Best budget apps in Australia

Budgeting apps are a handy way to make your money easier to manage and help keep your savings goals on track.

The best money apps can let you see you all your finances in the one place, set budgets, compare financial products and even help you earn more money.

And with cost of living pressures continuing to hurt our savings, it's more important than ever to make sure you're budgeting correctly.

Here are our top 5 picks to help you do that, based on ratings, features and popularity:

Finder survey: What do Australians of different ages use their banking apps for?

Best budget apps

PocketSmith Sidekick

Best for overseas accounts

The PocketSmith Sidekick app is great if you have accounts in Australia and overseas because it works with over 12,000 financial institutions around the world.

Founded in New Zealand in 2008, PocketSmith works as a web app or mobile app, with a free version that lets you manually add account details, make up to 12 budgets and get a 6-month projection of your finances. The paid plans give you a lot more scope, including:

• Automatic and manual transaction imports
• Automatic bank feeds
• Automatic categorisation
• 10-year or 30-year finance projections (depending on the plan)

Cost: Free basic plan. Paid plans cost between $8.25 and $21.95 per month.

Compatibility:

• iPhone, iPad, iPod touch (OS 11.0 or later) and Macs with an Apple M1 chip and MacOS 11.0 or later
• Android devices (Android 5 or later)

Goodbudget

This app is based on the envelope budgeting strategy, where you put different amounts of money into envelopes based on what you'll spend it on (e.g. bills, rent and dining). It's a lot easier to see and manage through an app - and more environmentally friendly, too.

Other features include:

• Spending analysis for each envelope, including pie-charts
• Income vs. spending reports
• Progress tracking for paying off debt, saving money or any other goal
• Community support
• Sharable budgets

Cost: Free basic plan, with a paid plan costing US$8 per month or US$70 per year.

Compatibility:

• iPhone, or iPod touch (OS 12.0 or later)
• Android devices (Android 5 or later)

Frollo

Best for personal finance insights

Frollo is an Australian fintech best known for providing open banking services to brands like BOQ, REA Group and Volt. Its personal finance app also uses this technology to let you add accounts from different banks and lenders, with similar features to other budget apps.

A highlight is the downloadable "Financial Passport" that shows your income, spending, assets and liabilities for the last 12 months – which could be useful when you're applying for loans or talking to a broker.

Other features include:

• Smart money tips and notifications
• Separate budgets based on goals, with visuals that track your progress
• A dashboard for tracking your net worth

Cost: Free

Compatibility:

• iPhone, iPad, iPod touch (OS 12.0 or later) and Mac computers with an Apple M1 chip and MacOS 11.0 or later
• Android devices (Android 6 or later)

Up

Best for saving

Up is an Australian digital bank that offers all the regular features of a bank and savings account, as well as bonus features to help you save money. You can set up auto savings and round ups on purchases, set savings goals and even get an Up home loan.

Key features of the Up app include:

• Joint accounts
• Saving pots
• Savings challenges

Cost: Free

Compatibility:

• iPhone, iPad, iPod touch (OS 12.4 or later)
• Android devices (Android 6 or later)

Finder app

Best for financial overview

Okay, we might be a bit biased, the Finder app lets you find better deals and that is a great way to boost your budget.

You can track your credit score and find a better deal on things like your energy, insurance, utilities and more.

Other key investing and money features of the Finder app include:

• Crypto trading
• Compare hundreds of financial products
• Free credit score and credit report

Cost: Free

Compatibility:

• iPhone, iPad, iPod touch (OS 12.0 or later) and Mac computers with an Apple M1 chip and MacOS 11.0 or later
• Android devices (Android 5 or later)

What other apps can help with money management and budgeting?

While the following aren't specifically budgeting apps, they can allow you to pay friends and family, track expenses, split bills and even convert currency.

Beem

Best for paying friends

Previously known as Beem It, this free app lets you use your phone to send and get money in seconds when you add a Visa or Mastercard. Backed by eftpos, it's incredibly popular and has one of the highest App Store ratings we saw for this guide at the time of writing.

Key features include:

• Pay anyone on Beem using their handle
• Track and split expenses with a group
• Automatically sends requests and reminders to people when you're owed money
• Transfer money between your cards, including between banks
• BPAY payments

You can add up to 5 cards, and get the most features if you add a debit card – including payments to other people. If you add a credit card, you'll be able to use it for gift cards, BPAY and Beem Checkout.

Cost: Free

Compatibility:

• iPhone, iPad, iPod touch (OS 14.0 or later)
• Android devices (Android 6.0 or later)

Splitwise

Best for splitting bills

Splitwise lets you track and pay for shared expenses between two or more people. You can easily add groups to the app and leave comments on expenses, making it handy if you're splitting bills, dinner, transport or anything else.

But keep in mind that you can't make actual payments through the app in Australia – that has to happen through your bank account or PayPal.

Other features include:

• Categorise expenses
• Split expenses by a percentage or chosen amount
• Set up recurring expenses
• Offline mode
• Receipt scanning (Pro version)
• Currency conversion (Pro version)

Cost: Free with in-app purchases from $0.99 to $39.99 (including for the Pro version)

Compatibility:

• iPhone, iPad, iPod touch (OS 12.0 or later)
• Android, but version varies with device (check Google Play on your device for compatibility)

What about my bank's app?

A growing number of bank apps also come with features to help you track your budget, set savings goals and manage your finances, including CommBank, ANZ and NAB apps. In January 2022, Westpac also acquired popular budget app MoneyBrilliant and plans to integrate some key features.

So if you have all your money with one bank, its app could give you enough tools for your budget goals.

Bottom line

If you know what you want to do with your money, you can find an app to help. And if you're not sure what the next financial step is, using a budgeting app can give you a clearer picture to help you figure it out.

Methodology

We chose these apps based on a combination of their features, user ratings and how long they have been on the market. To help narrow down the comparison, we focused on 3 key categories and only selected apps with a rating of at least 3.3 at the time of writing and compatibility with both Apple and Android devices.

The best budget app is one that lets you see all your accounts and money in one place, with tools to make the most of it. With that in mind, we also focused on apps that offered helpful features in the free version, and value-for-money in the paid versions.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the best envelope budgeting app for Australia?

  A great budgeting app for this strategy is Goodbudget, which uses the envelope budgeting method to help users allocate funds for different expenses.

• Is there a completely free budget app?

  Yes, there are a number of a completely free budget apps available in Australia, providing full access to features without any subscription fees.

• Does expensify work in Australia?

  Yes, Expensify works in Australia and is popular among business users for tracking expenses, generating reports and managing receipts. If you're an ANZ customer, you can directly integrate Expensify's credit card expense management software with your ANZ bank account for importing and receipt matching.

• What budgeting app syncs with bank account in Australia?

  Apps like WeMoney and Frollo can be useful if you want a budgeting app that syncs with your bank accounts.

• What is the best expense tracking app in Australia?

  There are a number of expense tracking apps in Australia, which offer comprehensive features to track spending, set budgets and sync with bank accounts. Some are free and some have a subscription cost attached. The best one for you depends on your specific needs.

Written by

Amy Bradney-George

Editor

Amy Bradney-George was the senior writer for credit cards at Finder, and editorial lead for Finder Green. She has over 16 years of editorial experience and has been featured in publications including ABC News, Money Magazine and The Sydney Morning Herald. See full bio

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