EveryDollar vs. Mint (2021): Which Budget App Is Worth It?

EveryDollar vs Mint Review Summary

• EveryDollar is a zero-based budgeting app that will feel most familiar to Dave Ramsey followers
• EveryDollar offers both free and paid versions depending on the level of sophistication and automation needed
• Mint helps users create budgets, set goals, track spending and investments, and take an overall look at their finances
• Mint shines for people who want to monitor their overall financial health using a free app
• When it comes to EveryDollar vs Mint, the deciding factor may well be whether users want a budget-focused app or a comprehensive financial tool

Mint Summary

Nearly 20 million users are connected to the Mint app. For a free tool, Mint is remarkably robust. Not only does Mint offer a fully customizable budgeting tool. It also pulls transactions from all of your linked accounts and automatically categorizes them.

Some other standout features of Mint include:

• Monitoring your credit score
• Tracking your bills
• Establishing goals and progress monitoring them
• Reviewing money trends to see a big-picture view of your finances
• Setting up custom notifications and email alerts to keep an eye on your money
• Using the Mint app on iOS and Android

Further boosting the credibility of Mint is the fact that it is owned by Intuit, the brains behind QuickBooks and Turbotax. Users should be aware that Mint is a free tool because it is ad-supported. That means you will have to navigate advertising when using the tool.

Check out more about why we love Mint in our full review here.

EveryDollar Summary

The EveryDollar app will feel familiar to Dave Ramsey followers because, well, it’s a Ramsey Solutions tool!

Some of the features that make EveryDollar a popular budgeting app include:

• Support to forecast expected monthly income
• Prompts to help you plan your spending and saving for the month
• Tools to track and categorize your expenses in real time
• Free financial education via the EveryDollar blog

The EveryDollar cost varies as well. Users can access a free version of the tool that requires manual income and expense tracking. If you want to unlock automation and other features, you can upgrade to EveryDollar Pro as part of the Ramsey Plus membership.

The pricetag is a steep $129.99 a year, but it includes three apps -- EveryDollar Pro, plus another app to progress monitor your journey through Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps and another app that unlocks online courses and an interactive community.

To learn more about how EveryDollar works and why you might love this app, check out our full EveryDollar review here.

Mint: Is It Easy To Get Started?

Mint isn’t one of the most popular budgeting apps for no reason. Part of why so many people flock to Mint is because of how easy it is to use...and that includes start up!

Mint prides itself on making it easy for users to get started with this tool.

Follow these easy steps to get started with Mint:

Step 1: Create a free and secure account. Know your zip code? Then, you can create an account with Mint. Plug in your zip code, country, username and password.

Step 2: Sync your accounts. Mint connects to savings, checking, and investment accounts. You can also add your credit cards, student loans, and mortgage. Boom! You’re ready to use Mint.

Step 3: Follow the budgeting wizard to set up your budget. Mint will prompt you to add budget categories, asking if the expense occurs monthly, throughout the year, or one time.

Step 4: Monitor your income and expenses. Since your accounts are synced, Mint will start to track and categorize your expenses for you. The key is to make sure that you monitor these transactions for accuracy and to hold yourself accountable.

Step 5: Create financial goals to work toward. Mint also offers a tool to help you set various goals and progress monitor them.

EveryDollar: How Quickly Can I Get Set Up?

The EveryDollar app was designed to have you logged in and budgeting in just a handful of minutes.

Follow these steps to get started:

Step 1: Create an account with EveryDollar. You’ll enter your first and last name, plus a username and password.

Step 2: Open the budgeting tool to start entering your planned income.

Step 3: Add your planned expenses for the month.

Step 4: Start filling in your budget lines and let EveryDollar do the calculating for you.

Step 5: Review your budget at the end of the month.

While you do have to manually track your spending in the free version of EveryDollar, the first few steps are a breeze thanks to the different prompts the tool uses to walk you through the account and budget set up.

For a deeper dive into how you can create a budget that works for you, check out our step-by-step plan on how to create a budget.

EveryDollar vs. Mint: Cost Comparison

When it comes to comparing the cost of EveryDollar vs. Mint, you really start to notice the differences between the two tools.

Mint is a free financial tool because it is ad-supported. If pop-ups and other advertisements bother you, be warned. That’s exactly the method that Mint uses to continue to offer this robust tool for free.

On the other hand, the basic EveryDollar app is free. With the free version, you can plan, track, and reconcile your spending and saving. Note that most of this is done manually. If you want more automation and more features, then you can upgrade to EveryDollar Plus as part of the Ramsey Plus membership. Test it out for free for two weeks and then be prepared to pay $129.99 per year.

Visit our EveryDollar review to see more details on what EveryDollar Plus and the Ramsey Plus membership offer to see if the EveryDollar cost makes sense for you.

EveryDollar vs. Mint: Feature Comparison

Still can’t decide which tool is right for you? To help you decide between EveryDollar vs Mint, let’s compare some of the top features that you might be looking for on your financial journey.

