Saving money has a lot in common with flossing: you know it’s important, professionals wag their fingers at you when they find out you’ve been neglecting it, and it seems like a major pain to get in the habit of doing.
Luckily for reluctant savers, technology has come to the rescue in the form of automatic savings apps. (Unfortunately, automated flossing technology is still years away.)
Even the most budget-averse user can automatically begin growing their wealth using one of these apps used to round up savings.
Each of the following savings apps has a different approach to automating your finances and helping you achieve your savings goals. Some will round up your savings (aka “keep the change”), some use sophisticated algorithms to understand your ability to save, and some simply let you have full control–set it and forget it.
While many will give you the push you need to beef up your savings, some savings apps offer you the opportunity to invest your savings as well. We’ve tried to make a note of which apps let you invest, save, or both. We’ve also made a note of which platform the apps are available on: iPhone and/or Android.
Read on to see which one will work best for your wealth-building needs.
Most Popular Savings App
Most Popular Investing App
Best Automatic Savings Apps
These are the best automatic savings apps around today to help you get started saving money for an emergency fund, travel expenses, house down-payment, or any of your other financial needs.
Digit
If you want to save money without ever having to think about it, Digit is for you.
This program syncs with your bank accounts and analyzes your cash flow. Every two to three days, it will determine an amount of money (between $5 and $50) that is safe to transfer into an FDIC-insured Digit deposit account. More info…show
Digit communicates with you via text message, and you must sign up online, as it is technically not an app. Digit started as a text tool only but now has iPhone and Android apps. For those simply texting, you will receive a text message once per day with your current bank balance. You also have the option to receive more detailed text check-ins, which allow you to see recent debits. This can give you a no-effort daily snapshot of your finances- Pros: Saving is not only automatic but also painless. Your money is easily accessible if you need it and you earn 1% bonus on your savings.
- Cons: The monthly fee makes it tough to really grow wealth with Digit.
- Fees: Free for 30 days, then $5 per month
- Platform: iPhone and Android
- Best for: Beginner savers or those who hate dealing with money.
- Be sure to check out PT’s review of Digit.
Clarity Money
Clarity Money
In addition to its basic money-saving tools, Clarity Money also allows you to set up automatic savings through their ClaritySavings Account. You simply select the amount and frequency of your preferred `withdrawal, as well as the goal that you are saving for, and activate the automatic savings. Since everything is done within the app, creating and funding your savings account—not to mention pausing recurring withdrawals and closing the savings account—can all be accomplished with a couple of finger taps.
The money in your Clarity Savings account is FDIC insured up to $250,000, but the program currently does not offer interest on the money in this savings account. More info…show
- Pros: Clarity Money takes care of everything within the app, which makes it easy to act on their recommendations. The app offers a fairly global look at your money, helping you lower your bills, cancel unnecessary recurring expenses, save more money, and understand your money habits better.
- Cons: The Clarity savings account does not offer any interest.
- Fees: If you use Clarity’s Bill Negotiation & Lowering service, the program will take 33% of what you save as their commission.
- Platform: iPhone and Android
- Best For: Newbie budgeters or anyone who wants their money management to be easy and all in one place.
To learn more and get started with Clarity, visit www.ClarityMoney.com.
Related: Best Passive Income Apps
SaverLife
If you know you need to save and have no idea how to build the habit, SaverLife may be able to help. Their focus is on helping people create strong saving habits to help them build their “rainy day fund” or whatever they are saving for. The program is aimed at helping lower income families create a larger financial cushion in the event of an emergency, since nearly half of Americans do not have enough money set aside to pay for a $400 emergency. More info…show
- Pros: SaverLife is a free program and you can win prizes for saving your money, pledging to save money, and sharing your story.
- Cons: There is no guaranteed earning and the application must track your transactions.
- Fees: Free
- Platform: No app, web-based
- Best for: Beginner savers or those who struggle to save on a monthly basis.
Learn more and get started with Saverlife, go to SaverLife.org.
CoinOut
If you struggle with credit card spending but still want to save money effortlessly, the CoinOut can turn your receipts into savings. The app has partnered with companies like Taco Bell, Chipotle, Dollar Tree, Subway, Speedway, McDonald’s, and more. All you need to do is download the app and then scan your receipts to earn cash back on your purchases. More info…show
- Pros: CoinOut gives you the opportunity to receive cash back offers from your favorite retailers for free.
