Editor's Overview:
- The Winner: WalletHub
- WalletHub is better than YNAB and Mint / Credit Karma because it offers the most budgeting tools for free.
- WalletHub Premium, which provides a lot of advanced budgeting features, is cheaper than YNAB's annual subscription. Credit Karma does not offer a premium plan with advanced budgeting features.
- WalletHub and YNAB both let you create budgets and set savings goals. Credit Karma does not offer these features, though it does let you sync your financial accounts for automatic tracking and provides monthly insights into your spending.
- WalletHub is the only app among these three that offers a subscription manager, which lets you easily find subscriptions you're paying for and cancel them if you no longer need them.
- WalletHub and Credit Karma offer various credit management tools, such as access to your credit score and report, as well as detailed explanations of the key factors affecting your score. YNAB doesn't have tools for credit management.
- All three apps let you manually track investments, but WalletHub and Credit Karma let you sync investment accounts for automatic tracking.
- Both WalletHub and Credit Karma have identity theft protection features, unlike YNAB.
Note: Mint is no longer available. Its parent company, Intuit, is positioning Credit Karma as a replacement for Mint, so we will compare the features that are currently available on Credit Karma in place of Mint. Credit Karma allows you to view your spending by category and compare how your current spending differs from the previous month, but it does not have the exact same budgeting features Mint once had, such as the ability to make a budget or create savings goals.
YNAB vs. Mint / Credit Karma vs. WalletHub: Key Characteristics
| Features | YNAB | Credit Karma | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average App Rating | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| Free Plan Available | No | Yes | Yes |
| Premium Plan Cost | $9.08/month (billed annually) | N/A | $7.99 per month, billed annually (SAVE 50.0%) |
| Number of Authorized Users | 5 | N/A | 5 |
| Credit Builder | No | Yes | Yes |
| Daily Updates to Scores & Reports | No | Scores Only | Yes |
| Credit Monitoring | No | Yes | Yes |
| Overall Financial Health Score (e.g. WalletScore) | No | No | Yes |
| Budgeting | Yes | No | Yes |
| Spending Tracker | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Debt Payoff Plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dark Web Monitoring | No | Yes | Yes |
| Identity Theft Restoration/Insurance | No | No | Yes |
| Net Worth | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Investment Tracker | No | Yes | Yes |
| Compatible Devices | Web, Apple, and Android | Web, Apple, and Android | Web, Apple, and Android |
Below, we’ll take a closer look at some of the key differences between the three apps. We’ll also list which app comes out on top in each category.
YNAB vs. Mint / Credit Karma vs. WalletHub: Budgeting Tools
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | YNAB | Credit Karma | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spending Tracker | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Budgeting | Yes | No | Yes |
| Customizable Transaction Alerts | No | No | Yes |
| Financial Reports | Yes | No | Yes |
| Share Transactions | No | No | Yes |
| Number of Budgeting Methods Supported | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Subscription Manager | No | No | Yes |
| Savings Goals | Yes | No | Yes |
| Spending Trimmer | No | No | Yes |
| Transaction Validator | No | No | Yes |
| AI-enhanced Transactions | No | No | Yes |
All three apps give you the ability to track your expenses to see how much you spend in each major category every month. They also help you create debt payoff plans to find the fastest and cheapest way out of debt. But unlike Credit Karma, WalletHub and YNAB actually let you create budgets, as well as set and track savings goals and share your account with up to 5 other people to make it easier to budget with everyone in your household.
WalletHub has the edge here since the app also gives you access to a subscription manager, which can automatically detect your recurring expenses and list them all in one place. This makes it easy to keep track of your bills since everything is in a central location. Plus, WalletHub’s premium plan costs less than YNAB’s subscription.
YNAB vs. Mint / Credit Karma vs. WalletHub: Budgeting Methods
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | YNAB | Credit Karma | 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 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Rollover Capability | Yes | No | No |
Unlike Credit Karma, WalletHub and YNAB are actually budgeting apps, giving users a way to make a budget and track it over time. However, YNAB only lets you create a zero-based budget, while WalletHub lets you choose from several different budgeting strategies.
