EveryDollar Review 2025: Best App to Fine-Tune Your Budgeting Skills

If you’ve been searching for advice on managing your money, you’ve probably come across Dave Ramsey. The founder and CEO of Ramsey Solutions has been dishing out tips on how to deal with debt, save money and spend wiser for decades, making him one of the big names in the personal finance sphere.

EveryDollar allows you to apply Ramsey’s Baby Steps to financial freedom to your daily money management. The mobile app, designed by Ramsey Solutions, has emerged as one of the top budgeting apps on the market today.

But is this app a good fit for you? Read on to find out.

8.5

EveryDollar

Like

• 
  Affordable
• 
  Detailed approach
• 
  Financial coaching

Don’t like

• 
  Time-consuming
• 
  Limited free features
• 
  Pricier monthly plan

How does EveryDollar work?

Like other budgeting apps, EveryDollar syncs with your bank accounts to pull your transactions into the app automatically. However, while some apps categorize transactions for you, EveryDollar puts the work on your shoulders.

The app uses the zero-based budgeting method, which requires you to assign a job to every dollar. You can assign only money you’ve already received, forcing you to be deliberate about how you allocate your cash.

In the Budget tab, you have three categories: 

• Planned: How much money you expect to receive from paychecks and other income streams, along with expected spending amounts
• Spent: An ongoing tally of how you’re actually spending your funds
• Remaining: How much money you have left for the month

You can split a transaction between categories, which can be helpful for granular budgeters. For example, I assigned a portion of a recent Target expense to Groceries and the remaining amount to Fun Money since the rest of the purchase went to toys for our son. 

The Insights tab allows you to see your spending totals and offers a breakdown of where your money is going so you can see how well you’re sticking to your plan.

EveryDollar Premium costs $17.99 a month or $79.99 a year. There’s a 14-day free trial to try the app out and decide if it’s right for you.

While there is a free version, it’s bare bones and doesn’t provide much, so you’ll probably want to spring for the paid version.

 What we like

• Highly detailed approach: Assigning a job to each dollar may sound like a lot of work. That’s because it is. However, if you’ve struggled to make sense of your money, this methodical approach can make a big difference in successfully balancing your budget.
• Affordable annual plan: If you pay for a full year’s subscription upfront — a cost of $79.99 — you’ll get a roughly 20% discount off the cost of the monthly plan.
• Financial coaching: EveryDollar Premium subscribers can access group coaching calls with financial experts. Topics include budgeting, debt, investing and boosting your income.
• New features feedback: Under the Profile tab, you can suggest new features you’d like to see in the app. It’s a nice opportunity for people actually using the app to suggest ways to improve it.

What we don’t like

• Time-consuming: While the app syncs with your bank accounts, it’s up to you to categorize transactions. Other apps do this for you. While this could be useful for some people, others might find it overwhelming.
• Limited free features: “You get what you pay for” rings true when it comes to EveryDollar’s free version. You can’t even connect your bank account with it — you must enter each transaction manually. You need to spend money to make the app worth your while.
• Pricier monthly plan: If you choose to pay by the month, the $17.99 monthly price tag is on the expensive end compared with other top budgeting apps.
• Data sharing with third parties: The app already makes plenty of money from subscription fees, so it’s disappointing that the company shares information with third parties for advertising.

Is EveryDollar safe?

Yes. EveryDollar uses advanced data encryption and firewall barriers to safeguard your information. The app has never had a documented data breach.

One potential caution: Ramsey Solutions’ privacy policy states that the company works with third parties “who may collect personal information for interest-based advertising purposes.” That makes it easier for these companies to sell you things based on your activity in the app. 

Who is EveryDollar suited for?

EveryDollar can be a good choice for anyone who wants to fine-tune their budgeting skills. Its zero-based budgeting method isn’t easy, but hard work can pay off.

Plus, EveryDollar has a great collection of reviews for Apple users — 4.7 stars out of 5 on the App Store. Google Play users have only given it 3.7 out of 5 stars, so if you’re an Android user, you’ll want to study the app closely during the 14-day free trial period.

It’s important to note that EveryDollar is geared solely toward budgeting. It’s not an all-in-one financial app, so if you’re looking for help with things like planning for long-term goals, you should look elsewhere.

Alternatives to the EveryDollar budgeting app

The most fitting alternative to EveryDollar is YNAB, which also uses zero-based budgeting. I found EveryDollar’s user interface to be a bit more visually appealing than YNAB’s, but I found YNAB to be better when it comes to free online tutorials and regular educational webinars. Plus, YNAB’s free trial period is much longer. You get 34 days to test the app and determine if it works for you.

If the zero-based budgeting approach isn’t for you, check out CNET’s recommendations for other top budgeting apps.

Finally get a handle on your budget with EveryDollar.

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