- Cons: You need to keep track of receipts and scan them in for each purchase. If you forget, you could miss out on offers.
- Fees: None.
- Platform: iPhone and Android
- Best For: Savers who struggle to save extra cash and enjoy a good deal.
Learn more and get started with CoinOut, visit Coinout.com.
WinWin
WinWin brings the brain-hacking motivation of gamification to your savings account. If you struggle to save money, the game-like WinWin may be able to give you a little nudge in the right direction. More info…show
- Pros: WinWinSave adds gamification to savings. This helps encourage you to have better savings habits.
- Cons: WinWinSave keeps your savings in a separate account in order to track your progress. Multiple accounts may become confusing.
- Fees: Free
- Platform: iPhone
- Best For: Beginning savers and/or budgeters or anyone who enjoys playing games on their phone.
Learn more and get started with WinWin.
Best Automatic Investing Apps for Beginners
Want to get started investing? These are the automatic apps you need to check out. They make it easy to understand the basics of investing and help you to set up automatic transfers to get started with just a little amount. No big minimums required.
Stash
If you are looking for a way to not only save money but invest in a portfolio you are passionate about, Stash might be your solution. It is nice to have an automated deposit into a savings account but it might be more beneficial to allow that money to work for you in an investment account. More info…show
- Pros: You can start your account with any amount of money. Stash allows you to buy partial shares so you can invest in the market for little capital. Also, Stash uses dollar cost averaging to help reduce risk and market timing.
- Cons: Stash is automated, so there is minimal control in the investments you acquire.
- Fees: Your first month is free and then $1 per month for under $5000 and .25% fee for over $5000.
- Platform: iPhone and Android
- Best For: Newbie investors or anyone who wants to dabble in the market but doesn’t want a large commitment.
- Our Review: Be sure to read our full review of Stash Invest.
To learn more, claim your $5 bonus, and get started with Stash visit www.stashinvest.com.
Acorns
This app introduces users to the world of investing–effortlessly. There are three tiers to the Acorns app: Acorns Core, Acorns Later, and Acorns Spend.
Acorns Core links to all of your spending accounts, including credit cards, checking accounts/debit cards, Paypal, and the like, and rounds up each transaction to the nearest dollar. Once you have reached a minimum of $5 in roundups, the money is transferred into an investment portfolio. More info…show
- Pros: Using the roundup aspect of Acorns’ savings platform can make saving (and then investing) money painless. The investment portion takes the confusion and intimidation out of investing, in addition to lowering the cost threshold. Additionally, the customer service is reported to be excellent.
- Cons: You do still need to keep track of your finances to make sure the roundup feature or recurring transfers do not overdraw your accounts or overload your credit card.
- Fees: $1 per month for Acorns Core, $2 per month for Acorns Later, and $3 per month for Acorns Spend
- Platform: iPhone and Android
- Best For: Those new to investing who have a good handle on their budgeting.
- Be sure to check out our review of Acorns.
To learn more and get started with Acorns, visit www.acorns.com.
Bumped
The founders of Bumped want you to own stock in the brands you love, without the intimidation of day trading. This recently-launched app offers a painless and 100% free way for you to start investing via the purchases you already make. More info…show
- Pros: Bumped makes investing completely automatic and free. If you are already brand loyal, this can be an excellent way for you to own a piece of the companies you love.
- Cons: You may have to wait a little while to get your invitation to join. If you are uncomfortable with sharing your transaction data, this app may not be right for you.
- Fees: None (It’s $0 all the way down the list.)
- Platform: iPhone and Android
- Best For: Newbie investors who are intimidated by traditional stock market investing, anyone who can’t afford traditional investing right now (especially young adults).
To learn more and get started with Bumped, visit Bumped.com.
Evati
Saving money for short-term goals, such as a vacation or a new car, is an important part of financial health. But often you are stuck stashing your money in savings accounts with lackluster APYs. That’s where Evati comes in. This saving and investing app helps you set short-term goals (think 2-10 year time horizons) and will help you invest your money to achieve those goals. More info…show
- Pros: Evati helps to motivate you to save for specific goals, rather than just to accumulate money. It has an attractive and user-friendly interface that is well-designed to make saving (and investing) fun.
