What happened to Mint, and what are the best alternatives?

Mint was discontinued by Intuit in January 2024. The best alternatives depend on your needs: for budgeting-focused planning, YNAB (You Need a Budget) is the most comprehensive. For investment tracking and net worth, Personal Capital/Empower offers strong tools. For AI-powered comprehensive planning that connects all aspects of your financial life, Avenue is designed specifically for the gap Mint left.

Is a money planning app safe to link to my bank accounts?

Reputable apps connect to bank accounts using read-only access through established financial data aggregators like Plaid or MX — they can view transaction data but cannot initiate transfers or modify accounts. Look for apps that explicitly state read-only access, use 256-bit encryption, and have published data privacy policies. The major risk is data breach, not unauthorized transactions.

How many financial apps do I actually need?

Ideally: one. An app that aggregates all accounts, tracks net worth, handles budgeting, sets goals, and projects the future is better than three specialized apps that don't talk to each other. The overhead of managing multiple apps with separate data creates inconsistency and reduces the likelihood you'll actually use them. Consolidate to one comprehensive platform.

Money Planning App: What the Best Ones Have in Common

The Problem with Most Money Apps

Most money apps were built around one question: "Where did my money go?" That's a useful question — but it's backward-looking. It tells you about last month, not next year.

The apps people actually get value from answer a different question: "Am I on track?" That's a forward-looking question, and it's the one that matters for financial planning.

The best money planning apps are built around that distinction.

What "Money Planning" Actually Means

Money management = tracking and controlling what you spend.

Money planning = understanding where you're headed and making deliberate decisions to shape that outcome.

The tools are related but different. A budgeting app tells you that you spent $847 on restaurants last month. A planning app tells you that at your current savings rate, you'll reach your $80,000 down payment goal in 3 years and 4 months — but if you cut restaurant spending by $200/month, you'd get there 8 months sooner.

Both pieces of information are useful. But only the second one changes behavior in a meaningful way.

Features That Separate Planning Apps from Tracking Apps

Automatic Account Aggregation

Manual data entry is a planning killer. If you have to type in your transactions, categorize them, and reconcile accounts, you'll do it for two months and then stop. The best money planning apps connect to all your financial accounts — checking, savings, investment, retirement, credit cards, loans — and pull data automatically.

Users of apps with automatic account synchronization are 3x more likely to still be actively using the app after six months compared to those using manual-entry apps. Source: J.D. Power U.S. Banking App Satisfaction Study (2023) — Source

Net Worth Dashboard

A money planning app should show you your net worth prominently — not buried in a settings menu, but as the central metric on the home screen. Net worth is the number that tells you whether your plan is working. Spending categories are the levers; net worth is the result.

Forward-Looking Projections

A transaction list tells you what happened. A projection tells you what will happen if you stay on course. The best money planning apps project your net worth trajectory, retirement balance, and goal attainment dates based on your current behavior.

Goal Tracking with Required Actions

Saving for a down payment? The app should show you: current balance, target, required monthly contribution, and projected attainment date. Not a vague progress bar — specific numbers you can act on.

Proactive Insights

The most underrated feature of a great money planning app: it tells you things you didn't know to ask. "Your subscription spending increased 28% over the last three months." "At your current savings rate, you'll miss your vacation fund target by 4 months." "This month's spending is tracking 18% above your average."

This proactive surface is what separates a passive tracker from an active planning partner.

Scenario Modeling

The ability to ask "what if?" and get an answer based on your actual data is one of the most powerful features a money planning app can offer. What if I increase my 401(k) contribution by 3%? What if I pay off my car loan early? What if I take a job at a lower salary but with better equity? The best apps model these scenarios in seconds.

The Current Landscape

After Mint's discontinuation in early 2024, the money planning app space opened up significantly. Current categories:

Budgeting-focused: YNAB (strong methodology, requires active engagement), Copilot (clean interface, Apple-only), Monarch Money (solid cross-platform option)

Investment-focused: Empower (formerly Personal Capital, strong investment tracking), Fidelity Full View

Comprehensive AI-powered planning: Avenue (designed to fill the gap between budgeting apps and investment trackers with AI-powered full-picture planning)

How Avenue Was Built for This Gap

Avenue was designed specifically for people who want more than a budget tracker but don't want to pay advisor fees for basic financial planning. It connects all your accounts, tracks net worth automatically, projects your financial future, and surfaces insights based on your actual data — not generic advice.

The goal: give anyone who downloads the app access to the kind of rigorous financial analysis that used to require a paid professional.

Try Avenue — Your AI Money Planning App →