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Mar 21, 2019 - People know about Quicken's software problems. If you're looking for an alternative or replacement for Quicken, we look at 11 great options. What happens to categories I have in Quicken if I import my data to Moneydance? Do they merge with Moneydance's existing list of categories?
One of these tools is better than the other for real estate investors or business owners. Find out which one in our Moneydance vs. Quicken comparison.
Quicken is one of the best known financial management systems available. It’s also one of the most widely used, and commonly reviewed by financial websites. It’s a particularly strong budgeting software, with plenty of features and benefits to make your financial life easier.
But Quicken is hardly alone in the budgeting software space.
One other lesser-known competitor is Moneydance, a budgeting software that’s actually been around for more than 20 years. Moneydance provides many of the functions of Quicken, but also as a few of their own. It can be particularly attractive if you either engage in foreign currency transactions on a regular basis, or if you have one or more foreign-based financial institutions that you work with.
Next, we’ll take a high altitude look at both budgeting software programs, and the specific features and benefits each offers.
About Moneydance
Moneydance is a personal finance and budgeting software tool that allows you to organize and track all your personal financial information. It can accommodate checking, savings, investments and retirement accounts, as well as credit cards and other loan accounts on the same platform.
The software is offered by an Edinburg, Scotland based company, The Infinite Kind, and was first launched in 1997.
The software enables you to automatically download your financial transactions for multiple accounts. Then it sorts your transactions by income or expense category. The software uses charts and graphs, giving you a visual picture of what your financial situation looks like. This can be especially beneficial for those who are visual learners.
Moneydance provides Online Banking. It enables you to access each bank account you have from the same platform. You can also make payments directly from Moneydance.
Other Moneydance Features
The Moneydance Summary – This feature provides you with a summary of everything going on in all of your financial accounts. It will provide you with account balances, payment reminders, and even overdue transactions. From a single page, you can click on an account and go directly to it. That will give you an opportunity to either enter transactions or to reconcile your account.
Payment Reminders – With this feature you can schedule payments and recurring transactions. You’ll be reminded when they come due, so you’ll never miss a payment.
Account Registers – These enable you to either add or delete transactions, or make other edits. It’s setup much like a regular checkbook, but it includes an auto-complete feature to handle recurring transactions.
Graphing Tool – Moneydance makes strong use of visuals. With this tool, you can generate reports to track your income and expenses, and even customize them for your personal preferences. For example, you can set up graphs with any date range or other preferences you have.
Investment Tracking – Moneydance enables you to track stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETF’s, certificates of deposit, and just about any other type of investment. You can regularly update the value of your portfolio, and even check the performance of individual investments.
The software can be customized to automatically download the daily prices of the investments you’re holding. It can also maintain cost basis computations and even account for stock splits. All of this will be critically important when filing your income tax return.
Foreign Currency Transactions – This capability sets Moneydance apart from other budgeting software systems. It can be a real benefit if you have a foreign-based financial account, or you engage in foreign currency transactions. The software can even handle multiple currencies, and make automatic conversions.
About Quicken
Quicken is one of the primary budgeting software systems available. It provides everything you need for basic budgeting, but it also gives you the ability to create plans to either reduce debt, or increase your savings and investments. Once you sync your financial accounts into the software, you can then import your transactions from each account. Quicken will then categorize them into designated expense accounts.
Quicken comes in four different versions, Starter, Deluxe, Premier and Home & Business. All four offer the following features and benefits (except Quicken Bill Pay):
Budgeting – Quicken enables you to set up realistic household budgets that are based on your spending history. You can create customized goals, as well as plans and reminders for paying current bills. Quicken even forecasts future balances. All information is provided on the platform in real time.
Quicken Bill Pay – Quicken enables you to pay your bills directly from your checking accounts, eliminating the need to do it from individual accounts. This feature is available only on the Premier and Home & Business plans.
Free Credit Score – Quicken provides your VantageScore from Equifax. This is an educational score, and not your actual FICO score, but it will enable you to track the relative level of your credit score. But Quicken only makes this score available on a quarterly basis, not monthly, so don’t give up your free credit score provider just yet.
TurboTax link – Quicken data can be directly exported into TurboTax at the touch of a button. This will simplify your tax preparation substantially, and by itself justify the cost of any plan version you choose. But it will be particularly beneficial to you if you have substantial investments, run a business, or own investment real estate.
Quicken Premium Versions
Quicken offers two premium plans that include all the above features, but are specifically designed for investors and the self-employed. These are the Premier and Home & Business plans.