- Cons: If you don’t have much money set aside in Evati, the fees can be steep.
- Fees: $1/month for less than $5,000 invested, 0.25% annually for more than $5,000 invested
- Platform: iPhone and Android
- Best For: Those who need a little push to help them with the targeted savings, and those who would like their savings to potentially earn them more than savings accounts can offer.
Banks with Automatic Savings Programs
Some full-service banks come with the ability to set up automatic savings programs. Why go to an app if your bank will do the same thing, right?
Qapital
Qapital motivates you to save by having you set up a goal to achieve. Once you have linked a checking account to your Qapital account (an FDIC-insured Wells Fargo savings account), you pick any goal you want to reach. From there, you set up savings rules to help you achieve your goal. There are eight different types of savings rules you can follow with Qapital:
More info…show
- Pros: Qapital leverages your behavior to increase your savings. The customizable and automated savings rules can help you stay motivated to reach your goals.
- Cons: You need a checking account to fund your Qapital account. You cannot use a savings account as your funding account because there is a minimum of eight Qapital transactions per month, which would go over most banks’ free savings withdrawal policies. There are no physical banks to speak to a customer service representative in person. You’re limited to $1,000 per day in ATM withdrawals. Qapital doesn’t cover ATM fees that other banks may charge.
- Fees: $3/month for Qapital Basic, $6/month for Qapital Complete, and $12/month for Qapital Master
- Platform: iPhone and Android
- Best for: The person who is goal-motivated, enjoys conducting banking via an app, and wants to effortlessly save using automation.
To learn more and get started with Qapital visit www.qapital.com.
Chime
Now banking is even easier with Chime. With no monthly fees, minimum balances, foreign transaction fees or overdraft fees you can rest assured that you won’t be overcharged. More info…show
- Pros: There are no fees and no minimum deposits required. You can also be rewarded for using their Visa card. You can receive cash back or points on your everyday purchases or bills.
- Cons: If you like the idea of having a bank branch that you can walk into, Chime might not be the bank for you. This application is 100% automated and that may be a little intimating to some.
- Fees: None, except a $2.50 for using ATMs outside of the fee-free network of 38,000 ATMs, or for over the counter cash withdrawals.
- Platform: iPhone and Android
- Best For: Anyone who is comfortable with automating all of their banking efforts.
To learn more and get started with Chime visit www.chimebank.com.
Bank of America’s Keep the Change
Bank of America’s savings program is the granddaddy of modern automatic savings apps. Keep the Change was launched in 2005 for Bank of America customers, and it is still going strong. In order to qualify, you must have a Bank of America checking account, debit card, and savings account. More info…show
- Pros: Automatic transfer allows for painless savings, and checkbook balancing becomes easier because every purchase is a whole number. Bank of America cancels Keep the Change transfers that would overdraw your account.
- Cons: Keep the Change is only available for Bank of America customers. The interest rate is very low, and you might need to transfer money occasionally to higher interest-bearing accounts.
- Fees: None
- Platform: iPhone and Android
- Best for: Bank of America customers. If you already bank with B of A, it makes sense to try the in-house automatic savings app.
To learn more and get started with Bank of America, visit www.bankofamerica.com.
About Emily Guy Birken
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Nice list of apps and an overview of them. I like Digit the best from this list given the ease of automating savings.
There is one gripe I have with Digit though.
Today, Digit does not allow you to link to an external robo-advisor like WiseBanyan, Betterment, Wealthfront or the like.
This means you have to withdraw the savings from your Digit account back to your bank and then transfer it to your brokerage or Robo-advisor of your choice to invest your savings.
It takes two steps when it should actually take only one.
I have been persuading Digit to allow establishing external links.
I would greatly appreciate if the PF community puts the same pressure on Digit so that it is a win-win for everyone.
–Michael
Automating money is such a new concept to me. I’m old school with my excel sheet! Definitely will have to look into these. Great list!
These are definitely becoming more popular ways to save money. I love that they automate things for you and make it easy.
Thank you.
Surprised to not see Mint here.
Also when discussing apps that link to your personal financial information, details about security and who owns and runs the apps and servers should be discussed.
Great point about security, Philip. We’ll include that in our next update.