Best Debt Payoff Apps

By Rob Berger, JD | Last Updated March 11, 2026

I’ve tested and used budget apps for 30 years. And yet it still surprises me that most budget apps don’t include debt payoff features. You can track debts with most budget apps, but you can’t create debt payoff plans and track your progress.

The two exceptions are Monarch Money and YNAB. Both offer really good debt payoff tools. In my opinion, Monarch is better than YNAB (see my reasons below), but both are solid options.

Monarch Money vs YNAB

As I mentioned above, Monarch offers a better debt payoff solution than YNAB for a few reasons.

Debt Payoff Tool

First, and most important, Monarch’s debt payoff goal enables you to create a single plan for all of your debts or just those debts you select. The choice is yours.

In contrast, YNAB’s debt payoff tool focuses on just one debt at a time. You can see how making an extra payment on the debt will speed your debt paydown, but you can’t create a single plan for all of your debts.

Why does this matter?

By creating a plan for all of your debts with Monarch, you can choose between the debt snowball method (putting extra money to your largest debt) or the debt avalanche method (putting extra money to your debt with the highest interest rate). You can also plan to make additional monthly payments on your debt or a single, one-time extra payment.

Here’s a screenshot of each tool in action:

Account Aggregation

Second, Monarch connects with your financial accounts using one of three different account aggregators: Plaid, MX or Finicity. YNAB uses just Plaid and MX. The difference may not seem like much, but it is.

Why?

Depending on your financial institution, account aggregators connect to your accounts in one of two ways. The best way, in my opinion, uses what is called an OAuth-based API developed by the financial institution to access your data. The key point is that you enter your login credentials on the financial institution’s website, not the account aggregator’s website. You typically see a pop-up box with your bank’s web address.

The second way you must enter your login credentials on the account aggregator’s website. It then logs into your account and scraps the necessary information from the financial institution’s website.

I much prefer the first approach. In fact, when I see an app using the second approach, I don’t enter my login credentials. And with YNAB, that’s a problem with some of my accounts because it doesn’t use Finicity. It may or may not be an issue for you.

Cost

Finally, cost favors Monarch. It costs $99 a year when paid annually, and you can get the first year for 50% off using the promo code ROB50. YNAB costs $109 a year when paid annually. The price difference isn’t huge, but it is another reason to favor Monarch.

At this point it may sound like I’m picking on YNAB. I’m not. It’s a great tool. I even met Jesse the founder many years ago, and I used YNAB for years. That said, I do believe today that Monarch is the better overall option, and it’s certainly the better option for creating a comprehensive debt payoff plan.

I encourage you to use the tool that works best for you. And since they both offer free trials, you can check out both Monarch Money or YNAB