Actual Budget
Mint
| Feature | Actual Budget | Mint |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $0/mo | Free / from $4.99/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | budget-conscious-individuals, self-hosters, ynab-migrants, privacy-focused-budgeters | budget-beginners, individuals, college-students, families |
| Founded | 2019 | 2006 |
| Envelope Budgeting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Bank Sync | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reports | ✓ | ✗ |
| Goal Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Rules | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scheduled Transactions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hostable | ✓ | ✗ |
| Budget Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Bill Reminders | ✗ | ✓ |
| Credit Score | ✗ | ✓ |
| Spending Insights | ✗ | ✓ |
| Goal Setting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Account Aggregation | ✗ | ✓ |
| Alerts | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Actual Budget Pros
- Open-source with no subscription fees
- Local-first with optional sync
- Beautiful and fast interface
- Bank sync via SimpleFIN/GoCardless
✗ Actual Budget Cons
- Self-hosting required for sync features
- Smaller community than YNAB
- Mobile experience less polished than native apps
✓ Mint Pros
- Free comprehensive budgeting and tracking
- Automatic categorization of transactions
- Credit score monitoring included
- Bill tracking and payment reminders
- Syncs with thousands of financial institutions
✗ Mint Cons
- Ad-supported free tier with product recommendations
- Occasional sync issues with some banks
- Limited investment tracking features
The Verdict
Actual Budget is built for budget conscious individuals and self hosters, with a focus on envelope-budgeting and bank-sync. Mint targets budget beginners and individuals and leads with budget-tracking and bill-reminders.
Pricing is close: Actual Budget starts at $0/mo versus $4.99/mo for Mint — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Bottom line: Actual Budget has a slight overall edge — but if free comprehensive budgeting and tracking matters most to you, Mint may still be the right call.