Douugh Review: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives

Editor's Note: Douugh appears to be rebranding as a cash-advance app. The current product is not available and the new product appears to have a waitlist.

Douugh is an AI-driven budgeting, saving, and investing app with bad spelling.

Budgets are great for setting financial goals and living within your means. But for some, when they hear the word budget, they think it's too complex, too restrictive, or just don’t want to deal with it.

There's no doubt about it — budgets require some work. And they really seem to work best for the highly motivated who can keep at it. Many start down the budget path, but like a New Years' exercise resolution, they eventually drop out.

Douugh has a different take on managing money — it wants to handle as much of the work in the background as it can to help you meet your financial goals without the headaches. This app aims to be your one-stop-shop for saving, spending, investing, and more. Let’s take a closer look at what Douugh has to offer.

What Is Douugh?

Douugh is a fintech mobile app that helps people save and manage their money wisely. It is based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and was founded in 2016. Its founder & CEO is Andy Taylor. Douugh has received $2.5 million in funding through a corporate round (Australian terminology). 

Douugh is listed on the ASX (Australia’s stock market exchange). It acquired Goodments at the beginning of 2021 for $1.5 million. Goodments is a Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia-based company. It helps individuals invest in good businesses.

What Does It Offer?

Douugh is like a very simple budgeting app. Rather than spend a ton of time setting up a budget, you simply tell Douugh about your bills and how much you want to save. Douugh will handle the rest through automation.

It’s the automation aspect that makes Douugh stand out. That’s because it makes sure you aren’t late on your bills and that you are consistently putting money into savings. This helps to build a solid financial foundation. After all, not paying bills can ding your credit score. And who wants to have no savings? These simple little steps allow you to get ahead financially.

You’ll get all the features of a checking account with better financial management than what you might expect from most banks. 

Salary Sweeper

Douugh automates bill-paying and saving through Salary Sweeper. When money from your job is direct deposited into your Douugh checking account, some of that money moves to jars (mentioned below).

Depending on the jars you've set up and how much money you want to be moved, Douugh will move money for paying bills and set aside money for savings. All of this is done without you having to remember any of it.

Assign Money With Virtual Jars

Before computer-based budgets were available, people would put money into envelopes or jars. These jars were divided into categories such as bills and savings.

Douugh uses the jar concept to divide categories of money. For example, there are bill jars and savings jars, which are separate from your checking account. 

This ensures you have enough money to pay your bills and that savings are put aside before you decide to spend anything from your checking. That way, any spending will be done responsibly since bills have been (or will be) paid and you're consistently saving.

When it's time to pay bills, Douugh will send out a notification. Once bills have been paid, you’ll get another notification. If there isn’t enough money in the bill jar, Douugh won’t attempt to pay bills.

Checking Account And Debit Card

You’ll get a checking account with everything you’d expect from a traditional bank. Plus, there aren't any fees.

Your account will include a Mastercard debit card. This means you can use it anywhere that Mastercard is accepted. While you wait for your physical card to arrive, you can still use the virtual version of the card. Just add it to your digital wallet and use the virtual card in-store or online.

You can fully manage your debit card from within the Douugh mobile app. Lock and unlock the card at any time, change its PIN, or report the card lost or stolen.

Invest In Managed Portfolios

In August 2021, Douugh added automated investing to its list of supported products. Now clients can have their money invested in diversified portfolios of ETFs (Core or Sustainable Portfolios).

Douugh's Sustainable Portfolios invest in green companies and avoid industries such as Fossil Fuels, Tobacco, Fur, Military and Weapons. Regardless of the type of portfolio that you choose, you'll have three asset allocation options: Conservative, Moderate, and Aggressive.

You won't have to pay an extra advisory fees on top of your $4.99 monthly subscription fee for investing in one of Douugh's managed portfolios.

Note that for smaller account balances, $4.99 per month is likely to be a high percentage of your invested amount. But as your account balance grows, Douugh's flat-fee model will become more attractive. 

Transaction Alerts

Staying on top of what’s happening with your money is a great way to monitor spending and balance levels. It can also help to detect fraudulent activity before it becomes a bigger problem.

Douugh sends alerts when you spend using your MasterCard debit card and when money is deposited into your account.

Spending Manager

The Spending Manager shows your spending by category. You can also set limits for categories so that you receive an alert when that limit is hit.

You’ll be able to see the amounts spent in each category by percentage as well. If you have more than one savings jar, all of them will be listed and display the amount you’ve saved by percentage (compared to your target).

Are There Any Fees?

Douugh costs $4.99 per month after a 28-day free trial. There are no overdrafts, maintenance, transfer, or no ATM fees for domestic cash withdrawals. There’s also no minimum balance. There are a few miscellaneous fees, however. These include:

How Do I Contact Douugh?

Customer Service

Apple App Store — 3.8 out of 5 stars from 122 ratings.

Trustpilot — 3.7 out of 5 stars from only 1 review.

How Does Douugh Compare?

There are a few apps that are similar to Douugh and not all of them are mobile-only. Check out this quick table below to see how Doough compares to the competition:

How Do I Open An Account?

You can visit the Douugh website to download the iOS or Android mobile app. There isn’t a website companion so everything is done through the mobile app.

You’ll need your contact information and Social Security number to open an account. Your Social Security number is required as part of the verification process and compliance with The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to prevent fraud.

Once an account has been created, you’ll need your checking information to move money back and forth to Douugh. The entire process should take less than 5 minutes.

Is It Safe And Secure?

Yes. Money on deposit with Douugh is FDIC-protected through its partner bank, Choice Bank, for up to $250,000. Douugh’s website is also encrypted. Accounts are connected through Plaid, a financial industry standard.

Is It Worth It?

For anyone who isn’t happy with their bank or would like to access more automated money management tools, Douugh is worth a try. It’s free and easy to use. Plus, your membership fee includes access to portfolios managed by experts.

But there are plenty of other money management apps that may meet your needs without requiring you to switch banks. If you're still undecided, check out our big list of money apps here.

Douugh Features