While Quicken for Mac 2018 has dramatically better investment features, it still pales in comparison to Quicken for Windows' features. The main features that lag are in terms of reporting, which is the one feature many users want when looking at their investments. While there is a Quicken companion app that lets you check your accounts from your phone, the software itself is designed to be installed on your Windows PC or Mac.
Today announced the launch of Quicken 2019, the newest version of its popular finance and budgeting software for PC and Mac. Quicken 2019 introduces web access for the first time, designed to allow Quicken customers to manage their finances online using Chrome, Safari, and other web browsers. Users are able to check their balances, monitor transactions, view budgets, check spending trends, view past expenses, and access info on their accounts and investment holdings at any time. A customizable web dashboard created for the web access experience lets customers customize their personal view to see full details on all features Quicken has to offer or a streamlined view with just essential information.
'Millions of people use Quicken to help them manage their financial lives. Because Quicken is important to them, our community of users is incredibly engaged. We prioritize updates primarily based on feedback from these users, and adding web access was the number one requested enhancement,' said Eric Dunn, Chief Executive Officer of Quicken. 'As an agile, independent company, we've been able to deliver this highly-anticipated feature, among other exciting new customer-inspired updates, on schedule and with great quality. This increased pace of releases and improvements is something our customers can count on and look forward to in the future.' Quicken 2019 also features several enhancements on the desktop, which are designed to offer up an overall faster experience. Quicken for Mac, for example, is up to twice as fast.
The software opens up quicker, charts and graphs load twice as fast, and backing up is four times faster than it was in previous versions of Quicken. Quicken in 2018 launched a new monthly membership feature so customers who pay for a subscription will get access to Quicken 2019 at no additional cost. There for purchase at different price points. Quicken Starter with budgeting is available for $34.99 for a one-year membership, while Quicken Deluxe is available for $49.99 per year. Quicken Premiere, with portfolio monitoring functionality and tax advice, is priced at $74.99 per year, while Quicken Home & Business is priced at $99.99.
I'll take the other side of the argument. I actually think Quicken has improved significantly since Intuit sold it to HIG Capital in 2016. I have the 2017 Quicken Mac version and it's great. One time purchase and no subscription. All the useless sales and promotional and extra services fluff has been stripped out and now it's a no-nonsense piece of software. I can download all my transactions from various financial institutions without issue and without additional cost.
I tried Banktivity and it was okay, but to get most of the automatic downloads from my banks, I had to subscribe to their Direct Access subscription service at $45 per year. I will never ever ever EVER buy another Quicken product. I had been using 2015 (and Essentials and previous versions) for the Mac, and was perfectly happy with it as my home ledger version of my accounts. As soon as Intuit sold off Quicken Mac and they went subscription only, they not only lost me because of the subscription, but because they actually intentionally 'broke' basic functionality of my Quicken 2015 software. I am no longer able to import account files I download (not even directly link) from creditors. They also force nag screens to upgrade at every launch that use 'dark' UI patterns in order to dismiss, and you are not able to dismiss permanently.
I keep thinking what they did to owners of existing/past software must be illegal in some way. This article reminds me, I need to report them to the BBB (for all the good that'll do). I've been researching Quicken alternatives for Mac recently and been curious about Banktivity and a few others that don't require you to store everything in the cloud or lock your data into a subscription. Any recommendations/endorsements? I will never ever ever EVER buy another Quicken product.
I had been using 2015 (and Essentials and previous versions) for the Mac, and was perfectly happy with it as my home ledger version of my accounts. As soon as Intuit sold off Quicken Mac and they went subscription only, they not only lost me because of the subscription, but because they actually intentionally 'broke' basic functionality of my Quicken 2015 software. I am no longer able to import account files I download (not even directly link) from creditors. They also force nag screens to upgrade at every launch that use 'dark' UI patterns in order to dismiss, and you are not able to dismiss permanently. I keep thinking what they did to owners of existing/past software must be illegal in some way. This article reminds me, I need to report them to the BBB (for all the good that'll do).
I've been researching Quicken alternatives for Mac recently and been curious about Banktivity and a few others that don't require you to store everything in the cloud or lock your data into a subscription. Any recommendations/endorsements? I've been using Banktivity now for about a month. They JUST released version 7. So far, its been a good experience.
