Managing finances is essential for a stable future, and personal finance apps make it easier than ever. These tools help users track spending, save money, and even invest with ease. This guide explores some of the best apps that integrate budgeting, banking, and investing, giving you control over your financial health—all in one place.

Finding the Right Personal Finance App for Your Needs

With so many personal finance apps on the market, choosing the right one can seem overwhelming. Whether you’re looking for something to help you budget, track your spending, or manage investments, the right app can bring all these features into one user-friendly platform. Some apps focus on particular aspects, like budgeting, while others offer a broader range of services. Understanding your financial needs and goals will help you select the app that fits best.

Consider factors like compatibility with your bank, the user interface, and specific features like bill tracking or saving goals. For those new to managing their finances, starting with a budgeting-focused app may be the easiest way to understand spending habits before diving into investing.

Top Personal Finance Apps That Do It All

Several personal finance apps stand out for integrating multiple features in one platform. Here’s a look at some of the best ones available today:

PocketGuard

PocketGuard is a straightforward app designed for easy budgeting and expense tracking, making it a great choice for beginners. The app links to your bank accounts, credit cards, and loans, giving you a real-time view of your spending. One of its standout features is the “In My Pocket” calculation, which shows exactly how much you can safely spend after covering bills, goals, and essentials.

PocketGuard also offers goal-setting tools for users looking to save. Its simple, visual interface helps users track spending categories and set spending limits to stay within budget. While it doesn’t directly provide investment tools, PocketGuard is excellent for those focused on budgeting and saving. With its intuitive approach, PocketGuard makes it easy to see where your money is going and find opportunities to save.

Empower

Empower combines budgeting and investing tools into a single app. It’s an excellent choice for users looking to grow their wealth while keeping track of day-to-day expenses. The app allows users to link accounts, track spending, and categorize expenses, much like Mint.

What sets the app, which used to be called Personal Capital, apart is its investment management features. Users can view their investment portfolios, check asset allocation, and use tools to calculate retirement readiness. While some advanced features require a paid financial advisor plan, the no-fee version still provides valuable insights, especially for those who want to manage investments alongside everyday spending.

YNAB (You Need A Budget)

YNAB (You Need A Budget) takes a unique approach to budgeting, focusing on giving every dollar a purpose. Unlike other apps, YNAB requires users to actively budget their money, helping build better spending habits. This method works well for people who want to take full control of their finances.

Although YNAB doesn’t directly offer investing tools, it’s a powerful app for saving. By allocating funds in advance, users can set specific savings goals and track their progress. The app also includes educational content, making it ideal for those new to budgeting. It has a subscription cost, but many users find the benefits worth it due to its hands-on approach.

Acorns

Acorns is an ideal app for beginners in the world of investing. It combines spending, saving, and investing features, making it easy to start building wealth. Acorns’ standout feature is its “round-ups,” which rounds up purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the spare change into a diversified portfolio.

Beyond investing, Acorns also offers a checking account and retirement account options, making it an all-in-one finance tool. Although Acorns doesn’t have advanced budgeting tools, its simplicity and automatic investing feature make it popular among new investors. For those looking to grow savings without actively managing investments, Acorns provides an excellent solution.

How to Make the Most of Personal Finance Apps

Once you’ve chosen a personal finance app, maximizing its benefits requires consistency and a proactive approach. Start by linking your accounts to get a clear picture of your spending. Set realistic savings goals and, if the app allows, automate contributions to help you stay on track.

Many apps send notifications or reminders, helping you stay aware of bills, spending limits, or investment performance. Regularly reviewing your progress also ensures you’re adjusting goals based on changing financial situations. Most importantly, developing habits like checking the app daily or setting monthly check-ins can keep you engaged with your finances and prevent overspending.

Staying Secure While Using Personal Finance Apps

Security is a major concern when linking your financial data to an app. Reputable personal finance apps use encryption and other security measures to protect user data. Look for apps that offer two-factor authentication (2FA) as an extra layer of security. Always keep your app updated and avoid sharing personal information over unsecured networks to minimize risks.