You can make a budget on WalletHub using only your total income and expenses, or budget using methods like pay-yourself-first, the 50/30/20 rule, envelope budgeting, or micro-envelope budgeting. You can also do zero-based budgeting by referencing the “Summary” section under the “Budget” tab.
WalletHub allows users to pick the template that works best for their situation, which is why it wins this category. Credit Karma doesn’t even offer users the ability to create a budget.
YNAB vs. Mint / Credit Karma vs. WalletHub: Credit Tools
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | YNAB | Credit Karma | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit Scores | No | Yes | Yes |
| Full Credit Reports | No | Yes | Yes |
| Daily Updates to Scores & Reports | No | Scores Only | Yes |
| Credit Builder | No | Yes | Yes |
| Credit Analysis | No | Yes | Yes |
| Enhanced Credit Report Insights | No | No | Yes |
| Why My Credit Score Changed | No | Yes | Yes |
| Credit-Improvement Plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Credit Score Goals | No | No | Yes |
| Credit Score Simulator | No | Yes | Yes |
| Debt Payoff Plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Debt Payoff Goals | Yes | No | Yes |
WalletHub and Credit Karma allow you to view your credit score and report, learn from a personalized credit analysis, and get access to credit monitoring services. Both apps also update your credit score daily and provide a credit improvement plan.
However, WalletHub comes out on top here since it updates your credit reports daily (Credit Karma updates only monthly). It also offers enhanced credit report insights, providing a deeper analysis of changes to your credit, interactive alerts that allow you to address potential issues promptly, and a timeline of important financial alerts. YNAB doesn’t offer any credit management tools.
YNAB vs. Mint / Credit Karma vs. WalletHub: Identity Theft Protection
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | YNAB | Credit Karma | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit Report Monitoring | No | Yes | Yes |
| Real-Time Credit Inquiry Alerts | No | Yes | Yes |
| Change of Address Alerts | No | Yes | Yes |
| Password Monitoring | No | Yes | 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 | Yes | 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 |
WalletHub and Credit Karma offer identity theft protection services that monitor the dark web and notify you if your personal information has been compromised. However, WalletHub wins this category since it also offers identity theft restoration services, which help Premium members restore their identity if they become a victim of identity theft. Premium users also get access to $1,000,000 in identity theft insurance to cover the costs associated with having their identity stolen.
Credit Karma doesn’t offer identity theft restoration services or identity theft insurance. YNAB does not provide any identity theft protection services at all.
YNAB vs. Mint / Credit Karma vs. WalletHub: Investing & Retirement
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | YNAB | Credit Karma | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net Worth | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Investment Tracker | No | Yes | Yes |
| Investing News | No | No | Yes |
| Sync Real Estate Values | No | Yes | Yes |
| Sync Vehicle Values | No | Yes | Yes |
All three apps let you manually track your investment accounts and net worth. However, only WalletHub and Credit Karma allow you to sync things like brokerage and retirement accounts so they can be tracked automatically. Both apps also let you sync your home and car values. WalletHub leads in this category since you can get financial advisor recommendations and receive investment news straight from your account.
YNAB vs. Mint / Credit Karma vs. WalletHub: Additional Features
Winner: WalletHub
| Features | YNAB | Credit Karma | WalletHub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interactive Alerts | No | No | Yes |
| Custom Dashboards | No | Yes | Yes |
| Auto Insurance Score | No | No | Yes |
| Financial Timeline | No | No | Yes |
| App Store Rating | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| Google Play Rating | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Details Loaded From Credit Report | No | Yes | Yes |
| Customer Support (like email/live chat/etc) | Email & Chat Support | Contact Form & Chat Support |
WalletHub offers a lot of additional features that can add value to the user experience, giving it the edge in this category. For instance, WalletHub provides interactive alerts, a customizable dashboard, a financial timeline that summarizes important alerts, an auto insurance score, and a WalletScore. The WalletScore analyzes a user’s credit, spending habits, retirement savings, and financial emergency preparedness to determine how financially healthy they are.
Credit Karma also has a customizable dashboard but doesn’t offer interactive alerts, a financial timeline, or access to your auto insurance score. YNAB offers none of these features.
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