Monarch Money vs YNAB, from outside both.
Spendthrift is not a party to this one, so here it is straight: two established budgeting tools, a similar price, and a genuinely different focus. Which wins depends on whether you want a method taught, or a picture of everything you own.
| Monarch Money | YNAB | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Full net worth, investments, budget | The budgeting method itself |
| Price | $99.99/yr core (about $8.33/mo), $199/yr Plus | $14.99/mo, or $109/yr (about $9.08/mo) |
| Free trial | 7 days | 34 days |
| Shared access | Included, unlimited household | Up to 6 people, one subscription |
| Investment tracking | Yes | No |
| Taught method | Flexible categories | Four rules, explicitly taught |
Where each wins.
Monarch Money's case is breadth: net worth, investment accounts and the day to day budget in one dashboard, useful for someone who wants a single picture of everything they own, not only what they spend. YNAB's case is depth on one specific thing: its four rules are an explicitly taught method, not only software, and its community and educational material around that method are extensive.
On price, they land close, Monarch Money's yearly core plan works out slightly cheaper per month than YNAB's monthly price, cheaper still against YNAB's annual plan. Both include shared access for a household on one subscription, so neither charges extra to budget together.
What neither does.
Neither tracks money owed between people outside the household budget, a shared dinner, a flatmate's half of a bill. That is a genuinely separate product category, which is where Spendthrift's own comparisons on this site focus, not this one.
Where Spendthrift sits, if you are also comparing.
A different question
Neither of the above answers what happens when a bill is shared with someone outside your own budget. Spendthrift's whole reason for existing is that one sum: a shared bill's paid share becomes real spending, and the rest becomes money owed back, automatically.
What one ledger holding both halves looks like.
Drawn as our own chart
Budgeting and splitting in the same ledger, so a shared bill and a monthly plan are never two separate tools.
One ledger, holding both halves.
The budgeting half and the splitting half in one ledger on one device. One dinner enters once and both halves of it are already correct.
One entry, both halves.
One dinner, captured once, updates the eating out envelope and records what three people owe you. Two apps need this entered twice and kept in step by a person.
A trip does not need its own anything.
No second group of the same four people, no trip app to install and abandon, and no second budget. Your envelopes carry on underneath.
See Monarch Money alternatives or YNAB alternatives for how each compares to Spendthrift specifically, or the full budgeting apps for couples roundup.