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Moneyspire review 2023: free budgeting software
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Updated: August 01, 2023
We adhere to strict standards of editorial integrity to help you make decisions with confidence. Please be aware that some (or all) products and services linked in this article are from our sponsors.
We adhere to strict standards of editorial integrity to help you make decisions with confidence. Please be aware that some (or all) products and services linked in this article are from our sponsors.
Personal finance software has been around for decades. Advanced security and technology make it safe and easy to link your credit cards and debit cards, as well as your savings and checking accounts, so you can create and manage detailed budgets from your desktop and on the go.
What is Moneyspire?
Moneyspire is a personal finance management software service with many features similar to Moneydance and Banktivity. The company name is a portmanteau of the words “money” and “inspire,” encapsulating their quest to “inspire people to manage their money in more effective and meaningful ways.”
With Moneyspire, you can either import your accounts through Direct Connect or manually enter each one. Once you’ve done that, you can:
- Streamline the task of money management
- Establish a budget (or multiple budgets)
- Track your spending and produce reports detailing how you spend your money
- Review your net worth and see how you’re trending
- Automatically import transactions from online banking services
- Reconcile your checkbook, track credit cards, receive bill reminders, set up automatic bill pay and more
Moneyspire provides an overview of your financial situation on one easy-to-read screen. It includes a free companion mobile app (available in iOS) that allows you to record transactions and check account balances when you’re out shopping.
Moneyspire features
- Multiple data import/export choices: Transactions can be entered manually, downloaded automatically, and/or imported from a QFX/OFX, QIF, or CSV file. And your financial data can be exported to a QIF file or a spreadsheet and printed out to share with your accountant.
- Apple iOS app support: You have two ways to share your data with your mobile device. You can use a cloud server (Dropbox, which gives you 2 GB of storage free, is recommended by Moneyspire), or if you don’t want to put your data on the cloud, you can share it manually through your iTunes account.
- Security: Your data is encrypted and stays on your computer. Moneyspire does not collect or store your financial information. Your data is accessible only to you.
- Multiple currency support: All world currencies are supported on Moneyspire.
- Free customer service: Users can access support via email and telephone.
- Account integration: Service is through Direct Connect, which connects directly to financial institutions rather than a third party.
Plans and pricing
Moneyspire offers a free version of their software for personal use (available for Macintosh, Windows and Linux) that allows you to manage one account and set up to 9 reminders.
There is also a paid version with unlimited accounts available for a one-time fee of $54. For personal use, you need to purchase only one copy; the software can be used on all computers in your household. For business use, you much purchase one copy per computer.
After you purchase Moneyspire, it can be used indefinitely, and software updates are free. Technical and customer support is provided for the lifetime of the product. Moneyspire is refundable in the first 60 days.
Moneyspire uses AES 128-bit military-grade protection to encrypt your password. Online banking features are done through encrypted SSL connections. Moneyspire’s website also uses SSL encryption when purchasing products.
Moneyspire never receives or has access to any of your financial information. It resides only on your hard drive or wherever you decide to save it. However, if you want to use the Mobile app, you must store your financial data on the cloud.
How it works
- 1.
- 2.
Link your accounts, create budgets, set up bill pay and bill pay reminders (if you wish).
- 3.
Download “Moneyspire Go” on your iOS mobile device and then share your files via either the Cloud or YouTube to access your real-time personal financial data whenever and wherever you are.
Help manuals are easily accessible on their website and there is a very helpful YouTube video tutorial detailing how to sync your mobile device with your Moneyspire account on your desktop.
Moneyspire pros and cons
Pros
- One screen view
- Good customer service
- Linux support
Cons
- Cumbersome setup
- No Android support
- Possible bank fees
- Free app is limited
Best for:
- Investors
- Smartphone users
- Desktop users
- Budgeters
- Mac users
- Bill paying
Summary
While it’s not intended to be a full-fledged accounting package like Quicken, Moneyspire seems to be a decent tool for budgeting, with some nice features not found in other personal finance software apps. For example, you can print checks and optional check vouchers to make manual bill paying easy. You can also easily split transactions into multiple categories for super-accurate budgeting.
I found the software setup to be somewhat cumbersome and a little frustrating. There are multiple steps, a few of which I took the option of skipping during initial setup, thinking I could easily go back and do them later, but that turned out not to be so easy after all.
While the video tutorial is well done and the help manuals detail everything in an organized way, navigating the software could be more intuitive and user-friendly.
The mobile setup was very involved, particularly if you didn’t already have a Dropbox account or cloud storage set up. You must do that before you can share data with your mobile device.
Finally, while there is a free version of the app, you can run into monthly fees from your financial institution when linking your account(s) to Moneyspire.
