Pros & Cons
-
- Free
- Voluminous financial education content
- Promotes understanding of cash flow and net worth
- Excellent new mobile app
- Provides access to cash, investing, and Treasury accounts
-
- Supports minimal transaction details
- No budget tools or subscription tracking
NerdWallet Specs
| Android App | |
| Free Credit Report/Score | |
| Free Version | |
| Income/Expense Tracking | |
| iOS App | |
| Web Interface |
NerdWallet's completely revamped mobile apps are now the primary platforms for its core tools and personal finance content. The free service has always promoted financial literacy through its reams of timely, thorough, and well-written articles (among other educational vehicles), and the latest redesign puts a greater emphasis on tracking cash flow, net worth, and other aspects of your finances. It even gives you access to automated investing, high-yield savings, and Treasury accounts that suit newcomers. All that said, NerdWallet doesn't provide the advanced transaction management options, budgeting features, or superb user experiences of Quicken Simplifi and YNAB, so they remain our Editors' Choice winners.
Pricing: It's Free
NerdWallet is fully free to use, so long as you don't mind non-intrusive ads for financial products. It's less aggressive about selling you things than Credit Karma. Quicken Simplifi ($5.99 per month, billed annually) and YNAB ($9.08 per month, billed annually) don't have free tiers, but then again, they offer far more financial management features.
Interface and Ease of Use: Just Download the Mobile Apps
NerdWallet’s website looks pretty much the same as it did last year, with one major exception: It directs you to the mobile apps when you try to access features that they handle more thoroughly or exclusively. Using the browser-based version isn’t a great experience because the company hasn't paid enough attention to minimizing clutter. You might also see references to features that are no longer available on the apps, including bill tracking, budgeting, and insurance shopping.
The user experience on the apps is totally different; they benefit from a revamped design and layout. The home page focuses on the elements that make up your cash flow and net work, which it illustrates through charts and lists (more on that later). Another page deals with the movement of your money, helping you set up and make deposits and withdrawals. Another takes you to the expanded education content, and the final main page lets you shop for targeted financial products. The apps are attractive and easy to use—even if they are missing some content. I tested the apps just a few days after they launched, and I ran into only occasional glitches. Some of the learning content seemed a little thin, too, though the company continues to add resources.
The setup process (which you can do via the apps) doesn’t require much time or information. Since the service provides your credit score, you need to supply your Social Security number up front. Competitors that provide this information, such as Credit Karma and WalletHub, also require it. If you want NerdWallet to import transactions from your online financial accounts (which I highly recommend), you must also enter those login details.
Transaction Management: A Mixed Bag
NerdWallet has been adding more personal finance tools over the last few years, though financial education remains its primary appeal. For example, it encourages you to connect your online financial accounts and import transactions, as mentioned, so it can use that information in other areas. The transaction management tools are still weak. Available fields cover just the account, amount, category, date, and vendor (or income source).
Other apps are more thorough about transactions. Rocket Money, for example, allows you to add notes, designate a tax-deductible status, and split transactions. You can create rules so that it, for example, assigns all transactions involving a certain vendor to a specific category. NerdWallet doesn’t let you add or edit categories of transactions, but you can still filter them by category and date.
Credit Score: Everything You Really Need
NerdWallet provides the core details you need for tracking your credit score—and possibly improving it. The app pulls one credit score from TransUnion once per week. Credit Karma, meanwhile, gives you two scores every day. Credit scores don’t change frequently, so NerdWallet’s approach seems sufficient. You can see the factors that go into your credit score, ranked from highest to lowest impact: payment history, credit utilization, age and mix of accounts, balances, and recent inquiries.
A credit simulator shows what would happen if you took specific actions, such as letting accounts go past due or opening a new credit card. That information is extremely useful for everyone, but especially if you are worried about your credit score dropping. NerdWallet also tells you why your credit score might have changed. Finally, you can see your full credit report, something every competing app also does.
