Subscription budgeting web app with envelope-style planning, bank sync and multi-asset accounts
- Envelope
- Zero-based
- Expense tracking
PocketGuard
Bank-linked budget app that shows how much is left to spend after bills and goals
Research-based review, not hands-on testing. Last researched .
Overview
PocketGuard connects to bank accounts to categorize spending, find bills and subscriptions, and calculate a 'leftover' safe-to-spend figure. It supports category, zero-based, envelope-style and 50/30/20 budgets, rollovers, goals, a debt payoff planner and a spending pace forecast. The vendor's pricing page lists a paid Premium plan with a 7-day trial and no free plan.
Best for: People who want automatic bank-linked tracking with a simple safe-to-spend number and subscription tracking
Pros and cons
Pros
- The 'leftover' figure shows spendable money after bills, goals and savings
- Supports several budgeting styles (zero-based, envelope, 50/30/20, custom) plus rollovers
- Detects recurring bills and subscriptions and includes a debt payoff planner
- Transaction rules automate categorizing, merchant renaming and tags
- Large user base, about 4.6 stars on iOS with 7.7K ratings; apps on web, iOS, Android and Apple Watch
Cons
- Vendor pricing page lists no free plan; some reviewers still describe a capped free tier, so sources disagree
- Monthly price of $12.99 is much higher than the $74.99 yearly plan
- Lifetime price of $149.99 is described as an offer that only some customers see
- Primarily bank-linked; manual and cash entry are supported but the design assumes linked accounts
- Google Play rating is a little lower than iOS (about 4.5 vs 4.6)
Features
- Envelope budgeting included
- Automatic bank sync included
- Manual transaction entry included
- Goal tracking included
- Debt payoff tools included
- Investment tracking not confirmed not confirmed
- Bill reminders included
- Reports & charts included
- Multi-currency not confirmed not confirmed
- Shared / household budgets not confirmed not confirmed
- Separate logins for shared budgets not confirmed not confirmed
Leftover, category/zero-based/envelope budgets, rollovers, Pace forecast, rules, subscriptions, bills, goals, debt payoff, insights, bill negotiation service
Our review
Short version
PocketGuard connects to bank accounts to categorize spending, find bills and subscriptions, and calculate a 'leftover' safe-to-spend figure. It supports category, zero-based, envelope-style and 50/30/20 budgets, rollovers, goals, a debt payoff planner and a spending pace forecast. The vendor's pricing page lists a paid Premium plan with a 7-day trial and no free plan.
Quick profile, not a full review. Built on 2026-09-29 from the vendor site, store listings and public sources. No hands-on testing: I did not sign up, start a trial or connect a bank.
Cost
- $12.99/month ($155.88/yr billed monthly)
- $74.99/year billed yearly (about $6.25/month)
- One-time: $149.99
- Trial: 7-day free trial
Not confirmed
Founding year; Last release date; Shared/household budgets; Multi-currency; Investment tracking depth; Whether a limited free tier exists; Number of budgets per account.
Notes
App Store in-app list contains many legacy price points. Independent reviews disagree about a free tier.
Ratings are set separately against a shared rubric.
PocketGuard alternatives
Envelope budgeting with Plaid bank sync on web and iPhone
- Envelope
- Zero-based
- Expense tracking
Web and mobile envelope budgeting with Plaid or SimpleFIN bank sync at $5/month.
- Envelope
- Zero-based
- Forecasting