Mint vs. Yodlee (vs. Quicken)

Posted by Tad Johnson - Mar 3rd, 2008 at 23:03

Online personal finance tools are a hot new internet trend. For a vicenarian with a bunch of accounts to track and not a lot of time to do it, these can be a godsend. You have the convenience of checking all your accounts from one page, from any computer, including historical data.

Here’s a quick look at a few of the more popular options:

mint.jpgMint has been getting some very favorable press recently, including some impressive awards and the venture capital to back them up. Their value proposition is to save you money by suggesting better ways to save and spend your money.

Pros : Slick web2.0 interface. Easy integration with most online accounts. Smart algorithms that make suggestions based on the aggregated data from mint users.

Cons : Not as feature-rich as Yodlee (though it uses Yodlee technology). Even though it learns to improve, category-matching algorithm is hit or miss.

If you’re doing your personal finance on paper or in your head, check this one out. The interface is simply gorgeous and the recommendations can be useful. With so much momentum, keep your eye on this for new features in the future.

yodlee.JPG Yodlee does business by licensing its online personal finance software to bigger banks (like Fidelity and Bank of America) and other personal finance sites (like mint). Although it’s not well advertised, they also offer their service directly to the customer through Yodlee Moneycenter.

Pros : Great features like spending analysis, net worth graphs, budgeting, and portfolio analysis. Easy to set up with most online banks.

Cons : Interface can be finicky. Like Mint, automatic categorization is iffy. For reasons unknown, not actively marketed to the consumer.

If you’re looking for the most features, definitely look to Yodlee. They’re clearly market leaders in this area, though most of their business is in selling their software to other businesses.

quicken_online_logo_90.jpg Quicken has long been the market leader in desktop-based personal finance software. Sadly, they haven’t done much to freshen the design of Quicken over the years, so Quicken 2006 and Quicken 1996 look frighteningly similar. In a response to their online competitors, Intuit released Quicken Online this year. It costs $2.99/month on a subscription basis.

Pros : Intuit knows this market inside and out, and they’re not going anywhere as a company. If you already use Quicken, this might be a useful transition to the convenience of online access.

Cons : $2.99/month?! That’s a hefty price to pay for a service you can get free elsewhere. If you’re going to spend that much money, you might as well buy the full desktop version and enjoy the speed and features of a desktop app.

This one shouldn’t be too hard of a decision for the vicenarian. It’s not worth paying Intuit every month when their competitors do an equally good job for free.

4 Comments »

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  1. Are there any risks to entering all of your account information into sites like these?

    Comment by Erin — March 4, 2008 #

  2. I would be remiss if I said there was no risk to storing all your online financial data with one site–a hacker could theoretically gain access to all your accounts with the same convenience you enjoy.

    That said, all these sites are painfully aware of this risk and employ top-notch security measures to prevent any unauthorized access. It is likely no more risky than using online banking with each individual account.

    Comment by Tad Johnson — March 4, 2008 #

  3. My theory is that Mint is slightly more risky than yodlee because it adds another GUI layer on top of yodlee so it’s another layer of risk. Just a theory though.

    I like yodlee and recommended it in this post:
    http://newlycorporate.com/2008/02/07/3-fast-and-easy-budgeting-methods/

    Comment by Brandon H — March 4, 2008 #

  4. Everyone needs to check out Wesabe.com

    They offer a awesome tool that you can upload your data into Wesabe without having to supply your user name and passwords of all your financial sites. So you actually have NO RISK! Check it out.

    Also Wesabe is the leader when it comes to security and protection of your personal data. They even supply you with a Data Bill of Rights.

    Ive used Quicken for years and just switched to Wesabe.

    wesabe.com

    Comment by j520 — June 17, 2008 #

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