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YNAB vs Quicken Simplifi (self.personalfinance)

submitted 6 months ago by root to c/[email protected]

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I wanted to start using a budgeting program to better organize my spending/ goals, and basically narrowed it down to 3 --YNAB, Actual and Quicken Simplifi.

I setup a self-hosted instance of Actual and was able to import my spending from my account by exporting from my bank and importing into the app, however this seemed like it might get tedious over time, so I decided to try YNAB.

So far this has been pretty straight forward. I’m still waiting for things to sync up with my linked accounts, but I like it so far. I would try Simplifi but there’s no trial period there; though the graphs and UI make it seem appealing.

Anyone here have any experience with Simplifi/ YNAB, and why might you chose one over the other?

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[–] Drukail 5 points 6 months ago

I've used YNAB on and off for about 20 years and solidly for the last 6 or so years and I generally like it. I don't have anything to compare it to because I haven't really used anything else. I tried Mint briefly, but didn't like it and it isn't option anymore anyway.

The price seems to be getting a bit high, but I would never switch to a free alternative. When it comes to my finances, I would prefer to pay for any services with a company that might be trustworthy. I haven't seen anything concerning about YNAB so far.

At this point, if I ever drop YNAB, I'll probably just switch to a spreadsheet. Maybe I'll even go back to the old spreadsheet version of YNAB; as far as I know, they still honor the old licenses for those.

[–] triptrapper 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I've never heard of Simplifi, but I've been using YNAB for about 10 years. I don't know what I would do without it. YNAB is the reason I've been able to afford all the things that are important to me - vacations, Christmas presents, dates with my partner, random gifts. It's so valuable to me I would gladly pay twice the subscription price.

[–] root 1 points 6 months ago

Great to hear; Sounds like I made the right choice!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

I only have experience with YNAB, but can vouch for it. I've been using it for about 4 years now and while I'm not great at following a budget, it's helped me make sure I'm planning for things that need to be planned for while also helping me figure out how to pay for a month of not wanting to cook 🤦‍♂️

[–] Z3k3 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Ynab is what we use works well for us. However the version we use we bought in steam at the end of a summer sale. I believe its on a subscription model now (you need to budget I'm your budget sodtware)

The version we are on from what I can see can be knocked up in a spreadsheet but it may have changed since then

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I had no idea that YNAB was (is?) sold on Steam. I find this hilarious for some reason. I’m hoping it has rich presence features and will update your Steam status to show your net worth or current amount of your Available to Budget category.

[–] PlutoniumAcid 3 points 6 months ago

That's YNAB4, their last desktop version that you could buy once and use forever.

After v4 they switched to the web based version with a yearly subscription. While it's good that they continually improve it, IMHO it's not worth it unless you use an American bank that supports automatic data import into Web YNAB.

[–] Z3k3 1 points 6 months ago

Yeh it was pretty hilarious. It was on the last day of the steam sale that year there was much memeing

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I use Quicken Classic since our finances are too complex for YNAB or Simplifi. However, I think Quicken will give you a refund within the first 30 days if you don't like Simplifi.

[–] JohnnyH842 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Out of curiosity, what would make someone's financial situation too complex for YNAB? I understand if you don't want to share

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Honestly, stuff that probably isn't an issue for most people. I needed a solution that handles personal and business accounting since my wife and I own a small businesses. I also like the fact that Quicken's reporting is a lot more "conventional" than pretty much any other other personal finance software. It doesn't take an act of God to produce a balance sheet, income, and cash flow statements.