Free Mint Alternative That Doesn't Need Your Bank Login
Mint is gone. And when Mint refugees go looking for a replacement, they run into the same wall almost every time: the app wants you to connect your bank by handing over your real online-banking login. If that makes you uneasy, you're not being paranoid — and you're not out of options.
This guide covers what actually happened to Mint, why nearly every "app like Mint" now insists on a bank connection, and how to budget just as well — arguably better — without linking your bank at all.
Wait — what actually happened to Mint?
Intuit shut Mint down and pushed its users toward Credit Karma, which is a credit-monitoring product, not a budgeting app. Millions of people who relied on Mint's category tracking and monthly budgets were left without a real replacement. That's the "Mint refugee" wave — and it's why searches for Mint alternatives and apps like Mint exploded.
The problem: most of the popular replacements — YNAB, Monarch, Copilot, Rocket Money and the rest — are built around automatically importing your transactions, which means step one is almost always "connect your bank account."
Why do most Mint alternatives want your bank login?
Automatic transaction import is the headline feature of the Mint model. To pull your transactions in, these apps use an aggregator (usually Plaid or MX) that connects to your bank. In many cases that means typing your online-banking username and password into a third party so it can log in on your behalf and read your accounts.
It's convenient. It's also a lot of trust to extend, and plenty of people have completely reasonable reasons to say no:
- Security: your banking credentials are the keys to everything. Fewer places holding them is objectively safer.
- Privacy: aggregators can see every transaction across every linked account — and some budgeting companies' business models involve your data.
- Reliability: bank connections silently break all the time. Anyone who used Mint remembers the "please re-authenticate your bank" treadmill.
- It doesn't actually make you budget: watching transactions land after you've already spent the money is tracking, not budgeting. It tells you what happened, not what you can afford next.
Is it safe to give a budgeting app your bank login?
Reputable apps use bank-grade encryption and tokenized connections, and for many people the convenience is worth it. But "safe enough for most people" isn't the same as "something you have to do." The honest answer is that you can run a genuinely good budget without ever connecting a bank — people did it for decades. The trick is a method that doesn't depend on a feed of past transactions.
MyGood: a free Mint alternative with no bank login required
MyGood was built for exactly this. Instead of importing your history and sorting it into charts after the fact, it works forward from your paychecks:
- No bank connection required. Set up your whole budget by typing in your income and bills. Nothing to link, nothing to re-authenticate.
- Safe-to-spend, per day. The core number: exactly how much you can spend today without coming up short before your next paycheck. No mental math.
- Paycheck-based, not month-based. Real life runs on when you get paid, not on a tidy calendar month. MyGood budgets between paychecks, the way your bank account actually behaves.
- 60-second setup. You can have a working budget before a bank-linking flow would have even finished loading.
- Free. The budgeting that matters costs nothing.
- Bank sync is there if you want it — later, and optional. If you ever decide you want automatic import, you can turn it on. It's a choice, not a gate you have to pass to start.
MyGood vs. Mint vs. the bank-sync crowd
| MyGood | Mint | Typical Mint alternatives | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still around in 2026 | Yes | Shut down | Yes |
| Works without a bank login | Yes | No | Rarely |
| Free | Yes | Was free | Usually paid |
| Tells you a daily safe-to-spend | Yes | No | Rarely |
| Built around paychecks | Yes | No | Mostly monthly |
| Setup time | ~60 seconds | Bank linking | Bank linking |
What you give up by skipping the bank connection (and what you don't)
Being upfront: without automatic import, you enter spending yourself instead of having it appear automatically. For a lot of former Mint users that's a feature, not a bug — the small act of logging a purchase is what keeps you aware of your money, which is the entire point of budgeting.
What you don't give up: a clear plan, categories, knowing your safe-to-spend, and a budget that never breaks because a bank connection expired. You trade a passive feed you scrolled past for an active number you actually use.
Leaving Mint? Start in 60 seconds.
Type in your paychecks and bills, and see your safe-to-spend for today. Free, and no bank login required.
Get started free → No bank connection. No credit card. Just your budget.Frequently asked questions
What is the best free Mint alternative that doesn't require a bank login?
MyGood is a free budgeting app that works entirely without connecting your bank. You enter your paychecks and bills manually, and it calculates how much you can safely spend each day until your next paycheck. Bank syncing is optional and off by default.
Why did Mint shut down?
Intuit discontinued Mint and moved users to Credit Karma, which focuses on credit monitoring rather than budgeting. That left former Mint users looking for a true budgeting replacement.
Do I have to connect my bank account to use MyGood?
No. MyGood is designed to work without any bank connection. Optional bank import exists if you want it later, but it is never required to build or use your budget.
Is it safe to give a budgeting app my bank login?
Reputable apps use encryption and secure aggregators, and many people are comfortable with it. But you can run a complete, accurate budget without ever sharing banking credentials — which is exactly the approach MyGood takes.
Is MyGood really free?
Yes. Core paycheck budgeting and your daily safe-to-spend are free to use, with no bank connection and no credit card required to start.