Rocket Money Review: Full-Featured Budgeting App That's Surprisingly Easy to Use

If you're looking for a way to simplify your finances, the Rocket Money app could be a good budgeting app for you. While the free version is relatively barebones, you can easily see all your accounts in one interface, as well as identify recurring subscriptions you may not even know exist.

And if you want to take your finances to the next level, the Premium version of Rocket Money comes with a concierge that can cancel unwanted subscriptions and even tackle bill negotiations for you.

Below, we'll break down the pros and cons of Rocket Money and help you determine if it's the right budgeting app for you.

At a glance

What is Rocket Money and how does it work?

Rocket Money is a money management and budgeting app that lets you consolidate all of your financial accounts in one place. You can link all of your main accounts:

• Checking accounts
• Savings accounts
• Credit card accounts
• Investment accounts

Linking is done through Plaid, a trusted third-party used by many financial institutions. You'll need to link at least one checking account to use the Rocket Money app.

Once your accounts are linked, you'll be able to see all of your account balances from the app dashboard. The app will also find recurring payments, like bills and subscriptions, automatically, as well as let you add them manually.

The Rocket Money app includes a variety of money management features, including the option to set monthly budgets for various types of expenses. You can also set up automatic savings, which uses AI to allocate savings automatically based on your spending habits so you're less likely to overdraft.

Everything gets subtracted from your running "Left for spending" total, so you see at a glance how much unassigned money you have at any given time. And the Net Worth feature gives you an overview of where you stand financially.

Learn more on Rocket Money's site: Rocket Money

Top perks

This is a very robust app with a lot of positives.

Easily see all accounts in one place

It's important to always know where your money is going -- and where it needs to go. Your Rocket Money dashboard shows all of your account balances, overall and individually. You'll also see recent transactions, upcoming bills, and how much money you have "Left for spending."

Take a deeper dive by using the Spending tab, which breaks down your monthly money movements. The app can also find all of your regular bills and recurring payments, making it easy to see who -- and when -- you need to pay on the Recurring tab calendar.

Create budget categories for every expense

After your bills and utilities are taken out, the Rocket Money app lets you create a variety of different budget categories to divy up the rest of your funds. Have regular pet expenses you want to set aside? Planning for an upcoming vacation? Add them to your monthly budget in a few taps.

Automate your savings

Setting your accounts to help you save automatically can be a great way to boost your savings without having to think about it too much. Rocket Money's Autopilot feature lets you set savings goals and choose the frequency of savings. The smart AI also analyzes your accounts to figure out the best time for you to save to not interfere with bills or other expenses.

Savings are moved to an FDIC-insured savings account with NBKC Bank and partners of Synapse. If you're going to use this feature, be sure to regularly move your savings into a high-yield savings account to take advantage of better interest rates.

Credit reports and tracking

Your credit scores and history are an important part of your personal finances, so it's handy that Rocket Money lets you stay on top of them. You can see your latest credit scores, as well as set up real-time alerts to track changes. You'll also have access to your three credit reports so you can make sure potential lenders are seeing you at your best.

Available on multiple platforms

The Rocket Money app is available on both iOS and Android devices, including phones and tablets, so you can use it on whatever device you prefer. You can also log in via your desktop browser, which is a boon to folks who prefer to operate on a larger screen from time to time. One thing to note is that you'll be required to set up two-factor authentication if you use the desktop/browser option.

What could be improved

Few apps are perfect, and this one has several downsides worth noting.

Free version is very limited

The main pain point with the Rocket Money app is that the free version is barebones at best. If all you want to do is link your accounts so you can see all of your balances in one place, you're covered. You can even do some very basic budgeting. But all of the most noteworthy features are reserved for folks who spring for the Premium membership. And yes, this includes the subscription service cancellation feature that intrigues so many potential users.

Bill Negotiation is costly

Another highly hyped feature of the Rocket Money app is the Bill Negotiation service. Rocket claims its negotiators can get better rates on cellphone, cable, and other bills. The catch? It's not an included service. If the negotiation is successful, you'll need to pay 30% to 60% of the estimated first year's savings. That fee is charged as a lump sum at time of service, too.

App can be slow to respond

During our testing, the mobile app worked fairly well overall, but there were multiple occasions where it was very slow to respond. This meant tapping a button multiple times to get it to recognize the button push. There was also one occasion where the image went past the screen, making it hard to hit the necessary button to continue.

If you want an app with more customization: YNAB (You Need a Budget) is ideal for the detail oriented budgeters who want to give every dollar a job. The downside is the app has a bit of a learning curve and isn't as intuitive as Rocket Money, so if you prefer simplicity, it might not be a good fit.

If you want an app with retirement planning: Empower has the basic features of a good budgeting app, but it focuses more on retirement and investments than other options. It can help assess your retirement goals and suggest possible investment improvements. If you're more focused on budgeting than long-term investments, Rocket Money may still be the better option.

The pricing structure for the Rocket Money app is a bit unusual. Rocket Money offers a range of prices, and you can essentially choose what you want to pay. (Yes, you read that right.)

So, if you don't want to pay anything, you can stick with the free version. This is pretty basic, but it has a few useful features like account linking and standard budgeting.

If you want the Premium membership, you have some options:

• Pay $36 annually, so your monthly cost works out to $3 a month
• Pay $48 annually, so your monthly cost works out to $4 a month
• Pay anywhere from $5 to $12 a month, each month

So, what is it, $5 a month or $12 a month -- or something in between? It's up to you. You choose your rate.

To be clear, there is no difference in the features or services you get for the various Premium prices. You'll get the same access paying the $36 a year as you would paying $5 a month -- or even $12 a month. (Why anyone would choose to pay more than twice as much for the same service is beyond me.)

Interested in the Premium subscription but not sure if the features are worthwhile? There is a seven-day free trial during which you can check out all of the Premium features. Just make sure you cancel before the trial is over if you don't want to pay for the service.

Note that if you make use of the Bill Negotiation feature, you're going to pay extra, even if you're already paying for a Premium membership. You only pay if they are successful in reducing your bill, but the cost is high, ranging from 30% to 60% of the first year savings.

If you're looking for a way to simplify your finances, the Rocket Money app could be a good tool. It shows all of your bank and credit card accounts in one place, organizes your bills and budgets, and even offers credit score tracking. The free version is very limited, however, so you'll likely need to pay for the Premium membership for the app to be really useful.

Learn more on Rocket Money's site: Rocket Money