YNAB reviews

it has potential but unfortunately it would not connect with our bank correctly and our balance never matched what was actually in our bank account. Might be a bank connection issue or the app I am not sure. But it was very frustrating going into the app all the time and trying to fix everything. Ynab would label something as “inflow” when it was actually “spending” so this messed things up all the time.

I have used this app for several years and today it was updated to the most recent version. This updated app is literally unusable. I can’t see any of my progress bars, I have to click multiple times and things to see spending history, and the list goes on… WHY YNAB?!!! I am considering canceling my subscription if this current version is here to stay because it’s basically useless.

Have been a used for years. Recent updates bury my budgeting info multiple clicks deep so I can no longer see the useful info (how much money I am aiming for, nave, and need) without multiple clicks. Was all set to get an account for my child before college. Now I am looking to see when my current subscription expires so I can be sure it doesn’t auto renew. It’s no longer useful.

YNAB used to be the gold standard for budgeting, but it feels like every update makes the app worse. Instead of improving the core budgeting experience, the team keeps making changes that add more clicks, more friction, and more confusion. It feels like change for the sake of change, not because users asked for it. What many longtime users want is simple: go back to the basics. Make budgeting fast and intuitive again. Then focus on meaningful additions like investment tracking and better net worth reporting. I’ve been a subscriber for five years because YNAB’s budgeting philosophy is excellent. Unfortunately, the app has steadily become more frustrating to use, and it feels like customer feedback is being ignored. Rather than making my financial life easier, I’m spending more time navigating the interface. I’m disappointed to say I’ll be cancelling my subscription if this direction continues.

I absolutely love this app. I literally am never stressed about money anymore. It’s addicting.

They keep changing things unnecessarily and upending a perfectly functioning UI. Time to start looking for a replacement.

I’ve been using this app for over half a decade now. I loved the balance it struck between simplicity and more complex arrangements like saving for a vacation, etc. I hate several of the new changes. First, the beta testing being done currently where the progress bar has been replaced by circles — get rid of that, no one likes it. I also hate that the option to mark something as cleared is now hidden behind a “see more” button. Your UI designers should try actually using the app in day-to-day life before making changes that make it overall harder to use and a less pleasant experience. I love the premise of YNAB, and so far it has been working well for me, which is why I’ve stuck with it for so long, but if you keep making changes like this, you’re going to lose your established user base & word of mouth — the very things that led to your initial success.

Please please please go back to the previous version with the bars and not the circles! I will cancel my subscription because I hate this so much, it was so much easier to see how much I have left at a glance with the way it was before, get rid of those circles!!!!!!!! Bring back the line/bar view!!! I’m BEGGING you.

I’ve been a long time customer and am now looking for alternatives because they keep redesigning the app for no reason. It’s obvious that YNAB’s employees do not use the app themselves because otherwise they might understand the friction they’re adding to people’s workflows. The most important task in a budgeting app is - if you can believe it - being able to see your budget and add transactions. So what do the geniuses at YNAB do? They make the default screen when the app opens a “Home Screen” that has neither of those things and instead has a list of tasks like a to do app. And now instead of a simple process bar representing how much is remaining in a budget, the budget screen now uses circular graphs for some reason. I assume that they used AI to make this change at random because anybody who takes a moment to actually think would recognize that the old design (progress bars in uniformly fixed width rows) is a much more useful presentation of data. YNAB was a great and useful product that is now an enormous chore simply because the people who make it are too lazy to try using their own app.

I don’t care if the team apparently wants to change the entire design and UI philosophy of the app, but having the option to maintain a “Classic” view or similar should at least be an option. The way the budgets look now, the way it hides the budgeted total until you click on the budget line, is horrendous. The little icons on each budget item look busy, and overcomplicate the UI. Why do I want to see “Fully spent” repeated over and over again? Why add so much text to a line when a budget total told me everything I needed to know before? Entirely removing the ability to see your budget lines at-a-glance is absurd. It feels like an overcorrection towards an ideal that no one but the YNAB team themselves wanted to make. It’s not user friendly, it’s dev friendly. I’m capable of rolling with the punches. I’m not one to howl to the heavens when things change. I’m adaptable, and understanding. But 2026 has been an awful year for YNAB updates. All-or-nothing UI updates, no customization to maintain consistency, an entirely useless “Home” page that pushes ads, redundant pages, murdering the design. It feels like kowtowing to a corporate ideal, not ensuring reliable service to users. This is an app that people use frequently throughout their daily lives. It is an app for budgeted finances, something that is stressful at a baseline, especially in the world economy today. You have to understand that an unexpected change to someone’s FINANCES is going to be extremely uncomfortable. This is a very personal thing you’re messing with. Why make bracing, irreversible changes with no recourse or options? It’s adding gasoline to a fire. Rein it in, guys. I’m glad you’re feeling yourselves and feeling confident, but your design team and philosophy is not more important than a feeling of reliability and comfort for your users. No user thinks about or cares about the vision of YNAB Inc. They want a comfortable place to manage their finances without disruption or surprise. Get over yourselves, be humble.

This app has been really important to me over the last three years, and so I’ve stuck through all the recent UI downgrades that have come since the switch to iOS 26 and the Liquid Glass interface. But today’s update changing the bars for each category into a weird folder with a circle around it feels like a turning point to me. One of the most central parts of the interface is now extremely minimized, and the ability to visually see how much you have spent in a category vs how much you’ve assigned to it is completely gone. I cannot see myself continuing to use this app with this interface, and I’be cancelled my subscription.

Have been using it for 4 years now. It has transformed my understanding on how to manage money.

I’ve read the book and I’m totally on board with how YNAB frames finance. But this app is poorly structured and non-intuitive. I thought if I stayed with it, maybe something in it would click, but that’s not happening. It also, unlike the app I’ve chosen to use, doesn’t sync with all my banks. So I’m making Goodbudget work in YNAB framing.

This app is the best you will find. I teach budgeting to college students and have used this app daily for over 10 yrs and have found this to be the go-to budget tool if you really want to get control of your budget. Thank you YNAB for being awesome! Please do not sell out ever!

Inflow/Spending used to be a toggle now it’s a drop down menu, that’s annoying but the maddening thing - if I want to change the date of a payment or transfer, I have to click into the payment, click more, click the calendar, scroll down and then I can finally update the day. Do y’all actually use your own app because most of the stuff that gets changed should be counter intuitive to anyone who actually does.

I used to be able to trust YNAB as a rock solid budgeting and tracking app, in which any errors were made by me and easy to fix. Now it keeps surprising me with “helpful” AI interventions, then blaming me when I question them. The most recent was an “automatic reconciliation adjustment” that threw off my cleared balance by over $2000 while I was n vacation! When I looked into the reason for this I found out that the app (randomly) makes an adjustment when the cleared balance doesn’t match that of my credit union. In this case it created a huge error. There is no way to turn this function off and the answer given by the chatbot was to reconcile it myself more often. I had just reconciled two weeks before and this kind of interference is neither helpful nor necessary. I also frequently find duplicate transactions. It’s impossible to do zero dollar budgeting when the dollars are inaccurate. Please make these AI interventions optional!

Why do accounts need to be linked through Plaid, and not directly through bank. Plaid is sketchy and does not work all the time. The backbone of your app works through linking financial details. The link is flawed

I have used YNAB for years. Gifted my daughter a subscription and few years ago and she loves it too. It has helped us both stay debt free. But this last update is causing me grief! So glitchy and not nearly as seamless as before.

I discuss money with people for a living. YNAB has helped me and my wife tremendously. We too have fallen into the “lifestyle creep” as we grow our professional careers. YNAB has helped us not only with tracking expenses, but also behavior modification. Making informed decisions with finances is so important. YNAB allows you to make financial decisions with confidence. I highly recommend this app to anyone who feels like they’re behind, needs clarity with their finances, or even is at a good place financially.

I love YNAB! I have tried several budget apps but could never stick with it. YNAB works so well since it easily syncs with all my bank accounts and it handles credit cards extremely well. The notifications for new transactions are the reason I remember to stay on track, and the app looks modern and sleek and is a pleasure to use.

Been using YNAB for years and it has transformed our personal and business finances. Even our teens have their own YNAB budgets now and love it. Great customer service and easy to use. I recommend to everyone.

After three years, I am switching to Copilot Money. On the one hand, YNAB did wonders for my finances. I have truly learned how to manage my credit cards and not carry a balance. Our savings and investments are up. Our bad debt is almost gone. But, it hasn’t been easy. A primary issue is manual and imported transactions not matching up. The interface is not user-friendly. I have wasted so much time trying to figure out why my figures are off and trying to set up my categories in a way that suits me. There are no color customizations and it needs a third tier of subcategories. The app has a section for videos and written material to explain how it thinks on the backend, but they are too general, never addressing the issue I was actually having. The people in the videos don’t get to the point. Rather than just giving me the answer I’m looking for, I have to watch a skit where they’re trying to turn it into a comedy show. The problems increasingly become worse with every major update that adds unnecessary functions, tabs, and other changes. Not only do they make the app more confusing, but they also add steps. For example, when transactions import, I can no longer manage those from the plan page. I have to go to the home page in order to review them. The review page used to be helpful. Now, it has useless features like a bar chart showing me that on average I’m spending less than I make, which you can’t even click on to get more detailed information. I’ve been asking for the same income and expense report that can be accessed on the website to be added to the app so that I could easily see my average spending per category per month in order to update my plan (a basic tenet of budgeting) to no avail. I no longer see income, and even when it was there, it lumped everything together. Overall, what was a game changer for me just a couple of years ago, is now just cumbersome. Not only have I contacted their customer service a multitude of times resulting in long drawn out exchanges that rarely fix the issue, but the last time they suggested that I don’t create manual transactions at all and just wait for them to import on their own. In other words, I have to budget on their time not mine and wait days until the import shows up! Even today yet another error. I made a credit card payment a couple of days ago and what is supposed to happen is that I will have a deduction from the account I paid from and a credit to the account I paid to. For unknown reasons, there were three transactions, and that third one doesn’t exist in the real world. This is not the first time that YNAB has created transactions that don’t exist. I had to go into three different accounts and make sure that somehow this didn’t actually happen. Then I had to delete the erroneous transaction and reconcile in YNAB. This is exactly why I’ve canceled my subscription.

