WealthRocket is reader-supported. When you buy through links on the website, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Why you can trust us
The team at WealthRocket only recommends products and services that we would use ourselves and that we believe will provide value to our readers. However, we advocate for you to continue to do your own research and make educated decisions.
Mint isn’t just a flavor of chewing gum. In the world of fintech, Mint is a budgeting app that helps millions keep a close eye on their spending and personal finance while helping them stick to a budget and effectively manage their financial progress.
In this WealthRocket article, we’ll provide a review of the Mint app so that you can learn more about one of the best finance apps available today.
Mint is a no-cost budget tracker and planner with more than 15 million users. On launch, it was one of the first apps that allowed you to keep track of your finances but have since garnered some competition from other apps, such as YNAB and Every Dollar.
Mint is owned by Intuit, a fintech company that provides various personal finance software services, including brands like Turbotax and Quickbooks.
Mint’s features include budgeting, goal setting, bill payment tracking, and investment monitoring. Mint also provides an overview of anything that involves personal capital.
But what makes Mint so attractive to those who want to up their money management game is in its ability to combine all aspects of their financial life into one, easily-accessible dashboard.
Mint allows users to set up their banking and investment accounts, credit cards, and loans. Not only does it help you set up and stick to a budget, but it also gives you real-time snapshots of your current financial situation.
Mint comes at no cost to use and is available online and via mobile app, available for iOS and Android. It also connects to nearly every bank and credit union in the U.S., but not all of them. More on that below.
Signing up for a Mint account isn’t a time-intensive process. However, you may need extra time to add all of your accounts.
Mint allows its users to link their checking, savings, and investments, as well as their credit cards and personal loans.
Upon sign-up, you’ll have to enter your email address, phone number, zip code, and a password. After that, you can link all of your spending, savings, borrowing, and investing accounts.
Once you’ve linked your accounts, the real fun begins. You can see your total net worth, broken down into how much money you have in your checking, savings, and investments, including stocks, ETFs, and more.
This balance sheet cumulates your personal capital, denoting how much you own or owe, with loan and credit card debt into consideration, thus offering the full picture of your financial situation.
It’s worth noting that Mint accounts for transactions that you make by automatically syncing any linked accounts. It also provides you by categorizing your spending through a detailed breakdown, which helps determine which sectors of your budget are eating most of your money.
A neat little feature of Mint is that it also alerts you if you’re close to overspending. Multiple categories allow you to set budgets according to what you would like to spend on specific topics, including groceries, transportation, dining, bars, and entertainment, to name a few.
Ease of Use: : Mint is an excellent application that provides a suitable amount of information with minimal effort. It offers a comprehensive, free glimpse into your financial situation, and only requires a small amount of information. It also makes it easy for users to determine exactly where they stand financially, which can come in handy when fine-tuning your savings goals.
Creates a Budget: Mint’s budgeting features can also help users create a budget, set financial goals, and save money. The tool calculates the average spending by category, which makes creating a budget easier than ever.
Sleek Mobile App: Mint’s easy-to-use interface also allows users to see trends in their spending and cash flow, making better financial decisions almost instantly.
Free Credit Score: Mint provides a free credit score every time you log in, making the app that much more in tune with your finances.
Not Compatible with All Institutions: Criticisms of Mint are that it sometimes has difficulty connecting to smaller financial institutions or can miscategorize spending categories. While this is not at Mint’s fault, it is a deterrent for those seeking budgeting solutions.
Advertisements: Since it’s free, Mint also has a good amount of ads. Since the application is free, this is hardly a make or break. However, some may find this as a minor annoyance.
Mint provides users with an updated credit score every time that they sign in. It also splits the credit reports into scores for several useful categories, like on-time payments, credit usage, and average credit age.
Yes! Users can also connect other bank accounts to the free budget app to get a full picture of their money. However, several institutions do not support third-party apps.
Mint uses 128-bit encryption, multi-factor encryption, and also uses security scanning via a third-party company called VeriSign to help protect your financial data. Be sure to check out Mint’s privacy policy if you have specific concerns about their terms and conditions.
