YNAB vs Monarch vs Copilot: 2026 Pricing
App Comparisons · The Subgrove Team · · Updated · 5 min read
On a yearly plan Copilot is the cheapest of the three at $95, Monarch costs $99.99 and YNAB $109; month to month, Copilot is $13 while YNAB and Monarch are both $14.99. Price is the smaller difference, though. YNAB is a hands-on budgeting method, Monarch is a shared household dashboard, and Copilot is an Apple-first app that now also runs in a web browser. None of them has a permanent free plan.
If what you actually want is to keep an eye on subscriptions rather than budget everything, there's a fourth option at the end: Subgrove, our own subscription tracker.
YNAB vs Monarch vs Copilot: prices and platforms
Disclosure: Subgrove is our app. Every other entry is described from its own website or help centre, checked in October 2026.
| App | Monthly | Yearly | Free trial | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YNAB | $14.99 | $109 | 34 days, no card | Web, iPhone, iPad, Android |
| Monarch | $14.99 | $99.99 | 7 days | Web, iOS, Android |
| Copilot | $13 | $95 | 1 month | iPhone, iPad, Mac, web |
| Subgrove | $4.99 (Pro) | $39 (Pro) | Free plan for up to 5 subscriptions | iPhone, Android, desktop (web app) |
All prices are in US dollars. The three budgeting apps cluster between $95 and $109 a year; Subgrove Pro is $39. That gap exists because they do far more: they import every transaction, track accounts and net worth, and build budgets. Subgrove tracks subscriptions and nothing else.
YNAB: a method you have to practise
YNAB (You Need A Budget) is less a tracker than a budgeting method with software around it. Its rule is "give every dollar a job": you assign all the money you have to categories before you spend it. People who stick with it often say it changed their spending rather than just recording it.
That commitment is the price of entry. If you don't sit down with it regularly, it becomes an expensive spreadsheet. Its pricing page lists $14.99 a month or $109 a year, after a 34-day free trial that doesn't ask for a card. It runs on the web, iPhone, iPad and Android, and imports transactions from linked banks.
Best for: people who want to change how they spend and will do the weekly work. People tend to love it or abandon it within a month, and the price makes an abandoned budget sting.
Monarch: the shared household dashboard
Monarch became a common landing spot after Mint closed. It pulls accounts, investments, net worth and budgets onto one dashboard, and its strongest suit is collaboration: a partner can share the same view.
Its pricing page lists $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with the first week free and no permanent free plan. A higher Plus tier adds forecasting, business tracking and deeper investment analysis at extra cost. Monarch says all subscriptions are billed in USD, and it is available in Canada as well as the US. It's built around connected accounts, though you can also add accounts manually.
Best for: couples and households who want one complete financial picture and don't mind about $100 a year.
Copilot: the best-looking one, still no Android
Copilot is the design pick: a polished interface and AI categorisation that, in Copilot's words, "learns your spending patterns and tags every transaction automatically". If a pleasant daily check-in matters to you, it's hard to beat.
Platform is still the limit. Copilot's FAQ lists iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web, and says it works only with US-based accounts. The web app arrived in December 2025 and is optimised for desktop browsers, so an Android user could open it in a phone's browser, but there is no Android app. The web FAQ also lists tabs the web version doesn't have yet, such as Goals and Cash Flow. Pricing on its homepage is $13 a month or $95 a year, after a one-month trial.
Best for: Apple users in the US who value design and automation, and can live with a desktop-first web app for anything else.
Where Subgrove fits, and where it doesn't
YNAB, Monarch and Copilot are full budgeting platforms. If you want transactions, accounts, budgets and net worth in one place, pick one of them; Subgrove doesn't budget, doesn't track spending and doesn't connect to banks.
What it does is narrower. Plenty of people pay for a budgeting app and find that the only screen they open is the recurring-charges one. If that's you, a dedicated tracker costs less. Subgrove is a manual subscription tracker: you add each subscription, it sends push and email reminders before every renewal, and it shows monthly and yearly totals per currency in a list and a calendar. It runs on iPhone, Android and desktop as an installable web app, in any country.
The free plan covers five subscriptions with reminders. Pro is $4.99 a month or $39 a year and adds unlimited subscriptions, household sharing, free-trial and price-increase alerts and CSV export. You give up automatic detection, budgets and net worth.
Which should you pick?
- YNAB if you want to actively change your spending and will do the weekly work.
- Monarch if you want one shared financial dashboard for a household, in the US or Canada.
- Copilot if you're on Apple devices in the US and design matters most.
- Subgrove if subscriptions are the only part you keep losing track of.
Some people pair them: a budgeting app for the whole picture and a tracker for renewal reminders. For individual match-ups, see our Monarch alternatives, YNAB alternative for subscriptions and Copilot alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheapest: YNAB, Monarch or Copilot? Copilot, at $95 a year or $13 a month. Monarch is $99.99 a year and YNAB $109; both are $14.99 month to month. Subgrove Pro is $39 a year, but it only tracks subscriptions.
Do any of them have a free plan? No. YNAB offers a 34-day trial, Monarch a week, and Copilot a month. Subgrove's free plan for up to five subscriptions has no time limit.
Which one works on Android? YNAB and Monarch have Android apps. Copilot doesn't; its web app is designed for desktop browsers. Subgrove runs in any browser and installs on Android.
Can I use them outside the US? Copilot works only with US-based accounts. Monarch is available in the US and Canada and bills in USD. YNAB is sold in USD on its US site. Subgrove works in any country and supports 38 currencies.
Do these apps need my bank login? YNAB, Monarch and Copilot are built around connecting accounts to import transactions. Subgrove never connects to a bank; you enter subscriptions yourself, which is the whole idea behind a subscription tracker without bank access.