I make decent money and I should easily have plenty leftover at the end of the month to save. Being a single mom with three kids, all of our extracurricular activities that cost money, it all adds up. I never realized until I got this app how much wasteful spending I have. It’s really made me penny pinch and make decisions on whether I really need something or not. I’m finally paying down debt and accumulating a savings. I look forward to assigning every dollar to a “ envelope” knowing I’m bettering my situation.

I've been using YNAB for years. It's worth every dime. Definitely helps me keep my finances sorted. If it could just help me make money that would be better.

I’m a long time YNAB subscriber. Like all tech these days they keep making “improvements” to justify the high price. And the software has gotten blotted and worse. You have to click multiple times for basic functions when you didn’t have to before. Do app developers think the more you click the more you engage or something? This is a growing trend across a lot of tech these days. They don’t know how to keep it simple. Go elsewhere.

I've used Copilot, Mint and many other budgeting apps, and I have to say YNAB has the absolute worst spending analyzer that is supposed to "help" you create a budget. It incorrectly categorized several expenses during the process of when it creates a budget for you, and there is no way to recategorize the expenses it pulls. It also missed really obvious recurring bills, like car insurance. I'm really disappointed.

You are going to rock your budget with this app. It is so easy to use and helps you put your money where you want it to go.

YNAB rocked our budget world since 2016, and we have loved it since then. Helped us save for things, give every dollar a job and do much more. Checkout Hannah’s podcast and the budget nerds podcasts or videos, they help a ton!!!

Great app and worth every dollar in the savings and financial growth it returns

I don’t do reviews, but I had to let everyone know that this is, hands down, the best app for taking control of your money and life. Worth the money, worth the learning curve. NEVER worry about money again.

This is by far the best app to make meaningful money changes. This isn’t just tracking expenses or some trick of what you should do with your money. This is a way to really see how you spend money clearly, so you can make mindful decisions that reflect how you want to live. It is easy to use and makes a huge difference in reducing the stress around money. It will make you feel in control of your money and empowered you to spend money in the way that is most meaningful to you!

I was jumping from budgeting app to budgeting app. I’ve been with YNAB for 5 years now and it’s great. I don’t want to swap budgeting apps again. A few notes for those interested: it follows the envelope budgeting philosophy. If you go by another budgeting philosophy strongly, then this app might not be for you. Also if you are tracking investments, this app doesn’t support that very well. I want to manually track my investments, since if they were all automated I would be as diligent at checking them. But some do more frequent trades or don’t want the hassle of manually tracking, so fair warning. Having said all that, I want to emphasize how broad and customizable this app is. Even with the envelope philosophy there is so much you can customize. I really love this app.

Wish there was a way to see a list of recent entries, so that if there was a mistake made during a session of making multiple entries i could review to see, and correct, the error.

I’m unbelievably grateful I found this app. 20 years ago I used to stuff cash into envelopes and when everything started going digital I could never get a grasp on finances like I had then. I’ve gone from living in a state of fear about how or if I was going to be able to pay next month’s bills to having multiple streams of savings and being months ahead on bills. I’ve never been so financially secure in my life, thanks to YNAB.

Definitely recommend it to anyone that is committed to their financial goals. It takes a little more work at the beginning but so worth it! We like to talk to our friends about how good this app is!!

Let me start off by saying that I’ve never been able to stick to a budget. Despite having a lot of financial anxiety for almost my entire life, I’ve always struggled with making a budget and sticking to it. For most of my adult life, I’d go though this cycle of sitting down for a few hours and making a budget, swearing to stick by it, then forget about it until a few months later when I was short on money. I felt like I was working and making good money and not spending frivolously, but somehow couldn’t seem to save or build wealth. Then I found YNAB. This app has completely changed the way I think about money and has helped me save thousands of dollars in just 6 months. Furthermore, YNAB has afforded me the everyday peace of mind that comes with knowing I have money set aside for every need/category. Also, for folks with ADHD this app will not only make you aware of forgotten subscriptions, etc. but it also gives you little dopamine hits when you get paid and allocate your money to different categories. It sort of gamifies budgeting! I will say, it takes a while to get used to the system (1-2 months for me) but if you put in the time and watch some tutorials on YouTube it’s life changing. Thanks YNAB!!!

I don’t normally write reviews, but one thing about this app that I genuinely appreciated was the actually free “free trial”. I didn’t have to worry about trying it out, forgetting if I needed to cancel and accidentally getting charged. I got to use the app, test features, and see if I liked it with peace of mind, something I wish more companies would do. Great app!

Very clean UI that makes our money management a breeze. It’s super helpful to reference transactions from a year ago, or to add new transactions.

There is a steep learning curve to really get the most out of this app, but once you get it, it is actually super easy and SO worth it. I used Nick True’s YNAB beginners video on YouTube. I went from feeling like I live paycheck to paycheck (because I had no visibility on my spending) to realizing that I have money to spend and save for my goals, I just needed to be more organized. Now I am working on getting one month ahead and I feel confident in my finances rather than restricted like most budgets.

When I first signed up for the trial month of this app to see if I could use it instead of the EveryDollar budgeting app, there were some glitches that were making it hard for me to decide which app was best. But I mentioned those glitches in my first review of the app and within a short period of time they’ve been resolved. This app is so versatile and well designed to keep track of credit card expenses to make sure you know how much you have spent versus how much you have in the bank. In fact, the desktop version of the app is so versatile that it has a bit of a steep learning curve, but I love that because it provides so much more room for configuring the budget to one’s unique needs and circumstances. Where this app is particularly a winner over the EveryDollar app is its ability to integrate credit card expenses and on the desktop app you can see the monthly total funds available that is accurate. The EveryDollar number for funds available is never accurate. (It only adds up what was budgeted for that month not what is actually available in each fund.) Very grateful to find this app. It’s perfect for our needs.

Has been charging me repeatedly through apple without any receipt, way to track what has been trying to get into my account, or way to cancel their “free trial no card needed” — just now finding out after 3 weeks of them failing to get my money and one SUCCESSFUL attempt because NOW they’ve emailed me that they’re going to get rid of my information… $35 later 😒

If you have any bookkeeping or accounting background, this is by far this the best personal budgeting program I’ve come across.. incredibly flexible. Keeps everyone in the family on the same page. I’ve created budgets for all my kids.The API interface works exceptionally well with Google sheets. It’s allowing me to create our own little family bank. I love YNAB.

YNAB is worth the subscription for sure

I don’t know I had an OCD itch that needed scratching until I found YNAB. Haha. When I started getting serious about budgeting this helped immensely. It’s a great app but with greatness comes a little complexity. Don’t be scared. The website and app have the best tutorial videos and articles with lots of hyperlinks. Makes learning easy, but you will have to work at it a bit. Once it’s setup it’s almost an automated process. It took me 6 months to really dial it in and figure out how much to allot to my categories. Grocery budget, no idea! But tracking it let me find that number. Now what YNAB does for me is give me freedom. I love having goals and categories to save for. Now when I want to take a trip I know exactly how much I can spend and it’s guilt free! I know I won’t wreck my budget in another area and have the power turned off by not paying the electric bill. The flexibility to move excess funds from one category to cover another in an emergency is great. It’s an easy way (once you set it up) to plan for the future. You get out of this app what you put in!

My wife and I have been using YNAB for more than twelve years. It helped us get out of debt, stay out of debt, and build our retirement accounts. The app lets my wife and I coordinate our spending. We know what expenses are coming and can set aside money accordingly. When we started, money was tight and unplanned expenses went on the credit card. Now we live on last month’s income and use our credit cards like a debit card. The money needed to pay them off monthly is always in our accounts, because YNAB tracks how much we have spent and deducts it from the appropriate categories, effectively setting aside the cash we will need.

I have been using this app for 3 years now. Since the first year, it has paid for itself. This is an easy way to watch how you spend money, see your money grow, and it helps you make decisions at the right moment. If I go to a store and see something ‘shiny’ that I want. I immediately open up YNAB. Can I buy this, should I buy this, do I really need to buy it? This app has made me accountable and allowed me to not only protect my spending but change my spending habits. Buy it. Set it up. Realize the hard truth about your spending habits. Become better with your own financing. It pays for itself and they are always improving the app. No brainer app.

I’ve been using YNAB for years now, and I would be lost without it. I like to run a lot of things through credit cards to rack up points in. This really helps me stay on top of how much money I actually have and how much I’m putting on a credit card.

I underwent a big lifestyle change and ended up with a lot less income. I tried other apps but they were either too complex or too manual. I hated the idea of a budget and used shopping as a stress reliever. Through some finance advice forums, I found this app. The yearly subscription is a turn off (and kind of ironic for a budgeting app) but, ultimately it has saved me thousands because I have my budget under control. When I started about 1 year ago my net worth was negative -$3000. Through the app I was able to pay down debts and make a budget I could stick with. My net worth is now a positive $7000. I actually enjoy going in and doing my budget, I plan for annual bills, and I have an emergency fund started. I don’t stress about money (very often) and if I have an unexpected expense I know where I can pull from to cover it. Highly recommend!

I’ve been using YNAB since before it was a subscription service - it has saved me tens of thousands of dollars and dramatically changed my mental framework around my finances. My financial preparedness for all expenses - small, big, daily, yearly, surprise, emergency, etc - has improved significantly since using this app and associated budgeting mindset. The subscription for YNAB more than pays for itself. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to reframe the way they approach their financial preparedness and future expenses!

Keeps you accountable and able to track your money. Can’t lie to yourself about what you’re spending.

My husband and I have used YNAB for several years, and loved it! It was so helpful for our budget! Then, it stopped connecting to our bank. The few times we were able to get it to reconnect, the amounts that were being debited from our account showed up on YNAB as credits. So the app became completely useless to us at that point. Customer service was almost completely useless, and none of the troubleshooting options they provided worked. It’s frustrating, because we had already paid for a full year, and barely used a few months before it stopped working. Such a waste of money on an app that’s supposed to help you with your money.

Great app, great resources, been using for years

I’ve used YNAB for years primarily through the web app, but lately I’ve been trying to use the iOS app more. I don’t know when things started to change but the iOS app is infuriating. Between the unskippable pre-login animation and full screen how-tos that cannot be closed without going through all the steps, I’m finding the app to be untenable. I appreciate trying to tech people how YNAB works, but disallowing any sort of skipping makes for a hostile interface.