Another way to stay secure is to choose apps with a good reputation and many positive reviews. Apps like Mint, Personal Capital, YNAB, and Acorns have strong histories of keeping user data safe, but always stay aware of any updates or news about app security.

Take Control of Your Finances with the Right App

With the help of personal finance apps, managing money doesn’t have to be a chore. From tracking daily expenses to planning for long-term investments, these tools offer something for everyone.

Apps like PocketGuard, Empower, YNAB, and Acorns empower users to budget, save, and invest all in one place, making financial health more accessible than ever. Start small, stay consistent, and watch your financial confidence grow with the right app at your side.

If you’ve got a great idea for an app but lack the programming knowledge to build it yourself, you’re in luck. There are dozens of fantastic DIY app-building platforms that can help you bring your idea to life, many of which are designed for people with no coding experience whatsoever. The only problem is that there are so many different platforms to choose from, so how do you know which platform is right for you?

Why Choose a DIY App Builder?

Building a customized app can be an extremely expensive project if you go down the traditional route of hiring a professional mobile app developer. Plus, there is no guarantee you’ll find the right person for the job. There is always a risk that you’ll spend thousands of dollars on the project yet end up with an app that isn’t fit for purpose. Choosing to take the DIY route will undoubtedly save you money and mean you’re in total control of your app build, from start to finish.

Another huge advantage to DIY app building is the development time. Many platforms allow you to create a basic version of your product in as little as half an hour, whereas outsourcing to a professional developer can take weeks, months or even years.

The earliest DIY app building platforms were undeniably limited in what they could achieve, but that is no longer the case. Now, users can often choose from dozens of templates, sophisticated customization options and advanced features akin to those of professionally built mobile apps.

1. Mobile Roadie

Mobile Roadie was formed in 2009 and is one of the better-known app builders in this list. This platform is said to be so easy to use, that anyone can build their own iOS or Android app in around 15 to 20 minutes. Mobile Roadie also boasts a powerful and intuitive content management system, which enables fast, efficient updates to your app’s content.

2. Appery.io

Appery.io is a robust, cloud-based app-building platform known for its ease of use and great customer support. Users benefit from flexible customization options to accommodate those completely new to app building and those with existing coding skills. If you’d like to try your hand at low-level coding, this might be the app builder for you. Appery.io supports both iOS and Android.

3. Appy Pie

Appy Pie is another cloud-based app builder that is compatible with windows, iOS and Android. Unlike many similar tools, Appy Pie has a basic version with no monthly subscription (though you will need to deal with ads). The appointment scheduler makes Appy Pie a great option for salons, fitness professionals, spas, and other similar service providers.

4. GoodBarber

GoodBarber is one of the most versatile and design-focused app builders in our list. Each category of app comes with numerous content integration choices, including social networking, calendar ad audio-visual media. It also has a dedicated eCommerce feature. This builder is compatible with both iOS and Android.

5. App Machine

App Machine launched in 2013 and have so far aided in the creation of over 200,000 iOS and Android apps. They have an impressive range of navigable sample apps, designed to show users what is possible with the builder and to provide inspiration. It also comes with tutorials which demonstrate how to combine features to create different types of app, like travel or eCommerce apps.

6. GameSalad

GameSalad is a fantastic tool for any non-programmer looking to try their hand at game building. It can only be used to build very simple games and in that respect, is not the best option for professional game developers. Users do not need coding skills or any experience with 3D design.

7. BiznessApps

Android and iOS app builder BiznessApps has been used to create more than 500,000 apps since their inception. This platform is a great choice for businesses of all niches due to the wide range of industry-specific features it includes. BiznessApps is perfect for startups.

8. Shoutem

The fifth version Shoutem app builder is easy to use and suitable for a variety of different types of apps. This builder is great for people with no programming experience but does provide access to code for those who want it. Shoutem is a great all-rounder for most businesses, though it does have limited eCommerce options.

9. Appian

Appian is a business app development platform suitable for iOS, Android and web app development. Appian is widely considered to be harder to use than other mobile app builders, so it may not be appropriate for beginners. This platform comes with an impressive range of features suitable for any sized business in finance, healthcare, real estate and dozens of other niches.

