Mint vs. Personal Capital - Which Financial Management App is Better for You
Are you tired of manually keeping track of your spending, investments, and bills? If so, financial management apps like Mint and Personal Capital could be the solution you've been seeking.
Both Mint and Personal Capital offer a suite of features that make tracking and organizing your finances much easier. But how do these two apps compare, and which one is better for you? In this article, we're going to compare Mint and Personal Capital across several categories to help you make an informed decision.
The Basics
Mint, which is owned by Intuit, has been around since 2006 and has become a household name. Meanwhile, Personal Capital, founded in 2009, is less well-known but has gained a strong following in the investment community.
Here's a quick rundown of each app's basic features:
Mint
- Budget tracking
- Bill payments
- Credit score monitoring
- Investment tracking
- Basic financial planning advice
- Free to use (ad-supported)
Personal Capital
- Investment tracking (including individual stocks and cryptocurrency)
- Retirement planning tools
- Net worth tracking
- Fee analyzer for investment accounts
- Basic budgeting tools
- Free for basic features, paid advisory services available
Investment Features
One area where Personal Capital stands out is in its investment features. Not only does it offer more robust tracking of individual stocks and cryptocurrency, but it also offers detailed analytics of your investment portfolio.
Mint, in contrast, offers investment tracking, but it's not quite as detailed. However, Mint does offer basic financial planning advice that can help guide your investment decisions.
Winner: Personal Capital
Budget Tracking
When it comes to budget tracking, both Mint and Personal Capital offer a similar set of features. You can track your expenses, set limits, and get alerted when you're close to going over budget.
However, Mint offers a more comprehensive set of budgeting tools, allowing you to create custom categories and subcategories for your spending.
Winner: Mint
Retirement Planning
Personal Capital offers a more extensive set of retirement planning tools than Mint. These include a retirement planner, a social security calculator, and a 401(k) fee analyzer.
Mint does offer some retirement planning advice, but it's not as in-depth as what you'll find in Personal Capital.
Winner: Personal Capital
Security
Both apps take security seriously and offer multi-factor authentication, which is a big plus. Personal Capital goes a step further with biometric authentication (e.g., face or fingerprint recognition) for added protection.
Winner: Personal Capital
Price
Both Mint and Personal Capital offer free versions of their apps. Mint monetizes through ads and by recommending financial products to users. Meanwhile, Personal Capital offers paid advisory services for those who want personalized financial advice.
Winner: Tie
Verdict
Ultimately, the answer to which app is better for you depends on your specific needs. If you're looking for a free, all-in-one solution for basic budgeting and financial planning, Mint is probably the app for you. On the other hand, if you're looking for more powerful investment analytics or precise retirement planning tools, Personal Capital is the better choice.