Best Mobile Apps to Save Money
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As intimidating as it can be, we all know that we will need to take control of our finances at some point. Fortunately, we can do our research and download apps that will guide us through this process. Whether you’re looking for a mobile bank, a better way to budget, or support as you build your savings and investments, there’s something out there for you. Here are some of the top money-saving apps on the market today to help you get started.
In this article
Overview of the best money-saving apps
- Best inexpensive app for beginners: Acorns
- Best for no-fee banking: Chime
- Best for those looking to cut back on spending: Trim
- Best for cashback savings: Dosh
- Best for getting started with budgeting: YNAB
Compare the best mobile apps to save money
App | Pricing | Category |
$3, $6, or $12/mo, depending on the plan level | Investing | |
$0 | Banking | |
$0 | Budgeting | |
$0 | Saving | |
$14.99/mo or $109 /yr after a free 34-day trial period | Budgeting |
- In under 3 minutes, start investing spare change, saving for retirement, earning more, spending smarter, and more.
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Best inexpensive app for beginners: Acorns
Pros & cons
Pros
- Easy to use.
- Automated investing.
- Offers investing opportunities for kids.
- All accounts in one place.
Cons
- Limited portfolio options.
- High subscription fees.
Cost: $3 to $12 monthly
Acorns is a financial product that I like to call a great “baby step” to investing. The concept is pretty simple — connecting your debit or credit card to your Acorns account and letting the app do the work for you. Every time you purchase, Acorns will round that purchase up to the nearest dollar. The extra change will be added to your Acorns investment account.
So now you have money set aside to invest, but then what? You can start investing your money once your account balance reaches $5. Based on your chosen investment tier, acorns will invest your money into various exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Acorns also allows you to choose the plan that best fits your needs.
Acorns plans
Acorns Bronze. The basic level plan gives you a simple investment structure, an IRA account called Acorns Later, and a checking account called Acorns Spend.
With this plan, you can use Acorns’ Smart Deposit feature to invest more than just your spare change. This allows you to put money into your account directly from your paychecks to take your investing one step further. It costs $3 per month.
Acorns Silver. At $6 a month, you get everything from Acorns Bronze plan and an emergency fund. You also have a chance to get the bonus investments matched by Acorns (upto 25%).
Acorns Gold. For just $12 per month, you can have everything from Acorns Silver plan, an investment account for your kids, and a debit card. Acorns Early allows you to channel your investment strategy into saving for your child’s college or other expenses.
Visit Acorns
Or read Joywallet's review of Acorns.
Best for no-fee banking: Chime
Pros & cons
Pros
- No minimum balance requirement.
- No monthly fees.
- Offers a banking experience.
Cons
- No physical locations.
- Depositing cash is tough.
Cost: Free
Chime is an online bank that aims to make it easier for you to manage your finances on the go. This bank offers all its services through the mobile app, eliminating the need for physical bank locations. Even better, it offers some services and features you’re unlikely to find from a traditional bank.
The first thing you can expect from Chime is no hidden fees. That means no minimum amount to open an account, no minimum balance fees, and no monthly fees. Chime also offers SpotMe to eligible account holders. This feature will give you extra protection if you make a purchase that exceeds the amount in your account. Chime will “spot” the money instead of charging you an overdraft fee. Then, when your next direct deposit arrives in your Chime account, Chime will apply that deposit to the negative balance of your account. Chime will notify you of your eligibility to enroll in SpotMe after your account has qualifying total direct deposits of $200 or more in the 34 days before the overdraft triggers.
Chime also offers a savings account with a strategy similar to Acorns'. The Save When You Spend feature automatically rounds up transactions from your Chime checking account to the nearest dollar. This extra change from purchases you make at the grocery store, retailers, Amazon, and anywhere is put into your Automatic Savings Account. If you use direct deposits, you can set up automatic transfers of a certain percentage of each direct deposit into your Savings account. You'll have access whenever needed since your money is being transferred into a savings account. Even better, Chime offers one of the best high-yield interest rates with an APY of 2.00% and is FDIC-insured up to $250,000.
Speaking of direct deposits, Chime offers a feature that will allow you to access funds from your direct deposits up to two days earlier than if you deposited your money into a traditional bank account. Chime makes it easy to set this up, providing you with a pre-filled direct deposit form you can give your employer. When your direct deposit is available, Chime will notify you via the mobile app.
Chime’s Pay Anyone feature can also replace Venmo and other money transfer services. You can transfer money from your Chime account to friends and family. Your friends and family do not need to be Chime members to receive the money transferred using this feature.
Visit Chime
Or read Joywallet's review of .
Best for those looking to cut back on spending: Trim
Pros & cons
Pros
- Easy to use.
- Offers multiple saving opportunities.
- Offers a savings account.
- Has debt repayment tools.
Cons
- You need to pay for negotiation services.
- Savings APY can be lacklustre.
Cost: Free
Trim is a budgeting app that offers a wide range of financial services. It has free and premium features on the platform and signing up is totally free. As the name suggests, Trim will help "trim" your spending by looking at different opportunities where you can cut down. It negotiates bills on you behalf and helps you cancel unwanted subscriptions. It also offers a savings account where you can earn 1.5% APY.
After you sign up, you need to link your bank account and Trim will then identify services that you pay and the ones it can negotiate or cancel on your behalf. Cancelling a service is free but payment will kick in if you want Trim to negotiate the bill. If you do not have any digital budgeting apps, Trim can provide you with a clear overview on where your money goes each month.