UPDATE: YNAB failed bank verification so many times that I am now locked out of my account, on a weekend, with no way to get it fixed until Monday. I also can’t delete my account because the free student year is technically a trial. Their support is about as useful as a paper towel for wiping up a flood. Oh, and asking them to delete an account is equally useless; they will give you obvious instructions that don’t work for trial accounts, and tell you that they will hang on to your data for however long they like, as long as it meets GDPR. YNAB is trash, there are far better apps, I am sure (I won’t be using them). Good luck. What is the point of a budgeting app that consistently fails account verification and has a black hole help desk? Couldn’t verify my bank after three attempts over several hours, and no reply from support. After reading some of the recent reviews, it’s clear that the free year I got for being in grad school was still too expensive. Pen and paper will be my ride-or-die, I guess.

I love the ease of use! Whenever I go through budgets with other people, I always recommend an investment in YNAB!

There is admittedly a learning curve, but once you learn how YNAB works it is life changing. I finally have ownership over my finances.

Having a budget that tracks all my spending for me decreased the friction of budgeting. I paid off $18k of credit card debt in 1 year, saved for a mortgage down payment, and became adept at “budget laundering,” the art of moving my money where it needs to be, because I understand my money well enough to make it work for me. Thanks YNAB! Daily financial freedom is attainable when every dollar has a job.

“Can’t connect to my institutions” - a major bank? And the pop up literally says “this kind of error takes time to resolve so you should connect another account”. Well I only have one account so what good does this do me? What a waste of time.

I teach at a public school in an expensive city located in a state which competes for the inglorious title of lowest teacher pay in the country. There is no way I could have the relatively low-stress levels I have around money today if not for this app (did I mention I’m also divorced and have a daughter to raise - and you saw that I teach public school, right?). YNAB is life-changing because of the clarity and foresight it has brought to my finances. There is a learning curve, as they say, but sticking with it is worth it. I can honestly say I don’t know where I would be without this app and all the useful instructional materials YNAB offers to support its use. If you feel stressed about money because you do meaningful work that is underpaid, I assure you using this app will give you hope and set you in the right direction.

The new UI has made everything harder. Cleared vs not cleared transactions is foundational to what this app does. Now I have to click a bunch more times to mark things as cleared since they decided to nest things in dropdowns instead of the scrolling model that worked so well. They keep adding friction to things that are the most important and putting front and center things that are less important. I’m close to moving to a new solution if their direction continues

It has completely changed how I view money and has made my life so much easier, highly recommend.

Using YNAB will change your life in all the best ways.

I don’t need or want confetti on app startup, with a 10 second cartoon that fearmongers to get my anxiety up.

Unable to use the app. I’m prompted to Sign in with Apple or Google or to use a email and password. None of the options work. When I tried Apple it says the Apple account is not currently linked to a YNAB account and to try email and password. Well, I’ve never used the app so I don’t have an email and password to try. I tried the forgot password option in case I did make an account but I received no emails to any of my accounts. I waited 10 minutes and checked the spam folder it all of them. There is no way to register a new account so I’m confused and frustrated. I’ve given up on this app and will try something else. 0/5 stars

Transactions are always delayed. Everyday they are delayed. Why is there always a giant notice saying they are delayed. You should tell us that transactions are working as intended and be grateful for it.

Loving the app the only thing I wish I could do is link an account with a certain category like putting my investment account with my investment category if that makes sense otherwise great job!

Why do you guys consistently take a good app and make is significantly worse. I have been a user for 10 years and you guys made a great application and now you are ruining it with the changes you make. Why on earth do I have to now select the “show more” option to clear a transaction. Please do a better job of testing these new “features” with users before forcing them on us. The best part of YNAB is the simplicity and ruining that is going to make me leave.

I am a CPA. I am familiar with budgeting in general so I was looking for an app that would meet my high standards in what I think a budget should be. This exceeds expectations! Using this app has allowed us to save enough money to invest in a higher interest savings account. The monthly interest earned exceeds the monthly cost of this app. This app pays for itself!

I really like this budgeting app. It teaches you a thing or two about budgeting. I am putting into practice zero-cash dollar budgeting. I have found some difficulty connecting to cards using MX, when not supported by plaid (Sam’s Club Mastercard). I love the way I can reflect on the month as a whole and see where I overspent or did very well in. I would request a new feature that can be incorporated into the reflect tab, and easily accessible on the dashboard tab for the current month. I want to write reflection notes. I used this app the first month of July to know where I will end up in my bank account by the end of the month. I want to take note of a few changes or goals this month so I can stay on track and get a month ahead. When budgeting for a debt free life, i find myself using a lot of mental bandwidth calculating balances, possibilities, opportunities of investment in side businesses, etc. Notes would help a lot so i can know what I already concluded a week from now and not try to recalculate and recheck my work. Maybe it’s just me but i get tunnel vision sometimes when i stress about finances and forget the bigger picture plan i already made the week before or month before.

Have only one complaint and it’s nothing to do with YNAB I just wish I had used the program almost twenty years ago when I first was introduced to it instead of just the last five or ten when I finally started following the rules correctly

The app is fairly simple to use and easy to navigate. It takes discipline as does every budgeting system, but it does its job well. I went from wondering how much disposable income I had at any given point and being stressed about bills, to having 6 months of bills covered, a travel fun, savings, plus disposable income for the random nights out and impulse buys. I finally tapped into my buying power that I had from the very beginning by just having organization and sticking to my plan in the app. I’ve been using it for about 4 years now and couldn’t recommend it enough!

The idea behind this app was really wonderful and taught me to budget in a way that changed the way I look at my finances forever. Unfortunately, all of the app changes lately get in the way of functionality. Transactions have to get submitted multiple times, balances are somehow inaccurate, color coding is no longer accurate, and month-to-month logic is basically nonexistent. Goodbye, YNAB. Thank you for the last several years.

This app has a good concept but is unnecessarily complicated to use. Be sure of what you want to achieve here because the concept of “zero based budgeting”, is really not for a basic budgeting app. There should be a class or tutorial on how to use it. Frustrating, and I’ve had it over a year.

I’ve had YNAB for 15 years. I only use the website. The mobile app is absolute garbage. They keep adding stupid features nobody wants and they keep peddling a book No one’s gonna read

Unparalleled flexibility, conviviality and design. World’s #1 budgeting App. A useful tool for monitoring the progress of your assets.

As soon as I created an account, it automatically signed me up for a free trial WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. Now I have to spend time figuring out how much they charge afterwards how to cancel it. I didn’t even have a chance to see if I like the app and what it has to offer. They literally TRAPPED me into this free trial. They not how a good financial app has to work.

I honestly love this app. It does take awhile to get a hang of it but once you link your account and understand how it works, it’s amazing. You just have to pick which category you’re spending from and it tells you how much you have left or how much you’re saving. It doesn’t keep track of subscriptions but I just make a category for it to know that I have money on the side.

This is likely going to be a very long review, but for anyone considering a budgeting app change or even just adopting one altogether, this is for you. 6 months ago I woke up and my bank account was drained to 6 cents. Nothing more. My savings had been completely drained by auto-transfers from my checking account over and over until both were empty. I had already racked up a significant amount of credit card debt and had no idea how I would be paying bills that month. I had been reckless with my money, irresponsible…and I knew I needed to change. So I took a long time researching what I could about finding the right app. I used the Dave Ramsey one for a while (Every dollar) and I used the Experian one for a while, but neither worked. There were limitations on managing the cash flow and carryover and management of actual categories. That is when I landed on YNAB. I’ll be honest, at first I wasn’t impressed. The app had a lot going on and it took me a lot of time trying to figure out what every button does and what every term means. But for someone with variable income, this app has taught me to manage every new dollar that enters my bank account. I can see in real-time how my money is helping me pay off my debt, and rebuilding my savings. I can monitor what I’m putting towards my retirement accounts and ensuring I have the money when my bi-annual car insurance payments hit. I can plan for a vacation with no stress, because I know that when the money is needed at those times I already have it set aside and not to be touched. The mental and emotional freedom I’ve been given by using a clear and accurate budgeting app has genuinely changed my financial future and my life, and I don’t know if I would have had this much peace without the help of YNAB. Their support is also amazing and everything you could ever ask about their app is in their Knowledge Base. I truly have no complaints!

Game-changer app. What's different about YNAB and other apps is that YNAB is NOT set it and forget it. When a category (such as clothing or restaurants) is out of money, I have to ask, "Do I want to move $ from my electricity-bill category or cell-phone category in order to buy clothes or go out to dinner? No because then I won't be able to pay my bills." YNAB helps you know when to STOP spending. Most other apps just tell you what you did in the past, which is not helpful in guiding your next purchase. As a result of YNAB, my paychecks now fund NEXT month. I bought my new car with cash. My vacation to Europe was paid in full ahead of time. All hail YNAB! Why four stars instead of five? Targets are such a pain. These constantly break and are such much more complicated than they need to be.

Basic idea is good. But how the app actually manages your credits, income, transfers within your savings account is the biggest headache

This is the best budgeting app out there!

I don’t even use the desktop site anymore. The app is so easy to navigate and comfortable to use.

Once I learned the system and how the app works, I find it very helpful in maintaining my peace around money. The company has a lot of educational resources on their website and YouTube channel to help.

I have been using YNAB for about 6 years now. Once my husband and I retired, we really needed to have clarity on our spending plan. YNAB gives that to us. Getting a month ahead at the beginning has made a huge difference to our peace of mind. Highly recommend!

I used to struggle with credit card balances, but after 2 years with YNAB, I don’t pay any interest and can reap all the rewards while my credit is rising. This is the best envelope budgeting system available without a doubt and the community videos are super helpful for customizing to your specific needs. - 3 year update! I both my first home!

I have multiple accounts that i need to manually add transactions

but this app has completely transformed my life. I was very hesitant about the subscription, but actually using this app and treating it like religion has saved me so much money. Way more than the actual subscription cost. It requires effort, but if you are willing to put in the work, I’d bet YNAB transforms your financial life as well!

For two years I used YNAB daily with great success. For the last few months my working balance has been wildly inaccurate and I have been unable to edit my budget. An app refresh did not help. I cannot get human support and the AI support doesn’t care.

I’ve been using YNAB since 2015 and can honestly say it is one of my favorite things in life. As mentioned elsewhere it can be difficult to use in the beginning but the customer support is second to none. They are amazing and super willing to help. The videos and support materials are amazing as well.