Both plans offer the following features for investors:
- Track loans, investments and retirement accounts
- Evaluate your investments with Morningstar’s Portfolio X-ray tool
- Compare buy-and-hold options with improved portfolio analysis
- See how your returns compare to market averages
- Track investment cost basis and create Schedule D tax reports
- Make better buy/sell decisions with market comparisons
The Home & Business version offers the above investment features, but adds even more capabilities for small business owners and people who invest in rental real estate. Those capabilities include:
- Categorize and separate personal and business expenses
- Track your business profit & loss and tax deductions
- Run Schedules C and E reports to simplify tax preparation
- Create and email custom invoices and estimates to customers and clients
- Manage lease terms, rental rates and security deposits
- Track outstanding and paid rents
- Add payment links directly to invoices
- Save rental documents directly to the app
The Home & Business plan is perfect for someone who is looking to better manage a small business or investment real estate, in addition to a basic budgeting and financial management software package.
Pricing
Moneydance
Moneydance charges a one-time flat fee of $49.99. Not only does this avoid a monthly service charge, but you can virtually use the software for life. You can pay for the service using MasterCard, American Express, Discover or PayPal. You can even pay with Amazon gift cards.
Once you sign up for the service, they offer a 90-day money back guarantee. If you’re not happy with the software for any reason, you can return it for a full refund.
Quicken
While Moneydance has a single program with a one-time fee that gives you access to the program for life, Quicken offers four different plan levels, each with an annual fee. Pricing for each of the four plans is as follows:
Quicken provides a 30-day money back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with the product you purchase for any reason. But within that time frame, you can also switch from one plan to another that you feel will work better for your needs.
Customer Service
Moneydance
Unfortunately, Moneydance doesn’t offer phone support or live chat. However, they do offer email communication from within the website. Your communication will actually be with the parent company, Infinite Kind, and can be either public or private. (The company is based in Edinburgh, Scotland, so there may be a bit of a delay in communication due to different time zones.)
Quicken
Like Moneydance, Quicken doesn’t offer phone support. But they do offer live chat, which may be almost as good. For more routine questions, they also offer a FAQ page, Common Help Topics and the Quicken Community, where you can probably get most of your questions answered, often from other users.
Synchronization
Moneydance
Moneydance enables you to put your entire financial life on a single platform. Once you link your accounts, Moneydance allows you to automatically download financial transactions from the different institutions. It then organizes the transactions, automatically sorting them into their respective categories.
Quicken
Given how widely Quicken is used, it’s no surprise that it has the capability to be synchronized with more than 14,500 financial institutions. Chances are, any financial institution you’re currently doing business with will already be compatible with the platform.
All you need to do is provide your username and password for each financial institution you want to link. Quicken will securely download and organize the financial information from each account, and will also automatically sort expenses. You have the option to have the information either downloaded automatically, or you can enter it manually.
Accessibility
Moneydance
Moneydance is available for Windows (both 32-bit and 64-bit), Mac and Linux systems. It’s also available for both iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, as well as Android mobile devices. The mobile app can be downloaded free on Google Play.
Quicken
Quicken is available for your desktop computer, but it also works just as well through its mobile app. It’s available for iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones, and can be downloaded at either the App Store or Google Play.
Promotions
Moneydance
Moneydance is currently offering a free trial, but it’s determined by the number of transactions, and not by the number of days. You’ll have access to the full app, where you can enter up to 100 transactions. Payment is not due until you reach the one-hundredth transaction. This gives you an opportunity to “test drive” the service before paying.
Quicken
Quicken is not currently offering any general promotions.
Summary – Moneydance vs. Quicken
Which budgeting software should you choose, Moneydance or Quicken? Both programs provide basic budgeting and financial management capabilities. Each offers an impressive selection of features and benefits for investment purposes. Either can work well for the person who is primarily interested in budgeting and financial management, but wants to use the same software to track their investments.
Which software stands out above the other really depends on the specifics of your financial situation.
Moneydance shines in the area of international transactions. It’s clearly the better plan if you engage in a significant number of foreign financial transactions, or if you maintain one or more foreign financial institutions. Moneydance not only incorporates those accounts into the platform, but it can also do currency conversions quickly and easily. This may be Moneydance’s primary niche in the budgeting and financial management software space.
Quicken offers one of the most well-regarded budgeting capabilities on the market. They also give you the advantage of being able to choose the plan version that works best for you. It seems to have a slight advantage over Moneydance when it comes to investments. But where it really stands above Moneydance is with the premium Home & Business version. It’s well-suited not only to investors, but also to those who are self-employed.
For example, the ability of the plan to separate personal and business expenses, track income and expenses, run business reports, manage invoices, and in particular, to assist you in the management of investment real estate, is a unique feature of Quicken.
If you’re looking for budgeting software, and you engage in frequent foreign transactions, Moneydance will be the better choice of the two. But if you have a business or you own investment real estate, you’ll definitely want to go with Quicken.
