Comparison Review: LearnVest vs. Mint as the Best Budgeting Software
If you have been trying to get your finances in order, you may have come up against the LearnVest vs. Mint dilemma. You may have thought, “I really need to do something about my money situation,” and headed straight for Google.
“Surely, there’s somebody out there with an idea about how to go about organizing my money.”
The problem? There’s too much information. There are too many people who know how to handle your money — and they all have different opinions.
There are online budgeting tools, classes to sign up for, phone numbers to call financial advisors for consults, programs to buy, and on and on until your head is spinning.
Suddenly, getting your financial house in order seems like an impossible task. What is Learnvest, anyway? What is Mint? How can you choose between LearnVest vs. Mint?
LearnVest and Mint are fantastic money management apps to help you make and stick to a personal budget. With a little effort, you can use these free budget software programs to organize your money and reach your financial goals.
The truth is, Mint and LearnVest are both considered best budgeting software options. Both of these best budget apps are excellent ways to start on the path to financial wholeness.
When it comes to deciding between LearnVest vs. Mint, they each have their own unique features for personalization.
In our LearnVest app review and our Mint budget app review, we’ll compare and contrast the two so you can make a decision about which is right for you.
Comparison Review List
The list below is sorted alphabetically (click any of the names below to go directly to the detailed review section):
High Level Comparison Table
LearnVest vs. Mint | Cost | Best Used For |
| LearnVest | $0-$299 | Expert financial planning & budgeting assistance |
| Mint | $0 | Real-time analysis of spending patterns & budgeting assistance |
Table: The above list is sorted alphabetically
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LearnVest App Review
If you haven’t heard about LearnVest, the LearnVest app is certainly a great tool to consider. In fact, as one of the biggest Mint competitors, this best budgeting software is one of the top money management apps on the market.
According to Wikipedia, “LearnVest is an American financial planning company founded by CEO Alexa Von Tobel. It sells personal finance software.”
Our LearnVest review will focus on the key features of this best budgeting software to help consumers decide between LearnVest vs. Mint.
According to Investor Junkie, LearnVest began as a tool by women, for women. It has since moved to a more gender-neutral approach and has been purchased by Northwest Mutual.
In a 2015 interview with Forbes magazine, Alexa Von Tobel stated:
“They [Northwest Mutual] have tremendous scale. We are going to take the innovative technology that has made LearnVest so special and…scale it rapidly to another 4.2 million households. Not overnight but very quickly.”
So, what does that tell us about choosing LearnVest or Mint? Let’s take a look!
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Key Features of the LearnVest App
Pictured above is the progress board for the LearnVest app. As you can see from the above image, LearnVest is a free budget software. This also applies to Mint finance software, so don’t think about cost yet in our LearnVest vs. Mint comparison.
You can add bank, investment, and credit card accounts into the money management app.
This allows you to track all of your balances in real-time as deposits and credits are made. It even allows you to manually enter balances if you need to.
Manual entry is not something Mint allows, so if entering some spending by hand is important to you, the question of LearnVest vs. Mint could already be answered.
Most of the budgeting tools do require you to link your accounts. This is necessary to allow LearnVest and Mint finance software to provide accurate information, rather than vague estimates about spending habits.
When deciding between LearnVest vs. Mint, keep in mind that both best budget apps will require linked accounts.
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Educational Resources
If you are trying to learn about finance and investing, LearnVest offers a newsletter. The website also features a Knowledge Center, which contains budgeting tools and articles to help educate users on how to manage a budget.
If you are new to budgeting tools and are using a money management app for the first time, the Knowledge Center is a valuable resource.
Along with informational articles, it also includes tools and calculators, all categorized into specific topics, like savings rates, CDs, mortgages, and even energy bills.
For example, if you are interested in using the LearnVest money management app to evaluate the impact of spending habits for a future move, home purchase, or similar change, the M.A.S.H. Calculator will tell you how your budget may be affected by a change in lifestyle.
The educational resources of this money management app don’t stop with the Knowledge Center. When we signed up, it offered a free consult with a professional financial advisor and even asked when the best time to call would be.
This might be useful for people who are looking to learn more about investing, something to consider when deciding between LearnVest vs. Mint.
LearnVest Pricing
If you’re not getting enough out of the free budget software, LearnVest operates on a premium model. You can pay $299 and then $19 a month for ongoing support from a financial professional.
LearnVest promises that the people who offer this continuing support are certified, financial planners. Since merging with Northwest Mutual, the pricing has remained the same, though LearnVest does offer periodic discounts.
Compared to other Mint competitors, LearnVest does charge a steep price for the premium plan–however, there are a few key benefits that may make it worthwhile, depending on your financial situation and goals.
The LearnVest premium program includes access to a financial planner, customized budgeting plans, step-by-step instructions, and ongoing monthly support.
Additional Considerations
The question of Learnvest vs. Mint is one that has to consider whether you need human support or not.
There is an app available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS, but unfortunately, Android users are out of luck with the LearnVest app. This is another crucial difference between the two websites.
As a result, the question of LearnVest vs. Mint should also take your preferred smartphone into account.
Mint Budget App Review
If you’re wondering what is Mint, Wikipedia says, “Mint.com is a free, web-based personal financial management service for Canada and the US, created by Aaron Patzer.”
Like LearnVest, Mint is an online, best budgeting software that allows you to link your personal accounts to keep track of your spending.
As of 2010, it was able to connect to over 16,000 financial institutions. Those are pretty impressive numbers, and they were collected six years ago.