Excellent tool for organizing and tracking your monies

I’m so glad I am not forced to update the app since the recent UI changes. Making us tap things twice to do something that used to only take one tap is quite the product decision. I do pay for the app but once my yearly subscription is up, I’ll be moving on. Hiding the clear button when editing an existing transaction was the breaking point.

I only have the option to log in - not create an account. Since I don’t have an account, I can’t really log in.

I’ve been using this app for over a year. It’s completely changed how I think about money and I feel better every time I have to spend it. The “Budget Nerds” podcast is also now one of my most listened podcasts. This app makes budgeting fun! I look forward to using it every time. Rather than feeling restricted by your categories and like you’re “destroying your plan” every time you overspend, you know exactly what that money comes from and what the consequence is. It’s hard to really explain, but just give it a try!

YNAB has helped me gain financial confidence and control over spending.

It’s a small but crucial feature: marking an transaction as cleared is such a crucial step that I am baffled by how it is hidden away in the “show more” when it should be more readily accessible… more so than the photos and memo features!

You have to pay to use this app. I don’t know why the reviews don’t mention that. why would I want to pay for an app that’s meant to help me save money.

Honestly way better than any other budget app I’ve tried. A little bit of a learning curve but worth it in my opinion.

I used to worry about money, but now I don’t. It’s eliminated stress I didn’t even know I had, and I’ve been able to save for travel and other fun things. Highly recommend. Can’t think of much else I recommend besides YNAB.

I love this app and method of finance managing. This is a life changer and I have not worried about money in years. Highly recommend— learning curve for me but worth the investment and time.

I absolutely hate this latest version. Entering transactions I now have to select “more” and scroll down to check “cleared”. That change on top of listing all the categories associated with a payee, even when no money is in that category, just makes the user interface clunky and difficult to read. I’d like to say this helped me reduce spending just to avoid entering the transactions, but all it really did is get me to stop using a budgeting program and that is not a good thing. I really miss the simplicity of the older versions that made this program stand out. All the incremental changes over the years have finally broken it for me.

I have been YNABing since January and I absolutely love it best mindfulness app I have ever tried even no it’s a personal finance App, I suppose that’s why they call it Spendfulness 10/10 I highly recommend.

Been using for many years. I still like it but I get frustrated bc it quit importing automatically my credit card Transactions. They said mine wasn’t on the list anymore. Little frustrating. I have to do it manually which can’t do on my phone. Either get out laptop or iPad. Doing it on the iPad is cumbersome. Need to have an easier way to import transactions manually

There is truly no other budgeting app as good as this one. I can consolidate all of my financial thoughts within this app. I am able to plan a month ahead and plan for emergency situations effectively and efficiently. Their support team is also top notch. I recently had a question and they responded within 5 MINUTES. I also have to give a shout out to Blair for being the kindest support specialist ever. Anyways, I would fully recommend this to anyone and everyone -a 22 year old just trying to budget

I have been using YNAB for over 2 years now and I love it. This program makes it so much easier for me to keep track of all my bills, daily expenses, and things I want to save for. It took a little getting used to in the first month or so but once I got it down it was so easy.

It’s like an electronic envelope system that let’s you put money away in the envelopes you assign, then as the expenses come you use the money you set aside to pay for it … no surprises, you can actually plan for the future and pay for expenses with money you have set aside. Imagine having money set aside for vacations, christmas, birthdays … no surprises!

YNAB has changed my life. At any moment I know how much money I have, not just a bank balance, but how much of that balance is already committed. Automatic transaction download from the bank and credit cards has a bit of a learning curve, but is so worth it. And I love the training videos from Hannah!. Keep it up.

YNAB changed my relationship with money. I’ve gone from scared to open my checking account and credit card statements and significant debt to paying off my credit card and increasing my net worth 150% — while still eating out, taking vacations, and paying cash for everything. I can not say enough good things about this app. Thank you YNAB team 💜💰

We needed a way to save money as we went through chiro school without losing the opportunity for interest in our high yield savings. This gave us that ability. Helped us save nearly $40,000

YNAB has exponentially increased my ability to understand my finances. It’s helped my husband and I have more strategic conversations about our finances. We recently had to make a somewhat unexpected car purchase and I was able to identify where I could finance that and paid for the car in cash and felt comfortable doing. That’s a game changer for us. I feel like this platform is one of the most impactful tools that I’ve ever used and I’m excited to continue my financial journey with YNAB.

The most frustrating app I’ve ever used. I couldn’t get it even with ChatGPT’s help.

I have so many problems with this app. The biggest being that I am spending money on this app and the features I pay for do not work. Namely, any feature that requires connection to my bank account. For about half the time I’ve been paying for this app (4 months) my bank account activity would take over a week to update. But for weeks now, YNAB will not even connect to my bank account. I also find the interface quite awkward and unintuitive to use. It’s the type of thing you’ll probably need YouTube tutorials to understand.

I started YNAB & just did not grasp how it worked. Finally after 3 months walked away. Then 3 months later opened it up & started new. It is a hard concept @ first but after 3 more months & now 6 months I have a great budget that allows me peace of mind for now - future & not living paycheck to paycheck. Just remember Rome was not built in a day.

Nothing is intuitive or makes any sense. No idea what it’s doing or how exactly to use it. Makes zero sense. Canceled my free trial after 30 minutes was so frustrated.

This was overall a good app that I used for a couple of months. It really did help me keep in track of how much money I should spend under the topics that I was under. However, every time I would login my credit card payments, it would always mistaken the payment from the wrong credit card and every time I would fix it, it would not let me which led to a lot of inaccuracy within the balances of my bank accounts. I spent more time trying to fix and correct the payments being accurate than just seeing what it should be. There was also an update that happened on my iPhone that stopped me from seeing my fixed balance with all the bank accounts that I had, and I manually had to do math each time I update my tracking. I do have access to see fixed expenses on my laptop, but it’s super inconvenient since I use my phone and I am out 24/7. Again, this app was great, but I felt like I’ve been dealing with more inconveniences on this app than benefits

I am an obsessive budgeted. I was “about to be evicted” broke in my 20s and ever since then I have been obsessed with my personal finances. YNAB would have been really beneficial to 20 year old me but the only smartphone on the market at the time was a the BlackBerry. This app really is designed for those who are living paycheck to paycheck. For this app to work you have to take an active roll in your personal finances. Might sound tedious but this will keep you on top of your spending. Now that I am on the downhill slide to 50 my financial situation is much different. I have been on the search for a budgeting app. I like YNABs zero budgeting method. I find the interface easier to learn than other Apps. My favorite feature is their YNAB together feature. I can invite up to 5 people to use the app. I settled on YNAB for this reason. I was able to create a budget for my mom and help he maintain it. I’ve recently created budgets for my two stepsons. There are two things that I find lacking. YNAB only allows you to see your budget as far as your cash on hand will allow. I would like to see what my monthly targets are in the future. I’ve set up targets for just about everything but I can’t see past the months I have funded. Also, we use our credit cards like debit cards to maximize rewards. To keep balances low, we pay them off weekly. What I have noticed is how easy it is for the credit card payment system to get off. This is the only part that gives me a headache.

I started using YNAB about a year and a half ago and it has completely changed the way I approach money. I had always tried to be a financially literate budgeter, but always felt like I was being surprised by large expenses and having lifestyle creep. YNAB, and its philosophy, have helped me create a sense of complete security with my finances. Something I wanted but never knew how to attain. A few weeks of coming up to speed with the YNAB methodology, which can be confusing at first, has now resulted in me being nearly an entire month ahead on expenses and also allowed me to save thousands more than I expected. I’ll never go back to anything else.

Fantastic budgeting app

Budgeting sucks and money is a headache! But this app is life changing! If you do this method and do it right..watch the videos and read the articles and STICK TO THE BUDGET..you WILL change the way you feel about your finances! It’s the best method I have found and totally changed my life and stress about money! The more you use it the more better it gets as it learns from your habits and location spending. You will not regret this! Support is excellent also! (First time I’ve ever reviewed an app! lol!)

I’m a longtime YNAB user. I’ve adapted to the radical changes they’ve made to the app over the years, but the fact that you can no longer add a transaction when viewing an account is insane and extremely frustrating. Auto-import isn’t perfect and doesn’t work with every account, so when I’m viewing an account and notice a missing transaction (or several), I should be able to add it while viewing that account’s transaction register. This was always doable but now impossible. There’s absolutely no reason to remove this ability.

YNAB gives me real control over my finances in a way few tools ever have. It is more than a budgeting app. It is a practical system that helps me plan ahead, stay intentional, and make confident decisions with my money. Instead of wondering where my income went, I can clearly see where every dollar needs to go. What stands out most is how YNAB encourages proactive habits, not just expense tracking after the fact. It helps reduce financial stress, build discipline, and create a stronger sense of stability. The platform is clear, user-friendly, and empowering for anyone who wants to manage money with purpose. I highly recommend YNAB.com to anyone seeking a reliable, effective, and motivating way to take charge of their finances. It has been a valuable tool for helping me feel organized, informed, and in control.

I waited one year to write a review for this app. After a year, I can confidently say that YNAB is an incredibly powerful budget app well worth the subscription cost. I started using it to help make sure I was living within my means, as well as to start a savings goal. Since then, I’ve used it to pre-plan multiple months in advance. Now, I’m never worried about bill deadlines or expenses because everything is tracked. Linking the app to credit cards and bank accounts was also simple and intuitive, and the live updating is fantastic. (Note that due to bank processing time, sometimes the app is a day or two behind on transactions, but that’s normal). Be aware that the app has a bit of a learning curve but YNAB has a ton of guides and information on its website if you get stuck on something. Trust me, it is worth the relatively minimal effort to learn the app. The interface is also beautiful, and there is something very comforting about knowing exactly how much you have available to you at any given time. All in all, highly recommend.

I am a few weeks into YNAB and it seems to be a very helpful system, which makes it all the more frustrating that it runs about a day behind on importing transactions from my banks. Reading online it sounds like most people really using YNAB just switch to manually entering all transactions. I wish there were a button to push synch’ing/updating of banking transactions, like Quick Books has. UPDATE: now that I’ve gotten the hang of using YNAB I absolutely love it and I even enjoy entering every transaction. Stick with it!

