Best budgeting apps UK 2026: 6 options compared

The UK has the most mature Open Banking system in Europe, which is why so many budgeting apps here are built around reading your bank feed. It is also why the market keeps consolidating.

Money Dashboard closed its Neon and Classic apps on 31 October 2023, after its owner ClearScore said it could not find a sustainable business model. Moneyhub, the other long-standing aggregator, shut its consumer app in summer 2026 to focus on its business clients. Existing users could move to WPS LifeStage, a rebranded version run by WPS Advisory, or download their data before the account was deleted.

Two apps, two closures, and in both cases the users lost the history they had built up unless they exported it in time. It is worth keeping that in mind when you choose: an app that depends on a third party to read your bank is only as permanent as the business model behind it.

What it is. A personal finance app for iPhone and Android, made in Spain. You add your accounts and log spending and income yourself, so it never asks for your bank login and there is no aggregator in the middle.

What it does well. It is quick to log an expense, budgets per category and savings goals are free, and each account keeps its own currency. That matters more than it sounds if you hold pounds and euros, get paid from abroad or send money home: Neto handles 62 currencies and converts the total to the one you choose, with rates refreshed daily. The interface is in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese. With PRO you also get investments (stocks, ETFs, funds and crypto with updated prices), debts, recurring transactions, receipt scanning and automatic logging of Apple Pay or Google Wallet payments.

Open Banking: not used. Platforms: iPhone and Android. Price: free to start, PRO optional, no ads.

The catch. Logging is manual unless you use the PRO wallet automation. If you want every transaction from every UK bank to appear on its own, Emma or Snoop will suit you better. Neto is for people who have decided they prefer to see each expense as they record it, or who simply do not want a third party holding read access to their accounts. There is more on that trade-off in our guide to finance without bank sync.

What it is. A UK app that connects to your UK bank accounts and cards through Open Banking, categorises transactions and tracks bills and subscriptions.

What it does well. Coverage of UK banks is broad, including Monzo, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Starling and Revolut. Budgets, subscription tracking, cash flow views and alerts when you are close to a limit are the core of it, and it is good at spotting the subscription you forgot you had.

Open Banking: yes, it is built around it. Platforms: iPhone and Android, with a web app from the Plus plan up.

Price. There is a free Basic plan limited to two bank logins. Paid plans are Plus at £4.99 a month (£41.99 a year), Pro at £9.99 a month (£83.99 a year) and Ultimate at £14.99 a month (£124.99 a year). Net worth tracking and custom categories sit in Pro.

The catch. The free plan is tight once you have more than two banks, and the paid tiers mix budgeting with cashback, investing and credit reports, so check which tier actually holds the feature you want before paying.

What it is. A UK app that reads your accounts through Open Banking and focuses on where you are overpaying.

What it does well. It tracks spending by category and merchant, flags bill increases and renewals, monitors your credit score and suggests cheaper deals. If your real problem is a broadband contract that rolled onto a higher rate, Snoop is the one most likely to catch it. The core features are free.

Open Banking: yes. Platforms: iPhone and Android.

Price. Free, with Snoop Plus at £5.99 a month or £47.99 a year for more advanced budgeting features.

The catch. Part of how a free app like this pays its way is by showing you offers. That is not a reason to avoid it, but it is worth knowing that the deals feed is part of the product, not a side feature.

What it is. You Need A Budget, the zero-based budgeting app: you give every pound a job before you spend it.

What it does well. If you have tried passive tracking and it never changed anything, YNAB is the most likely to. The method is well explained, the community is large, and it can share a budget with up to six people.

Open Banking: yes, optional. YNAB supports direct import from a list of UK banks (Monzo, Starling, Barclays, NatWest and HSBC among them) and file import for the rest.

Platforms: iPhone, Android and web.

Price. On the UK App Store it is £12.99 a month or £99 a year, after a free trial of around a month. YNAB prices itself in US dollars on its website ($14.99 a month or $109 a year), so the pound figure can differ depending on where you subscribe.

The catch. There is no free plan, and the learning curve is real. People either take to it within a few weeks or give up. If you are unsure, use the trial to set up one full month before paying.

If you already bank with Monzo or Starling, try what is built in before downloading anything.

Monzo offers Pots to set money aside, Salary Sorter to split your pay on arrival, and Trends, which shows your spending over time and lets you set a monthly spending target. Monzo says the main Trends views, including targets, are free for all customers. Seeing your accounts from other banks in the Monzo app, custom categories and the automatic spreadsheet export need a paid plan: Extra is £3 a month, Perks £9 and Max from £19.

Starling has no monthly fee on its personal account and includes Spaces (separate pots for bills or groceries, which you can tie to a virtual card), Spending Insights by category, and Bills Manager, which pays direct debits from a chosen Space. It also offers a free web Budget Planner that anyone can use, customer or not.

Open Banking: not needed for money that is already in that bank. The catch is the obvious one: both only see the money held with them unless you pay to connect other accounts (Monzo) or use a separate app. If your salary, credit card and savings live in three different places, a bank's own tools give you a third of the picture.

• Count your banks first. One bank, and it is Monzo or Starling: start with the built-in tools. Three or more: you need an aggregator (Emma, Snoop) or an app where you enter things yourself (Neto).
• Decide whether you want Open Banking at all. It saves typing, but connections occasionally drop and need reconnecting, usually when you are relying on them. Some people last longer with manual logging precisely because they see every expense. Our list of budgeting apps without bank linking covers that side in more detail.
• Check what the free tier really includes. "Free" can mean two bank connections, or budgeting without custom categories. Read the plan table before you set everything up.
• Think about currencies. If you live in the UK but hold euros, get paid in dollars or plan to move, check whether the app keeps each account in its own currency. Most UK apps assume everything is in pounds. If you are comparing beyond the UK, see our best budgeting apps in Europe.
• Export before you need to. Money Dashboard and Moneyhub users who did not download their data lost it. Whatever you pick, find the export button in the first week.

If you are not sure how to split your money in the first place, the 50/30/20 calculator gives you a starting budget in pounds in a minute, whichever app you end up using.

Emma for the fullest automatic picture across UK banks. Snoop for a free aggregator that hunts down bills. YNAB if you want a method and will pay for it. Monzo or Starling if most of your money is already there. Neto if you want spending, budgets and savings goals in pounds, alongside other currencies, without handing anyone your bank access.