How to track your money in one place

A new bank account answers where the money sits. It does not, by itself, show the rest of your picture: the card at another bank, the loan, the investment account, the subscriptions that quietly renew. Monarch Money is the tool we recommend for that. You connect the accounts you already have. Monarch puts the transactions, the budget, and the net worth in one place.

What you are looking at

Start with the accounts, not the budget. Monarch's setup is built around linking institutions so the balances and transactions arrive on their own. From there the app is split into a few jobs:

• Accounts show where the money is.
• Transactions are the day-to-day list. Categories and tags sort them.
• Budgets and recurring charges show what you planned to spend and which bills repeat.
• Goals track a specific save, such as a trip or a cushion.
• Reports show cash flow and net worth over time.

Monarch says it can connect to more than 13,000 institutions and that a partner can join the same household view at no extra cost. Linking an account lets Monarch read it. It does not move the money, and it does not change the bank that holds it.

What it costs

Monarch's pricing page lists two ways to pay for the main subscription: $14.99 a month, or $99.99 a year. Monarch says you can cancel, and it points people to signing up on the web rather than through an app store if they want the subscription to be easier to manage.

Plus is the higher tier. Monarch describes it as forecasting, a way to separate business or side income from personal spending, and a deeper look at investments. Monarch's announcement of Plus lists the price at $199 a year. If you are choosing a plan, the pricing page is the number that matters.

New members get a trial. Monarch's help center describes a 7-day trial so you can see the product before the subscription starts.

How to set it up

1. Open Monarch and create the login on the web.
2. Connect the checking account you actually use, then the savings account, then the cards.
3. Add loans and investment accounts if you want net worth, not just spending.
4. Review the first batch of transactions and fix categories that landed in the wrong place.
5. Set a budget only after a couple of weeks of real transactions. A budget built on guesses gets ignored.
6. Invite the other person in the household if you share bills.

If a connection breaks, the fix is inside Monarch, usually a fresh login at that bank. The guide on opening an account online covers the account itself. Checking versus savings covers which balance belongs in which account. Monarch is how you see both after they exist.

Try Monarch Money

The account and the tracker are different jobs

Monarch will not open the account, insure the deposit, or pay a bill for you. Pick the account on its own terms. Our editor's choice for a new personal account is SoFi Checking and Savings, from SoFi Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. The lists on the personal accounts page are the other accounts we are reviewing.

If the money is for a business, keep that account off the household budget or use Monarch's business tracking on Plus. Mixing a business card into a personal budget makes both numbers wrong.