Topics:Money ManagementIf you’re serious about your money, you know it’s important to keep tabs on your various financial accounts. However, it’s likely you have several separate investment, credit card and bank accounts. Wouldn’t it be great to have a way to view them all together?
These apps range in price and features. Depending on what you want from a money management app, you may find that one is a better fit than the others for your needs. If your sole focus is cost, jump right to Personal Capital, which offers a free financial analysis tool. But if you need more help with budgeting than investing, one of the others could be worth the price.
Personal Capital, Quicken and Moneydance each give you a digital personal finance dashboard with the most important details about your money at your fingertips. But which is the best?
Personal Finance | Recommended | ||
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Rating | 8/10 | 9.5/10 | 7.5/10 |
Budgeting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Investment Monitoring | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Promotions | 27 Month Subscription from Amazon | Join for FREE | First 100 Transactions are Free |
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About Personal Capital
Personal Capital launched in 2011. It’s an investment management service that also offers a free personal finance dashboard. You can use the investment tools even if you don’t pay to use Personal Capital as an investment manager. The only “string attached” is that the company may try to sell you on its investment services if you have $100,000 or more in investable assets.
The free online money tools do an excellent job of helping you understand your investments. Personal Capital breaks down your asset allocation, shows your portfolio performance by account or across accounts, calculates your net worth and gives a high-level overview of your cash flow by category. Just connect your financial accounts and Personal Capital will take care of the rest.
When I signed up back in 2012, I used Personal Capital’s tools to take a closer look at the investment fees on my mutual funds and ETFs. That led me to make some changes, and ultimately I saved $300 per year in fees. That compounds to tens of thousands of dollars in savings over time.
I regularly suggest this free money management app to friends and family. Because it’s free, you have nothing to lose by giving it a try. There’s both a web and a mobile version to monitor your money at your computer or on the go.
I regularly suggest this free money management app to friends and family. Because it’s free, you have nothing to lose by giving it a try. There’s both a web and a mobile version to monitor your money at your computer or on the go.
About Quicken
Many people think of Quicken as the original money management app. It has a lot of history, since the first version came out in 1983. That’s before most of us had computers, if we were alive at all!
Intuit, the current owner of QuickBooks and Mint, developed the software but sold it to another company several years ago.
Unlike Personal Capital, which is web based, you must download Quicken onto your Windows or Mac computer desktop. Despite this, you still have to pay an annual or two-year license fee to access the latest updates.
Quicken offers four Windows versions, ranging from $34.99 for Starter to $99.99 for Home & Business (which is not available for Mac). Most Investor Junkie readers would probably need at least the Premier version, which has a $74.99 price tag.
Unlike Personal Capital, which is web based, you must download Quicken onto your Windows or Mac computer desktop. Despite this, you still have to pay an annual or two-year license fee to access the latest updates.
Quicken offers four Windows versions, ranging from $34.99 for Starter to $99.99 for Home & Business (which is not available for Mac). Most Investor Junkie readers would probably need at least the Premier version, which has a $74.99 price tag.
Quicken has a ton of budgeting features. Intuit practically invented computer budgeting programs, so it should come as no surprise that the software is good at this. It also connects to your accounts to automatically download balances and transaction details to your computer. Other major features include investment tracking, retirement planning and bill pay. The Home & Business version adds features for property managers and small business owners.
There’s no free trial available, so you have to pay to download. But Quicken offers a 30-day unconditional money-back guarantee.
About Moneydance
Moneydance is not as well-known as Personal Capital or Quicken, but it packs powerful features and a great-looking interface. It costs $49.99 and comes in Windows, Mac and Linux versions, as well as iOS and Android mobile apps. The mobile app automatically syncs with your desktop download.
Like Quicken, Moneydance can connect and automatically download transactions from your bank.
It learns from you how to automatically categorize future downloads. It features useful summaries and graphics, a digital checkbook register for each account, a reminder calendar for single or recurring transactions, and investment tracking.
Like Quicken, Moneydance can connect and automatically download transactions from your bank.
It learns from you how to automatically categorize future downloads. It features useful summaries and graphics, a digital checkbook register for each account, a reminder calendar for single or recurring transactions, and investment tracking.
Moneydance gets frequent updates with new features. The April 2019 update added dark mode, imports from other money applications, speed updates and other features. Moneydance is developed by a small, focused team in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was first released in 1997.
How Are They the Same?
All three services offer many features. First, let’s take a look at how they’re similar.
Budgeting | All three apps offer tools to help make budgeting a breeze. |
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Investment Tracking | Personal Capital, Quicken and Moneydance can all track your investments across your accounts. |
Online Synchronization | All three services can sync with outside online accounts. |
How Are They Different?
Let’s take a look at the areas where Personal Capital, Quicken and Moneydance differ.