Tried to connect my bank account. Got flagged as suspicious activity and locked my account. Spent 2 hours on the phone getting it figured out

If it’s possible to adore a budget app then I do. I won’t lie, there’s a solid six weeks of adjusting to the approach and figuring out how to navigate a mid-moth start, but after that it’s been great. Fun even. I am excited about allocating money to my various budgets and seeing where my purchases go. I have no more guesswork and zero stress about having enough in checking to cover stuff that comes up. Awesome!

Linking always off if managing a lot of cards. Not a good time. Find otherwise.

I love YNAB so much I gave it as Christmas presents to a bunch of people! It really helps me to prioritize the things that are important in our lives!

This app has seriously changed my families financial future. We’ve paid off $100k in debt and no longer live paycheck to paycheck. The app is worth every penny!

Simply the best budgeting software available! YNAB has saved me money and given me so much financial peace! Simple to use, easy to understand, and a budget game changer!

Constantly opens the keyboard when I don’t need it to, things are categorized at the top for a reason. Also only gets half my vanguard transactions, so no point in having those linked, seems like that has been an issue for over 5 years from what I could find online.

Used for 10+ years. Goes great!

I’ve been using the YNAB app for a few years now and it’s awesome! I love knowing how much I have for each thing in life. My finances are so much simpler now that I don’t have to separate everything in different accounts. This app lets me organize everything wherever I am. I ❤️YNAB!!

This is the best money management tool available. I have a finance background and have tried so many different apps and programs. YNAB is by far the best available.

Simple, easy and helpful to use

Following and sticking to this has helped my bank accounts and credit tremendously! Stick to it and you too can have financial freedom!

It’s been very helpful not stressing about if a purchase is “good” or “bad” because with YNAB I know what job each dollar has!

I love this app/website so much, it’s given me so much more clarity over my finances over the last six months, and I love how they make videos on YouTube to help explain how to use it better. One of my favorite finds over the last few years.

This app has been genuinely life-changing for getting my finances under control. Almost immediately after I started using it, I was able to build an emergency fund, start saving consistently, and get months ahead on my bills. It gave me a clear structure and visibility that I didn’t have before. I recommend it to anyone who’s struggling with budgeting or trying to take control of their money—it makes a real difference.

could use better analytics features. really elementary stuff rn tbh

At first this app was a bit frustrating to use. Took a while honestly to get the hang of it. But I’ve used several apps now and once you grasp it, it’s by far the most comprehensive and useful. Totally worth connecting every single credit card and account and transactions became very easy to track. It’s really been a game changer in getting through some tight financial times and beginning to grow wealth.

Great product. Been using for years. It seems to be processing very slow as of late though.

If you’re struggling to know where your money is and where it’s going, give it a job. YNAB is the tool for you!

I can’t login on my iPhone!

This app really makes it easy to see where you’re spending money and honestly makes number crunching a bit fun. The tutorial videos are also really helpful for getting started and doing some more complicated things like setting up loans in the app and investment accounts. Probably the only subscription I have rn that feels worth it.

The best app if you’re actually serious about managing your money. If you just want something that casually aggregates your spending that you check on every few months, this isn’t the app for you. If instead you want something that helps you actually shift behavior by making you aware of all of your goals and where every single dollar is going, then this is the best finance app ever made.

This app doesnt have any demo!! It will push you to open account then force to buy subscriptions or otherwise you cant have it. They dont think about the user at all! How would I know this app has the capacity to solve my solution that I was looking for. Not recommended!! ❌❌

I’ve used a couple budgeting apps but they were based on monthly budgets while I get paid bu-weekly. So I always had to rely on my spreadsheets to make them work. Then I found Budget Nerds podcast. After listening to them gush over the app, I decided to try it out. It’s amazing. There’s a learning curve but totally worth all the video watching. The other budgeting apps work fine but YNAB gets me. And I get it. I no longer need multiple spreadsheets to do my budget and balance my accounts. And keep track of everything I want to keep track of. Most of it is in the app. I really do feel like I am not alone in this budget adventure.

Design team thinks we are dumb and that we don’t know how to add icons to our own account names. Nobody has Chk….1234 as their account name. And if they did, it’s likely the way they wanted it. And for all the accounts that are not linked, you still forced a non-descript dollar bill as the “logo”. How does that help? Stop forcing your whims that are completely arbitrary on to your customers. Give me the option to turn off these very unhelpful logo detractors. When I have a savings and checking with the same bank, you still have the same logo. And why do I need more company brand logos in my life? Let me turn them off!!

YNAB has helped me build a secure relationship with money for the first time in my life and healed generational trauma and patterns with money. I feel more secure, confident and comfortable with money now than when I had a high-paying job but zero awareness of where my money was going and was susceptible to lifestyle creep. It takes awhile to figure it out but it’s worth it and customer support is helpful when you get confused.

This app is effective in changing how you think about money. It took me 6 months of use, but I finally can anticipate the pattern of my monthly and even yearly expenses. This is after decades of never tracking my spending. The app runs well (no glitches). It integrates with your bank account so you don’t have to manually type in transactions. It learns how to sort your spending. There are plenty of special features, like tracking net worth and calculating “age of money” (how long it takes you to spend from when you earn it). I can see my spending breakdown each month, and averages in each category, using the website from my computer. If you are trying to gain control and understanding over

Updates add zero value. Little customization options. Feature requests go ignored; hidden behind “we look at every request but can’t respond to everyone”. No tiered pricing options for those who don’t use bank syncing. Price increases. Can’t wait to find an alternative.

Unresolved for months

Really well made, but since this is something I really use it cannot keep track of it

I’m very frustrated they somehow got rid of “all accounts” in the phone app. I often want to search all my transactions, not just my spending. Why is something that is so simple on PC not available on iOS? Additionally, the past several months I’ve had issues with credit card categories popping up yellow, even though all my spending is funded. After contact support, there is usually a refund (sometimes on a DIFFERENT card) that causes the math to malfunction. Look, whatever algorithm you’re using needs to have this basic check: if all the transactions are categorized, and all the categories are funded, you should not have a “underfunded” label on a credit card. Overall, YNAB is fine. I still miss when Mint worked for me; it did a lot more budgeting and a lot less “you have to think about money in our specific way.”

✌️🫡

Love YNAB. Been using it for many many years. It has saved me so much money and removed financial stress from my life. I always have enough.

It’s probably cliche, but it’s honest - this app has transformed the way I approach money, and thus my life. I have been fortunate enough to have a decent income my whole life, but never really felt very secure or had much savings. However, YNAP quickly exposed the holes and my savings skyrocketed. After six months my furnace went out and I was basically able to cover the expense without a worry. I am a believer in the YNAP system

Getting into the habit of doing a weekly review with YNAB helped me and my fiancée catch a transaction that was overcharged by $1200! We got it reversed and YNAB legitimately just paid for itself for the next 10 years in one go. I’m still learning how to use all the features, but so far so good!

I’ve been using YNAB for over a decade now. When I first started I was a paycheck to paycheck person. My first couple of months were a bit stressful. I really had no clue how to budget. YNAB helped me figure out how to not just save money but to finally manage my money. Now, when life’s little emergencies happen, we don’t freak out. We have the money for whatever challenges face up. YNAB is one of my only apps that I consistently use. I’d be lost without it.

The onboarding experience talks too much and doesn’t provide an obvious skip or exit option. I prefer a faster, more flexible introduction. Because I couldn’t skip it, I chose to uninstall the app. Also, the app requires payment to use. There is no free version to try before committing. While there is a trial option, I’m not comfortable relying on trials in case I forget to cancel. I prefer having a limited free version so I can decide whether I truly like the app.

This app doesn’t offer any free function as it should in this category. At this point just move to the paid app. Will also send an email to apple to complain.

I had to go through it twice just to realize this is a paid only app. now it has my email for no reason. thanks a lot

Love it! It’s great!

I did the 34-day free trial in December and within that trial period, I fell in love with how clear it made my finances and even saved up the funds to pay for an annual subscription by the time my trial ended. I’ve been using it for almost 3 months now, and I don’t see myself going back! The app has a learning curve, but YNAB has great resources, including a fun YouTube channel where I’m always learning new functions that I wasn’t aware of before. I recommend watching the videos and listening to the podcasts to understand their method more. It works! I am now having fun budgeting, believe it or not! My biggest thing is I wish it had bi-weekly targets for assigning my paychecks, as I’m paid bi-weekly. So, I actually budget on a two-week basis, but that is not an option in YNAB. Not a deal-breaker, but it would be nice.

I have money in my account for next month’s bills. The app and system has helped me to finally get a handle on my finances. It has changed my view of money and given more security around my financial future. 10/10

I love the app. I wish there was chat feature that I could use to ask questions about my budget without syncing account information with chat for security reasons

Im not someone who normally recommends apps to people, but any one who knows me knows about YNAB. Its completely changed the game for my finances. If you want a budget that’s organized without feeling constricting, and takes away any stress or guilt you have about finances, this is the app for you. I love how it’s sinking-fund based. I love that it doesn’t put me in the red every month until I get paid. I love knowing that I have a certain amount of money always ready for specific unexpected expenses. I love that I don’t have to manage multiple bank accounts. I love how easy it is to track expenses and move money around. I’m also a UX Designer and fully appreciate how good the UX of YNAB is. 20/10!!! I’m OBSESSSED!!!

Been using this for years now, so thought I ought to give it a review. The ease of use makes this worth the money before you even consider how effective the tools has been for helping me keep track of money. Definitely helped us get out of some debt early on, and now I feel so much more comfortable with my finances. I recommend this to friends if they ask about budgeting. Updated: stilll using this app. Still like it.

I’ve used this for 3+ years and never had any issues but as of recently the app is falling apart. Constant duplicate transactions coming through even after following supports guidelines to fix and unsync. It’s becoming a cumbersome headache to use this, will be finding a new budgeting app

Been a user since it was launched. Great app to make yourself engaged with your personal finances.

Here is a sincere, honest confession. I thought budgeting was tracking where your money is spent. That is actually wrong, budgeting is having a plan for your money and actively managing to that plan. YNAB facilitated this mindset shift for my wife and I and we have never been more at peace financially than we are now. We give and save more more than we ever have in our lives after 16 years of marriage. This app is indispensable and should be used by anyone trying to get a handle on their finances.

For the most part it’s great. But sometimes the balances aren’t accurate and the credit transactions double between 2 cards. But it’s probably me setting it all up wrong. Again, confusing.

