Short Read :
YNAB VS PocketSmith – Controlling your financial expenses and achieving your financial goals is an important aspect of personal finance. There are many budgeting tools available in the market that can help you with this task. Two popular products that are often compared are YNAB and PocketSmith. After analyzing both of these products, I have come to a final verdict.
YNAB
IDEAL FOR SEASONED BUDGET PLANNERS
YNAB is a paid app designed to assist individuals with managing their finances by creating a detailed budget and allocating every dollar earned to a specific bucket. It has all the essential features that a budgeting app.
Supported Platform
Android
IOS
WEB
APPLE WATCH
ALEXA
Price: $99 USD/Year, first 34 days free.
Key Features:
- You have the option to connect your bank accounts, or you can manually input transactions if you prefer.
- Prioritize budgeting over just tracking expenses.
- You can create categories from scratch using the highly flexible user interface.
PocketSmith
PERFECT FOR FORWARD-THINKING STRATEGIST
PocketSmith is a comprehensive personal finance software that offers various tools to help individuals create a customized financial plan. This product turns your phone into a personal financial assistant, helping you make the right decisions every time you spend money. The product aims to simplify tracking financial assets, and liabilities and forecast future spending.
Supported Platform
Android
IOS
WEB
APPLE WATCH
ALEXA
Price: Fortune:$26.66/m Flourish:$16.66/m Foundation:$9.99/m Free: Limited Functionality
Key Features:
- Cashflow forecasting.
- Testing different scenarios in your account.
- Custom dashboards.
- Searching the transactions.
- Budget Calendar
Feature Comparison
| Feature | YNAB | PocketSmith | Feature | YNAB | PocketSmith |
| Expense Tracking | Yes | Yes | Security | Yes | Yes |
| Income Tracking | Yes | Yes | Mobile Accessibility | Yes | Yes |
| Budget Creation | Yes | Yes | Data Export | Yes | Yes |
| Expense Categories | Yes | Yes | Debt Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Bill Reminders | Workaround | Yes | Investment Tracking | Yes | Manual |
| Goal Setting | Yes | Yes | Tax Planning | Yes | Yes |
| Financial Reports | Yes | Yes | Multi-Currency Support | Workaround | Yes |
| Transaction History | Yes | Yes | User-Friendly Interface | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Account Integration | Yes | Yes | Customization | Yes | Yes |
| Manual Transaction | Yes | Yes | Savings Goals | Yes | Yes |
| Customer Support | Yes | Yes | Collaboration | Yes | Yes |
| Below is the list of essential sub-features of Personal Finance Software | |||||
| Sub-Feature | YNAB | PocketSmith | Sub-Feature | YNAB | PocketSmith |
| Net Worth | Yes | Yes | Planning Different Scenarios | No | Yes |
| Budget Calendar | Yes | Yes | Flexible budgeting (Any date range) | Yes | Yes |
| Label Transactions automatically | Yes | Yes | Create Custom Dashboards/Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Transaction Search | Yes | Yes | Cashflow Forecasting | Workaround | Yes |
| Migrating from Other Budget Apps | Workaround | Yes | |||
Verdict
Both tools are really powerful in many ways. If you’re looking to take control of your spending and manage your budget effectively, YNAB is a great choice.
PocketSmith is a great option for those new to budgeting who want to establish good habits for saving and setting financial goals. Suitable for Individuals who make adjustments as needed to ensure that the budget is realistic and achievable.