Editor's Overview:
- The Winner: WalletHub
- All three apps offer free plans that allow users to make a budget, track expenses, and manage their finances. These apps also offer premium plans with advanced features.
- WalletHub and PocketGuard give users multiple ways to make a budget, while Rocket Money only offers one way.
- Both WalletHub and PocketGuard have debt payoff plans that help users find the cheapest way out of debt.
- WalletHub and Rocket Money give users access to numerous non-budgeting features, such as their credit score and report, credit analysis, credit monitoring, and net worth tracking. PocketGuard has net worth tracking but does not offer as many non-budgeting features as the other apps.
- WalletHub is the only app here that offers identity theft restoration services and up to $1,000,000 in identity theft insurance.
- WalletHub has the highest app rating among users on Google Play and the App Store.
PocketGuard vs. Rocket Money vs. WalletHub: Key Characteristics
| Features | PocketGuard | RocketMoney | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average App Rating | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.8 |
| Free Plan Available | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Premium Plan Cost | $6.25/month (billed annually) | $7 - $14 / month | $7.99 per month, billed annually (SAVE 50.0%) |
| Number of Authorized Users | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Credit Builder | No | No | Yes |
| Daily Updates to Scores & Reports | No | No | Yes |
| Credit Monitoring | No | Yes | Yes |
| Overall Financial Health Score (e.g. WalletScore) | No | No | Yes |
| Budgeting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spending Tracker | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Debt Payoff Plan | Yes | No | Yes |
| Dark Web Monitoring | No | No | Yes |
| Identity Theft Restoration/Insurance | No | No | Yes |
| Net Worth | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Investment Tracker | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Compatible Devices | Web, Apple, and Android | Web, Apple, and Android | Web, Apple, and Android |
We’ll go into greater detail about the differences between these apps below. We will also pick the top app for each category.
PocketGuard vs. Rocket Money vs. WalletHub: Budgeting Tools
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | PocketGuard | RocketMoney | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spending Tracker | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Budgeting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Customizable Transaction Alerts | No | Yes | Yes |
| Financial Reports | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Share Transactions | Yes | No | Yes |
| Number of Budgeting Methods Supported | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Subscription Manager | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Savings Goals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spending Trimmer | Yes | No | Yes |
| Transaction Validator | No | No | Yes |
| AI-enhanced Transactions | No | No | Yes |
You can make a budget, set and track savings goals, and sync your financial accounts to automatically track your expenses. All three apps also have a subscription manager that lets you track your recurring bills in one place, making it easy to spot subscriptions you no longer need so you can cancel them.
Unlike Rocket Money, WalletHub and PocketGuard offer debt payoff plans, which can help you find the cheapest and quickest way to become debt-free. However, WalletHub has the edge here since you can access WalletHub’s debt payoff plan feature with a free WalletHub account. You have to pay for a subscription with PocketGuard.
PocketGuard vs. Rocket Money vs. WalletHub: Budgeting Methods
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | PocketGuard | RocketMoney | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50/30/20 budgeting | No | No | Yes |
| Envelope budgeting | Yes | No | Yes |
| Micro envelope budgeting | No | No | Yes |
| Simple budgeting (income/expenses only) | No | No | Yes |
| Pay yourself first budgeting | No | No | Yes |
| Zero-based budgeting | No | No | Yes |
| Rollover Capability | Yes | No | No |
Rocket Money gives users only one way to budget, while PocketGuard offers two different ways. WalletHub takes the lead here, as it has five different budgeting strategies people can choose from. Users can do simple budgeting using only their total income and expenses or build a budget using strategies like the 50/30/20 rule, the pay-yourself-first strategy, envelope budgeting, or micro-envelope budgeting. Users can also create a zero-based budget by referencing the “Summary” section in their WalletHub budget.