Bill Pay | While you can use Quicken and Moneydance to pay your bills, Personal Capital offers no such option. |
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Retirement Planning | Personal Capital and Quicken both offer tools to help you plan for your retirement. However, Moneydance does not. |
Mobile Apps | Personal Capital and Moneydance were made with the mobile-app user in mind. Quicken’s app is clunkier to use and lacks some features, and you’ll still need to download the desktop software too. |
Multiple Currency Support | If you have money in international accounts, you may need multiple currency support. Moneydance and Quicken offers this, while Personal Capital deals only with U.S. dollars. |
Price | Personal Capital: Free for the basic app; Wealth Management services range from 0.49% to 0.89% annually Quicken: $34.99 to $99.99 Moneydance: $49.99 |
In This Comparison
Unique Features
Features Unique to Personal Capital
Personal Capital is the only app on this list that’s free to use. It’s also the only entirely cloud-based program. The benefit here is that Personal Capital works everywhere there’s an internet connection.
Some people have security concerns about handing their information over to a web-based platform. However, this app uses bank-level security to keep your information safe and two-factor authentication for unrecognized devices.
Personal Capital is the only service out of these that also offers its own paid investment management service.
Features Unique to Quicken
Quicken is the granddaddy of money apps, so it has a lot of features that are very well developed. It saves your information to your computer instead of the web, but that means you’re also responsible for keeping your computer secure and backed up (something you should do anyway) to keep your financial data safe.
Depending on which version you choose, Quicken is also the most expensive. And it’s the only one of the bunch with a recurring subscription fee.
Features Unique to Moneydance
Moneydance is the underdog in this fight. That’s certainly the case when it comes to the size of the company. But that doesn’t mean you should discount it. Moneydance runs on the same double-entry bookkeeping system used by accountants. But it does so with a friendly interface that’s perfect for casual personal finance “experts.”
We also like that you can test Moneydance with a free trial before paying to unlock the full version. Plus, there’s a 90-day money-back guarantee if you’re unhappy for any reason.
Price
- The Personal Capital program we’re talking about here today — the personal finance tools — is free. There’s also a paid investment management service available if you have a minimum of $100,000.
- Depending on which version of Quicken you want to use, you’ll have to pony up $34.99 to $99.99 for each year’s subscription (discounts are available).
- Moneydance costs a flat $49.99.
Standout Features
Besides being free, Personal Capital really shines when it comes to investment analysis. The service can monitor the health of your asset allocation and make suggestions on how to tweak it to better fit your goals and risk analysis. There’s also a suite of planners and calculators that can help you make the most of your accounts.
On the other hand, Quicken does personal finance tracking very well. Maybe that’s because it’s the granddaddy of all personal finance apps. It has several features — including Bill Pay from right within the app — that make managing your money simple and doable.
The coolest feature from Moneydance is its checkbook-style register. You can use it to enter, edit and delete transactions in your account. It’s straightforward and a no-brainer.
Winner — Personal Capital, Quicken and Moneydance all offer great experiences. It just depends on what you are looking for.
Customer Service
- If you’re using Personal Capital’s free app, you can reach support via an email form that you can access once you’re logged in.
- Quicken offers live chat, phone and community forum-based support. You can pay $49.99 per year for premium support with shorter waits.
- Moneydance support comes solely through the developer’s support forum.
Winner — Thanks to offering live chat and phone support, Quicken is the winner here.
Security
All three apps take the security of your financial information very seriously.
- Personal capital is an online platform that uses bank-level security.
- Quicken is a desktop platform that holds your data locally.
- And Moneydance is a desktop platform that uses cloud sync for its mobile app.
Winner — Personal Capital, Quicken and Moneydance are all great when it comes to security.
Who Are They Best For?
All three of these offerings are a good fit depending on your needs.
- Personal Capital is best for beginning investors. Its investment analysis can help you improve and grow your portfolio. Plus, it’s free!
- Quicken is best for people who want control over their finances. If you want to sit down at a desktop and pore over your financial picture, this is the one for you.
- Moneydance is for people who need a budget. This app can help you figure out where your money is coming and going.
Which Is the Best?
So which personal finance app is the best?
There’s no clear winner here. However, one might be the best choice for you depending on some criteria.
- If you’re purely worried about cost, Personal Capital wins without question. It’s free and offers the strongest investment analysis tools of the bunch.
- Quicken and Moneydance are very similar in many aspects. Quicken does a better job at giving you a well-rounded look at your money if you pay for a version that gives you the details you want. Moneydance gives you everything for one price and does a good job as well. The free trial and pricing model may give Moneydance an edge. I’ve used Quicken for many years, here’s why I stopped using it and here are some alternatives to quicken.
- If you are concerned mostly with tracking investments, go with Personal Capital. But if you want to control your data and keep everything on your local computer, Quicken is the best choice.