Over a year ago I started using Saver for all my finance tracking and while that app was really good, the lack of updates since and the lack of a way to export your data made me look elsewhere. I’ve reviewed quite a few finance apps on Beautiful Pixels and while they are all great for basic tracking, I’ve been looking for something more. MoneyWell and MoneyWell Express by No Thirst Software fill that void perfectly.
MoneyWell on the Mac and iOS has gone through a few changes in the last few years. In its current incarnation, MoneyWell for Mac is a powerful finance software and the iPhone app, MoneyWell Express, is a companion app for the same. The Mac app looks amazing and MoneyWell Express on iOS makes you want to look your transactions.
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The Mac app which is the main app you will use to manage your stuff is full of subtle gradients and patterns. The main interface may look a little daunting at first but as with most good professional software, spending a little time with it is all it takes. Another great thing about the Mac app is the fact that it is only as complicated as you want it to be. The main interface is divided into four main sections. The left pane has the filters for transactions and expense buckets listed. You can add or change any of them or make use of the smart filters which is a nifty feature for dealing with many types of transactions. The middle or main pane has all your transactions, favourites, scheduled transactions with a nice search and filter option. You can toggle the graph view from here as well. Each transaction is displayed with a few details about it in the table and the amount of detail displayed can be changed. The graph view in particular that slides up from below the transactions is awesome. I love the colours used. The bottom of the app allows you to switch between sections like Cash Flow, Spending Plan, Portfolio and Reports. You can export your reports or print them directly from the app and each section change has a nice fade animation. Since this is a Mac app, there is a plethora of keyboard shortcuts for navigating and such that always make things easier. MoneyWell also supports Direct Connect to a list of institutions. Import and export of data via the QIF format is also available so if you have years of data in another source that allows exporting, you can bring it all to MoneyWell. There are even some tutorials available on the No Thirst Software site for Moneywell.
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MoneyWell Express will only work when you link it to MoneyWell on the Mac. It is a companion app that lets you enter transactions and view your last transactions or bank balance on the go. The main thing I want in a companion app or one that lets me input transactions is a way to do it quickly. It is easily noticeable that MoneyWell Express has been designed for just that. It lets you quickly enter by tapping the big + at the bottom in the middle, enter the amount, choose a category or favourite and save. Favourites are really useful for multiple transactions that happen at the same place like buying different types of things from the same store or using your iTunes account for apps or movies. Searching through transactions is a breeze as well. The settings within MoneyWell Express lets you hide older data by different ranges and setup a passcode lock for the app. The app is limited to use with one account for free and unlimited account support can be unlocked via an in app purchase. The small details in MoneyWell Express really make this app standout among the others just in terms of looks and feel let alone features. Scrolling your list of buckets quickly has the activity appear gradually with a nice animation and even the tab bar in the app is absolutely gorgeous. When the app is syncing, the settings gear is animated as well informing you about the sync progress.
Syncing between MoneyWell and MoneyWell Express is done through Dropbox. As of the latest version of MoneyWell Express, sync happens as soon as you launch and exit the app in the background. The Mac app continuously monitors the .moneywell file in dropbox so sync works perfectly. It is fast as well and in my use over the last month, I’ve had no transaction go missing and I don’t even wait for anything to complete. In and out of the app in a few seconds. It really just works. The presence of a URL scheme on the iPhone even allows me to schedule the launch of the app every night using Launch Center Pro.
No app is perfect. MoneyWell is near perfect as a suite and I’d like to see better support for travel expenses being entered in other currencies and converted automatically like Xpence. There’s also no option to launch MoneyWell express into new transaction as of now. I know No Thirst is working on an iPad app and can’t wait for that but even now, MoneyWell and MoneyWell Express make a beautiful and powerful finance suite that should take care of all your needs. MoneyWell is available for $49.99 directly from No Thirst and on the Mac App Store. There’s a free trial MoneyWell Express is available with single account support for free on the App Store. Spend some time with it and you will not look back.