Finance App Subscription Audit 2026: Stop Paying to Manage Your Money

Updated February 2026 • 10 min read

📊 The average person with good financial habits pays $50-300/month across budgeting apps, robo-advisors, credit monitoring, tax software, and investing platforms. The paradox: spending money on apps to save money.

Budgeting Apps: $0-15/month

Monarch Money: $10-15/month → Bank app spending insights (free)
Copilot Money: $7-11/month → Apple Wallet insights or Empower dashboard (free)
YNAB: $15/month ($100/year) → Google Sheets budget template (free)
Simplifi by Quicken: $6/month → Your bank's built-in budgeting (free)

Verdict: Unless you have complex multi-bank finances, your bank's app + a spreadsheet covers 95% of budgeting needs for $0.

Robo-Advisors: 0.25-0.89% of Your Portfolio

Wealthfront: 0.25% → 3-fund portfolio at Fidelity ($0)
Betterment: 0.25% → Schwab Intelligent Portfolios ($0 management fee)
Empower Advisory: 0.49-0.89% → Vanguard Personal Advisor Lite (0.15%)
Acorns: $3-12/month → Automatic investing at Fidelity ($0)

Verdict: On a $100K+ portfolio, even 0.25% adds up to $250+/year. A simple 3-fund portfolio (US stocks + international + bonds) at Fidelity or Vanguard costs $0 in advisory fees.

Credit Monitoring: $0-30/month

Experian Premium: $25/month → Credit Karma + AnnualCreditReport.com (free)
IdentityForce: $18-24/month → Credit freeze (free by law since 2018)
LifeLock: $12-35/month → Bank fraud alerts + credit freeze (free)

Verdict: A credit freeze prevents identity theft. Monitoring only alerts you AFTER the damage. Freeze is free and more effective. See our Experian guide.

Tax Software: $0-100+/year

TurboTax: $60-130/filing → IRS Free File (free for income under $84K)
H&R Block: $35-110/filing → FreeTaxUSA ($0 federal, $15 state)
Tax prep services: $200-500/filing → VITA (free in-person help from IRS-certified volunteers)

Verdict: Unless you have complex business income, rental properties, or foreign accounts, FreeTaxUSA or IRS Free File handles it at $0-15.

The Optimized Finance Stack

💰 $0/month (vs $100-300+ typical)

Budgeting: Bank app + Google Sheets ($0)
Investing: 3-fund portfolio at Fidelity/Vanguard ($0 advisory)
Credit: Credit Karma (free) + credit freeze ($0)
Net worth: Empower dashboard (free)
Taxes: FreeTaxUSA ($0-15)
Subscription tracking: JustCancel (one-time, $5)

Annual savings: $600-3,600+

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