Honeydue vs. YNAB: Features, Pricing, Pros & Cons (2024)

I wrote this Honeydue vs. YNAB comparison guide to guide your decision-making processes when it comes to budgeting and personal finance.

Both tools offer great personal finance management, but they cater to different needs. Whether you want to manage your money with a partner or prioritize budgeting, this guide will walk you through the differences.

The main difference is that Honeydue focuses on joint financial management for couples, while YNAB (You Need A Budget) is designed around meticulous personal budgeting and giving every dollar a job.

Honeydue vs. YNAB: Key Features Compared

Personal Note: Why I Switched to YNAB

I switched to YNAB even though Honeydue is great for shared expenses. While I loved Honeydue’s simple, intuitive design and ability to track joint finances with my partner, I needed a more hands-on budgeting tool. YNAB helped me assign every dollar a job, tackle debt head-on, and build a long-term savings strategy. The advanced features outweighed the cost, giving me the control I needed over my finances.

What is Honeydue and How Does It Work?

Honeydue is a financial app designed for couples to manage their finances together. You can link multiple bank accounts, create shared budgets, and track spending in real time. It benefits partners who want to stay informed about their shared finances without diving into advanced budgeting tools. Honeydue is highly visual, making it easy to track spending categories and remind each other about bills.

Pros of Honeydue:

• Free to use
• Ideal for couples
• Bill reminders
• Supports multiple accounts
• Real-time updates

Cons of Honeydue:

• Limited budgeting features
• No in-depth reporting
• Lacks advanced goal setting

What is YNAB and How Does It Work?

YNAB is a powerful budgeting tool based on the zero-based budgeting system. The philosophy is to assign every dollar a job, ensuring you live within your means and save effectively. YNAB is robust, with features for detailed tracking, goal setting, and debt payoff plans. It’s ideal for people who want full control over their money and follow a strict budgeting regimen.

Pros of YNAB:

• Zero-based budgeting system
• Syncs with multiple accounts
• Excellent for debt management
• Detailed financial reports
• Goal tracking

Cons of YNAB:

• Costs $14.99/month
• Learning curve
• No direct feature for couples
• Not ideal for those seeking simple tracking

Honeydue vs YNAB: Side-by-Side Comparison (7 Key Features)

1. Budgeting Style

Honeydue offers a simple, straightforward budgeting system designed for couples. It allows both partners to track spending, categorize expenses, and set shared financial goals, making it easier to stay on top of joint finances. However, Honeydue lacks advanced budget breakdowns, and its system is more passive, meaning you monitor your spending rather than proactively assign every dollar a job.

YNAB, on the other hand, is built around zero-based budgeting. This method ensures that you assign every dollar to a specific purpose, be it bills, savings, or debt repayment. It’s more rigorous and proactive compared to Honeydue. YNAB encourages users to be in control of every aspect of their budget, planning for unexpected expenses and even building financial “buffers” for future needs.

Verdict: YNAB wins for those who prefer a more hands-on and detailed budgeting approach, while Honeydue is more suitable for couples looking for basic, shared financial tracking.

2. Bank Syncing

Honeydue supports multiple bank account linking, allowing both partners to sync their individual accounts into one shared platform. This feature is particularly useful for couples managing joint and separate accounts. However, the syncing process can sometimes lag or have connectivity issues with specific banks, limiting real-time updates for some users.

YNAB also syncs with most major US and Canadian banks but offers more consistent, real-time synchronization across platforms. It auto-imports transactions, ensuring accuracy and fewer manual inputs. YNAB’s system is designed to work smoothly across different banking systems, minimizing delays.

Verdict: YNAB offers more reliable and efficient bank syncing. Honeydue’s syncing works for casual users, but YNAB provides a more seamless experience, especially if you need up-to-date financial information.

3. Shared Finances

Honeydue’s standout feature is its focus on shared finances. It’s designed for couples to track expenses together, splitting bills, monitoring shared accounts, and even sending reminders about upcoming payments. The app gives a holistic view of joint spending, which is perfect for couples navigating shared expenses.

YNAB doesn’t specifically focus on shared finances. While you can share a budget with a partner by giving them access, it’s primarily designed for individuals or families managing their own expenses. YNAB lacks the joint-account integration and partner-specific tools that Honeydue offers.

Verdict: Honeydue is the clear winner here, providing couples with the tools they need to manage shared expenses effectively. YNAB is better for individual use or for families with one person in charge of budgeting.

4. Debt Management

Honeydue provides only basic debt tracking. While you can categorize debt payments, it doesn’t offer any specific tools or strategies to help you pay off debt faster. It’s more focused on tracking day-to-day expenses and managing shared bills than on helping users create a plan for becoming debt-free.