Navigating the complexities of YNAB can be challenging at first. Paycheck categorization, overspent on past month, etc… But once you’ve figured it out you realize there’s no other system that gives you the financial piece of mind YNAB does. Our family is sold on it.

Very good for month to month tracking. I wish there were better tools in the reflect section. Weirdly there isn't a way to track targets over time and seeing how often you go over budget.

I never write reviews. I’ve started getting educated on finances, YNAB has helped me make proactive plans for my money that feel aligned to what matters in my life instead of avoiding the subject or dreading it. It’s truly been enlightening and I’m very grateful for YNAB’s help.

YNAB has been helping with my budget since before I Retired. It has given me absolute confidence in managing spending.

I have been using YNAB for fifteen years and it was great. Now they changed the auto assign feature. I used to be able to auto assign the exact last month’s amounts to future months with one click. Now their “smart” system thinks it knows better and only assigns a tiny bit, not my full budgeted amount. Please return it to the old way.

The bank connections were not accurate, making it impossible to “Assign money” which also makes no logical sense from a personal “cash based” accounting logic. Spent over an hour trying to set up my plan only to leave frustrated and resorting back to chatGPT and an excel spreadsheet. Do not waste your time or energy.

Heard great things but has to be one of the worst UI I’ve experienced. You can just delete information and start over. The “fresh start” just wipes the amounts in the fields but you can’t remove an account once it’s in there. Even if you “unlink” an account, it still has that account information there. After two hour of YouTube tutorials, I deleted the app and finding something else. The UI for Rocket, Every Dollar, and Monarch at far better

I have been using YNAB for many years. It is by far the best budgeting app I’ve ever found. It takes a little bit to wrap your head around this style of budgeting but once you get it, it is an incredible tool. Highly recommend it

I really wish we could disable this dashboard/home screen. I don’t use it at all but it’s the first thing I see when I load the app.

It’s hard to keep it accurate, unfortunately. I have four accounts connected in one plan, and if I move money from one of those accounts to the other account, I have two transactions for +amount and -amount. If you assign both of them to “Ready to Assign” then you get just the + amount and the -amount is ignored. I then tried going and deleting both transactions, but unfortunately still have the + amount sitting in “Ready to Assign.” It’s annoying and it makes me not trust what the app says about my plans!!

Started using this over a decade ago (sometime prior to 2016), and I can’t imagine where we’d be without it.

The first thing that happens is that you’re told you’re wildly over budget and you can only fix it by borrowing against the next month. There no help, the instructions don’t match what you see. It’s the opposite of reassurance. Absolutely hated it.

The learning curve is absolutely monstrous with this app. The free trial is so that you don’t pay for something you don’t know how to use yet. I don’t even know what to complain about because this app is so unbelievably confusing and the way it reads different account just doesn’t make any sense and is baffling.

I’ve been using YNAB since it was an excel spreadsheet and it has kept me on track all these years! Super easy to use and doesn’t take much time at all. Highly recommend!

It can be a lot to set up your plan if it’s your first time adopting the YNAB method, but I absolutely love it. It has completely transformed my spending. The nice thing is that I can change my plan whenever I want and it combines my budgeting with real time transactions coming in. The ease of covering overspending in one category from another really cuts down on guilt spending.

I’ve been using YNAB for 3+ years now and the difference in my life is astounding. I understand where my money is going month by month, and I have removed so much financial stress from my day to day. The app supports the approach, and the approach just works. Easiest annual subscription money to justify ever - it’s paid for itself many times over! Thanks to YNAB for all the work on a great product!

After deciding I needed to get my life together and start budgeting, I tried out a few different apps. I’m a self proclaimed simpleton so I wanted something easy. But I couldn’t vibe with the rules of Everydollar and sadly Mint was just useless. Finally I tried YNAB and while I found it tricky to use at first, they have tons of resources to help. Once you get the hang of it, YNAB is a powerful tool for getting your finances in shape. Plus it connects to my bank account and credit cards seamlessly so transactions download automatically. I’ve been using it for almost 7 years and have more confidence with my money than ever. Thanks YNAB!

I used it when it was free. I used it when it cost a little. I even used it when it cost a little more. But then these greedy idiots priced themselves out of their own market. Bye, Felicia.

Changed my life (in a good way obvs)

I’ve been using this app for a few years now at the referral of a friend. I was a student and got a one year trial to fall in love with it. I just paid my 2nd annual subscription (starting year 3 of YNAB). In the last year I’ve moved in with my partner, created a new combined budget, and spent a lot of money. This app has continued to grow and change with me as my spending habits charge, as my living situation changes, and as I grow up. Thank you! 🙏🏻

My wife & I struggled for over 20 years to find a system that works for both of us. YNAB was the solution & we’ve been using it for a dozen years now. It just works!

The new home tab is useless for me and really gets in the way of letting me see my plan. Let me hide the tab all together, or at least rearrange the tabs so it’s not the first one.

Have used YNAB for years. I especially am liking all of the recent changes to the app.

Does your money manage you? This is the envelope system, simple as that. Most users break the paycheck to paycheck cycle inside of 6 months. Manually enter your transactions, or let them securely, asynchronously import and categorize them as frequently as you want. If finances keep you awake, try YNAB.

We’ve been using YNAB for about five years now. It got us out of debt, put money into savings and investments, and keeps us going in the right direction. Everybody NEEDS a budget!!!

I have been using this app for at least 5 years and love it, I wish it had been in my life sooner. I love the concept of giving every dollar a job and the peace of mind of knowing whether or not you have the funds saved for something before spending. I also love the ease of perfectly tracking and setting aside funds for credit card spending. It’s life changing

Unfortunate YNAB doesn’t support Fidelity. A recent article on YNAB’s site indicates a timeframe of ‘unknown’ for support to be provided. For heavy Fidelity users like myself, YNAB just won’t work. Was really looking forward to using the app.

This app takes a bit to get up and running, but once you get there you have a greatly improved understanding of your day to day financial situation. Every dollar has a purpose, and that just makes you see things a bit differently.

The best budgeting app of all time. There is a learning curve, but if you are willing to see it through and use the program how it’s supposed to be use (follow the 4 rules), this has the potential to change your life.

Not helpful. Account balance takes too long to update and is inaccurate 98% of the time

I recall YNAB having an excellent support page that has comprehensive videos and excellent instructions. Now when tapping Support within the app, it takes me to an AI chatbot that doesn’t know anything! This is what we get for the higher subscription rates?! I’m changing this review back when it’s GONE.

Overly complicated, zero automation. Why am I paying if I'm doing everything manually

This app is slowly but surely changing my life, and therefore my children’s future. I got into the horrible habit of emotional spending and this app literally stopped it in about a month. Seeing the impact all those (so called) small purchases were adding up to completely changed my outlook on how to deal with money. I will never go back to life before YNAB!!!! I literally will be paying for this app for the rest of my life, and teaching my children (and gosh, anyone who will listen) how to do financial life with YNAB. Don’t even bother with any other financial apps. Watch all the you tube videos. Do the 34 day trial, and watch your life and your brain change for the better!!!!!

when I open the app, it asks me to login and does not give me any option for creating an account. Looking back through review reviews I can see that this has been happening to other people for at least two months and they have I will now be deleting the app and trying a different one super disappointing because I read good things, but if they can’t even keep it updated and in working order, how would I trust them to manage my finances?

Worth every bit of the subscription fee. This app has illuminated so much and transformed the way we see and treat money. Can’t praise it enough. Wish I had downloaded this 10 years ago!

After getting used to the “every dollar has a job” method, I have become obsessed with this app. Not only does it function well but it helps my personal finance by helping me set aside dollars for things like yearly purchases, trips, large purchases, etc. I’ve always been frugal and this has helped me loosen the purse strings and feel confident about where I can spend and when.

I have relied on the YNAB app for almost 6 years, but they have continued to add more features that I don't want or need. The best parts of the app are the ability to categorize transactions (including credit cards -- this is a key feature for me), plan for future payments, and export data. However, the UI changes so frequently that it is getting really frustrating to keep up. I don't want to have to re-learn how to find something every time I open the app. It is especially bad now that I got a new phone and uploaded the latest version. It is barely recognizable. I miss the single view with all categories. This is way more complicated than it needs to be and I may not re-up when it comes time to renew.

I’ve been using YNAB for 2 years now. I love the workflow and it has saved me a lot of money using the mobile app. I recently got an iPad and as soon as I try to open the budget the app crashes. Please fix it would be great if I could use this app on this device.

This app is worth every single penny, I use it every single day and it has absolutely changed my family’s lives and finances. I am so grateful to YNAB. I love the desktop version and the app, and all of the little details that allow me to really dial in to my spending and savings goals

YNAB has changed our lives!

What a phenomenal app. I thought I was fine with money, managing credit cards, and bills, and savings. But using YNAB I now have complete clarity on every single dollar I spend and this has supercharged everything. The app does have a pretty steep learning curve. I’ve been using it for 6 months and it’s only now I feel like I’ve gotten into a good routine with it. If you’re thinking of quitting during the free trial, highly recommend paying for another month or 2. And the subscription easily pays for itself. Incredible, incredible tool.

Best budgeting app out there. Has been a life saver with getting our finances straightened out.

Lots of people suggested this for my ADHD and if anything it overwhelmed me by giving me another “job” to do. It also triggered shame spirals whenever I failed to log into the app and categorize things. “Fixing” the app would take HOURS. I do not recommend this app at all and regret the money I spent on it. I needed to reduce my cognitive load. Not add to it. Still looking for an app that acts like an assistant and handles the actual budgeting part for me.

I really do love YNAB and how it gives me confidence about being on top of my finances. One big caveat though: it took me a long time to get there. There was a steep conceptual learning curve for me, and it took me a couple of gos at it before it finally ‘clicked’ (how YNAB handles credit card was the most challenging aspect for me to learn). Now that I’ve got the hang of it, though, I can’t imagine ever going back to living without YNAB. What they say is true: you do become a fanboy of YNAB.

This is the best budgeting option out there, hands down. Not just for its budgeting philosophy, but its general ease of use and high reliability. Well worth the monthly fee to use, and would highly recommend it.

I used Mint years ago, then kept a cash budget for a while. This is the best of all worlds. This app allows you to do anything: make a budget, split a transaction into multiple categories, cover one category with another if you go over budget in one area, plan for the next month, and keep track of every expense from every bank account and card. I appreciate this tool so much. I am finally able to make and keep goals consistently because it’s so easy. Once you get to know how to use the app, that is. It takes a week or two of just using it, but it really does come easily once you start living life and using the app. It’s so awesome. Tracking every penny was never more fun. I love budgeting now.

