MoneyWell App Reviews

Ive been using various versions of Moneywell for…ohh…maybe 2 years now. It has definitely been a rocky ride but I wasnt finding many other choices since the other old standby programs (like MS Money) either werent cutting it on Mac or just werent supported anymore, so I stuck with these guys since I liked the concept of "Buckets" to budget. I actually used to keep literal jars of cash that I would refill each week. Anyway somewhere around version 2.0 the program started to come into its own and in my experience the user interface has become increasingly more stable and intuitive. It seems like the authors are being responsive to the users. I also really like the iPhone (4S) app and i use it EVERY day to track my spending. It syncs just fine to my mac at home via Dropbox. Moneywell has become one of the most important apps I use and I thank the creators of this program because it filled a gap in the financial software market. Keep up the good work! It DOES take some time to get used to (like any financial software program will) but they have some pretty good video tutorials on their website.

Moneywells strength are the envelope budgeting method, the companion iPhone app, which has so far sync’d flawlessly, and the direct download capability. Also, account balances are listed in the left-hand pane next to each account. This is a nice touch. The major problem with Moneywell is the somewhat difficult to navigate and tedious user interface. A big problem is that transactions downloaded via direct download are not matched automatically with existing transactions. There is a window which identifies duplicate transactions, but its operation is counterintuitive. A bigger problem for me is that I like to see both past transactions and scheduled transactions in a single window, so that I get a sense of upcoming cash flow issues. I don’t think that Moneywell provides for a single-window approach. My 3 primary requirements for personal finance software are direct download, an easy to use and intuitive interface, and sync’d mobile app. Moneywell does well in the first and third, but fails in the second. For that reason, I will probably not continue using Moneywell.

I have been using Accounts on my iPhone for years but now that I have a Macbook Pro I wanted something that I could use on both my iPhone and Macbook. MoneyWell does just that I can enter information on my iPhone or my Mac and the information is Synced via my Dropbox Account. I would have preferred using iCloud but that is not an option. I downloaded the trial on my Macbook first and it worked perfect right off the bat but the next morning I could no longer open my bank file on my Macbook and MoneyWell would crash. After several emails with Kevin the issue was resolved and I did not even own the program yet. The support I got from Kevin sold me on the program and I purchased it the next day. There are some things I can not figure out how to add in like securities or stocks that I hold in my eTrade account but that is no big deal anyway. Several reviews said there was trouble syncing and the program was slow to open the bank file but I have not noticed that. The crash issue I has was resolved by holding down the shift key while opening my bank file. So far I would highly recommend MoneyWell to anyone. There is an iPhone and iPad app too and with the sync option this is a big plus because you can update any device and they are all the same.

I have owned this app for 5+ years after getting it in a bundle I purchased. I used it on our Mac waiting around for the iPhone app to be created. That finally came out and it worked great until they switched to dropbox syncing. The dropbox syncing constantly messes up the desktop version. In the last 6 months we have had to add our information back into it after dropbox synced and literally lost our file. We have reluctantly gone back to it each time thinking it couldn’t possibly happen again and it has twice more. We are finally giving up on this app after being faithful users, and for that matter customers. I purchased the app as a stand alone, purchased it again when the app store version was made available, purchased the iPhone app, and most recently my wife purchased the ipad app also. I realize I’m the sucker for sticking with it for this long but I encourage you to avoid the headache that comes along with trying to use this app with the desktop version. Very frustrating and not worth the money or the time.

I’ve used this app for many years - the developer releases updates and the iphone app is a great way to quickly put transactions in when I’m away. I’ve only asked a question or two on the support site - and the support request was handled quickly and I got to resolution.

Short and sweet: -Great for envelope budgeting -Has a useful supporting mobile app More complete picture: After reading Dave Ramsey’s “Financial Peace: Revisited,” I began experimenting with envelope budgeting. I did all my calculations on paper worksheets first, then transferred all this information to my PC-based software. Since I work from a Mac, I would have to load Boot Camp to update my finances, which made my computer really slow. Needless to say, it took a LOT of time and there were often calculation errors. Also, my original software’s budgeting tool just didn’t match what I was trying to do: fill (digital) envelopes, and pull money for transactions from those buckets. I wanted more from my money management software, but I just couldn’t find it… …that is until a Google search (“best money management software for Mac”) took me to a review of MoneyWell. I downloaded the trial version, and even though it was limited to 200 transactions, it was enough to convince me that it was THE envelope budget app I was looking for! As with anything, it does take a little while to learn how to navigate all the tools, but there are many helpful video tutorials on the Moneywell website. It also works extremely well with the mobile app so I can record transactions at point-of-sale, and not have to try to remember the details of a purchase from several weeks back. All information syncs through Dropbox. Goodbye Windows-based software. Helloooooooo Mac-based MoneyWell!! =)

