Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Mac finance programs

I used to use Microsoft Money, even on my Mac (I'm lazy, ok? I didn't want to switch since I could use VirtualBox). Then Microsoft abandoned Money, so I started looking for something else.
  • iBank ($59.99): Scheduled transactions can't estimate future payments based on past payments (e.g. credit card bills). OK interface, slick looking. From user forums it looks like paycheck setup is not straightforward and at least one recent user had data loss with an upgrade.
  • Budget: Uses the envelope model, which I don't like. Plus no easy way to forecast balances. Well, I didn't look very hard but I shouldn't have to.
  • Cashbox (free?): Not actively developed(?), very basic features only.
  • Money ($39): Doesn't import too nicely...all my transactions are listed as year 2020. No forecast, no paycheck entry.
  • Moneydance ($39.99): What MS Money called bills are called reminders here. Import from MS Money works pretty well. Transaction entry is straightforward. Not sure how well the "Balance Predictor" works, and it looks like paychecks are splits. They have decent instructions/support for transitioning from MS Money. On the downside, they are not too fast with updates to their software.
  • Moneywell ($49.99): Nice looking interface, but no forecast, and another "envelope" model program, which I still don't like.
For me the winner is...Moneydance. It is the easiest transition from MS Money, and import from MS Money was straightforward. Now I just hope the promised Moneydance 2010 materializes some time soon!