8 Best Free Budgeting Apps in NZ 2026: Including a Review of MyBudgetPal

Why use a budgeting app

A pen-and-paper budget or even spreadsheet template will only get you so far before things get messy, lost and eventually forgotten. Using some of the latest technology via an app to create a budget makes sense. Simple online interfaces make budgeting simpler and can provide a useful overview of your financial position easily.

One of the best reasons to use an app is for expenditure tracking. A budget is of little use if you can’t compare your actual spending to what you budgeted. Many budgeting apps allow you to import bank feeds automatically or add them manually yourself. By categorising incoming and outgoing money, they allow you to easily see how your actual spending stacks up to your goals. This can help you work out how realistic your budget is and where wasteful spending is occurring, and can also help with making a plan to regain control.

Of course, the real value of budgeting apps isn’t in their budgets. There’s little point in making a budget for the sake of it. The real value comes in working towards reaching your financial goals. From paying off debt, to buying that first house or planning for the next stage of life, a budget will make sure you are on track. Therefore, a budgeting app is only of value to you if it can help you to set, track and manage your financial milestones.

Let’s dive in!

Quashed

While not a pure budgeting app, Quashed is the only tool in New Zealand that lets you track every insurance policy in one place and find savings on what is often the biggest fixed cost in any household budget. If you’re serious about cutting your monthly outgoings, insurance is one of the easiest places to start.

According to the latest Q1 2026 Quashed Insurance Index, the average New Zealand household pays $5,020 a year on car, house and contents insurance combined. Across a working lifetime, that adds up to well over $100,000 spent on general insurance alone, before you even factor in life, health or income protection cover.

Here’s the good news. Our Q1 2026 data shows that Kiwis who shop their insurance with the Quashed Market Scan find a cheaper policy:

• Car insurance: a cheaper policy 81% of the time, with average savings of $377 per year

• House insurance: a cheaper policy 67% of the time, with average savings of $908 per year

• Contents insurance: a cheaper policy 76% of the time, with average savings of $275 per year

Add it up and the average Kiwi household is paying a "loyalty tax" of around $1,560 a year just for staying with the same insurer. That’s $1,560 you could be putting straight back into your savings, your mortgage or your weekly grocery shop.

Quashed Market Scan

The Quashed Market Scan is the most popular feature on the platform. It compares prices and benefits across leading NZ insurers in a few minutes for car, house, and contents cover. Quashed is free to use and there’s no obligation to switch. If you find a better deal, take it. If not, you’ll have peace of mind knowing your current cover is competitive.

Who is Quashed best for? Anyone who wants a clearer view of their household budget, especially homeowners and families looking to keep their fixed costs in check. Run a free Quashed Market Scan today and see how much you could save.

PocketSmith

PocketSmith is a comprehensive budgeting and personal finance app designed to help consumers take control of their money. It was first launched in New Zealand in 2008 and offers a range of features to make managing your finances easier. You can connect to over 14,000 financial institutions worldwide, automatically import and categorise your transactions, and create customised budgets.

One of its standout features is the ability to forecast your financial future, allowing you to see your projected daily bank balances up to 60 years ahead on the Fortune plan. The app also includes a unique calendar view that helps you visualise your upcoming bills and expenses, making it easier to plan and avoid cashflow problems. Additionally, PocketSmith supports multiple currencies, tracks your net worth, and offers ‘what-if’ scenarios to test financial decisions. Although its free version is very usable, advanced features such as automatic bank feeds and longer-term forecasts require paid versions of the app.

For this review, we’ll stick with the free version as we have done for all the other options.

Importing transactions is fairly straightforward on the free version. You just need to download a CSV file from your bank and upload this to PocketSmith. You then tell PocketSmith which columns relate to which fields and let PocketSmith do the rest. Unlike other apps, this app won’t try to guess what transactions are for you. Instead, you have to tell it. However, they do have rules you can apply, to automatically categorise transactions. For example, you can tell PocketSmith that any transactions containing the phrase “New World” should be put to groceries.

The dashboard provides a detailed overview of your budget and spending. There are also a number of reports you can run in PocketSmith, including useful ones such as net worth and cash flow. Net worth allows you to add other bank accounts, assets (such as investment or property) and loans. You can even link loans to assets and tell PocketSmith what your interest rate is. This is great for those looking to pay off debt! A cash flow report gives an overview of money in vs money out and provides some handy projections (the free version offers a 6-month projection, while the Foundation plan extends this to 10 years and the Fortune plan to 60 years). PocketSmith also offers a mobile companion app which offers access to more basic features on the go.

We’d recommend PocketSmith to young individuals, couples/families (whether homeowners or not) and anyone looking to pay off debt and start building up your finances.

MyBudgetPal

MyBudgetPal is a free budgeting tool created by Booster, a New Zealand KiwiSaver provider, designed for Kiwis to help them manage their finances more effectively. This user-friendly app connects directly to your bank accounts and automatically categorises your expenses, simplifying the budgeting process.