I am a medical student. I graduate next May with a medical degree. I made a 30 on my ACT. Graduated with honors from university….I say all that to say this. I cannot figure out this program. It is very difficult for me to even understand how to set up my buckets etc. When I look at the video tutorials, they don’t always match up with what I see on my screen. I’m going back to iBank, because it’s user interface is easier for me. I don’t know, maybe I’m just missing something here, but I just could not ever figure out how to even set up my expenses after spending hours reading and watching tutorials.

Ive had this App on my desktop computer for a little over 2 years and it works well for the purposes I need it, but it CRASHES constantly. Its been happening more frequently in the last 6 months- mostly after an update. I have to save between each check/receipt I put in because it crashes so much. Ive written to the company mulitple times to see if it was something I was doing. They did write me back and said it was on their end, just update and it would get better. It got better until the next update- 3 months later. Ugh! Writing to them again. For the amount of money I paid for this App, Im completely disappointed.

I have used Moneywell for over a year now and it is far more useful as a budgeting tool than any other financial software. If you want to be on a budget this is the tool you need. An aspect of the app that could use much improvement is reports. This app does provide reports but I have not found them to be useful. What this app does do is give you a way to decide in advance how you are going to spend your money and then very easily track that spending and see at a glance whether you do or do not have money available to spend in each of your expense categories.

Because this product has such a high learning curve you need a lot of support. As of today it appears that there is just one person responding to emails. He is not thorough and requires a lot of back and forth just to get him to understand what the issue is. Then solutions are not always forthcoming.

I have reported a few bugs I found in the software over its lifetime, and the releases were always far apart, and didn’t always fix the bugs. The last bug I reported was almost a year ago, and I was told at the time that they already knew about it and that the fix is coming in a future release. The bug includes transactions in graphing that shouldn’t be included and this results in incorrect reporting. I wrote this for the previous version, but it seems this still holds. Unfortunately it seems thigsn have not changed. I would advise against buying this software.

I used moneywell for 5 years and had a great ride. Over the last year, however, support for the program has slowed to a halt. Updates are few and far between, and many issues remain unresolved. In addition, features that are common in other budgeting software applications do not exist in moneywell. It has become abandonware. I will add a new, positive review if this changes, but as of right now, don’t waste your time and don’t buy the software.

Updated: 10/9/15 Overall: When you know the envelope or bucket method of budget planning, MoneyWell is perhaps the best app to use. Unfortunately, it has a cumbersome, increasingly outdated UI, and development on it has been nearly dead for at least two years. Good: Well-designed to handle the bucket (envelope) method for budget planning. Bad: Many input methods are clumsy and outdated. Ugly: Nearly non-existent developer support and a recent cancellation of the User Forums will leave you anxious. You have mostly two methods to handle personal finances. You can track incomes, expenses, and account balances using an accounting method. Alternatively, you can plan budgets using a bucket (or envelope) method. When you are unfamiliar with the latter approach and/or you are certain that you want to track your bank, investment, and retirement balances very closely, you need to look elsewhere. MoneyWell nicely implements the bucket paradigm for budget planning. It is Mac-centric, not Java-based. The content presentation is intuitive for a layman, not designed to invoke an accountant ledger. Be prepared for frustration with ineffective UI designs and inputs. For example, to generate a future spending plan based on a previous cash flow, you must click each bucket you have one at a time. The design worked nicely some 5 years ago, and it is frozen since then. Ownership changed hands over a year ago, and the new developer/owner has been essentially an absentee landlord, making only essential changes. You might say he is keeping an old horse running on the new MacOS, and that is about it. The User Forums have also been cancelled recently. I give MoneyWell 5 stars for principle, and then I deduct 4 stars for increasingly outdated design and lack of reliable developer support. This app should be stamped Buyer Beware in bold bright letters!

