Honest comparison
Piggey vs Monarch Money
The polished heir to Mint's throne — full-featured, household-friendly, $99.99/yr, and built around bank linking.
TL;DR
Monarch is the best traditional do-everything finance app: bank sync, budgets, goals, net worth, shared household access. It's also $99.99/yr and built entirely around connecting your bank accounts through aggregators. Piggey is the opposite bet: no bank login ever, no budgeting required, AI does the categorization — free to start, $16/mo for Pro.
At a glance
| Piggey | Monarch Money | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, or $16/mo Pro — first month free | $14.99/mo or $99.99/yr |
| Free plan | Yes — a real one, forever | No — 7-day trial |
| Bank login | Never. Import a CSV — your credentials stay at your bank | Required for everything useful (Plaid/MX/Finicity) |
| Budgeting required | None required | Core feature — flexible or category budgets |
| AI categorization | Automatic — AI tags your whole history at once | Rules + some AI assistance |
| Subscription detection | Yes (Pro) — flags the charges worth cancelling | Yes |
| AI assistant | Penny — ask anything about your money in plain English | AI features in beta |
| Setup time | ~5 minutes | ~30 minutes of linking and tuning |
| Platforms | Any browser | Web, iOS, Android |
| Privacy | No bank credentials, no data selling | Paid product, no ads — but aggregators see your credentials |
The real differences
The bank-linking trade
Monarch without linked accounts is an empty shell — the product is the sync. That means trusting Plaid, MX, or Finicity with your bank credentials and living with connections that occasionally break. Piggey's CSV import is more manual (a minute or two, monthly), but nothing ever breaks, expires, or needs re-authentication, and your credentials never leave your bank.
Suite vs. signal
Monarch is seven tools in one: budgets, goals, recurring, investments, net worth, reports, advice. If you'll use them, $99.99/yr is fair. Piggey is deliberately narrower: where did the money go, what's recurring, what changed — surfaced automatically by AI, with Penny to answer questions. Most people checking a finance app weekly are asking exactly those three things.
Price math
Monarch: $99.99/yr, no free tier, 7-day trial. Piggey: free forever for import + AI categorization + trends; Pro at $16/mo (first month free) adds Penny, AI reports, subscription detection, and unlimited accounts. If you only need the core loop, the comparison is $99.99 vs $0.
Where Monarch Money shines
- Probably the most complete Mint replacement: budgets, goals, net worth, investments
- Great household/partner collaboration
- Polished design across web and mobile
- Active development and responsive team
Where Monarch Money falls short
- $99.99/yr with no free tier
- Useless without linking your banks through third-party aggregators
- Bank connections break and need maintenance (an aggregator problem, but your problem too)
- It's a budgeting suite at heart — more app than many people need
Pick Monarch Money if…
Households that want one shared, always-synced view of everything — budgets, goals, investments, net worth — and are comfortable with bank aggregator access. As all-in-one finance apps go, it's the one to beat.
Pick Piggey if…
People who looked at Monarch's feature list and thought "I just want to know where my money went." And anyone who refuses to hand bank credentials to an aggregator — Piggey never asks.
Switching is easy
Export your transactions from Monarch as CSV (or pull fresh exports from your banks) and import into Piggey. AI categorization means there's no category mapping to redo.
Try Piggey freeFrequently asked questions
Is Piggey a good Monarch Money alternative?
If you mainly use Monarch to see spending and catch subscriptions: yes — Piggey does both with AI, without bank linking, and has a free tier. If you rely on Monarch's shared budgets, goals, and investment tracking, Monarch remains the more complete suite.
Does Piggey require connecting my bank like Monarch does?
No. Piggey never asks for bank credentials — you import CSV exports from your bank instead. It's a minute of work per month in exchange for never trusting an aggregator.
Is Piggey cheaper than Monarch Money?
Yes. Piggey's core is free; Pro is $16/mo with the first month free. Monarch is $99.99/yr (or $14.99/mo) with only a 7-day trial.