Rocket Money 2025 Review – CNET

There are many budgeting apps to choose from, and many of them offer similar features. Which one is best for you depends on your money management style and preferences, but Rocket Money is a great place to start.

9.4

Rocket money

like

• accessible

• easy to use

• savings goals

• credit score and net worth tracking

• account negotiation and cancellation services

I don’t like it

• the free version is limited

• no debt playoff scheduling features

• without investment instruments

• account negotiation fees

Formerly known as Truebill, Rocket Money won CNET’s 2024 Editors’ Choice best budgeting app award because it’s easy to use, affordable, and has all the features the average budgeter could need (plus added benefits like canceling a subscription and negotiating the bill). It has a free and premium version, and the premium version’s price of $6 to $12 per month puts it at the lower end of the price spectrum for best budgeting apps.

Is Rocket Money right for you? Read on to find out.

How does Rocket Money work?

Rocket Money’s budgeting app connects to your bank accounts to track your income and expenses. It can automatically sort your transactions into specific categories, such as groceries or housing, to take some of the work out of it budgeting. You can also edit individual transactions and create rules for sorting future transactions.

Rocket Money lets you set spending goals and shows you how much you’ve spent so far in each category. You can adjust your budget at any time to account for unexpected expenses.

The free version of Rocket Money is limited, but it provides basic budgeting features like expense tracking that may be enough for some users. The paid version, which costs $6 to $12 per month, offers advanced features such as custom budget categories, automated savings and credit reports and net worth tracking.

What we like

• Affordable price: Rocket Money Premium costs $6 to $12 per month. How much you pay is up to you, and you’ll enjoy the same features regardless of the amount you choose.
• Easy to use: Rocket Money’s mobile app and online platform are both intuitive to use. The information is presented in a clean, easy-to-understand way that tells you what you need to know without overwhelming you.
• Many notifications: You can choose to receive a wide variety of notifications to stay on top of your finances, from bill overdraft and bank fee alerts to identity theft and credit score alerts.
• Savings Goals: Rocket Money Premium offers a smart savings account to make setting aside money easier. You can set savings goals and schedule regular automatic transfers to this account. Smart Savings Accounts are held by an FDIC-insured partner bank, so your money is safe up to $250,000 per account holder.
• Credit Score and Net Worth Tracking: Rocket Money Premium offers credit score and credit report viewing and net worth tracking. (The free version only offers credit score viewing.)
• Negotiating an account: Rocket Money also offers a bill negotiation service this is available for both free and paid users. Rocket contacts your service providers — like your cell phone or Internet provider — to try to lower your bill. You’ll pay a fee if they succeed, but it might be worth it to you if you hate haggling with customer service reps.

What we didn’t like

• The free version is limited to: You might be able to get away with using the free version of Rocket Money, but it’s pretty simple. If you want features like custom budget categories, you’ll need to pay for the premium membership.
• Without debt repayment planning: Some budgeting apps, like PocketGuard, provide debt repayment planning to help you reduce your debt load. Rocket doesn’t. You can link your credit card accounts to monitor your balances, but that’s about it.
• Without investment instruments: You can link your investment accounts to Rocket Money and view your balances, but if you want help planning your investments, you’re better off with an app like Empower, which provides tools to evaluate and adjust your strategy.
• Traditional budgeting approach: Rocket Money uses a basic budgeting method: you set your budget categories and spending goals in advance and can change them from month to month. This strategy may not work for everyone. If you want a more granular approach to your budget or need help getting a handle on your spending, you may be better served by zero-based budgeting apps like EveryDollar and YNAB or by Goodbudget’s envelope method.
• Fees for negotiating accounts: If Rocket Money’s account negotiation service is successful, you’ll pay them 30% to 60% of your savings for the first year (you choose your percentage). You can contact your service providers yourself and save on this cost.

Is Rocket Money safe?

Yes, the Rocket Money app is generally safe. It uses 256-bit encryption — the same encryption many banks use — and partners with the Plaid payment network to connect to your accounts instead of storing your login information. However, your financial data can still be at risk if your phone is lost or stolen, so you should know how to remotely wipe your phone in this case.

Who is Rocket Money best for?

Rocket Money offers all the essentials you need to create and maintain a budget. It is accessible to a wide range of budgeters, easy to use and the premium subscription is affordable.

Because of this, we found it to be Rocket Money a solid substitute for mintthe popular budgeting app that disappeared in March 2024.

Rocket Money App Alternatives

Rocket Money offers something for everyone, but it’s not the only budgeting app on the market. You can explore your options by checking out ours review of the best budgeting apps.

Finally crush your budget goals with Rocket Money.

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Winner of CNET Editors’ Choice for Best Budgeting App

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