YNAB, however, excels in debt management. It offers tools that allow you to create a debt payoff plan, track your progress, and even prioritize which debts to pay off first based on interest rates or amounts owed. YNAB’s proactive approach helps you allocate extra funds toward debt reduction, making it a powerful tool for those focused on becoming debt-free.

Verdict: YNAB wins for debt management, offering detailed tools and strategies to help users tackle their debts head-on, whereas Honeydue only provides basic tracking.

5. Goal Setting

Honeydue allows users to set up basic financial goals like saving for a vacation or a down payment on a home. You can set amounts and timelines, and the app tracks your progress. However, Honeydue’s goal-setting features are somewhat limited, lacking advanced tracking or personalized strategies for reaching your goals.

YNAB offers a more comprehensive goal-setting system. You can set short-term and long-term financial goals, track your progress in real-time, and adjust your budget to allocate funds more effectively toward these goals. YNAB also provides insights into how changes in your budget affect your ability to reach these goals, allowing for more strategic financial planning.

Verdict: YNAB takes the lead in goal-setting, with more robust and customizable features that allow users to actively work towards financial milestones.

6. Mobile Experience

Honeydue is designed as a mobile-first app, with a sleek, user-friendly interface that’s perfect for quick updates and checking expenses on the go. The mobile experience is intuitive, making it easy for couples to track spending together from their smartphones. However, it lacks advanced features on its mobile app that are more suitable for power users.

YNAB also offers an excellent mobile experience, though it’s equally powerful on both mobile and desktop. The app syncs seamlessly between devices, and the mobile version allows for full budgeting, transaction tracking, and goal setting. YNAB’s mobile app is more feature-rich, allowing users to handle everything from their phone, including more advanced budgeting tools.

Verdict: YNAB provides a more versatile mobile experience, with greater functionality for users who want full control of their budget on the go. Honeydue is better for basic, casual use.

7. Pricing

Honeydue is entirely free to use, making it an attractive option for couples who want a shared budgeting tool without any financial commitment. It provides decent features for joint financial tracking at no cost, making it ideal for those just starting out with budgeting.

YNAB offers a free 34-day trial, after which it costs $14.99 per month or $99 per year. Although the price may seem high compared to free alternatives like Honeydue, YNAB’s comprehensive budgeting tools, advanced goal setting, and debt management features provide excellent value for users who need more control over their finances.

Verdict: Honeydue wins on affordability, but for users who need in-depth budgeting features and are willing to pay for them, YNAB is well worth the cost.

Use Cases for Honeydue

1. Couples Managing Shared Expenses: Honeydue is ideal for couples who need a straightforward way to track joint spending, especially when both partners have multiple accounts.
2. Newlyweds or Co-living Couples: Couples moving in together will find Honeydue useful for sharing bills and staying informed without constant check-ins.

Use Cases for YNAB

1. Individuals Paying Off Debt: YNAB is excellent for users focused on debt repayment with its specialized debt management tools.
2. Families Building Long-Term Savings: YNAB helps families organize their finances around saving goals, giving every dollar a role in meeting their targets.

Honeydue Pricing

Honeydue is entirely free to use. It offers all its features without any premium upgrade options, making it an excellent choice for budget-conscious couples.

YNAB Pricing

YNAB offers a 34-day free trial, after which it costs $14.99 per month or $99 per year. This pricing reflects the advanced features offered by the platform, like zero-based budgeting, detailed reports, and goal setting.

What to Consider When Choosing Between Honeydue and YNAB

1. Budgeting Needs: If you’re looking for basic tracking for joint finances, Honeydue is ideal. But if you need a strict, zero-based budgeting approach, YNAB wins.
2. Cost: Honeydue is free, while YNAB comes with a subscription fee. Consider whether the extra budgeting features of YNAB justify the cost for your needs.
3. Shared vs. Individual Finances: Honeydue is built for couples, while YNAB is more geared toward individuals or families with distinct financial goals.
4. Debt Management: If debt payoff is a priority, YNAB’s tools are specifically designed for this purpose.
5. Goal Tracking: For in-depth goal tracking, YNAB provides more advanced tools, whereas Honeydue is more suitable for short-term shared goals.

FAQs

1. Can I use Honeydue without linking bank accounts?
   • Yes, you can manually input transactions without linking bank accounts.
2. Does YNAB support non-US banks?
   • YNAB primarily supports US/Canadian banks but allows manual import for other countries.
3. Does Honeydue offer investment tracking?
   • No, Honeydue focuses on daily expenses and joint finances.
4. Is YNAB worth the cost?
   • For users who want advanced budgeting and financial control, YNAB’s fee is worth it.

Is Honeydue Better Than YNAB? Takeaway

Honeydue is perfect for couples seeking simple financial tracking, while YNAB is designed for those who need detailed control over their budget. Choose Honeydue for shared expenses and YNAB for full-budget control.