is applied on the signup page itself. Open the discounted signup page here and the code and the discounted price are shown at the top of the page when you land, so there is nothing to hunt for or type from memory.
A word on the codes you will find elsewhere. Most of what is listed on coupon aggregators for Monarch is expired, and the generic public code that circulates widely is a smaller discount than the 50% one. If a code fails at checkout, that is usually why.
What Monarch does well
It is genuinely built for two people
This is the strongest reason to pick Monarch over anything else. Partner access is included rather than sold as an upgrade, and both people get their own login against the same shared household picture. Most competitors either ignore couples or charge twice.
The net worth tracking is the best in the category
Because it pulls investments, property and loans alongside day to day accounts, the number it shows you is an actual net worth rather than a checking balance. If you are tracking progress over years rather than weeks, this is the view that matters.
Categorisation you can actually fix
Every one of these apps guesses wrong sometimes. Monarch lets you write rules so it stops guessing wrong in the same way twice, which is the difference between a budget you maintain and one you abandon in March.
No ads and no data selling
You are the customer rather than the product. Whether that is worth $99 a year is a fair question, but it is a real difference from the free options.
Where Monarch falls short
- No free tier at all. If your budget is genuinely zero, this is the wrong app and you should not talk yourself into it.
- Bank sync still breaks. Every aggregator has this problem, Monarch included. Connections drop and need re-authenticating, and it is the most common complaint in reviews.
- It is a lot of app for a simple need. If all you want is to spot a forgotten subscription, you are paying for a great deal of machinery you will not touch.
- The learning curve is real. Expect to spend an evening setting up categories and rules before it earns its keep.
- Plus is expensive at $199.99 a year, and most people genuinely do not need what it adds.
Is Monarch Money safe?
Monarch connects to your accounts read-only through the same aggregation infrastructure the rest of the industry uses, which means it can see transactions but cannot move money. Data is encrypted, and the company states plainly that it does not sell financial data, which is consistent with a business that makes its money from subscriptions instead of advertising.
The honest risk framing is this. Any app that aggregates your accounts is a place where a lot of financial information sits in one basket, and that is true of Monarch, Rocket Money, YNAB and every competitor equally. Turn on two-factor authentication, use a password you do not use anywhere else, and the practical risk is comparable to your bank’s own app.
Monarch vs the alternatives
Here is how it lines up against the apps people actually compare it with.
| App | Price | Free tier | Trial | Best at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MonarchOur pick | $99.99/yr Core $199.99 Plus | No | 7 days | Couples, net worth, ex-Mint users |
| YNAB | $109/yr or $14.99/mo | No | 34 days | Strict zero-based budgeting |
| Rocket Money | Premium, you set the price | Yes | n/a | Cancelling subscriptions |
| Copilot | Subscription | No | Yes | Apple users who want polish |
| Quicken Simplifi | Subscription | No | Yes | Cheaper all-rounder |
Copilot and Quicken Simplifi do not publish a price on their homepage and both run frequent promotions, so check the current figure before you commit.
Monarch vs Rocket Money
These get compared constantly and they are not really the same product. Rocket Money is a subscription canceller with budgeting attached, and it has a free tier. Monarch is a full financial picture with no free tier. If your problem is three streaming services you forgot about, Rocket Money solves it for nothing, and we broke the whole app down in our Rocket Money review. If your problem is that you do not know what you are worth or where the money goes each month, Rocket Money will not get you there and Monarch will.
Monarch vs YNAB
YNAB is a method as much as an app. Every dollar gets assigned a job before you spend it, and if you follow it properly it changes behaviour faster than anything else here. It is also stricter, more work, and worse at showing you a net worth picture. Monarch is the better tracker, YNAB is the better behaviour-changer. YNAB also gives you a far more generous 34-day trial to find out which camp you are in.
Monarch vs Copilot
Copilot is the prettiest app in the category and it is built Apple-first. If you live entirely on iPhone and Mac and you care about how the thing looks and feels, Copilot is a genuine rival. Monarch wins on couples, on web access, and on breadth of planning tools.
Monarch vs Quicken Simplifi
Simplifi is usually the cheaper option and it covers the basics well. Monarch pulls ahead on shared household use and on investment and net worth depth. If price is the deciding factor and you are managing money alone, Simplifi deserves a look, and it runs a free trial so you can test it against Monarch side by side.