I’ve been using MoneyWell for several years now, and while I’ve dabbled in envelope budgeting (apparently where this application really soars), mostly I use it to track transactions on an accounting basis. When I began using the program, well before the 2.0 release brought on a bunch of headaches, it was one of the best apps out there for tracking expenses. Simple, easy-to-use, and well supported by its developer. At the time, Quicken for Mac hadn’t been updated in years! MoneyWell filled that void. Now there are other options out there, and given my experience so far with version 2.3.8, I may have to look for one sooner rather than later. Updating to version 2.3.8 breaks the DirectConnect banking function — you can’t automatically download data anymore, instead it just gives an error saying it couldn’t access the URL for the bank. I emailed support about it days ago and they never got back to me. Obviously it’s a known issue because they’ve now released a version 2.3.9 on their website, but it’s been 10 days and the update isn’t yet available on the App store yet. That delay may very well be an Apple issue, but here’s an idea: don’t release software with glaring bugs.

I have been using MoneyWell for years. I used to love it and recommend it to others frequently. Now, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It’s unfortunate that there aren’t many other options out there because I hate supporting software development as is being done for MoneyWell. I agree with many other reviews I see on the Mac App Store recently. The design was great initially, but it has not changed over years of inactivity, leaving the UI out-of-date and the feature list stagnant and falling behind my needs and expectations. The customer support is the worst I have ever seen…Almost two years ago, I raised 3 bugs related to currency conversion features that do not work correctly. These bugs were acknowledged by the developer by email, committed to be addressed, and still are around today. And the gall of it all...the home page for MoneyWell states that it is best in class for currency support! And how can service be so terrible for an app this expensive?! And now the developer is about to release a version 3 which seems to only update the UI for the most part but requires repurchasing?? So the existing users must either pay to upgrade or get no bugs fixed? Poorly done if you ask me.

Moneywell is by far the best budgeting financial software out there. Ownership having just changed hands, the software has received some updates and looks like it is back on the right track. Thankfully, since there is no replacement that comes close. added 12-7-15 - New owner has resumed putting out updates and has created an initial Moneywell 3 with updated UI. Additionally, he has announced a timeline to bring all software up to present standards in the coming month.

This app does not appear to be stable. I cannot, for the life of me, get my running balance to ever be right. Every time I change a transaction entered, Moneywell resets my balance so I never really know how much money I have in my account. When I went to the MoneyWell webiste, sure enough, the forums are gone. All that remains are the original tutorials. Also, there’s not even a search feature on their website! How am I supposed to find the information I need without digging through endless tutorial videos? At least their website still links to a glowing 2010 review of Moneywell 1. Neat. What’s worse is I received two emails last November from Mr. LaCoste touting MoneyWell 3 which is supposedly in the works and nothing in the six months since then. In one of the e-mails, he actually has the huevos to ask us to pay to upgrade to version 3, even though he admits it’s “not a huge update”. Seriously? If you’re just going to address "stability over features", then make it a 2.4 release for crying out loud and give me something that makes it worth paying to upgrade! Oh, and by the way, you’ve totally missed the December 2015 launch date. On the positive side, my sync sometimes works when I try it. Also, the concept of envelope budgeting is useful, but that hasn’t changed since 2010.

I’ve rewritten this review numerous times. I’m rewriting it again because I just exchanged some emails with the developer about my concerns regarding Moneywell. First let me say: I love Moneywell. Its methodology for creating and maintaining a budget is exceptional. I also think it’s simple and intuitive to use once you understand how it works. I really haven’t found any other financial application for Mac that does what Moneywell does. Now to my criticism: The development of Moneywell has been very slow. I’ve seen an early version of Moneywell 3 and it doesn’t seem to have any major new features other than Retina Display support. I was hoping for a lot more. The developer also doesn’t seem to spend much time on customer service. I had to write a scathing review on here to catch his attention. There also used to Moneywell forums on the NoThirst website but those are gone. The developer did assure me that he plans to add other features to Moneywell after the version 3 release. I’ve decided to be more patient with him, because I do love Moneywell, but I’m also still somewhat skeptical. Final thoughts: If you are interested in Moneywell, I suggest going to the No Thirst website and downloading the demo. If you like it as much as I do, I still suggest you buy it. On the No Thirst website, there is also a 50% off sale on Moneywell 3 before the final version 3 is released. That’s probably a better way to buy it.