Finance · iOS
Monarch: Budget & Track Money
by Monarch Money, Inc.
Monarch has been around since late 2020 and has quietly become one of the most seriously rated budgeting apps on the market, sitting at 4.89 across nearly 97,000 reviews. It pulls multiple financial accounts into a single dashboard, auto-categorizes transactions, tracks net worth and investments, and lets two users collaborate on the same financial picture. At 81 MB it is a reasonably lean install, and the development team is clearly active, pushing an update as recently as June 2026.
Where It Earns Its Reputation
The collaborative angle is the feature that genuinely separates Monarch from most single-user budgeting tools. Couples or individuals working with a financial professional can share one live view of accounts, budgets, and goals rather than emailing screenshots back and forth. Auto-categorization on incoming transactions removes a lot of the manual friction that kills consistency in personal finance apps, and the customizable dashboard means you surface net worth or upcoming expenses without digging through menus.
What to Watch Out For
The app is free to download but carries in-app purchases, and given the depth of features on offer, core functionality almost certainly sits behind a subscription paywall. New users should verify exactly what is accessible for free before committing time to account setup. The 81 MB footprint is acceptable, but users on older devices should note the app has been updated continuously since 2020, so minimum OS requirements may have crept upward over time.
Who Actually Benefits Here
Monarch is best suited to households managing shared finances, former Mint users looking for a direct replacement, and anyone who wants investment tracking alongside everyday budgeting in one place rather than juggling separate apps. Solo budgeters on a tight software budget may find the subscription cost harder to justify depending on what the free tier actually covers, but the near-perfect store rating across a large review base suggests most paying users find the value proposition convincing.
Pros
- Collaborative access for couples or financial professionals is a genuinely useful differentiator
- Auto-categorization reduces manual data entry and helps users stay consistent
- Combines net worth tracking, investment performance, and budgeting in one dashboard
- Continuously maintained, with updates pushed through mid-2026
- Nearly 97K ratings at 4.89 signals broad, sustained user satisfaction
Cons
- Free download likely gates meaningful features behind a paid subscription
- Subscription cost is not disclosed upfront in store materials
- Users heavily dependent on account syncing are exposed to third-party connection reliability
- No offline or manual-only mode is confirmed, so connectivity issues could disrupt access
- Collaborative features add little value for solo users who may not need that tier of complexity