With MyBudgetPal, you can compare your spending across different time periods, allowing you to identify and address any problematic spending habits. The app also enables you to set spending limits for various expense categories, helping you stay on track with your financial goals.

Linking your New Zealand bank account is generally straightforward, although MyBudgetPal notes that some users may occasionally need to reconnect a feed. Once imported, MyBudgetPal will attempt to categorise transactions automatically. For the most part, it does a decent job, but you may need to give it a hand. The MyBudgetPal app gives you access to your budget on the go. We’d call the mobile experience good enough, just not as good as some of the others we looked at.

Booster also allows you to track your investments and debt. This is manual but you can enter shareholdings into MyBudgetPal and see the value of your investments in one place. This makes MyBudgetPal good for those who want to see an overview of their position at a glance.

Who is MyBudgetPal best for? Anyone whose financial goals involve tracking assets and debt would greatly benefit from MyBudgetPal. First home buyers and those looking to prepare for retirement should check MyBudgetPal out.

Money Lover

MoneyLover probably has the most visually appealing user interface of all the apps we looked at. It’s good for people new to budgeting and for expense tracking, but it doesn’t connect to NZ bank feeds, so transactions need to be added manually one by one.

Once you have your transactions in, using the app is a pleasant and straightforward experience. Creating budgets is intuitive, and, compared to PocketSmith, their dashboard is simplistic but tells you what most users care about, or how close to budget you are. Although you can add investments and debt, these features are not as fully-fledged as some might like.

We’d recommend MoneyLover for anyone new to budgeting with a relatively low volume of simple transactions and not looking for automated connectivity with their bank. This makes MoneyLover awesome for students or anyone starting that first job looking to make their money go further.

Sorted

Okay, this one is a tool to help you build a Budget Planner rather than a fully-fledged budgeting and tracking app. But before you skip past, hear us out. Some people might prefer the simplicity that this tool can offer.

Sorted’s tool will ask you some questions to get started, such as what your spending looks like and what assets you have, your life stage and what your goals are. Then it gives you a template for a budget.

The design of the Budget Planner makes it easy to enter your budgeted amounts on an annual, monthly, fortnightly or weekly basis, and add in saving and investing goals. Sorted will then generate an annual budget for you and compare this to your income! There’s no fancy expenditure tracking or coding going on here. It’s a simple tool to help you build a simple budget.

We think this one is great for first-time flatters or anyone looking for a simple tool to help them come up with a budget and nothing more. It could also be great for scenario planning, say you want to see how that new promotion or lifestyle change will impact your finances.

Sometimes less is more and if that appeals to you, then definitely check out Sorted’s Budget Planner. But if you’re after more advanced features or want to track spending, you’re best looking elsewhere.

BudgetBuddie

The newcomer in this category. BudgetBuddie is a comprehensive personal finance app designed specifically for New Zealanders that brings all your financial accounts into one easy-to-use platform.

The app’s core strength lies in its ability to connect with more than 25 New Zealand banks, KiwiSaver providers, and investment platforms (including ASB, BNZ, Westpac, Sharesies, and various KiwiSaver schemes), allowing you to see your complete financial picture without switching between multiple apps.

BudgetBuddie provides real-time insights into your spending habits through automated transaction categorisation, customisable budgeting tools, and detailed spending analysis across different time periods.

Beyond basic money management, BudgetBuddie offers goal-setting functionality with automatic progress tracking, allowing you to visualise your progress toward financial targets like holidays or home deposits. The app also calculates your net worth by tracking both assets and liabilities in real-time, giving you a clear understanding of your overall financial position.

Available on mobile and web platforms with various subscription tiers (including a free option), BudgetBuddie provides Kiwis with a locally-developed solution that simplifies personal finance management across the entire New Zealand financial ecosystem.

Buddy

Buddy is a budgeting app that can be seen as a jack of all trades when it comes to managing your finances. It allows you to create budgets, track your expenses, and share budgets.

Founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 2017, Buddy boasts over 3 million users worldwide. It is the most popular budgeting app of its kind in countries including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Sweden, and the second most popular in the United States.

Furthermore, the app is customisable and you can add multiple accounts for spending and saving, allowing you to see your total net worth. What you have at your fingertips is a fully personalised and specified budgeting plan which is visually curated by you. Bonus points for the ability to have light and dark mode displays!

Splitwise - For splitting expenses

If you live with flatmates, family, or are travelling with friends, Splitwise would be a great option for helping to keep track of your shared expenses.

When there’s no solid way of tracking your shared expenses, it’s easy to get lost with how much you are spending and saving. Splitwise enables you to track every aspect that comes with sharing expenses, such as total bill payments, what each person owes and who they owe to, as well as any outstanding balances.