10. Adalo

Adalo is suitable for complete beginners and is renowned for being easy to use. The platform is suitable for iOS, Android and web-based apps. They offer fewer customization options than other builders in this list, so the scope for creativity is limited. Adalo offers no access to code but in this respect, it is ideal for non-programmers.

Bringing Your App Idea to Life

With so many DIY app builders available, creating an app has never been more accessible, even if you have no coding experience. Each of the platforms mentioned offers unique strengths, from ease of use and quick setup to advanced customization options, making it easy to find one that fits your needs and vision. Whether you’re looking to build a simple scheduling tool, an eCommerce platform, or even a game, these app builders give you the control, affordability, and flexibility you need to bring your idea to life. Now, with a solid understanding of the best tools on the market, you’re ready to transform your app idea into a reality.

Application Programming Interfaces – more commonly known as APIs – are a method of connecting computers and/or computer programs together to provide a service to an end user. One of the most functional APIs is what’s known as ‘Audio to Text’, ‘Voice to Text’ or speech recognition APIs. Audio to Text APIs are characterized by their ability to improve their understanding of a user’s voice over time through the use of advanced AI algorithms and huge databases of 100+ languages. Let’s explore the best options!

How Do Voice to Text APIs Work?

It’s important to note that the users themselves don’t generally interact with the API directly. It’s a back-end function. Speech recognition applications are different from speech recognition APIs. Applications (Cortana, Alexa etc.) are what the end user sees and hears. APIs are the engine behind it.

Audio to text may seem like a straightforward process to the end user, but there’s quite a lot going on in the background to produce an instant, accurate version of what’s being said.

Let’s break it down step-by-step:

1. The user talks into a microphone, which sends the audio to the application.
2. The application breaks up audio into small snippets of data called ‘phonemes’ – distinctly different units of sound, unique to each language (the English language has 44 of them).
3. The software makes in informed decision of what the user is saying, based on how the phonemes are organized.
4. The API then consults a language database to make an informed decision on what the user was likely to have said.
5. The software transmits displays the written text within an application.

The Top 5 Voice to Text APIs

Speech recognition software is highly popular and universally easy to use. Given that the technology is at the forefront of modern neural networking and AI research, products and methodologies are in a constant state of development.

Now that you understand how the software works, let’s look at the best Voice-to-Text APIs available (in no particular order). Read on to help you decide on what API is best for your organization or application.

1. IBM Watson STT API

IBM Watson STT is a well-supported, highly customizable API that draws on IBM’s experience as a leading provider of enterprise IT services. Its selling point is the number of resources that are made available to you once you start using it, from software development kits to best practice documentation.

When it comes to pricing, IBM Watson STT offers up to 100 minutes per month without charge. After that, the fees begin.

Number of languages supported: 7

2. Rev.AI

An increasingly popular speech-to-text platform that’s modelled on 50,000+ hours of transcribed speech and driven by DevOps/Agile KPIs such as ‘time to market’ and scalable CI/CD.

When it comes to pricing, Rev.AI charges per minute in a pay-as-you-go tier and an enterprise tier.

Number of languages supported: 31

3. Google Speech API

Google’s very own speech API remains one of the most popular audio to text platforms in the world, and benefits from some of the best minds in the field of AI research to develop its voice recognition features. Find Google Speech’s pricing tiers here.

Number of languages supported: 120

4. Azure AI Services

Building on their status as a leading global provider of B2B/B2C tech services, Azure AI Services (formerly known as Microsoft Cognitive Services) offers enterprise-level speech recognition within its Azure framework. While there is a lack of specialized functionality, Microsoft have pledged to continue developing their machine learning division to broaden its operational scope in the coming years. Explore its pricing plans here.

Number of languages supported: 103

5. Speechmatics API

Speechmatics is a cloud-based API that relies on intuitive front-end functionality and ultra-fast transcription speeds for high volume workloads. It is an enterprise-level application, so you’ll need to contact them directly for demonstrations and pricing. Explore their volume-based pricing here.

Number of languages supported: 31