YNAB vs. Stash Budgeting App

(February 2025)

In This Article

Our Verdict

YNAB clearly surpasses the Stash budgeting app. Choose this app if:

  • Budgeting is your priority.
  • You love the zero-based budgeting approach.
  • Real-time expense tracking is important to you.

You’ll find YNAB helpful when seeking to take total control over every dollar you make, allocating your money waaaay before you spend it. The app also helps you to live on last month’s income, rather than eating into tomorrow’s income.

When it comes to pricing, YNAB offers a free trial that spans 35 days, where you have a feel of the features you can find on the platform. The paid plans come in two categories—monthly ($14.99/month), and yearly ($9.08 per month; $109 paid yearly).

Comparatively, Stash could be the right choice if you seek a platform that combines budgeting with investing. The app comes with useful tools for managing your finances…allowing you to budget, invest, and bank—all in one place. Remember, before making your choice, be clear about your financial goals, and preferences. You want a platform that gives you value for your investment while helping you attain your financial goals in the long run.

Why Choose the YNAB Budgeting App

Who YNAB Budgeting App is Best For

Make the YNAB budgeting app your preferred choice if you:

  • Love to try the app before committing financially.
  • Want to plan your spending before it happens.
  • Need tools and strategies to help you pay off debt faster.
  • Desire to break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle.
  • Wanna sync in real-time across multiple devices.
  • Prioritize data security.
  • Seek automatic bank importing of your bank without manual entry.

Who YNAB Budgeting App is Not Right For

Skip the YNAB budgeting app if you:

  • Need a free version or have a tight budget.
  • Want a highly simplified platform that takes no time to utilize.
  • Seek investment tracking features.
  • Desire the bill pay feature.

Why Choose Stash Budgeting App

Who Stash Budgeting App is Best For

Choose the Stash budgeting app if you:

  • Intend to start fractional shares investment.
  • Long to build long-term wealth.
  • Need an all-in-one financial app.
  • Seek to improve your financial literacy.
  • Want integration with other investment tools.

Who the Stash Budgeting App isn’t Right For

Avoid the Stash budgeting app if you:

  • Have zero interest in investment.
  • Want a solely zero-based budgeting app.
  • Have extensive knowledge of investment.

YNAB vs. Stash Budgeting App: The Main Difference

 

YNAB

Stash

Ideal For

●     Debt reduction.

●     Breaking paycheck-to paycheck cycle.

●     Data security lovers.

●     Wealth building.

●     Fractional shares investment.

●     Budgeting.

Pricing

Free Trial: Start your free trial for 34 days.

Annual Plan: $9.08/month ($109 paid annually).

Monthly Plan: $14.99/month.

Note: Taxes are applicable.

Stash Growth: Costs $3/month or $32/year.

Stash+: You can get it at $9/month or $97/year.

Check what’s included in each plan to know what subscription is best for you.

Account Integration

Zapier

Google Sheets

Stock-Back ® Card

Cash App

Plaid

YNAB vs. Stash Budgeting App: Product Offerings

YNAB Budgeting App

YNAB comes with various financial products and services with which you can manage and grow your money. Check out its offerings below:

  • 34-day Free Trial: Get access to Stash’s premium features within 34 days, and see how the platform works. If you don’t find the features helpful, you can consider other apps.
  • Bank Account Syncing: Link your bank account to the Stash app for seamless transactions. You can also link your loan account and debit card.
  • Automatic Transaction Import: You can import your transactions without manual intervention.
  • Real-Time Syncing: Sync across different devices in real-time. Whether you’re using a phone, tablet, or desktop, YNAB is suitable.
  • Proactive Budgeting: Stay ahead of your expenses by taking proactive budgeting steps. You don’t have to allow expenses to swallow your income before planning your budget.
  • Education Resources: Gain access to a variety of learning resources, such as video tutorials, articles, and more. These resources help you gain insights with which you can make data-driven decisions.
  • Customer Support: Stash has good reviews about its customer service, which makes it a good option for you, especially if customer support is important to you.
  • Flexible Budget Adjustments: Enjoy the flexibility that comes with managing your funds, and tweaking things to work for you.
  • Split Transaction: Divid a single transaction into multiple categories to help you maintain your budget and accurately track expenses.

Stash Budgeting App

Below, you can find Stash’s offerings:

  • Retirement Accounts (IRA): Stash’s tax advantage savings account helps you to save for a Roth IRA and leverage. This helps you secure a good financial future.
  • Stock-Back® Card: Stash’s Stock-back® Card rewards you with fractional shares when you make purchases with it.
  • Personal Investment Account: Buy and sell individual stocks, ETCs, and other investment products with no restrictions on withdrawals.
  • Robo Advisor for building Smart Portfolios: Stash offers a Robo Advisor service that helps you stay on track with your investment strategy. You’ll find useful tips and insights that help you make informed decisions.
  • Smart-Stash automatic savings tool: Use This tool to analyze your spending habits and patterns and automate your short-term savings goals. Everything is put on auto to help you avoid spending the money you’re supposed to save.
  • Stash Learn: With the Stash Learn feature, you can access useful articles, tutorials, and tips that help you build your personal finances.
  • Stash Banking Account: Stash offers an online checking account that is FDIC-insured which is linked to the Stock-back Card.

