Monarch Money costs $14.99 per month, or $99.99 per year, for its Core plan — that's the plan most people mean when they ask how much Monarch Money costs. In 2026, Monarch added a second tier, Plus, at $199.99 per year, for people who want retirement forecasting and business or rental-property tracking. Both plans start with a 7-day free trial, and there's no free tier — once the trial ends, you're paying or you're locked out.
The short answer
Here's the full breakdown of Monarch app cost, as of August 2026:
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core (monthly billing) | $14.99/mo | — | 7 days |
| Core (annual billing) | ≈ $8.33/mo | $99.99/yr | 7 days |
| Plus (annual billing) | ≈ $16.67/mo | $199.99/yr | 7 days |
Paying annually is the better deal on paper — Core drops from $14.99/month to an effective $8.33/month when you commit for the year. Monarch Money cost per year, in other words, is $99.99 for Core if you pay upfront, or $179.88 if you pay monthly instead. First-year promo codes offering 30–50% off an annual plan turn up regularly for new subscribers, so it's worth checking for a current one before you enter payment details.
A payment method is required to start the trial — Monarch's own signup disclosure reads "Free 7-day trial, then $14.99/month. Cancel in settings before trial ends. Payment method required." Set a reminder before day seven if you don't want it to convert automatically.
What you get for the money
Core is the plan most Monarch users are on, and it covers what most people actually need from a budgeting app:
- Unlimited account syncing across banks, cards, loans, and investments
- An AI assistant for spending and budget questions
- Household access for couples, at no extra cost
- Two budgeting methods, plus spending and net-worth reports
- Investment tracking and portfolio analysis
- Credit score monitoring
- Receipt scanning and itemization
Plus adds a layer on top for people with more complex finances: retirement forecasting with real numbers, modeling for big life changes (a new job, a move, kids), separate tracking for an LLC, rental property, or side business, profit-and-loss reports with tax-prep exports, and deeper investment analysis. If none of that applies to you, Core covers the same account syncing, budgeting, and net-worth tracking Plus does — you're not missing the core product by skipping it.
Monarch Money price history
Monarch Money cost per year has crept up since the app launched, and 2026 is the first time it split into two tiers instead of one:
| Era | Structure | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Early years | Single plan | $89.99/year |
| Through 2025 | Single plan | $99.99/year |
| 2026–present | Core / Plus | $99.99/yr · $199.99/yr |
The Core price hasn't moved from $99.99/year — what changed is that Monarch carved a more expensive Plus tier out above it, aimed at users with retirement planning and small-business needs rather than raising the price for everyone.
How Monarch compares
| App | Price |
|---|---|
| Monarch Money | $14.99/mo or $99.99/yr (Core) |
| YNAB | $14.99/mo or $109/yr |
| Rocket Money Premium | $7–$14/mo, pay-what-you-choose |
| DueZen | Free |
Monarch, YNAB, and Rocket Money all sit in roughly the same price band because they're all paying for the same thing underneath: bank-account syncing through a data aggregator like Plaid, cloud storage for your transaction history, and the infrastructure to keep that connection working. That's a real cost, and it's what you're paying for when you subscribe to any of them. If what you actually need is your bills and subscriptions tracked and due dates flagged, a free manual tracker covers that without the subscription or the bank login. See the full real cost of budgeting apps for the category-wide breakdown, the DueZen vs. Monarch vs. YNAB vs. Rocket Money comparison for feature-by-feature detail, or Rocket Money vs Monarch Money for a head-to-head against just Rocket Money.
Is Monarch Money worth it?
For households juggling accounts across several banks who want everything synced automatically into one net-worth view — and who want to share that view with a partner at no extra cost — Monarch is a genuinely polished product, and at $99.99/year it's priced in line with what it does. The couples experience in particular is one of the better ones in the category.
It's overkill if what you actually want is simpler: due dates tracked, subscriptions flagged before they renew, and a rough sense of where your money is going, without handing over bank credentials or paying a subscription for it. That's a narrower job, and it doesn't require Monarch's architecture — or its price — to get done.
The free alternative
DueZen is currently free to download on iOS and Android. It covers the bills, subscriptions, and savings-goals side of what Monarch does, built on one architectural difference: no bank login, no data aggregator, and no account syncing. You enter what you owe and what you're saving toward by hand, and everything stays on your device — there's no server-side copy of your financial data for DueZen to protect, sell, or lose in a breach.
That trade-off — a few minutes of manual entry in exchange for skipping the bank connection and the subscription — is the whole pitch. See the bill tracker for what that looks like in practice, or just try DueZen and decide for yourself.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Monarch Money per year?
Monarch Money's Core plan is $99.99 per year (about $8.33/month when paid annually), or $14.99/month if you pay monthly. The newer Plus tier is $199.99 per year. Both plans include a 7-day free trial.
Does Monarch Money have a free version?
No. Monarch Money doesn't offer a free tier — after the 7-day trial ends, you need to subscribe to Core or Plus to keep using the app. If you want a genuinely free option, look at DueZen or an open-source tool like Actual Budget.
How long is the Monarch Money free trial?
Seven days. Monarch calls it "your first week is on us." A payment method is required to start the trial, and it converts to a paid subscription automatically, so set a reminder to cancel before day seven if you decide not to keep it.
Why did Monarch Money's price change?
Monarch has raised prices gradually and added a second tier over time: an early $89.99/year plan became $99.99/year, and in 2026 Monarch split into Core ($99.99/year) and a new Plus tier ($199.99/year) with retirement forecasting and business/rental tracking.
Is Monarch Money worth it in 2026?
For households who want automatic bank syncing across many accounts, shared budgeting with a partner, and detailed net-worth tracking, most reviewers consider Monarch worth the price. If you mainly want bills and subscriptions tracked, a free manual tracker like DueZen covers that without the subscription or the bank login.