Splitwise is great due to the versatility of being able to use it for many different purposes. For example, road trips can be nightmarish when going in a large group, trying to keep track of petrol money, food and places you may be staying. Maybe your date nights have shared costs. Maybe you live with friends or family where bills are split. Regardless of your situation, Splitwise easily allows you to quickly add, settle, and track all your shared expenses.

Features to consider when choosing a budgeting app

Even though our list only details a handful of great budgeting apps and tools, there are still countless ones out there for you to choose from. Here are some common features you might want to keep an eye out for when selecting an app to help manage your finances. The table below details how the apps we’ve talked about weigh up with these features in mind.

Rating on the app store

Making sure an app has good testimonials is always a good place to start. The star rating on an app store will let you know how much other people are enjoying it. It’s important to take this one step further and have a look at the review section as well, just in case anyone has had any alarming experiences with the app.

Free version vs premium version/features

Most budgeting apps are free, however, some will offer a premium plan or features which allow you to be more specific with your budgeting, give the ability to sync bank accounts so you don’t have to manually input your transactions and so on. Some offer these features for free as well. Prices for premium versions range from $2.00-$40.00 and typically charge by month or on a yearly basis.

Shared budget function

There are so many instances in which expenses are shared these days, whether that be household expenses with flat mates, splitting bills or groceries with your family and friends, going away on trips in groups, date nights, splitting petrol money and so on. Being able to share budgets is a great feature to look out for if you do have shared expenses so you never have to worry about who owes what to whom, or when things have been settled.

Syncing to your bank account

This feature is sought after as it saves time and is easy to keep up with as the app will automatically pick up on transactions going in and out of your account. Without it being synced, you will have to manually enter in all your transactions, which can lead to difficulties staying consistent in the long run.

Ready to take control of your biggest fixed cost?

Whichever budgeting app or tool you settle on, your insurance bill is one of the easiest line items to optimise. Run a free Quashed Market Scan in a few minutes and see if you could save hundreds a year on car, house or contents cover. Sign up for free at Quashed.

Related Reading

If you found this guide useful, here are a few more reads from the Quashed team to help you take more cost off your household budget:

• Average Cost of Car, House and Contents Insurance NZ 2026 – Our latest Quashed Index breakdown showing what Kiwis are paying for general insurance in 2026, with regional figures for Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury.

• Smart Ways To Slash Your Car Insurance – Ten practical tips to lower your car insurance premium without sacrificing the cover you actually need.

• 8 Budget Hacks for House Insurance – Eight simple ways to bring your house insurance bill down, from adjusting your excess to reviewing your sum insured.

• How to Lower Your Contents Insurance Premium – Smart, no-nonsense strategies to keep your contents cover affordable while still protecting what matters.

• Car Ownership Costs NZ 2026: Registration, Insurance and Total Running Costs Explained – A full breakdown of what owning a car actually costs Kiwis in 2026, covering rego, WoF, fuel, insurance and maintenance.

• Quashed vs. MoneyHub 2026: Finding the Best Insurance Comparison Tool in NZ – A side-by-side look at the two main insurance comparison options available to Kiwis.

Frequently asked questions

Are budgeting apps safe to use in New Zealand?

Yes, reputable budgeting apps use bank-level encryption and read-only connections through regulated providers like Akahu, which means the apps can see your transactions but cannot move money out of your account. Always check an app’s security disclosures and privacy policy before signing up, and never share your full online banking password with any third party.

Do I need to pay for a budgeting app?

Not at all. Several quality options in New Zealand are free, including Quashed for insurance, MyBudgetPal, Sorted’s Budget Planner, and the free tiers of BudgetBuddie and PocketSmith. Paid versions typically unlock features like multi-account bank syncing, longer-term cash flow forecasting and shared budgets, but for most everyday users a free tier is plenty.

Which budgeting apps connect to New Zealand banks?

Most major NZ banks, including ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, Westpac and TSB, can be connected to budgeting apps via open finance providers such as Akahu (used by PocketSmith and BudgetBuddie) and Yodlee (used by MyBudgetPal). All three apps offer some level of automatic NZ bank connectivity, although for PocketSmith and BudgetBuddie this sits behind a paid or upgraded plan, while MyBudgetPal includes bank syncing on its free tier.

Which budgeting app is best for couples in NZ?

For couples sharing a household budget, BudgetBuddie and PocketSmith are the strongest options. Both connect to NZ banks, support multiple accounts in one view, and let you categorise spending against shared goals like a house deposit or holiday fund. BudgetBuddie is the simpler, NZ-built option with a free tier, while PocketSmith offers deeper forecasting if you want to model bigger financial decisions together. For purely splitting shared expenses (rent, groceries, nights out), Splitwise pairs well alongside either.

How much can I really save by switching insurance providers?

Based on Q1 2026 Quashed Index data, the average New Zealand household could save around $1,560 a year by switching across car, house and contents policies combined. Individual savings will vary based on your risk profile, location and current cover. Run a free Quashed Market Scan to see what’s possible for you.