Quicken Alternatives 2026: 6 Options, 4 Free
Quicken alternatives: GnuCash, Actual Budget, Firefly III, Empower Personal Dashboard and 2 more. Prices and licenses checked October 25, 2026.
•3 min read•Personal Finance & Investing
Verdict:Quicken's price is hard to pin down from its own site: the pricing page returned 404 to us, and the home page lists only cloud plans (Simplifi at $3.99 a month or $6.99 'billed annually') with figures that conflict elsewhere on the page. Treat any number as something to confirm at checkout. If you are leaving because you do not want another subscription, GnuCash is the honest answer: it is a free double-entry program for Windows, macOS and Linux, with no price on its site, though it has no bank feeds and expects you to know some bookkeeping. Actual Budget and Firefly III are free and self-hosted, which means you keep your data on a server you run. Empower covers the net worth and investment view at no cost, and its budgeting is lighter. If you would rather pay for something simpler, YNAB charges $14.99 a month or $109 a year and Monarch charges $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, both with trials and no free plan. The trade-off is that none of the free tools match Quicken's single desktop program handling bills, investments and reports together. You would combine two tools, for example GnuCash for records plus Empower for the portfolio view. Stay with Quicken if you rely on its investment tracking and bill reminders daily.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GnuCash | Free (double-entry accounting program with no price on its site) | Windows, macOS, Linux | A free desktop ledger | Docs only |
| Actual Budget | Free (Open-source app you host yourself; the repository lists no paid tier) | Web (self-hosted) | Budgeting without a subscription | Docs only |
| Firefly III | Free (Open-source personal finance manager you host yourself; no paid tier in the repository) | Web (self-hosted) | Self-hosted tracking and reports | Docs only |
| Empower Personal Dashboard | Free (The dashboard experience and financial tools are free; separate advisory services charge fees based on assets managed) | Web | Free investment and net worth view | Docs only |
| YNAB | Paid from $14.99 per month, billed monthly ($109 per year billed annually; 34-day free trial) | Web | Budget-focused users | Docs only |
| Monarch Money | Paid from $14.99 per month, billed monthly ($99.99 per year billed annually) | Web | Web-based budgeting and net worth | Docs only |
| Banktivity | Paid from $6.99 per month, billed annually (Bronze; $83.88 a year) | macOS, iOS | Finance | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a free desktop ledger (GnuCash is the pick)
- You want budgeting with no subscription and can self-host (Actual Budget is the pick)
- You mostly track investments and net worth (Empower Personal Dashboard is the pick)
- You want a simple paid budgeting app (YNAB is the pick)
- You want a web app for budgets and net worth (Monarch Money is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Quicken features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Quicken today: See pricing page (Quicken pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Why people look for Quicken alternatives
Quicken's Simplifi plan advertises $3.99 a month billed annually, but that price applies to the first year only for new memberships. The regular price is $6.99 a month billed annually, and the subscription renews automatically at then-current rates. Simplifi is listed for mobile and web, so people who want a desktop app with local files have to look at other software. The page shows no total annual price.
GnuCash
Compared with Quicken: Free double-entry accounting desktop program for Windows, macOS and Linux. No built-in bank feeds or subscription, and it takes more bookkeeping knowledge than Quicken, which suits you only if you like accounting.
Price: Free (double-entry accounting program with no price on its site) (GnuCash pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. GNU GPL (open source).
Best for: A free desktop ledger.
Worth knowing: It is a desktop program, so it has no built-in bank feeds or online invoicing.
Actual Budget
Compared with Quicken: MIT-licensed, free and self-hosted envelope-style budgeting. Not a full replacement for Quicken's investment and bill features, but there is no yearly fee; bank syncing needs a separately billed service.
Price: Free (Open-source app you host yourself; the repository lists no paid tier) (Actual Budget pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web (self-hosted). MIT (open source).
Project activity: 29.8k GitHub stars · latest release v26.10.0 (Oct 2, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Budgeting without a subscription.
Firefly III
Compared with Quicken: AGPL-3.0, free self-hosted finance manager covering accounts, budgets and reports. You host and back it up, and it lacks Quicken's desktop investment tools.
Price: Free (Open-source personal finance manager you host yourself; no paid tier in the repository) (Firefly III pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web (self-hosted). AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 25k GitHub stars · latest release v6.7.9 (Oct 11, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Best for: Self-hosted tracking and reports.
Worth knowing: Self-hosted, so you run the server and back up the database yourself. The repository describes it as a personal finances manager.
Empower Personal Dashboard
Compared with Quicken: Free dashboard for net worth and investment tracking, with budgeting that is lighter than Quicken. A good free replacement for the portfolio view only.
Price: Free (The dashboard experience and financial tools are free; separate advisory services charge fees based on assets managed) (Empower Personal Dashboard pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Free investment and net worth view.
Worth knowing: Reviews describe it as stronger at net worth and investment tracking than at detailed budgeting.
YNAB
Compared with Quicken: $14.99 a month or $109 a year after a 34-day trial. Budget-method focus, so it replaces Quicken's budgeting but not its desktop bill and investment reports.
Price: Paid from $14.99 per month, billed monthly ($109 per year billed annually; 34-day free trial) (YNAB pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Budget-focused users.
Worth knowing: No ongoing free plan; the trial needs no credit card when you sign up directly.
Monarch Money
Compared with Quicken: $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year with a first-week trial and no free plan. A web-based replacement for budgeting and net worth, without Quicken's desktop approach.
Price: Paid from $14.99 per month, billed monthly ($99.99 per year billed annually) (Monarch Money pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Web-based budgeting and net worth.
Other popular options (paid)
Banktivity
Compared with Quicken: Native Mac, iPhone and iPad apps, not a web app. Bronze is $6.99 a month billed annually, the same as Simplifi's regular rate, with a 30-day trial; Silver adds investment and real estate tracking at $8.99.
Price: Paid from $6.99 per month, billed annually (Bronze; $83.88 a year) (Banktivity pricing, checked 2026-10-25).
Which one to pick
- You want a free desktop ledger: GnuCash
- You want budgeting with no subscription and can self-host: Actual Budget
- You mostly track investments and net worth: Empower Personal Dashboard
- You want a simple paid budgeting app: YNAB
- You want a web app for budgets and net worth: Monarch Money
Limits of this review
Docs-only for GnuCash, Actual Budget, Firefly III, Empower Personal Dashboard, YNAB, Monarch Money: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Quicken. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-25: Quicken, GnuCash, Actual Budget, Firefly III, Empower Personal Dashboard, YNAB, Monarch Money, Banktivity. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.