Educational Content: NerdWallet’s Biggest Strength
You can learn a lot about your net worth by using NerdWallet’s financial tools. But the app also has voluminous educational resources. Competing personal finance apps, particularly Credit Karma, have articles about credit scores and how to improve them. But NerdWallet doesn’t just teach you about credit scores. Its content covers numerous aspects of personal finance, including budgeting and saving, investing, and making money. Multiple self-guided online courses cover topics such as building credit. Podcasts and tons of clear, well-researched articles are available, too.
I’ve criticized NerdWallet in the past for not having enough educational content on its mobile apps. Since my last review, the company has added a dedicated Learn tab, meaning you have access to actionable money advice, in-depth explainers, and real-time updates on financial news and trends. Editorial content about and reviews of financial products and other educational resources are what NerdWallet does best.
Similar Products
Our Current Picks for The Best Personal Finance and Budgeting Apps for 2026
Budgeting Tools: Gone for Good
NerdWallet no longer lets you manage budgets. Previously, it embraced the 50/30/20 model. The feature was never complete, however, as it didn’t even allow you to create your own budgets.
If you want a traditional budget tool that lets you set spending goals for a variety of categories and link them to online bank accounts for transaction imports, choose Monarch or Quicken Simplifi. If you’re serious about budgeting and want an app that can change the way you think about money, I highly recommend YNAB.
Cash Flow and Net Worth: Analyzing Your Assets And Spending
The home page represents the core of the NerdWallet apps. It provides insight into what you earn, spend, owe, and own. NerdWallet breaks down your net worth into its many elements (such as cash, investments, and property) and tells you the total. You can see how your net worth has changed in a chart that supports several date ranges. The more financial accounts you link, the more accurate these numbers—and your total net worth—will be.
The cash flow page offers more. It quickly summarizes your activity for the current month by displaying totals for cash in and out (with links to supporting transactions). A six-month comparative chart and a line graph show how the current month compares with the previous one in more detail. You can toggle a one-month pie chart between Top Categories and Top Places to see how you spend and view the underlying details. NerdWallet doesn’t identify or track bills and subscriptions, unlike Rocket Money and others.
Investing Tools: Great For Beginners
NerdWallet adds two new investing vehicles that I think fit the app’s audience quite well. Quicken Classic has the best tools for managing investments of any service I tested since it lets you both research securities and track your portfolio’s progress in multiple advanced ways. Although there’s certainly an audience for those features, NerdWallet targets a different group: individuals who want to ease into investing in a low-risk, but potentially high-yield way.
Atomic Invest provides both of these services. One helps you sign up for a US Treasury account so you can purchase and manage Treasury Bills. This account doesn't impose any minimums, and you can withdraw at any time. As of this writing, T-Bills are earning 4.39% APY. You typically buy them in increments of $100, and they mature in less than a year.
You can also set up an Atomic Automated Investment Account through NerdWallet. You supply information about your investment goals, time horizon, risk tolerance, and values, and Atomic uses this information to build an appropriate automated portfolio. It uses direct indexing to build the equity portion. This account doesn't have a minimum either, and Atomic charges 0.18% annually for NerdWallet members.
NerdWallet also now has a cash account through Atomic Invest that’s currently offering 4.65% APY for six months, after which it goes down to 4.0% APY.
PCMag doesn't evaluate financial products.
Is NerdWallet Safe to Use?
NerdWallet says it uses industry-standard security controls and encrypts your financial data (128-bit encryption) for enhanced safety. If you choose to connect your financial accounts and import transactions, NerdWallet relies on Plaid and Yodlee, two trusted third-party platforms. The company supports SMS verification through TransUnion, and now requires multi-factor authentication, which I appreciate. You can visit NerdWallet’s security page to learn more about its policies.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: NerdWallet)
NerdWallet
NerdWallet is an excellent resource for personal finance education, and its retooled mobile apps help you track your net worth and take advantage of simple investment opportunities.