Best Reviewed
Accounting Software
- Best personal accounting software Quicken Deluxe 2010 *Est. $40
- Alternative personal accounting software Moneydance 2010 *Est. $40
- Budgeting and debt-management software You Need A Budget 3 *Est. $60
- Free personal accounting software GnuCash *Est. $0
Get info about new reports and updates
- Free phone and chat support
- Desktop alerts and overviews
- Links to images outside software
- Bill reminder runs on XP and Vista
- No Mac version
- Bugs and ads
- Depends too much on Internet connection
- Downloads transactions only for two years
We found the best professional reviews at CNet.com and PC World magazine. A more detailed review at About.com provides feature-by-feature comparisons of Money with Quicken. And more than 60 owners rate Money 2008 Deluxe at Amazon.com. The single-product review of Money at About.com is useful in considering upgrading from an earlier version. Money magazine compares Money with Quicken with little detail but makes some useful points.
Most reviews say Money 2008 falls just short of Quicken -- but not by a landslide. Money provides free phone support plus a nifty "Insight" tool for viewing alerts and snapshots of your finances on your desktop. You can also link transactions to images of receipts and checks stored elsewhere on your computer. However, reviews say most users won't find the upgrade from Money 2007 worthwhile. One drawback to Money 2008 is its heavy dependence on the Internet -- for accessing help files, for example. You can download transactions from financial institutions online, but not from PayPal or the iPhone -- and after two years, this feature requires upgrading to a new version. If you're choosing personal-accounting software for the first time, reviews recommend Quicken 2008 Deluxe (*est. $60) instead.
Our Sources
1. CNET
CNet.com reviews the Plus Premium version of Microsoft Money 2008, but assigns all the versions the same ratings of 6.7 ("good") on a 10-point scale -- lower than the "very good" rating for Quicken. Money 2008 provides excellent reports and has some nice features, but some aspects are awkward and ad-ridden.
Review: Microsoft Money Plus 2008 Deluxe, Elsa Wenzel, Nov. 19, 2007
This review compares the small-business versions of Money 2008 and Quicken 2008, but many of the comments also apply to other versions.
Review: First Look: Business Tools Help Quicken Edge Out Money Plus, Yardena Arar, Sept. 21, 2007
3. About.com
This head-to-head comparison of Quicken and Money includes a detailed breakdown of features that's very helpful. (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)
Review: Quicken vs. Microsoft Money, Shelley Elmblad
4. Amazon.com
More than 60 owners review Money Plus Deluxe here, giving it a rather dismal average rating of only 2.5 on a five-point scale -- slightly lower than the average rating of the equivalent 2008 Quicken software. Many owners complain of bugs and slowness, but a few do like the software. And one reports that it was simpler to switch to Money than to upgrade from an earlier version of Quicken to Quicken 2008.
Review: Customer Reviews: Money Plus Deluxe, Contributors to Amazon.com
5. About.com
This detailed single-product review compares several versions of Money Plus 2008, with plenty of attention to the investment features. The review is especially useful if you're not sure which version to choose for an upgrade.
Review: Microsoft Money Plus for 2008 Review, Shelley Elmblad
6. Money MagazineDetails/Subscribe
This review tests only the 2007 versions of Quicken and Money and focuses on basic accounting rather than tracking investments. The review does note that although both Quicken and Money are good products, both are "so big that they can run slowly and be difficult to navigate."
Review: The Best Personal-Finance Software, David Futrelle, Aug. 30, 2007
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