PocketGuard vs. Rocket Money vs. WalletHub: Credit Tools
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | PocketGuard | RocketMoney | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit Scores | No | Yes | Yes |
| Full Credit Reports | No | Yes | Yes |
| Daily Updates to Scores & Reports | No | No | Yes |
| Credit Builder | No | No | Yes |
| Credit Analysis | No | Yes | Yes |
| Enhanced Credit Report Insights | No | No | Yes |
| Why My Credit Score Changed | No | No | Yes |
| Credit-Improvement Plan | No | No | Yes |
| Credit Score Goals | No | No | Yes |
| Credit Score Simulator | No | No | Yes |
| Debt Payoff Plan | Yes | No | Yes |
| Debt Payoff Goals | Yes | No | Yes |
With WalletHub and Rocket Money, you can view your credit score and report, get a detailed breakdown of the key factors affecting your current credit score, and receive credit monitoring services that will quickly notify you of suspicious activity in your credit report.
WalletHub wins this category, since it is the only app here that provides you with daily updates to your credit score and report, so you’ll always have the latest information. Plus, WalletHub has a credit builder feature that lets you report your rent and utility bill payments to TransUnion to help increase your credit score. Rocket Money doesn’t offer a credit builder feature, and PocketGuard does not have any credit management tools.
PocketGuard vs. Rocket Money vs. WalletHub: Identity Theft Protection
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | PocketGuard | RocketMoney | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit Report Monitoring | No | Yes | Yes |
| Real-Time Credit Inquiry Alerts | No | Yes | Yes |
| Change of Address Alerts | No | No | Yes |
| Password Monitoring | No | No | Yes |
| Social Security Number Trace Alerts | No | No | Yes |
| Credit Lock (with alerts and scheduling) | No | No | Yes |
| Identity Theft Restoration | No | No | Yes |
| Dark Web Monitoring | No | No | Yes |
| $1,000,000 Identity Theft Insurance | No | No | Yes |
| Enhanced Loan Monitoring | No | No | Yes |
| Lost Wallet Assistance | No | No | Yes |
| USPS Address Monitoring | No | No | Yes |
| Bank Account Takeover Monitoring | No | No | Yes |
| Checking & Savings Account Application Alerts | No | No | Yes |
| Criminal Activity Monitoring | No | No | Yes |
| OFAC Sanctions List Monitoring | No | No | Yes |
| SMS for Urgent Alerts | No | No | Yes |
Unlike PocketGuard, WalletHub and Rocket Money provide credit monitoring that watches for suspicious activity on your credit report. WalletHub has the edge, though, since it also offers password monitoring, Social Security number trace alerts, and dark web monitoring.
In addition, as a WalletHub user, you have the ability to lock and unlock your TransUnion credit report straight from your account and access identity theft restoration services as well as $1,000,000 in identity theft insurance. Rocket Money doesn’t offer these additional features, and PocketGuard does not offer any identity theft protection features at all.
PocketGuard vs. Rocket Money vs. WalletHub: Investing & Retirement
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | PocketGuard | RocketMoney | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net Worth | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Investment Tracker | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Investing News | No | No | Yes |
| Sync Real Estate Values | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sync Vehicle Values | No | No | Yes |
You can sync your investments to see your balances and monitor the performance of your accounts all in one place with any of these three apps. These apps also offer a net worth tracking tool.
WalletHub takes the top spot here since you can get a detailed breakdown of your investment activities and see investment news straight from your account. Rocket Money and PocketGuard won’t detail your investment activities or provide investment news.
PocketGuard vs. Rocket Money vs. WalletHub: Additional Features
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | PocketGuard | RocketMoney | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive Alerts | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Dashboards | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Auto Insurance Score | No | No | Yes |
| Financial Timeline | No | No | Yes |
| App Store Rating | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.8 |
| Google Play Rating | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.7 |
| Details Loaded From Credit Report | No | Yes | Yes |
| Customer Support (like email/live chat/etc) | Email & AI chatbot | Email & Chat Support |
Both WalletHub and Rocket Money let you customize your dashboard to your liking, unlike PocketGuard. However, WalletHub offers many more helpful features to enhance the user experience, such as a financial timeline that summarizes important alerts as well as access to an auto insurance score and a WalletScore (a measurement of how financially healthy you are), helping it win this category. PocketGuard and Rocket Money do not provide a financial timeline or access to your auto insurance score or WalletScore.
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