Leave a Review Buddy
Tried five
I’ve tried Mint YNAB Goodbudget and Truebill - and this is by far the best one. Definitely worth the lifetime premium. It’s the same cost as six months of You Need a Budget for unlimited premium features. I love how much control you have over the additions and set up. It really gives a clear picture of your situation. I’ve already gotten set up to get out of debt seven years early! I am very pleased with this purchase. Some might not like the manual input but it actually helps me to track my overall costs. Great for those with variable incomes and changing monthly costs. I don’t use the partner features, but it seems like an amazing feature as well. The manual aspect really allows you to do everything with your goals in mind. Highly recommend.Show lessnewdorktimesreview
Developer Response
Super happy to hear you're on the right track. Keep it up! 💪Almost the best replacement for MINT!
I’ve been testing Apps to replace Mint and have not been pleased with the free options (Empower and Piere), but I also hate subscription models, so I’ve narrowed it to the few that offer one-time purchase. Buddy is the most complete (with Wallet, PocketGuard and Spendee being the other similar Apps). Buddy is so close to being the complete package that I’m hopeful their developers will seize the opportunity to attract a huge following of “Mint Refugees” Buddy Pros: iPad App, iOS & Mac Apps!, Mint Import, Wise connects (but not great), manual cash transactions, nice monthly trends, One time purchase (find in iOS for $50), shared user, rollover budget Cons: no multi Currency (the Wise accounts all come through as the same currency!), no split transactions or transaction rules. The later two features should be a given for Expense Apps. The multi currency integration (like Wallet and Spendee) could put Buddy ahead of all the others.
UPDATE: currently you cannot link two different logins from the same institution (example: if your spouse and you have two Credit Card accounts with Chase you CANNOT link both). That’s a big strike against, as most other Apps using Plaid, MX and even Yodlee include this feature with no problem. Developers responded that they’re aware of the shortcoming and hope to add it someday.Show lessjaggner
Developer Response
Thank you for the thorough review! Some of these features you're missing are prioritised highly in our backlog of features to implement. I've taken note of everything you mentioned here, it won't go missed when we plan ahead. ☺️Almost the best replacement for MINT!
I’ve been testing Apps to replace Mint and have not been pleased with the free options (Empower and Piere), but I also hate subscription models, so I’ve narrowed it to the few that offer one-time purchase. Buddy is the most complete (with Wallet, PocketGuard and Spendee being the other similar Apps). Buddy is so close to being the complete package that I’m hopeful their developers will seize the opportunity to attract a huge following of “Mint Refugees”
Buddy Pros: iPad App, iOS & Mac Apps!, Mint Import, Wise connects (but not great), manual cash transactions, nice monthly trends, One time purchase (find in iOS for $50), shared user, rollover budget
Cons: no multi Currency (the Wise accounts all come through as the same currency!), no split transactions or transaction rules. The later two features should be a given for Expense Apps. The multi currency integration (like Wallet and Spendee) would be what puts Buddy ahead of all the others!Show lessExtremely glitchy
When you start on the app you will feel this is a really good app. But it’s tedious and glitchy all the time. I just went in and cleaned duplicate entries (that the app has randomly created) in almost all spending categories. It also doesn’t allow to select only one bank account if you have more than one account with the same bank. I have a business and personal account with the same bank and it pulls in all my business expenses, which I have to then manually delete.
It also says synced in last 2 seconds but you will not see the recent transactions until you have refreshed at least 5 times.