Single purchase (via Mac App Store or IGG website) and its yours. The iOS app is also free and I've had no issues with the two staying in sync. They also have a subscription-based 'direct connect' option that I tried for a month. Its nice, but certainly not necessary as some of the accounts still sync and importing transactions isn't a difficult process. It handles investments, real estate, loans, etc. I do like Quicken's investment presentation a little better, but its certainly good enough with Banktivity. The custom folders and organization of Banktivity is also a huge plus.
Quicken force-feeds your accounts in to certain categories, which I hated. I have retirement accounts, accounts for my kids, personal brokerage accounts, etc. That I like to keep organized a particular way. The 'upcoming transactions' organization did take a little getting used to with several quirks that didn't seem very intuitive. I still make mistakes once in a while setting up recurring transactions. But after you get used to it, again, its not bad at all.
I guess what I'm saying is if you were a fan of Quicken, you'll like Banktivity once you get used to the minor differences. I've been researching Quicken alternatives for Mac recently and been curious about Banktivity and a few others that don't require you to store everything in the cloud or lock your data into a subscription. Any recommendations/endorsements? Banktivity is the only legitimate Quicken alternative in my mind. And it’s great!
I was not a fan of the old iBank, but Banktivity is a completely different experience. It’s incredibly fast when scrolling through registers. The UI is logical and intuitive.
Reporting is comparable to, if not better than, Quicken. Securities are well supported. Version 7 has added a number of mortgage-related features. At this point I don’t think there’s anything Quicken does that Banktivity cannot handle. I’d never buy Quicken again either. With Banktivity I don’t have to compromise.
It’s a great app.
If you're Mac user who is new to personal finance software, Quicken Essentials may just be enough for you. But, if you switch to another software later on, you may not be able to get your data to import into other software and you would have to enter transactions all over again (however, iBank 4 imports Quicken Essentials for Mac data).
If you just need very basic personal finance software and doubt you'll have a need more money management features in the future, Quicken Essentials is worth a look. Quicken Essentials was very responsive, screens opened when called and data updated quickly. Everything in the software is bright and colorful, from the overview screen to spending category selection in the budget. This aspect of the software makes it really enjoyable to use. Pie charts and bar graphs are used to convey information at a glance. Click on these graphics to drill down and see the transactions or accounts that make up the graph. The visuals are nicely done and never pokey, with boxes that flip open with options to be chosen.
Speaking of adding accounts, the three credit cards I set up are all at one financial institution and Quicken Essentials recognized this so transactions for all cards were downloaded at once. I usually have to establish each of these accounts separately in the personal finance software.
Account balances are found by clicking on Account Summary in the left toolbar, and account registers are accessed by clicking on the accounts listed in the same toolbar. To find a list of payees, categories, and tags, click on Window on the top toolbar.
Quicken Essentials comes with six reports which are listed on the left toolbar, with very basic customization options. If you used Quicken for Windows or are a financial report hound, you're not going to be happy. Options included the ability to select accounts, categories, and tags to include in the reports and the date range can be changed. There is no budget report that shows month to month budgeted amounts compared to actual spending, you will only find a bar graph available in the budget module. Setting up the budget is easy in Quicken Essentials for Mac. When you first open the budget feature, spending goals per expense category are recommended based on a three-month average of your downloaded transactions.
You can change the goal amounts and add goals for that the automatic doesn't pick up, or remove categories you don't want to track. That's about all there is to budgeting in Quicken Essentials. As noted above, there is no comprehensive budget reporting. If keeping a more detailed budget is important to you, try, or MoneyWell.
If you track tax-related budget categories, you can export data for use in any tax software that supports the, and most if not all do. To export data to tax software, categories are assigned to tax line items found on IRS tax schedules and forms used for your tax return. It is critical that these assignments are made properly. At the end of the year, click on Tax Schedule found in the toolbar under Reports, then select Export Taxes. This produces a TXF data file, which is then imported into tax software (the tax interview will ask you for it).
The great thing about this personal finance software is that it has speedy downloads from a huge selection of financial institutions, and it actually looks and behaves like a Mac application, unlike earlier versions. Unfortunately, Quicken Essentials for Mac also lacks some of the features users counted on in earlier Quicken Mac versions, but Intuit is still supporting Quicken Mac 2007. If you need the, investment and other features in Quicken Mac, you should probably keep using it and wait for Quicken Essentials features to expand before you switch.