A Quicken alternative without a subscription

Side by side

Can you keep using Quicken without a subscription?

Partly. You can't buy Quicken Classic without one: Quicken says a subscription is required and that all its future products will be subscriptions. But when you stop renewing, Quicken's Data Access Guarantee decides what still works:

• Deluxe, Premier and Business & Personal. The guarantee covers Deluxe and higher versions of Quicken Classic, in its subscription release. You can still view, edit and export your data, and enter transactions and accounts by hand. The data file stays on your computer.
• What stops. Online services, including transaction downloads, investment quotes and mobile sync, and access to Quicken Support. Feature updates end with the membership, and Quicken shows expiration messages until you renew.
• Classic Starter. It becomes read-only with limited functions, in Quicken's words. You can still enter and edit transactions and edit existing budgets and bill reminders, but you can't add accounts, new budgets or new bill reminders.
• Not covered. Quicken Simplifi and the cloud Quicken Business & Personal app. Quicken 2017 and older aren't covered either; Quicken says they may still work but are no longer supported.

So a lapsed copy of Quicken Classic Deluxe or higher keeps your history readable and still works as a ledger you type into. What it won't do is download from your bank or get new features, and it's still a finance manager rather than an envelope budget.

What it costs over time

Quicken Classic renews every year at the then-current price. These totals use the prices on Quicken's site on October 17, 2026, including the first-year offer for new members where there is one, and assume later prices stay the same.

With sync on the whole time, UrBudget comes to $129 over five years and $249 over ten. Quicken Classic Starter is $53.88 a year, with no first-year offer. How much Quicken costs goes through each plan's price, how renewal works and what happens if you stop paying.

Because Deluxe and higher keep working for manual entry after a subscription ends, you can stop paying for Quicken after any year. What you give up then is bank downloads, quotes, mobile sync, support and new features.

What UrBudget doesn't do that Quicken does

• Investments. No securities, share prices, performance or capital gains. An investment account can be a tracking account: it counts toward your net worth without being budgeted.
• Automatic bank downloads. UrBudget never connects to your bank. You download a statement file and import it.
• Bill pay. UrBudget can't pay bills or move money. Scheduled transactions record the bills you expect; paying them happens at your bank.
• Property and business. No rental property tools, invoices, business reports or tax schedules.
• Tax reports and retirement planning. Nothing like Quicken's tax reports or Lifetime Planner. The loan planner covers payoff dates and interest for loans.
• Quicken files. UrBudget can't open a .QDF or .quicken file.
• Your full history. Years of Quicken transactions, categories, splits and investment activity don't come across.
• Phone and web. There's no phone, tablet or web version of UrBudget.

Other Quicken alternatives

UrBudget replaces Quicken's budgeting, not all of Quicken. Depending on what you used it for, one of these may fit better:

• Moneydance is the closest to Quicken Classic: a desktop finance manager for Windows, Mac and Linux, with investments and bank downloads, sold once. UrBudget vs Moneydance
• GnuCash is free, open-source accounting software for Windows, Mac and Linux, built on double-entry bookkeeping. It suits people who like accounting rigor more than budgeting.
• Actual Budget is a free, open-source envelope budget with a desktop app. UrBudget vs Actual Budget
• Quicken Simplifi is Quicken's own cloud app, for tracking spending on the web and your phone with bank syncing, by yearly subscription.

For a wider list, including the subscription apps, see YNAB alternatives, which compares twelve budgeting apps.

Quicken alternatives for Mac and Windows

Not every Quicken alternative runs on both. Here's what runs where:

On a Mac

Quicken makes its own Mac version. Quicken Classic for Mac comes in Deluxe, Premier and Business & Personal editions and runs natively on Apple silicon. It's a separate program from Quicken for Windows, with its own kind of data file, but one subscription covers both. Quicken says Quicken for Mac can import data from Quicken for Windows 2010 or newer, and from Banktivity.

Banktivity runs only on Mac, iPhone and iPad; it isn't available for Windows or Android. It says you can always export your data, whatever the state of your subscription. If you want an alternative to Banktivity because you're moving to Windows, or because you'd rather not subscribe, UrBudget, Moneydance and GnuCash run on both. UrBudget can't open a Banktivity file, so you'd start from today's balances, the way switching from Quicken works below.

On Windows

Everything in the table except Banktivity runs on Windows 10 and 11, so on a PC the choice comes down to what you used Quicken for, as in the list above. Quicken Classic for Windows, Deluxe and higher, can also bring in data from Microsoft Money 2008 and 2009, Quicken says; see UrBudget vs Microsoft Money if that's where you're coming from.

If you use a Mac and a Windows PC, UrBudget's license covers both. Sync keeps them in step for $2 a month, or you can export the budget on one computer and import it on the other at no cost.

Which one fits you

These are different kinds of software. Quicken tracks your whole financial life; UrBudget plans what each dollar is for. You can also use both: Quicken for investments and old records, and UrBudget for the monthly budget.

Switching from Quicken

UrBudget can't open a Quicken data file, and it doesn't bring your Quicken history across. An envelope budget starts from the money you have today, though, so you don't need that history to begin.

1. Pick a start date and write down your balances. For each checking, savings and credit card account, and any cash you track, note the balance on that day, from your bank or from Quicken once it's up to date.
2. Add those accounts in UrBudget. Use the balances you wrote down. Investments, a mortgage or a car loan can be tracking accounts: they count toward your net worth without being budgeted.
3. Set up categories and assign your money. Make categories for what you spend on, add targets for bills that don't come every month, and assign the money in your accounts until Unassigned reaches zero. Getting started walks through it.
4. Import from your bank from now on. Download a statement file (OFX, QFX or CSV) for each account and choose Import file in its register. You see every row before it's saved, and rows you've already imported are marked as duplicates. The bank import guides show where the download is at Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and other banks.
5. Keep Quicken for your history. Keep the Quicken data file and a backup of it. With Deluxe or higher, the Data Access Guarantee means you can still view, edit and export it after your subscription ends.

Questions

Is there a version of Quicken you buy once?

No. Quicken Classic is sold by the year, and Quicken says all its future products will be subscriptions. Quicken 2017 and older may still work, Quicken says, but they're no longer supported. If you want a Quicken-style finance manager you buy once, look at Moneydance; UrBudget vs Moneydance compares it with UrBudget.

Does UrBudget work outside the US and Canada?

Yes. It works in any currency, number and date format, with statement files from any bank; the app itself is in English. Quicken says its products aren't designed to work outside the US and Canada.

Do I need an internet connection?

Not for everyday use with either one. Quicken needs to be online to activate and to download from your bank; after activation you can enter transactions offline. UrBudget needs a connection only to activate a license, for sync and for the optional assistant.

Quicken and Quicken Simplifi are trademarks of their owners. UrBudget isn't affiliated with Quicken.

• How much Quicken costs
• All comparisons
• UrBudget vs Moneydance
• UrBudget vs Microsoft Money
• Bank import guides