Is Monarch Money worth it?
It is worth it if you fit one of these, and honestly not if you do not.
Worth paying for
- You share money with a partner
- You came from Mint and want a real replacement
- You have accounts across several institutions
- You want net worth tracked over years
- You are self-employed and need P&L exports (Plus)
Skip it
- You only want to cancel subscriptions
- You need something free
- You have one account and a simple setup
- You want strict envelope budgeting, get YNAB
- You will not spend an evening setting it up
The maths is straightforward. At $49.99 for the first year it costs about $4 a month, and finding one forgotten subscription usually covers it. At the full $99.99 renewal it needs to be doing real work for you, which for a couple tracking a household it generally is.
7-day free trial · 50% off your first year · cancel anytime
How to get started with Monarch
Start the free trial, then work through it in this order. It takes about thirty minutes and the setup is what determines whether you stick with it.
- Connect your main checking account and primary credit card first, not everything at once.
- Let it pull ninety days of history so the categories have something to learn from.
- Fix the categories it got wrong, and turn each fix into a rule rather than a one-off edit.
- Add investments and any loans so the net worth figure is real.
- Invite your partner if you have one, since this is the feature you are paying for.
- Only then set budgets. Setting them before you know your actual spending is why budgets fail.
How to cancel Monarch Money
Cancellation is handled in your billing settings inside the app rather than by contacting support. If you signed up through the Apple App Store the subscription is managed by Apple, so you cancel it in your iPhone subscription settings instead, which is the step people miss when they think a cancellation did not go through.
If you are inside the 7-day trial, cancelling before day seven means you are not charged at all.
Monarch Money FAQ
Is Monarch Money legit?
Yes. It was founded in 2018 by Val Agostino, who worked on the original Mint product team, and it is a subscription business with no ads and no sale of financial data. It became the most common destination for people leaving Mint when Intuit shut it down.
How much does Monarch Money cost?
Core is $99.99 a year, which works out to $8.33 a month. Plus is $199.99 a year, or $16.67 a month. Both can be billed monthly instead, at a higher effective rate. There is a 50% discount on your first year that brings Core to roughly $49.99.
Is there a Monarch Money promo code that works?
Yes. There is a discount that takes 50% off the first year of an annual plan for new users, bringing Core to about $49.99. It is applied on the signup page itself, so you do not need to hunt for a code. Most codes listed on coupon sites are expired.
Is Monarch Money free?
No. There is no permanently free tier. You get a 7-day free trial, which requires a payment method and converts to a paid plan automatically unless you cancel first.
Is Monarch Money safe to use?
It connects read-only, so it can see transactions but cannot move money. Data is encrypted and the company does not sell financial data. Enable two-factor authentication and the practical risk is comparable to your bank's own app.
Is Monarch better than Rocket Money?
For different jobs. Rocket Money has a free tier and is better at cancelling unwanted subscriptions. Monarch has no free tier but gives you a genuine net worth picture and proper budgeting, and it handles couples far better.
Is Monarch better than YNAB?
Monarch is the better tracker and the better choice for couples. YNAB is the better behaviour-changer if you want strict zero-based budgeting, and it has a much longer 34-day trial.
Who owns Monarch Money?
Monarch is an independent private company, Monarch Money, Inc., founded in 2018 by Val Agostino, Jon Sutherland and Ozzie Osman. It is not owned by a bank or a larger financial group.
How do I cancel Monarch Money?
Cancel in your billing settings inside the app. If you subscribed through the Apple App Store you must cancel through your iPhone subscription settings instead. Cancelling inside the 7-day trial means you are never charged.
Does Monarch Money have a free trial?
Yes, 7 days on both Core and Plus. A payment method is required up front and it converts automatically, so set a reminder for day five if you are undecided.
The bottom line
Monarch is the best paid personal finance app for people who actually want the full picture, and it is the clearest Mint replacement available. The couples support alone justifies it if two of you are managing one household. The catch is real though, there is no free tier, so you are deciding whether financial clarity is worth roughly $4 a month in year one and $8 after that.
If that sounds fair, the trial costs you nothing for a week.
Pricing verified against Monarch’s published plans on August 21, 2026. Prices change, so confirm before you subscribe.