I downloaded this app to check it out. Didn’t like it as I expected, and they were supposed to send me a reminder to cancel the auto draft subscription. I did and cancelled it that way, but I still had the entire year $109+ taxes auto drafted out of my account. Not cool, and I need a budget because I’m poor already and barely making it so I CANNOT afford an extra expense when it was not anticipated.

I used this app for a month - switched from every dollar. This app is a lot - it feels like you need to take a course to understand all the ins and outs. I had several support issues and the support wasn’t very helpful - for example - my bank accounts weren’t pulling in the correct amounts. This app doesn’t allow for forward planning and is very focused in the present

Update:The developer quickly fixed the bug and the app works perfectly now. Original review: The newest update causes the app to just display loading data. I opened and close the app multiple times with no luck. The longest I let it load was three minutes before giving up.

I couldn’t love YNAB more. I’m so grateful for what it has done for my husband and I’s mentality around our money, spending, and lifestyle. We were astonished at our spending reflections after a whole year of tracking and budgeting; we anticipate doing even better this year with that knowledge. I love the online website, I love the app, and I love YNAB.

Update: This apps user experience is going downhill. Since OS 26, the amount of clicks to get things done is a lot more than it used to be. I’m pretty much resorting to using a desktop experience and not my phone. I understand some of this may be Apple’s requirements but if there’s any way to reduce the clicks and add multi-select options to things like assigning and categorizing, that’d be great. Also, I think the targets aren’t working currently. YNAB’s budgeting method is the envelope method with a unique “ready to assign” addition that makes it one of the best budgeting apps. It’s a learning curve, but helps users to understand what every penny is doing for them. The app itself is clean, has a light/dark mode option, and a few other options like icon and budget bar display choices. Even though the app looks somewhat basic, clicking longer over a budget unlocks all the detailed features like category activity and targets. You can also add accounts a sync them to your bank. This app is slower at syncing than other budget apps, but I’ve not found that to be an issue since you should be adding transactions manually to keep your accounts as up to date as possible.

I’ve been using YNAB since about 2008. I took a brief break from maybe 2009-2010 (not for technical reasons). I’ve been using it ever since. It’s saved my bacon about being on time and having cash aside for emergencies and unexpected events. It’s very useful, they continue to innovate, so it is worth the cost.

I’ve been using YNAB for years. The system itself is great and super helpful for managing your financial life and bringing intentionality to spending. HOWEVER, the annual fee keeps increasing to support automated transaction pulls from 3P accounts. I’d be fine with that if it worked, unfortunately for Fidelity credit cards it’s extremely hit or miss and recently stopped working all together. There is a “status page” they had been posting updates on their progress to resolve, but recently stated “this is a long term issue.. we’re going to stop posting updates about this”. Basically a “pound sand” message to paying users. I wish they cared more about long term users vs just new user growth. Extremely disappointed

Too complicated, takes forever to see the deposit made to account It has negative for debit so it makes it always feel like your doing something wrong

Why is there spending and accounts? And a home page? This app is getting silly at this point. I miss when it was simple and $45 for the software. Too many bells and whistles at this point that just get in the way. I just want to track my spending with imported transactions into categories. I bet they will use this to raise the price again for features that are basically clutter. Can’t wait until Budget with Buckets catches up.

For years now I have been trying to budget. I would make it to the drawing board and then immediately get overwhelmed and scrap my plan. Not only is YNAB functional, but once you get the hang of it, it is so intuitive. I have increased my net worth by 20K in 4 months, and know where every penny in my army of dollars is at any given point. I always tell people, “You can’t win a war if you don’t know where your soldiers are.” Thanks to YNAB… I no longer have that problem. Thank you! <3

This app is amazing, and I was in love with it until I updated my phone to be a beta tester for iOS 26. It then does not get me pass the login screen! I was allowed to try YNAB RC as well, and that worked great, it’s just the main app that does not. Please fix this soon, and thank you for working hard! Edit: Turns out it was working flawlessly, I just needed the download the full release of the iOS update :)

The promo is a scam

Bugged cannot create new account

Give me my money back. I canceled, you kept 12 months of fees.

I was using this budget years ago. I had a lifetime membership back then. My internet security didn’t protect me. I lost my budget. Was unable to re-establish my budget but found them again was looking or riding a bicycle. Now they charge you yearly for using their budget but trust me they do all the work and you plug in the figures. Very happy with my new version of YNAB.

I've used and enjoy ynab for many years. It's not perfect but was fine for what I needed, although the subscription fee is a little higher than I'd prefer. However, this past week the app has not been opening for me. It keeps getting stuck on the loading page. If this isn't resolved soon might have to cancel my subscription and go elsewhere. What a pain.

This app has helped me feel less obsessive and safe financially in a way I've never felt in my life. Took me a minute to get the program but now that I do, I feel a peace!! Thank you!

They say they can save me $600 a month. Well, the first thing I did to “save” money was to not sign up for a subscription that costs $15/month. I feel better already!

I don’t know if this is a result of the recent update or not but suddenly today the app in my phone is completely unresponsive even after a restart. I have not yet tried the desktop version. I have had very few issues with the software since I started using YNAB in 2018 and I sincerely hope this gets fixed ASAP as I rely on it for all of my finances.

As one who likes to track & plan finances this app is perfect.

have uninstalled and reinstalled but constantly stuck on “loading: preparing data”. just started happening this week

YNAB takes a lot of work to get going, but its customer education is top notch. If you *actually invest* in using it, it’s systems provide immense clarity and value. I recommend for any couple who would like to get on the same page about money

Great app for a great system. It can take some time to get into the system but it’s been so worth it. -7 year YNABer

If you are going to push people to the app, then the app should function the same way the desk top version does. Also should have subsection capabilities. If I want to have a utilities section under my bills sections then i should be able to have a subsection to show my electric/gas/water. Not all bills are utilities…

Puts in control of your money. Recommend it to everyone. I have been a user for 8 years

Originally I had an issue with being able to sign up at all. I resolved that by signing up in the browser and then logging in. The app itself is a complete mess. The way this app works is by shaming you based on the money you presently have but it inaccurately represents your money and makes decisions about your transactions causing confusing UI and data. According to this app I should be penniless and nearly living on the street, meanwhile I’m perfectly fine, and paying off everything without an issue. It moves my money around (in the budget) without my permission because of how it auto categorizes transfers, and the lag on sync between the app and the bank means you’re never working with you’re current budget. You’re always working with yesterday’s budget. This app is a good way to have no idea what is going on with your money.

Fake reviews in the description and reviews in the comments. A budgeting app that cost $15/month is quite ironic

The sign in screen shows options to login with existing credentials, but nowhere to create a new account. Using sign in with Apple or Google also doesn’t work for a new account. Unfortunate. On to the next app I guess.

I have been using YNAB since around 2012 I do believe and I wouldn’t trade it for any other budgeting app. I only wish there was a cheaper version for people that don’t use a bunch of things other than just the budget and transactions. I don’t track net worth and rarely use any other features.

I downloaded the app and started the free trial. Immediately things were incorrect. When I linked my bank account, it wasn’t accurately reflecting what was in my bank account at that time. And it wasn’t just a small difference, the app was showing I had hundreds more in my account but that was true. After that, I knew I couldn’t rely on this app to accurately tell me what was in my bank account. I proceeded to go to my settings to cancel this free trial and it’s not even showing on my phone, so now I must contact support to make sure I do not get charged the yearly fee 🙄

I wish I had known about this app years ago. I have been able to get and stay in track financially in just a few months. Trust the process and watch their videos. Love Hanna! Keep up the great work YNAB team.

I love YNAB so much. I started using it for free as a college student and invested in it to continue mana my money and nothing has made me feel more confident managing my money and savings than YNAB!!! This app is an amazing tool.

I’ve been a member for years, so I know how this app works. The intro animation is not helpful and I was very annoyed that I couldn’t skip it when setting up my new phone. Your priority should be to get the user logging in as fast as possible. Please change this

Best thing that ever happened to my finances!

this program knows my money better than i do, and that’s the point. The way things are tracked and assigning the funds kinda gamifies budgeting and brings both peace of mind AND motivation.

I logged everything but I can’t get into the actual next step, as a the final screen does not give me the option of clicking forward. It’s extremely frustrating as I spent a long time logging.

I just downloaded the app and the launch screen prompted me to log in. There was no link to create an account. Attempts to sign in via my apple or google account did not work, as it told me there was no account affiliated (duh). I even went to your website to try and create an account, but couldn’t find a link. How are people supposed to sign up for your service when it is difficult to do so?

It is unbelievably easy to use and a beautiful app to look at

I’m a CPA, and have always been a budgeting geek. I’m pretty picky about what I need in a budget software, and I have tried a bunch of them. YNAB is the only one that checks all the boxes. The only minor complaint I have is that the reporting capabilities are not as robust as I would like, but even so, they are good enough, especially for the great price. YNAB is the best way to go for people who are serious about budgeting.

The older version was much better and now it takes several steps to accomplish what used to take one.

Started YNAB with my fiancée six months ago to track spending after failing to keep up with spreadsheets. Can’t imagine anything different now. The most satisfying part for us is the spending trend analysis with ability to dial down individual group/category/transaction. Christmas, new tires, wedding/honeymoon, and unforeseen medical expenses were no stress this December. The “envelopes” were ready to roll. Nick True’s yt videos are essential - have faith that after a month it will make sense.

There is a learning curve to it, but once you learn it your finances will never be the same! Changed the game for my family 100%

Really impressed with the turnaround the team made on this app last year. YNAB used to be pretty much unusable on mobile but now it’s solid and only a couple of updates from being as good as the web app. I really like how they’ve embraced Apple’s Liquid Glass look, one of the better implementations I’ve seen. Great work! Would really deeply appreciate a ‘select all’ button in any selection screen, such as the review transactions page.

