What Mint is
Mint was Intuit’s free, ad-supported money tracker: link everything, get automatic categories, set a budget and watch it, see net worth. Intuit announced its shutdown in November 2023 and closed it on March 23, 2024, inviting users to Credit Karma. Credit Karma today syncs accounts, shows net worth (including 401(k), brokerage and mortgage balances), lists transactions with automatic categories and month-over-month comparison, and shows credit scores — but it has no custom categories, no budget creation, no savings goals and no bill or subscription management. Since May 2024 former Mint users can no longer import their Mint history.
What Allocate is
Allocate is a personal-finance app built so you can plan in plain language. You link your accounts (Plaid), then you talk: “can I afford a $600 flight in November?”, “move the house goal out a year”, “what happens if I put $400 more into the 401(k)?” Allo-Bot answers from your real numbers and, when something should change, stages the change for you to approve. It never moves money.
Around the conversation are three things we haven’t seen elsewhere. My plan is a written plan — your goals, in order, with what each takes a month and when it lands — that reads like a document, not a dashboard. Workspace is a board you build from your own data: pin a card for any number, a note beside it, a sheet with live cells, and ask the guide to break a figure down onto the board. And a morning brief tells you what moved and what needs a yes, so you don’t have to go looking. Pay that comes in pieces — a bonus, a commission, a vest — is handled as income in the plan, not a surprise deposit.
The point of all of it is that a plan should be liquid. A raise, a move, a baby, a job change, a bad month: you say what changed, and the plan moves — goals re-dated, amounts re-sized, the brief the next morning telling you where things stand. It’s not a budget to keep up; it’s a plan that keeps up with you. One price, US only, web and iPhone.
Where Mint is better
- It was free. Credit Karma still is. Allocate is $25 a month or $20 a month paid yearly.
- Android. Mint ran everywhere; Credit Karma does too. Allocate is web and iPhone.
- Credit scores. Credit Karma’s reason for existing. Allocate doesn’t show them.
- Breadth without effort. Mint’s appeal was that it asked nothing of you. Allocate asks you to say yes to things.
Where Allocate is better
- It exists, and it plans. Credit Karma has no budgets, goals or categories of your own. Allocate has a plan you talk to.
- Built to change. Mint was a snapshot. Allocate is a plan that moves with your life: say what changed — a raise, a move, a job change — and the goals re-date and re-size, with the brief the next morning telling you where things stand.
- Plain language. Mint made you find the answer in charts. Allocate answers “can I afford this?” from your own numbers and stages the change if something should move.
- My plan and Workspace. A written plan you can read, and a board you build from your own figures. Mint had neither; neither does anything free.
- Pay in pieces. Mint treated a bonus or a vest as a big deposit. Allocate treats it as expected income that funds the goals it should.
- No ads, no data sold. The subscription is the whole business. Mint was funded by pitching you cards.
- A morning brief instead of a dashboard to remember to open.
Which one should you pick?
- You want a free overview and don’t need a budget — Credit Karma still does that.
- You’re on Android.
- You mostly cared about credit scores.
- What you actually wanted from Mint was to know what you can afford.
- You’d rather ask than dig through charts.
- You want a written plan and an assistant that can act with your approval.
- You’re done with ads and card pitches.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mint really gone?
Yes. Intuit shut Mint down on March 23, 2024 and directed users to Credit Karma. The Mint apps and site no longer work.
Can I import my Mint data into Allocate?
No. Mint’s export window closed and, since May 2024, even Credit Karma no longer accepts Mint imports. Allocate rebuilds your history from your bank accounts through Plaid, which is usually more complete than a CSV export anyway.
Does Credit Karma have a budget?
No. Credit Karma shows net worth, transactions with automatic categories, and credit scores. There’s no budget creation, no custom categories, no savings goals and no subscription management.
What’s the closest free replacement for Mint?
There isn’t a full one. Credit Karma covers the overview for free; Rocket Money’s free tier covers subscriptions. Everything with a real budget — YNAB, Monarch, Copilot, Simplifi, Allocate — is paid.
Why is Allocate paid when Mint was free?
Mint was paid for by ads and card offers built from your data. Allocate’s subscription is the whole business: your data isn’t sold, shared or used to pitch you anything.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Intuit Mint (shutdown timeline)
- PYMNTS: Intuit to shut down Mint
- WalletHub: what happened to Mint
- Credit Karma: net worth launch
- Forbes Advisor: Credit Karma app review (2026)
We wrote this comparison. We tried to be fair, and every Mint claim links to where we read it, but we make Allocate, so read it as one side of the argument and try both.