Overall the categorization and views are simple and easy. If everything were to work as designed this can be a great app, simple to use and track expenses. Not sure how long I will continue with the app though if the bugs are not fixed.Show lessSnowday2024
Developer Response
Hi, thanks for reviewing the app. Glad you like the categorization features! The problem with duplicate transactions that you are describing was due to a bug that was recently fixed. Please check if the latest app version works for you. The problem where you can't select which accounts to import transactions from is unfortunately nothing that can be fixed in Buddy - the app relies on Plaid for bank integrations, and the user interface for this can be different depending on which bank you have. Maybe this can be fixed in the future, but for now, I'm afraid there's not much that can be done about it. The problem where new transactions aren't directly visible in the app is something I'm aware of, hopefully this can be fixed soon in an app update. Olle Founder of BuddyGreat but Subscription Based
I’ve been trying to find a decent budgeting app to help me track all my expenses across all accounts. I tried Mint for a few weeks and didn’t really like the UI—it felt disorganized and too cluttered for me. I downloaded Buddy and was happily surprised by how easy it was to navigate and the intuitiveness of adding and categorizing expenses. The only downside is the fact that I can’t connect any of my accounts without paying a subscription fee. I understand it, but at the same time, it’s just a bit irksome. Mint allowed me to integrate all my banking-related apps (PayPal, Venmo, banking account, etc) without having to pay anything. If Buddy ever goes subscription-free, or even changes to a one-time purchase, I will likely return and use it. But until then, I’ll continue my search for something else that fits my needs. But if you’re willing to pay to access this feature, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this app.Show lessMayamiie
Hands down worst app
The reasoning behind this is a bad app is because these apps are suppose to help you save money and be very good in your finances. I have to spend money just to connect my bank? That stupid, I have to spend just to add more things so I can manage my savings? That is stupid. I found a way better app that does it he same thing, I can share my leager and they can still manage it. This app request so much money that you can use for food, drink, bills, etc. I don’t recommend this app at all. Due to the pricing and how much they offer is pretty ridiculous. “Oh we need to pay to stay on apple”. You will get more money from keeping it cheap and more understandable to spend. These app should teach you and help you manage your money not spend it on these apps. I found an app that I have to spend $8 for lifetime, but if you don’t get lifetime you still get 95% of what they offer. This app only allows like 45% what they offer and then you have to spend money to unlock 100% of it. This app is a scam and money waste.Show lessEmperorRoyce
It’s decent
Update: after using this for almost a week I really don’t like it I’m taking off a star… when I upload all my current bank transactions it tells me my “updated current balance” and I go into my bank account just to double check the balance is correct on Buddy and it’s not… there’s no pending transactions these are transactions that have gone through and Buddy registers that and has all my transactions in my buddy account but for whatever reason it always tells me I have more than what I actually have in my bank…. The transactions also don’t go through on my budget categories… so I say I have $130 to use on my credit card bill… the transaction comes out and on my budget category it still says I have $130 left to spend this month. It just lags horribly and doesn’t stay up to date… I canceled and will be looking for a new app.
It’s good, better than mint because you have more options but when I linked my bank account to make seeing my transactions and just overall budget easier it has some of my transactions actions listed twice and then it mixed up my credit card with my checking account so I had to go in and list my “credit” as “checking” on each transaction and then it doesn’t have an accurate checking balance even though it’s linked to my bank so that’s strange. I went in and manually put my current balance though… I’ll try it because I paid for the month so we’ll see if I like it or it grows on me.Show lessAj9329
Bank connection doesn’t work, hard to contact
I LOVE the design and functionality of the app. It’s super clean and functional, and is the only app I’ve found that allows you to connect your bank accounts AND budget bi-weekly - and if your paid bi-weekly, you understand how hard it is to manage your budget using all those monthly apps out there. This combination makes this app an absolute win-win!
Now for the negative; my particular bank (Cadence) is not connecting for some reason. Until this is fixed where I can download transactions from my bank, it’s pretty useless because I simply can’t take the time to manually enter transactions. I’ve gone through the “submit feedback” button in the app, but have not gotten a response back. And with only a 7 day free trial period, I can’t afford to just sit around and wait hoping they contact me, so I had to cancel my subscription for now.
Overall - great app, just make sure your bank connection works. Buddy team, improving your responsiveness, including sending an email letting people know you’ve received their feedback and are looking into it, would help so I don’t feel like my question is just going into a black hole. I really hope the bank connection gets fixed with Cadence so I can use the app.Show lessabm136
Best I’ve found!!
I tried out over 5 different budgeting apps before this one, and the Buddy budgeting app has just about all of the pros without any of the cons of the others. I love how organized, customizable, and colorful the app is.
My only suggestion would be to add a calendar view in the transactions tab. I think being able to click on each day to see what was spent/earned would be a helpful tool. My other favorite app I tried was Dollarbird. I think Buddy is a better choice (and free!) but I did love that aspect of Dollarbird.
I think adding the option for a calendar view where the “list, categories, and split” options are would make this app the best of the best!
Overall, an awesome app!!Show lessNicolejc6
Best budget app EVER!
This is hands down by far the best and most productive app I’ve ever used on the iPhone! Just to be clear, I’ve never wrote a review for any app I’ve ever used since I got an iPhone back in 2011. My wife and I have tried saving and budgeting, I’ve tried mint ive tried rocket I’ve tried the spending app I’ve tried envelope, all of them have their own pros and cons. But when I found this app, I have yet to see any cons! I love that you can either connect you accounts to the app, or type in all the transactions manually. I personally like to type them in manually but everyone’s different, I also love how it allows you to set your budget and you can name everything individually with their own icons and with their own colors. I color coordinate all my bills and food and budget, it cost 24 dollars for the whole year and it is WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY! My wife and I have been able to save and account for every penny, our spending is under control and I love how it has changed our lives financially. If anyone is looking for an app to either track your transactions or set a budget this is hands down the best one there is!!Show lessMatthew230687
