Monarch reportedly doubled their number of incoming users after publishing an article about the Mint shutdown. Monarch Co-founder Ozzie Osman didn’t report the exact numbers but November 1, 2023, was apparently the company’s biggest day in terms of new users.
You’re probably wondering if it was the right choice to move to Monarch. So, let’s break down all the features of Monarch and how they compare to Mint.
Monarch Money vs Mint
1. Mint is Free* | Monarch Costs $14.99 per Month
The big question for people looking for a budgeting solution is, “How much does it cost?” And while this point seems to be in favor of Mint, things aren’t as simple as they seem.
Mint doesn’t cost any money to use, but that doesn’t make it 100% free. Everything costs something and in Mint’s case, the cost comes in the form of eyeballs on ads and referrals.
Being forced to view ads isn’t a bad trade-off for a great financial tool. Being recommended financial products that aren’t always in the best interest of the consumer though; now that’s a questionable deal.
This begs the question, is being free from ads and dubious financial recommendations worth $14.99 a month to you?
2. Mint for Simplified Budgets | Monarch for Comprehensive Budgets
Both Mint and Monarch allow you to track your spending through budgeting categories and subcategories.
However, Monarch takes things a step further by allowing users to share access to their budgets. This opens up various possibilities like budgeting with a partner or allowing a financial advisor to make adjustments to your plan.
Finally, Monarch Money allows users to track their savings and even customize their budget categories with icons. This means that in terms of budgeting, Monarch is a superior option unless you prefer a simpler tool.
3. Mint and Monarch Have Similar Bill Tracking Features
In terms of tracking your bill and subscription payments, Mint and Monarch have near-identical features. They both automatically detect your bills when you connect your accounts. And both apps have calendar views as well as notifications for when your bills are due.
However, both Mint and Monarch are missing the bill pay feature. This means that you can only track your bill payments in their apps and that you can’t pay your bills through them.
Cushion on the other hand allows you to track, pay, and build credit with your bills, subscriptions, and even BNPL payments!
4. Monarch Doesn’t Do Bill Negotiations
If you were using Mint’s bill negotiation feature, Billshark, then you’re going to have to do without it if you move to Monarch.
Fun fact, Cushion was the first-ever fee negotiation app! However, we realized that bloated bank fees were a symptom of a bigger problem. So we decided to go after the root cause, which is the ever-increasing number of bills, subscriptions, and BNPL loans that come with modern living.
So if you’re struggling with managing all of your bills and BNPL loans, then Cushion is the solution for you. Better yet, with Cushion, you can build your credit profile with the bill and BNPL payments that you’re already making!
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Summary
Monarch Money costs $14.99 per month which may be a deal breaker for those who are looking for another free budgeting solution like Mint. However, Monarch does feature a bunch of improvements such as being able to budget with a partner, viewing all your accounts in one dashboard, and being able to track your net worth and goals.
If you’re looking for an app that allows you to manage your Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) spending, you can do no better than Cushion! View all your BNPL loans in one dashboard and customize your BNPL categories so you know exactly where your money is going.