YNAB vs. Stash Budgeting App: Standout Features

YNAB Budgeting App

YNAB is exceptional in its budgeting solution owing to several reasons, such as:

  • Zero-based budgeting where you assign every dollar a job, ensuring that your income is allocated to specific categories.
  • Syncing across devices in real-time, allows you and your loved ones to stay informed on your budget in real-time.
  • Detailed reports and visualizations of your income and spending habits, helping you to make informed decisions.
  • Educational resources—like video tutorials, blogs, community support, and more—to help you improve your financial literacy.

Stash Budgeting App

Stash is spectacular for a couple of reasons including:

  • Stock-back® rewards anytime you make purchases with your debit card, which helps you spend everyday spending into an opportunity to grow your investment portfolio.
  • Fractional shares of stocks and ETFs, where you can invest without necessarily needing huge capital.
  • Smart Portfolio—a managed investment account that automates the diversification of your investments based on your risk tolerance and goals.
  • Auto investment option which helps you to grow your funds over time by setting up recurring deposits without actively managing them.

Pros and Cons of the YNAB Budgeting App

  • Has account sharing capabilities.
  • Offers voluminous support.
  • Built on ideas that promote effective budgeting.
  • Comes with an amazing user interface.
  • Provides educational resources.
  • Has a steep learning curve.
  • Has no investment tracking feature.

Pros and Cons of the Stash Budgeting App

  • Provides life insurance option.
  • Offers stock reward when using Stash’s debit card.
  • Comes with a variety of options for investment.
  • Has a low opening deposit of $5.
  • Delivers mobile banking solutions.
  • Has high fees for smaller portfolios.
  • Lacks human advisors.
  • Offers no automated tax strategy that generates income tax benefits.

YNAB vs. Stash Budgeting App: Customer Reviews

Supposing you’re thinking about YNAB, keep in mind that the app has a 4.0 out of 5-star rating on PCMag. On Google Play, it might interest you to know that the app scores 4.4 out of 5 star rating, and comes from a whooping 19k customers. On Trustpilot, you’ll find out that YNAB ranks high, scoring 4.7 out of 5-star ratings, coming from over 2,000 reviews. These reviews hinge on the platform’s feature set, account-sharing capabilities, and great customer support.

However, if you’re considering Stash, keep in mind that the app has 1.3 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, stemming from over 700 reviews. While on NerdWallet, the app seems to do well by scoring 4.5 out of 5-star ratings. Most users who review this app desire an improvement in the app’s customer support and the inclusion of a human advisor.

Whatever the case may be, you must consider your financial goals and preferences.

YNAB vs. Stash Budgeting App Competitors

YNAB and Stash are both amazing options when searching for great budgeting apps. However, you have other options available from which you can choose from. Read on to see other options.

Acorns: Consider Acorns if you’re searching for an app that offers a mix of budgeting and investing. The app is designed to help you make a little more off of investing while managing your funds effectively.

Some of the features you can find on Acorns include automated portfolio management, recurring investments, and Acorns Later (retirement accounts). The Acorns app is best suited for you if you want a simple, hands-off way to invest.

When it comes to pricing, trust Acorns for being among the few transparent platforms. The app’s prices range from Acorns Bronze plan ($3/month) to Acorns Silver ($6/month) to Acorns Gold ($12/month). If budgeting is your least worry or isn’t what you need right away, you might want to ignore this app.

Goodbudget: Opt for the Goodbudget app if you desire a budgeting app that provides a hands-on approach to how you spend your money. The app helps you design digital envelopes with which planning your spending becomes easy. You can allocate different funds to each parcel to help you track your spending.

Beyond the envelope budgeting system, you’ll find features like recurring transactions, budget reports, multi-device syncing, and more.

Prices on Goodbudget come in a variety of forms. You have a free plan where you can access basic tools that help you get started with your budgeting journey. If you desire to scale things up, you may opt for its Premium plan which costs $10/month or $800 every year.

Bottom line: Use Goodbudget if you prefer a straightforward approach to budgeting and appreciate the discipline of the envelope system.

Stash: When seeking to build long-term wealth, Stash should to mind. The app offers you an all-in-one financial solution including investing and budgeting. You can invest in fractional shares, and gradually build your portfolio.

Aside from its primary features for budgeting and investing, the app integrates with other investment tools, helping you get the most experience while using the platform.

When considering the app’s pricing, pay attention to its two plan tiers. The Stash Growth plan offers you its features at $3/month, or $32/year, while the Stash+ costs $9/month or $97/year.

Pro Tips

  • Set clear financial goals before choosing the app, and the pricing plan to use.
  • Leverage any automation features you find helpful, such as auto transaction import.
  • Categorize every expense you make to help you see where your money is going.
  • Designate time each week to review your budget, and see areas that need adjustments.
  • Connect all your bank accounts, and credit cards to the app–if allowed.
  • Cover all essential expenses, such as rent, utilities, groceries, and debt payments to prevent overspending.
  • Use reporting tools to gather insights into your spending patterns and spot areas where you can save more money.
  • Be consistent with your budgeting to better your financial health.

Recap

Remember, YNAB takes the prize in this comparison for being a dedicated budgeting tool. You’ll love the fact that YNAB comes with a zero-based approach to budgeting. It also provides expense tracking in real-time.

Notwithstanding, when choosing either YNAB or Stash, factor in your financial goals and preferences. That way, you can decide what app and features to pick, and the price range you’re willing to let go for subscription.

Become a

S'witty Kiwi Credit Insider!

Get the latest credit tips and hacks in your inbox!