FinWise Review: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives

FinWise is a financial management platform that helps you create a budget, track your spending, net worth, and more. 

If it doesn't sound familiar, its because FinWise hasn't been around that long, launching in 2023. 

While FinWise is competitively priced, including a limited free plan, you may wonder how it compares with more established budgeting apps, like YNAB and Copilot. We explore what FinWise has to offer to help you determine if it's the right fit for you.

What Is FinWise?

FinWise was created in 2023 after the founders had trouble finding a platform that could seamlessly handle all of their financial tracking preferences. Company founders, Jason Russel and Nicol Vojacek, have extensive tech experience and a passion for personal finance. 

What Does It Offer?

FinWise uses AI to track and analyze all of your accounts, budgets, and transactions in a single app. Here's a closer look at its key features. 

Budgeting

FinWise offers a straightforward way to monitor your spending and progress toward money goals. When you create a budget, you can choose spending limits for each category that you want to track. Throughout the budgeting period, you can check into FinWise to determine how much you’ve spent so far in each category.

The good news is you won’t have to manually add your data. You can choose to sync your accounts via Plaid. Or if you prefer, you can manually add your transactions to avoid bank syncing. Notably, syncing is available in the USA, Canada, and South Africa.

While the feature is not yet live, FinWise plans to make it possible to track your expenses together with a partner in the near future. Another upcoming feature is a way to track your financial goals. For example, FinWise could allow you to set a goal of decreasing your takeout spending by a specific percentage or a more traditional savings goal, like saving $10,000 in an emergency fund.

Net Worth Tracker

FinWise makes it easy to track your net worth. You can choose to link up your accounts or enter your assets and liabilities manually. In either case, FinWise will tally up the numbers to see where you stand.

Visualize Your Financial Future

FinWise Insights allows you to visualize your future finances. With the tool, you can change various income and parameters to see how they impact your plans. It’s a great way to see how small changes can add up to big differences in your financial future. 

For example, you might note that you plan to cut out $100 of spending each month or plan to increase your income by $1,000 per month within a year. You can watch how any change impacts your finances, for better or for worse. 

Currently, you can add your income, potential changes to your income, assets, expenses, and debts, but according to FinWise, more customizable insights are coming soon. 

Multiple Currencies Supported

FinWise allows you to view your overall portfolio in the currency of your choice.

As of writing, the supported currencies include USD, Canadian Dollars, South African Rands, Euros, British Pounds, Swiss Francs, Australian Dollars, and New Zealand Dollars.

AI Assistant

If you have questions about your finances, you can ask FinWise's AI Financial Assistant, which can provide personalized recommendations based on your unique money situation. 

Are There Any Fees?

FinWise offers both free and paid versions of its software, with the main difference being that the paid version allows for the automatic syncing of your banking data. With the free version, you must manually import your data. 

The paid plan (FInWise Pro) costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 if you pay annually. There is a free 30-day trial, so you can test it out risk-free. 

How Does FinWise Compare?

FinWise isn’t the only financial management platform out there. Here’s how it stacks up:

If you need help getting your spending under control, YNAB, or You Need A Budget, is a proven choice. It follows a zero-based budgeting strategy, which works by assigning every dollar a job. It’s a bit more expensive than FinWise at $14.99 per month or $99 per year, but the plethora of budgeting features could make it worth it. Budgeters who don’t need a net worth overlook and are fans of zero-based budgeting will appreciate what YNAB has to offer. 

Copilot is a well-rounded app designed to help you track your budget, review your investments, and build your credit. If you like visualizations, Copilot offers worthwhile tools to help you see where your funds are going and how that could impact your financial future. In terms of price, it’s similar to YNAB at $95 per year.

How Do I Open An Account?

If you want to work with FinWise, head to its website and select ‘Get Started For Free.’

From there, you’ll need to provide your name, email address, and create a password. FinWise will ask you to assess your experience with personal finance, from beginning to advanced. You’ll also share why you are interested in the platform and your currency.

Once the account is created, you have the option to link your bank accounts and set up your budget. It took me less than five minutes to create an account. 

Is It Safe And Secure?

FinWise works with Plaid and Yodlee to connect with the various financial institutions you deal with. Both impose high-security standards to protect your data. With strong encryption, multi-factor authentication, and regular audits, FinWise makes every effort to keep your data safe. 

How Do I Contact FinWise?

If you need to get in touch, you can connect with FinWise by emailing [email protected]. I actually got an email from one of the founders when I signed up, which included the option to jump on a video call to ask any questions I had about the platform. 

Since the platform is so new, there isn’t too much customer feedback online. But the features certainly seem like a promising opportunity. 

Is It Worth It?

FinWise offers a useful way to stay on top of your spending and monitor your net worth. I especially like the ability to visualize how changes you make today can impact your financial future. But there are some issues.

Perhaps the most glaring is that there is no mobile app, so you can't manage your finances on the go. This has impacted our overall review score. According to FinWise, an app-based platform is coming in 2024, but until then, it's a big drawback. Less important, but worth noting, is the fact that you cannot manage your finances with a partner as of yet.

The good news is that FinWise's pricing is very competitive, and the platform is still in the beginning stages. If it continues to add useful features, it might become a top option. But if you don’t think FinWise is the right fit for now, consider our favorite budgeting apps.

Check out FinWise here >>

FinWise Features