User growth is definitely something to consider when choosing between LearnVest vs. Mint.
Mint looks a lot like LearnVest on the surface–even the color scheme has similarities.
If you are an aesthetically-minded person, deciding between LearnVest vs. Mint won’t make a great deal of difference. The real differences are in functionality.
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Key Features
With Mint, as with LearnVest, there is nothing to download. All you have to do is go to the website and sign up for the best budgeting software, free of charge.
Thankfully, hard drive space does not need to make your Learnvest vs. Mint decision for you.
According to Investor Junkie, Mint has over 15 million users, so you won’t be alone in trusting them with your financial future.
Image Source: mint.com
Spending Categories
After connecting your accounts to the website, Mint automatically sorts your spending into pre-defined categories. This makes it easy to track your spending, set goals, and manage them as well.
While there are hundreds of pre-defined categories, users have the ability to rename or re-categorize transactions.
You can even create your very own categories, making Mint a fully customizable money management app.
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Focus on Budgeting
One of the biggest differences between LearnVest vs. Mint is that Mint does not attempt to tackle investments. Instead, it focuses on being the best budgeting software, exceeding many Mint competitors with its tracking and budgeting tools.
The Mint vs. LearnVest question is important to consider here, since an investment-minded person may be better served by LearnVest.
Another thing to consider in the LearnVest vs. Mint debate is that the Mint budget app will show you your credit score.
This makes it easy to keep track of your complete financial picture, and you can do it all from the comfort of your favorite chair.
Some Mint competitors, such as LearnVest, don’t offer that functionality. If understanding your credit score is an important part of creating a budget, Mint is one of the best budget apps to consider.
Additional Considerations
The Mint finance app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Google Android. No matter what device you are using, the Mint budget app is available to keep track of your spending while you’re on the go.
As previously discussed, some Mint competitors only make their apps available for the iPhone.
The fact that Mint will download to Android should be taken into consideration when deciding between LearnVest vs. Mint.
Additionally, the Mint finance software is one of the best budgeting software to consider, with a clear and keen focus on budgeting tools.
Still, if you are looking for a money management app that will also help you make investments along with budgeting, Mint may not be the best budgeting software for you.
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LearnVest vs. Mint: Comparison Review
We’ve spent a lot of time showing how you are getting a good program when choosing between LearnVest vs. Mint.
In fact, these best budget apps even look similar when you first visit their websites, though there are some key differences to review when comparing LearnVest vs. Mint.
Image Source: LearnVest vs. Mint – Best Budgeting Software Apps
LearnVest vs. Mint: Mobile Apps
Both welcome pages show a person holding a mobile phone, implying that each money management app is useful for managing your money while on the go.
While this may be true for iPhones, if you are an Android user who wants mobile notices about overages and late fees, Mint competitors won’t be an option.
These best budget apps may look slightly different, but the dashboards both do the same thing: they connect your accounts and sort your spending into categories like food, bills, et cetera.
LearnVest vs. Mint: Tracking Spending
The LearnVest money management app will allow you to track cash expenditure by inputting your spending manually, while the Mint budget app will not.
Some people choose LearnVest or Mint based on the ability to track their cash.
If you aren’t willing to link your financial accounts to the website, there isn’t much you can do with Mint. The LearnVest money management app is a little more lenient.
If it is important to track your cash spending along with debit and credit card expenditures, the LearnVest vs. Mint question might skew toward LearnVest.
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LearnVest vs. Mint: Security
Another thing to consider while debating these best budget apps is security. Linking accounts can be a little alarming for some, since Mint requests user names and passwords to your financial institutions as soon as you sign up.
There has been some controversy about this. People who are concerned with security state that if outside hackers tried to access Mint’s databases, they’d be able to do a great deal of damage to their user base.
Security-minded folks may, for that reason, be happier with choosing another one of the best budget apps.
Mint makes it very clear that they use the same encryption methods as financial institutions to protect your information.
They’ve done what they can to protect your online safety, but for people who feel the only acceptable risk is no risk, this might not be an acceptable alternative.
If you decide to use LearnVest, you’ll be able to avoid linking your accounts, but much of the functionality will be limited.
This will be true for any of the best budgeting software options–linking your account is simply the best way to get the most out of a money management app.
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LearnVest vs. Mint: Pricing
The primary focus of the debate between these best budget apps should come from the paid portions of the websites. LearnVest’s paid portion focuses primarily on investing and educational services.
Mint focuses on deeper budgeting activities, such as saving tips that LearnVest provides for free.
If you are interested in learning about investments, you may decide that LearnVest is the best budgeting software.
Learnvest is much more interactive and supportive. Mint is an automated system and doesn’t give the option of human experience and advice.
Mint might be a great system for people who need less hand-holding, but for some, it might prove to be too self-guided.
Your need for support while using the best budgeting software can help you decide whether you’d be best served by LearnVest vs. Mint.
Conclusion: Which Is the Best Budgeting Software?
Are you the type of person who needs more manual control and who is worried about centralizing your financial information?
Are you interested in learning more about the investment world? Would you like someone to walk you through this complicated stage of your life and offer valuable, professional advice?
Then LearnVest or some of the other Mint competitors might be the best option for you.
On the other hand, if you prefer using a money management app that focuses on providing valuable budgeting tools to create a manageable budget, then Mint is the best budgeting software to consider.
Ultimately, choosing the best budget apps–like choosing between LearnVest vs. Mint–comes down to understanding your current financial situation and future goals.
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