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What should you replace Mint with?
Start with what you actually used Mint for. If it was watching every transaction across linked accounts, you want another full tracker. But for a lot of people Mint was really answering one question: are my bills covered, and what is safe to spend. For that, a free paycheck-first app with no bank login is a simpler replacement than rebuilding your account connections somewhere new.
Mint is gone, and its replacement is not a budget
Intuit shut Mint down in 2024 and pointed everyone at Credit Karma, which kept account balances but not Mint-style budgets. That split the search for a replacement into two very different families, and picking the wrong family is how people end up churning through three apps in a month.
The two families of Mint replacements
- Aggregator trackers. Link every account, import every transaction, categorize, report. Closest to what Mint literally was. The cost is setup, re-linking when connections break, usually a subscription, and trusting one more company with your bank access.
- Simple planners. No linking. You tell the app your paychecks and bills, it tells you what is covered and what is left. Lighter than Mint, but for the everyday “am I okay” question it is often the truer tool.
What you used Mint for, and what replaces it
| You mainly used Mint to… | Replace it with |
|---|
| See every transaction in one place | An aggregator tracker with bank sync |
| Watch your credit score | Credit Karma or your card's free score tool |
| Know if the bills were covered this month | A paycheck-first planner (free, no bank login) |
| Feel less anxious between paydays | A leftover-per-check number you can trust |
Want to see the paycheck-first answer with your own numbers before installing anything? The no-signup
paycheck budget calculator takes about a minute.
The quiet upside of not linking your bank
Mint trained everyone to start by handing over bank credentials. Skipping that is not just a privacy preference: nothing breaks, nothing needs re-linking, and the app works the same whether your bank cooperates or not. The tradeoff and who it suits is covered in budgeting apps that don't link to your bank, and the method itself in how to budget by paycheck.
Common questions
- What is the best replacement for Mint?
- It depends on what you used Mint for. If you mainly watched spending across linked accounts, you want another aggregator-style tracker. If you mainly wanted to know whether your bills were covered and what was safe to spend, a paycheck-first budgeting app answers that more directly. Ends Meet is a free one with no bank login.
- Why did Mint shut down?
- Intuit closed Mint in 2024 and pointed users to Credit Karma. Credit Karma kept some account tracking but not Mint-style budgets, which is why so many people are still looking for a real replacement.
- Do I need an app that links to my bank like Mint did?
- Only if automatic transaction history is the thing you valued. Bank links also break, need re-linking, and hand your credentials flow to a third party. If your real question was "am I okay until the next paycheck," you can answer it by telling a simpler app what happened, in seconds, with nothing connected.
- Is there a free Mint replacement?
- Yes. Mint set the expectation that budgeting software should be free, and some replacements still are. Ends Meet is free: paycheck planning, bill tracking per check, the leftover number, and an AI money assistant, with no bank login and no ads.
The replacement for the bills question
Ends Meet is a free paycheck budgeting app with no bank login. Each bill lands on the check that covers it, the leftover is always visible, and squaring up after a busy week takes one tap. If Mint was your answer to “am I okay,” this is a smaller, calmer answer to the same question.
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Written by Calvin Churchill, the maker of Ends Meet, the paycheck budgeting app with no bank login.