See how EveryDollar and Mint stack up when it comes to:

• Budgeting
• Goal Setting
• Investment Tracking
• Education
• Customer Service
• Security

Budgeting

Both EveryDollar and Mint shine as budgeting tools. EveryDollar makes budgeting its bread and butter. It really doesn’t focus on anything else! If you are looking to get better at budgeting and want a free, basic tool that comes with zero distractions (read: ads), then EveryDollar is it. You are required to manually input all of your transactions in the free version of EveryDollar. While this does take some time, it is an excellent way to stay in tune with your finances and your spending.

However, if you want a free tool that syncs all of your accounts and automates your budget and your financial overview, that’s where Mint stands out. Of course, the trade off is tolerating in-app ads. For something that is streamlined and constantly working behind the scenes, many users say Mint is well worth it.

Goal Setting

When it comes to EveryDollar vs Mint and goal setting, it’s a tie. Both tools encourage users to set goals, though the types of goals vary somewhat.

In EveryDollar, you will set a budget goal by forecasting your income and expenses. You also set up various funds, such as an emergency fund and other sinking funds. These all become goals that you work toward throughout the month.

With Mint, there is a goal component as well. You can work toward a single goal or multiple goals. Both the web-based version and the app allow you to set goals and track your progress toward them.

Investment Tracking

This one is a no brainer. If you are looking for a tool that tracks your investments, opt for Mint. Mint has the ability to sync a variety of investment accounts and also lets you track their growth over time.

EveryDollar knows it’s a budget app, so it doesn’t tackle investment tracking.

Education

In terms of education, Mint offers both a blog and customer support in the form of frequently asked questions. You can also find a ton of information and insight about Mint on various platforms and social media sites online. With millions of users, it makes sense that people are talking about the app online quite a bit.

The EveryDollar app offers financial education in two ways. If you are sticking with the basic version of the app, you can access their blog for free resources. The blog explains various financial principles and also helps you take a deeper dive into some of the features specific to EveryDollar.

If you are looking for more comprehensive financial education, you can upgrade to the Ramsey Plus membership. That includes the Learn app, which puts Financial Peace University at your fingertips.

Customer Service

When it comes to customer service, this might be a case of getting what you pay for.

Since both Mint and the basic version of EveryDollar are free, don’t expect personalized concierge service from either platform.

Instead both of their support pages have comprehensive answers to the most frequently asked question.

If the answers on the Mint support page don’t answer your questions, there is a chat option as well. EveryDollar is similar. Instead of starting a chat, you can submit a request and a member of their support team will email you back.

Security

When it comes to financial peace of mind, you don’t just want the most robust tool--you always want a safe one. Cybersecurity is no joke, and thankfully both Mint and EveryDollar take your security seriously.

Thanks to its background with Turbotax and QuickBooks, the makers of Mint know how to keep your account protected. The app uses security scanning and multi-factor authentication to keep your private information private. You can find even more details about their focus on security here.

Starting with the very first time you use EveryDollar, your email and password are encrypted. They also use firewall barriers and authentication procedures to keep you safe. You can read more security details about EveryDollar here.

Which App Is Best?

When it comes to EveryDollar vs Mint, which app is best? If you follow Dave Ramsey’s baby steps, the EveryDollar app is perfect for you! This zero-based budgeting tool puts every dollar you earn to work. That means that you can spend and save with purpose.

Mint is the tool for you if you are looking for support with your budget and want to keep an eye on your overall financial health with the same tool. Think of it as one-stop shopping. That is, if one-stop shopping was free! Thanks to the in-app ads, every feature of Mint, including the account syncing and automated account tracking, is yours at no cost.

Other Budgeting Apps To Consider

EveryDollar and Mint are two solid budgeting apps. But they aren’t the only ones. In fact, it’s possible that you read this entire EveryDollar vs Mint comparison and wondered if something was missing. If that’s the case, there are several other apps for you to consider.

YNAB

YNAB definitely created a cult following for itself...and for good reason. The YNAB budget is a budget like no other. There is a bit of a learning curve, but YNAB offers the most comprehensive support we’ve seen in any budgeting tool. That’s because YNAB wants you to win. They love to boast that their users save an average of $600 in their first two months of using the app and $6,000 within the first year!

Try YNAB for free, or check out our full YNAB review for more details.

Tiller

Tiller is a money nerd’s dream come true. If you want support sticking with a budget and value your spreadsheet freedom, Tiller is right for you. This paid tool offers dozens of different budgeting templates so you can be sure to find a budget that fits your finances and your life. The budget templates export to Google Sheets and Excel so you can always get your money nerd on.

Try Tiller for free, or check out our full Tiller Money review for more details.

Qube Money

Qube is relatively new on the financial technology scene and people can’t seem to get enough of it. Think of Qube as a digital cash envelope system mixed with a banking app. It prevents overspending thanks to its app set up and also comes with a Qube Visa debit card. If you want an app that does it all, Qube comes impressively close!

Try Qube for free, or check out our full Qube Money review for more details.