Personal Finance Sites : Ratings of Sources

Our AssessmentThis excellent review evaluates and compares five financial management sites. According to reviewer Don Reisinger, Buxfer.com, Geezeo.com (whose personal finance service is now discontinued) and Wesabe.com are suitable mainly for youngsters who want basic information and don't have complicated finances. Buxfer's strong suit is its simplicity, while Wesabe.com shines at providing goals and tips for saving money. Wesabe also offers an online community. Mint.com gets slightly higher marks, but it "doesn't provide the kind of depth that you would expect from a full-featured money management tool."

Our AssessmentThis website run by Forbes columnist and business strategy consultant Sramana Mitra features a four-part series, with consultants Charles Bush and Kathy Hwang reviewing six online finance software products. Bush and Hwang rate the sites based on whether they provide four features: future forecasting, education, support groups and a scorecard feature that lets users know how well they are doing in meeting financial goals. Mint.com stands out for its aesthetics and ease of use, while Wesabe.com wins praise for its social networking features.

Our AssessmentThis comparative review is credible and useful, since it is based on hands-on testing and includes both desktop and web-based personal finance applications. Currey tries out various websites, including Mint.com, Wesabe.com and Quicken Online (now discontinued), as well as the desktop financial software packages Money Plus and Quicken Deluxe 2009. He narrows the field to five finalists, and evaluates each based on four criteria: security, ease of use, features and value. Currey gives Mint high scores for ease of use and value. Wesabe gets good marks for security and value, but lower ones for features and ease of use.

Our AssessmentThis review evaluates three financial services websites: Mint.com, Billeo.com and Rudder.com. Editor Errol Pierre-Louis does not rank them, but identifies the most useful features of each one, and provides links to full reviews of all three. Mint is a four-star Editors' Choice pick; editors like its ease of use and ability to track many types of accounts and generate reports that enable the user to see how money is being spent and where savings may be possible.

Our AssessmentLauren Fairbanks tries three financial management sites, then compares them and lists their pros and cons. Fairbanks concludes that Mint.com "offers the most comprehensive package with more useful graphs and trackers." Wesabe.com offers more basic financial management tools, but also provides an online community. Buxfer.com's key feature is the ability to keep track of and pay IOU's from friends and acquaintances.

Our AssessmentUsers posting to Epinions.com both attack and defend Mvelopes.com. Most complain about the company's billing and refund policies; a few defend it. Other complaints include what some say is a malfunction in the automatic bill-pay feature that results in two payments' being made on the same account in the same month. Another complaint is that technical support is lacking, and customer service is not always responsive.

Our AssessmentThis article provides only a one-sentence description of five sites: Mint.com, Quicken Online (now discontinued), Billeo.com, Rudder.com and Yodlee.com, but links to full reviews of each. Mint is an Editors' Choice, with a rating of 4.5 out of 5, while Yodlee gets a 4 out of 5.

Our AssessmentThis article describes, but does not compare or rank, online finance software that is aimed at "people in their 20s and 30s who aren't very financially savvy but want to learn how to be." Joseph De Avila discusses Mint.com, Rudder.com and Thrive, as well as the online finance software tools now provided by some banks. According to De Avila, "Financial-service sites are increasingly confident that young people -- those raised on Facebook and iTunes -- will be drawn to their free, simple web-based money-management applications." The article also discusses how the recession is affecting those who use financial services sites. For example, more Mint users have been using the Ways to Save feature and more Thrive users are seeking advice on how to save money.

Our AssessmentElmblad's list includes Mint.com, Quicken Online, Wesabe.com and PearBudget.com, with links to full reviews of each. However, not all items on the list are reviewed, and the software isn't ranked. To her credit, Elmblad doesn't misrepresent this list as her top picks -- they're presented as an alphabetical list of options. (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two do not share an editorial affiliation.)

Our AssessmentThe anonymous creator of this site says it grew out of his personal experiences with various software titles. He says he can't pick a best finance site because users have to decide which features and functionality they need most. Reviews here include well-known options like Mint.com, and the lesser known Rudder.com and NeoBudget.com. Mint and Mvelopes.com are two of their top-three picks. You Need A Budget is rated highest; this title is a software download for budgeting.