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I am currently not using personal finance software but I think I should be. I usually do my own taxes through TurboTax. I saw that Amazon was bundling Quicken with Turbotax, but the newest and more premium version were getting hammered with bad reviews for the latest version, mostly for poor updates and customer service.

I have heard of Quicken, Quickbooks, Mint.com, and Intuit, but don't really know one from the other (Intuit is the parent company), nor why I'd want any specific product or flavor over another, besides reading their marketing text and comparisons, which I have done to some extent (who ever believes that marketing gives you 100% of the story though?)

Features I am looking for

  • integrate with online baking
  • scanning/processing of receipts || processing of banking records
  • integrate with mortgage and other loan accounts
  • keep track of my expenses
  • make tax time easier
  • prefer a local only option
  • functions
  • bug free (or at least not riddled with bugs)
  • easy backups and recovery
  • hassle free
  • easy for non-finance people, but powerful enough to be useful once I get my feet wet

Nice-to-haves

  • some kind of Android integration or support
  • good help/technical/user/community support
  • free

Unfortunately, I don't actually know what I'm looking for or what makes for a good or great finance app since I've never used one before. It does not have to be free, but it can't be too expensive (>$100) unless it's well justified, and certainly not over $200.

I'm in the USA.

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  • As banking software can often be quite region-specific: what region must be covered? And as you're interested in Android integration, you might wish to check the other way round (Android app with desktop pendant). For that, be welcome to browse my lists of Android finance apps.
    – Izzy
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 21:19
  • I'm in the US (updated the OP). It's great that you've compiled lists of apps/progs, but I have no idea why or even if you like anything on your lists, so the lists have limited use. Coupled with the fact that I can't see the URL on a mouseover, I don't want to click on the links. (This is not the first time I've come across your lists).
    – YetAnotherRandomUser
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 21:42
  • The links are behind the icons as well as behind the dates on reviews (and should reveal their URLs on mouse-over). No hidden stuff, shortened URLs or the like (I'm a privacy fetishist ;) The only "link" not revealing an URL is the app name, which is local JavaScript to show details on the app. Check the question-mark icon in the upper-right corner of the pages for details (again, link revealed on mouse-over). I of course haven't used all those 13k+ apps myself, but grouping, ratings, and the review links should be quite helpful I hope :)
    – Izzy
    Commented Mar 31, 2016 at 21:51
  • You could use everydollar.com. I have never used but it looks pretty good and there is an android app.
    – Aiden Grossman
    Commented Apr 1, 2016 at 18:22

1 Answer 1

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+25

One free option is GNUCash. It's available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and there is some kind of Android app but it doesn't have the same functionality. I'll try to address your bullet list here, for the desktop version as I haven't tried the mobile version.

  • Integrate with online banking - Yes. Many online banks and credit cards offer a way to download a list of transactions in Quicken or CSV format, and GNUCash has options for ingesting these transactions. The save file is XML.

  • Scanning of receipts - No, not that I know of.

  • integrate with mortgage and other loan accounts - Yes.

  • keep track of my expenses - Yes, this is its primary function. It can produce lovely charts and graphs of what your money is being spent on.

  • make tax time easier - I don't know of any specific tax integration. Actually I haven't really looked into this one yet.

  • prefer a local only option - Yep, it saves files locally. You are encouraged to use Google Drive or similar to keep files in sync across machines.

  • functions - What does this mean? It has... functions.. I guess.

  • bug free (or at least not riddled with bugs) - Not riddled with bugs. I did get it to crash just once, but that was mostly my fault. Also this program is obsessive (in a good way) about making multiple backups of the save file, adding a new backup with each and every save, along with transaction logs of what happened to the file between saves, and has an auto-save feature. As long as you take care of backing up these files to another machine or service, I think you're good.

  • easy backups and recovery - Yes, see previous bullet.

  • hassle free - It's GNU software. Of course there are GNU-like hassles. If you're familiar with GNU stuff you'll be right at home.

  • easy for non-finance people, but powerful enough to be useful once I get my feet wet -- Yes, speaking as a non-financial person myself, I would agree with this. I went through a learning curve but I didn't need to go looking up a bunch of financial terminology and concepts just to make use of this.

Nice-to-haves

  • some kind of Android integration or support - Yes, I think the Android version uses Google Drive specifically to keep your files in sync. I haven't tried the mobile version though.

  • good help/technical/user/community support - Yes.

  • free - Yes.

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  • 2
    The mobile interface of GNUCash for Android is very well polished and up-to-date.
    – Kevin
    Commented Nov 1, 2016 at 2:20

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