Reading the YNAB book changed my whole way of viewing money and I appreciate his helpful and positive approach. All the same, the app is confusing and difficult to use. If you have to have an hour long introduction video, that should be an indication that there’s too much going on and it needs to be streamlined. The buttons are not intuitive and I find myself clicking in three or four places before I figure out how to add or rename a new category (I’m Gen Z so that’s saying a lot). The main thing that makes the app unusable is the fact that it NEVER shows the correct amount that is in my account. It takes a long time to reflect desposits/transactions so it will constantly put me in the red or say I have more money than I do. It also gets mixed up with my savings account and when the amount in that account changes, the whole thing gets skewed. I never considered myself spreadsheet savvy but I found a free ynab-inspired spreadsheet online that is easier to use and allows me to enter everything manually, reflecting my remaining balance I have immediately. I find it much easier to use this spreadsheet in tandem with the Google Sheets App than to log things with YNAB. For such an expensive app, I expect a streamlined experience where that can be easily customized. The one thing I like about YNAB vs sheets is that it’s easier to see how much you need to save per month to have a certain amount by a certain date, but if you’re ok with working it out on a calculator and adding it as a note in your spreadsheet then Google Sheets is the jam

I’ve been using YNAB for years. It’s the only method that “clicked” for my brain and it’s helped us stay on track and out of debt for more than a decade. The app and website are VERY actively maintained and improved. Worth every penny. Thank you to the whole team behind YNAB!

Worth the Money!!!!

I’m 78 years old. I was going to unsubscribe because of the hefty price, but checking out other budget software, I realize this one has a lot of features others don’t have. After spending months trying to find a better software, I really appreciate that I can enter my expenses and reconcile my accounts in minutes. Well worth the money. Sometimes we just need to find out for ourselves that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. Original review I’ve tried budgeting in the past but they never worked because the budget was too controlling. I’ve used the desktop YNAB for years and I’m enjoying the internet one also. This budget is very flexible and tells me exactly where I’m spending my money. Takes a few minutes to reconcile my accounts with my bank, and always to the penny.

I tried several budgeting tools and spreadsheets, free and paid for, but YNAB is the best of all. I’ve been using it for years. My wife and I can communicate clearly about what we are doing, and when we need money for something, we have it ready! Keep up the good work, YNAB!

We’ve been using YNAB since 2009. It changed our marriage & how we handled money. It has been a blessing!!

YNAB has helped me in my journey about spending and saving money, I really appreciate that you can do a family sharing thing as well, that’s very nice! Thanks YNAB team!

I’ve never really paid attention to my budget, but I knew I needed to get control of my spending. YNAB has been a lifesaver. I’m actually saving money now!

The Home Screen is an unwelcome change.

I love this service. The app updates are taking some getting used to and I’m not sure I like the change but we will find out.

Very useful. Love how the method is forward thinking. Put my money to work instead of just looking backwards to see about spending. For instance I have targets for my once every 6 months car insurance. Or once a year term life. I even have a target to save up for a new pair of Michelin tires every 5 years or so. App keeps getting improvements as well. Keep up the good work!

I’ve been an early adopter of YNAB and loved using the app until they did away with YNAB classic. I find the new app so confusing and non intuitive and the price way too high for what it does. Looking for alternatives after a year of use and ever rising frustration.

I started using YNAB for the envelope system, and stayed for all the other features. I can see spending trends over the years, cash flow, spikes in income or expenses, where money comes from and more. It’s a great app Problems: banks don’t always link properly Sometimes it auto categorizes incorrectly Yearly goals don’t always work well. I usually have to reset them

The desktop version is so much better. I’ve been using the desktop version since 2013 and that definitely gets 5 stars. The app on my iPad I have really tried to use it and like it, but now I only use it if I need to look at something.

Long time user. I feel the app used to be a lot better and now has issues. I really came here to see what others were saying and to see if I was alone. I’m not. Bank synchronization which used to be really good is now terrible. I literally have to reset the connection daily to get transactions. I went through support but they gave up. If Plaid really is the issue why not get a better provider? Manual entry is not the answer.

Extremely well designed app for iOS, kudos to the dev team. YNAB is awesome in general- life changing way to manage your finances.

As a high income professional I didn’t think I needed a budget. I was wrong. I found YNAB in midlife while trying to figure out if I could afford to pay private tuitions and fund other goals at the same time. The level of clarity YNAB provided was transformative. Awareness of spending and ability to plan and prioritize resulted in what felt like a massive raise and has helped me to set and meet goals far beyond my original ask. It has also eliminated my scarcity mindset and allows me to enjoy giving and spending while still saving for retirement. ROI incalculable. Thank you to the entire team at YNAB, who continue to make it better every day.

Just do it. It’s the best financial tool I have

I used to love this app. By far the best budgeting app out there when it comes to features and planning ahead. Unfortunately, syncing with Chase bank has really gone downhill. Transactions are several days behind, and even when they’re imported correctly, the bank balances don’t update. What’s the point in a budgeting app that prevents you from budgeting?

Bad budget program for seniors.

I prefer the former targets method

This is envelop budgeting handled by software that continually makes it easier and easier over time. They have you budget to pay for the subscription. I can’t live without it. It may come as hard to get into at first, but once you’re in you’re in for life. Trust, take the leap. This is the one. The app gets better over time.

YNAB has provided financial clarity so money conversations and decisions are easy between my spouse and I. We’ve been able to lay off debts and achieve financial goals that felt daunting because of the ease of use of YNAB.

I loath the new Home screen. Is hate too strong a word? It is pointless clutter. I would love it if there was an option to turn it off, like personalization, the Home screen and all the new features that I have to navigate around and ignore now that this app keeps adding annoying new features constantly. This app used to be excellent. But now it is just average nonsense.

Been here since YNAB Classic 4.

There are sometimes duplicate bank transactions, but other than that, great.

Love it. Gives me such a helpful overview of my spending and shows me when I have the money for things I want and when I should keep saving.

Using YNAB has brought so much confidence around how I’m using my money and where it’s being allocated. It’s allowed me peace of mind. Worth the money.

Terrible interface…way too much input needed and not updated frequently enough.

It used to be great, super fast to do all the tasks. Now with the “fancy UI” and “pretty/bubblely buttons”, it takes 5 times more of my time to go approve all the transactions and assign budgets. Bring the old simple, no fancy UI back.

It’s visually confusing on my phone now, and where have all these strange numbers come from? They weren’t there before (“assigned”). It’s money that doesn’t exist! The app is useless to me now. Bring back the old version. That I loved, and was well worth the money. This? Worthless and you lost a subscriber.

Can’t create a new account

I absolutely LOVE YNAB. I was a budgeter prior to YNAB. This is next level. All things visible and easy to maintain. I even gifted my joy to others.

I love using YNAB, it really takes the stress out of money for me! I’ve been using it for about a year and a half now. I like how they keep improving the UI and making it cleaner, so I can get to the info I need quickly. Makes it enjoyable to use while still being helpful. 10/10

Ive been using YNAB for about a year now and it has been an awesome tool for reducing finanical uncertainty. I love the web app and the constant updates to the iPhone app, but the iPad app’s use on iPad appears to really be an afterthought. While the functionality is on-par with the phone app, it is significantly harder to use due to the sizing and scaling on the iPad’s larger screen. Would be a 5/5 if the iPad experience was on par with the web or phone apps!

We’ve been using YNAB for almost four years. It’s been a beneficial platform for helping us give concrete structure to our financial goals and then provide an easy yard stick for measuring how we’re doing. The mobile app makes it easy to fit in the categorization and approval process whenever there’s available time (rather than feeling like budgeting has to be a dreaded weekend morning activity). Some of the improvements to the reflect features in the app also make it easy for us to get answers to questions we have and talk through decisions while we’re in the car together. The auto-import transactions feature is absolutely worth it. Even as people who don’t have that many subscriptions, the app made it easy for us to identify unwanted recurring charges and take action to cancel. I do have one pet peeve with the app that it would be great to see fixed: In the transaction pop-up form, the top field above category is always labeled “Payee” but for inflows, it really would be more helpful if the label changed to “Payor.” Based on the web interface’s reflect page, it seems like that’s the intent because it labels the summed values “Income Sources” and has different lines for each. Other features we’d love to see implemented are: 1) Reimbursement Tracking—when we have an expenditure that is going to be partially or totally reimbursed, it would be great to have a fluid way for tracking that within YNAB. These could be for expenditures that an employer is going to reimburse in full (e.g. airfare, event registration, hotels, meals, etc.) or for situations where one foots the bill for a shared expense: purchasing a gift for parents that other siblings are going to contribute to, or shared accommodations for friends trip. Perhaps this looks like a “to be reimbursed” flag that can checked on in the transaction pop-up. All such flagged items could then be queued in a list for tracking what still needs to be settled up. 2) AI search and sum—for informing future budgeting and even planning, a small chat bot that could take queries like “how much did we spend on food, lodging, rentals, and transportation for that friends trip in the summer of 2023?” which could then semi-reliably aggregate those costs (even if they were associated with different categories/targets and across multiple months). Thanks to the YNAB team for all the work on a great app!

Love YNAB, but can you please fix the app so that when I’m assigning money, it adjusts the view to the category I’m typing in? When I’m assigning money on the last couple categories on my budget, the keyboard hides what I’m typing. It’s annoying. It should auto-adjust.

Have been a YNABer for several years now, love the service (worth the price for me) and the recent improvements to the web app, and especially the iOS app!! The new design and the modern layout is a breath of fresh air. You can now do everything from mobile if that’s your jam. The YNAB support team is always so helpful, so if all these new features throw you off a bit, they can help.

I expect a $99 app to function as well as Mint, which was free. YNAB doesn’t. It’s nothing other than constant irritation and disappointment. YNAB regularly takes 3-4 days to import credit card transactions. Sometimes they don’t show up. Sometimes restaurant transactions are missing tips. Sometimes there are duplicates. 99.9% of my YNAB use is trying to find and fix YNAB’s errors with transaction importing. Contacting their support is a total waste of time as they blame the importer, Plaid. It’s been like this for months. This is less a budgeting app and more an immensely irritating, let’s do manual data entry (which you can do for free in Excel) app. I loathe it.

Think of it less as a confusing spreadsheet or strict guide, and more as a flexible tool where you and a partner can keep track of everything that costs you money. It takes a few months to get the hang of it, and it can very humbling. Highly recommend watching a variety of videos and reading multiple articles to get the hang of it. But it is well worth learning how to use and it makes the following things easy to save up for: yearly bills, birthdays, holidays, upcoming trips, monthly bills, and so on. There’s not many services I have a strong loyalty to, but this app is truly an exception. Please don’t ruin this app.