Visit Trim
Or read Joywallet's review of Trim.
Best for cashback savings: Dosh
Pros & cons
Pros
- Automatic rewards.
- Various payout methods to choose from.
- Opportunity to earn cashback.
Cons
- Inactive accounts have a maintenance fee.
- Rewards can only be gained through cards.
Cost: Free
If you are looking for a cashback savings app, Dosh is worth considering. This app doesn’t require adding digital coupons to the account or verifying the receipts. Once you have connected your account with Dosh, you will automatically earn rewards. This means you can shop and save on-the-go.
You can find several retailers to shop from through Dosh, and whether you make online or in-store purchases, you will earn cash back and withdraw it once you reach $25 in rewards. The payment is made through PayPal, Venmo, or a debit card transfer.
You enjoy a 2% to 3% cash back on Dosh, but there are several retailers that run promotions that give you as much as 15% cash back on the purchase.
Visit Dosh
Or read Joywallet's review of Dosh.
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Best for getting started with budgeting: You Need a Budget (YNAB)
Pros & cons
Pros
- High flexibility.
- Active budgeting.
- Offers cross platform access.
Cons
- Could be intimidating for a beginner to learn.
- High cost.
Cost: $14.99 monthly or $109 annually
You Need a Budget (YNAB) is a budgeting software that has gained a huge, devoted following over the last few years. Instead of analyzing the money you’ve already spent, YNAB focuses on helping you properly allocate your money moving forward.
Like other budgeting apps and software, you’ll start by connecting your financial accounts to your YNAB account. Once your accounts have been added, you can start creating your budget. YNAB will give you some suggested categories, but you can customize the categories to fit your needs. You can also add goals to your categories to help you reach financial goals, such as making a large purchase or saving up to pay off a debt.
After you’ve set up your accounts and categories, the next step is to assign your dollars. YNAB encourages you to think about your immediate needs, meaning the things you must pay for before your next paycheck comes in. Then, you can start budgeting for other, less immediate expenses that you know will come up later in the month or elsewhere.
Now that you’ve set up your YNAB account, sticking to the plan is hard. YNAB offers plenty of resources to help you rethink how you approach money and budgeting to help you succeed in money management. There are videos, podcasts, free workshops, and even an online community that you can use to support your journey as you make your way into a higher net worth and save for a rainy day.
YNAB is available for iOS and Android devices and can be accessed via web browsers. It offers a generous free 34-day trial, after which you ’ll join a subscription plan.
- The monthly plan is $14.99 per month, billed monthly.
- The annual plan is $109 per year, billed annually.
- Both plans can be canceled at any time.
Visit YNAB
Or read Joywallet's review of YNAB.
How to choose the right app to save money
There's no right answer here. You cannot identify one app that works for everyone. It varies from one individual to another and depends on their financial goals. The right app for you will be the one that meets your needs and goals. Consider how you spend your money and what you'd like to achieve from using the app. This will help you learn more about the right ways to manage your money. While an app like YNAB can help with budgeting, Trim will suit those with multiple subscriptions and those looking to cancel them. Any app that helps you achieve your financial goals is the right app.
Do mobile apps actually save money
An app can be useful to you and help save money but it also depends on your financial situation, how disciplined you are and how you use the app. If you use your money wisely and maintain your income, you might be able to save money.
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FAQs
I’m worried about connecting my bank accounts to random apps. How do I know that it’s safe?
Data privacy is a huge concern in our tech-heavy world, so it’s completely normal to be concerned about this. Most of the apps are transparent about their security practices to help put your mind at ease.
How do I know which app is best for me?
The best way to figure out what you need is to think about the problems that you need to solve. For example, if you’re frustrated by the fees charged by your traditional bank, you may want to look for a mobile banking app like Chime. If you want to start investing but you don’t think you can afford it, Acorns might be something fun to try out. The best app for you is the one that will best help you achieve your financial goals, whatever they may be.
Why should I use an app to save money?
Using budgeting and savings apps can be a great resource if you’re looking for free or inexpensive ways to save money and improve your finances. There are plenty of apps out there to choose from, and while it may seem overwhelming, most offer free trials so you can see which ones offer the features that are most beneficial to you. These free apps, which work on iOS and Android, can also be a great way to get started if you’re interested in building up your savings or in investing, but you’re not sure how to do it. Apps such as Acorns make it relatively painless to start that journey, and you most likely won’t even miss the “spare change” that is pulled from your account in the round-up platform.
The bottom line
Long gone are the days of sitting in stuffy offices and paying hundreds of dollars for an hour-long financial support session. While you can still do that if you’d like to, plenty of apps available today can help you control your finances on your own time. These apps can help you assess where your finances are now but also help you create a plan for the future to help you achieve your goals.
When choosing which app to download, it’s important to consider what financial support you’re looking for. Do you need help budgeting your money? Or are you sick of banks charging monthly fees just for having an account? No matter what your pain point is, the chances are that there’s an app out there that can help you feel more at ease.
Arguably, the best part of these apps is that most of them are either free or very inexpensive. At the very least, most offer free trials before you need to start paying a subscription fee. Even if it’s not something you stick with long-term, you could most likely benefit from trying one or more of these apps.
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Writer
Ashley Hart is a lead copywriter and digital marketing expert covering finance, law, real estate, music, entertainment, health and wellness.
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