How to Create a Budgeting App? [+5 Best Budgeting Apps for 2021]

Earning money is easy. Managing money, however, is a different ball game altogether. I mean, even I find it difficult to budget myself. How does one manage a proper budget? Just thinking about budgeting can make me cry. However, I did find a way to make budgeting easier for myself.

That was through a budgeting app I found on the app store. Now, one problem with pre-made budgeting apps is that they don’t always fit your needs. Budgeting is a very personal thing for most people. We all have our own ways to budget and have our own priorities while managing expenses.

That being said, there is another way to budget your expenses. A way that allows you complete freedom and makes budgeting a convenient activity with the help of your smartphone. Before we go into it, however, here’s an infographic.

The way that I talked about above is building your very own money management app. A money management app that doubles as a budgeting app works out very well for most people’s requirements and since you’re making your own, you can design it in a way that suits your style.

Essential Features of a Budgeting App

We’ll get into the ‘how’ later. First we must list out the features that are critical to a budgeting app.

Synchronization

Top finance apps connect directly to your bank and credit card accounts, allowing users to keep track of transactions and balances and pay bills directly from their phones. The most effective budget apps amalgamate income, expenses, balances, bills, deposits, and budget info all into one clean, easy-to-navigate interface — Mint even displays your credit score.

Synchronization with banks and credit cards allows the apps to adapt to budgeting goals in real-time. Other apps like GoodBudget and HomeBudget can be synced between family members’ devices so that mom and dad can better keep track of their collective budget and how the kids are spending their allowance. Many apps are also compatible across iOS and Android devices and on Mac and Windows, enabling users to keep an eye on their budget from anywhere and sync their accounts between these different devices.

Security

Given that such sensitive information is being exchanged between these budget apps and financial institutions, security is another priority for any aspiring developer of a budget app. Apps like PocketGuard feature an encrypted, read-only connection with banks. Mvelopes requires multiple email communications in order to securely set up connections between the app and your outside accounts.

Analytics

Most expense tracker apps allow you to easily categorize your purchases and expenses according to their type. Apps like HomeBudget provide charts and infographics that give users a thorough breakdown of their spending by category. Other apps like Wally make it possible for people to set savings goals and keep track of their progress towards these goals. Synced with your bank and credit card accounts, Level Money lets you know how much money you can spend each day, week, and month. Spendbook similarly makes it possible for people to input and categorize purchases, and provides daily and monthly spending summaries along with charts and infographics.

Analytics are a key component of any effective budget app, enabling the users to get a more holistic picture of their financial state via charts and tracking. The best apps do more than just track expenses. Apps analyze patterns in spending, making it easier for people to become better budgeters by seeing where all their money is really going.

Photograph Receipts

Rather than stockpiling all those old receipts, apps like Spendee and Expensify allow you to quickly and easily enter expenses by taking a photo of a bill or receipt using your phone. Expensify’s Smartscan feature can read photos and automatically enter and record expense info based on the image.

Notifications

It’s easy to lose track of your budget, spending, and saving goals in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. This is another area where budget apps can help keep you on track and on budget. The best apps let you determine your budget and then, like Mint, alert you when you start to exceed it. Wally keeps you posted when a bill is due or when you’ve achieved a savings goal.

Monetizing Your Budget App

While some popular budget apps do require users to pay or have “freemium” versions, many like Mint, GoodBudget, Expensify, Mvelopes, Spendee, and Wally are free for people to download, which is another added incentive when selecting an app for managing your finances.

Ultimately, the best budget apps available today offer synchronization, security, connectivity with bank and credit card accounts, and a simple interface that displays all of your pertinent financial details in one location. It’s critical to consider the above features when developing a budget app of your own. If you feel that there are more features that can be crucial in a budgeting app, let us know in the comments below.

How to Create Your Own Budgeting App

Creating your own budgeting app is surprisingly easy. We’ve been holding off on that point for a while now. But let’s get right into it. The first thing you need to do is sign up with Appy Pie AppMakr.

Appy Pie AppMakr is Appy Pie’s in-house designed software that you can use to create your own app. More than 10,000 apps are created with Appy Pie AppMakr each day and the number keeps increasing as apps become more and more predominant. Appy Pie itself has seen a growth of nearly 200% over 2020.

Appy Pie AppMakr is a no-code app building software. This means that making an app with Appy Pie does not require you to code or have knowledge of how coding works. You can create an app by simply adding and editing the features you need. With 200+ exclusive features and the ability to update and edit your apps in real-time, Appy Pie lets you make professional level apps within a day. Appy Pie is trusted both by individuals and businesses. More developers try our platform each day and many become resellers with AppyPie AppMakr.

Creating a budgeting app is a very simple process. Here’s a link to our guide on how to create an app.

5 Best Budgeting Apps for 2021

We’ve already told you how you can create your own budgeting app with ease. However, to be able to create a good budgeting app, you must know what a good budgeting app looks like.

With that in mind, we’ve created a list of five of the best budgeting apps available in 2021. These apps are excellent references for your future budgeting app. Let us jump right into this list:

• You Need a Budget(YNAB): YNAB is one of the most extensive budgeting apps you can find on the market. YNAB has an excellent reputation and is known for their budgeting philosophy that has helped thousands of people budget their finances.

  YNAB offers a free trial of 34 days in which it helps you reorganize your budget , sync your accounts and respective bills. You can enter your expenses manually.

  There are video tutorials and live courses that help you learn how to use the app if you need. The only drawbacks of YNAB are its relatively difficult interface and the expensive subscription that can cost either 84$ a year or 12$ a month.

• Mint: Mint is one of the most popular budgeting apps available. Used by nearly 20 million people, Mint takes the cake as the market-leading budgeting app. It is completely free-to-use. Mint makes it easier to sync your finances and view all your accounts at the same time.

  It is a simple software offering various features that ensures that you save, pay your bills, and calculate your expenses on time. The only problem with Mint lies the extensive amounts of targeted advertising within the app.

• Zeta: Zeta makes this list for its unique approach and idea about budgeting. It is meant to be used specifically by couples. The app caters to all types of couples and it lets them sync one joint or more individual accounts to allow you to track spending, calculate your net worth, and manage expenses together.

Currently, Zeta is free to use and provides advanced features such as direct deposits, automated payments and contactless bill paying. The app is still relatively new and will provide features as time goes by.

• Personal Capital: Personal capital is a wealth-building tool that helps you manage your personal finances. It finds a lower place in this list because it’s main focus is not on budgeting but rather on helping you save money.

  It tracks your net worth and manages your investments for you based on the budget you set. The app is mostly automated and doesn’t provide the customizability that other apps do. It tracks you transactions and shows you various reports about your expenditure helping you keep track of your finances.

• PocketGuard: Another unique budgeting app, Pocket Guard is perfect for people who have a habit of overspending. With its intuitive interface and unique approach to budgeting, it can help overspenders reduce their expenses.

  Once you sync your accounts with this app, it tracks how much you spend and sends you reminders when bills are due. It also tracks how much you spend on average and sends notifications to discourage you from spending more than necessary. It offers a premium subscription which costs 35$ a year.

Conclusion

Appy Pie provides various features like Forms, Sheets, Lists, etc that can be added to a budgeting app. Try out everything you can and find what works for you! I would have told you what features you should add but I’ll put it up to your imagination. Good Luck on creating your budgeting app!