PocketSmith Review

Tuesday, December 10th

2024 Personal Finance Software Reviews

PocketSmith

• Free plan available
• Paid plans from $9.95 to $26.66 per month
• Includes investments, cash tracking, and budgeting
• Specializes in future projections
• Mobile app and desktop option
• Designed for multiple operating systems

PocketSmith has its roots in New Zealand and has been in operation since 2008. It offers a distinctive blend of budgeting and financial forecasting, allowing you to project your financial path from the near future to decades ahead. PocketSmith offers integration with international financial institutions, making it particularly useful for customers who have international portfolios. One thing that sets PocketSmith apart is that it features a calendar-based approach, scenario testing, and robust security measures, so you can really focus on your future with this software.

Color-coded design for easy visuals

Incorporating a user-friendly calendar interface akin to Google, PocketSmith offers a convenient snapshot of both your present account balances and future financial outlook. In our research into PocketSmith, we noted it can surpass typical financial tracking apps with its robust forecasting tool, so you can really get clear and helpful views of your future finances to guide you toward your goals. You can create and track your budget or adjust your spending plans monthly, quarterly, yearly, or any other period that works for your needs. This is a super user-friendly process and includes visual helpers like the ability to highlight your recurring costs and track them with a budget calendar that offers color-coding for your expenses by category.

Future-focused finance features

Some of the features you can expect to find at PocketSmith include:

• Future Financial Forecasting:
• Precise projections up to 30 years into the future
• Daily estimates for your bank balance
• Calculates compound interest with automatic interest
• Bank Integration:
• Integrates with over 12,000 banks
• Connect in 49 countries for multiple banks
• Budget Calendar:
• Tracks recurring costs and projected expenses
• Color-coded categories and customizable options
• Simple budgeting with drag-and-drop features
• Accurate budgeting on calendar
• Scenario Testing:
• Examines the financial impact of different major decisions
• Visualize the short and long-term finances
• Plan and test various scenarios
• Income and Expense Statements:
• Generate income and expense reports
• Track local and international net worth and outstanding debts

Four pricing tiers

There are four different plan options available at PocketSmith: one free plan and three premium options. The differences between the options are fairly minimal (except for the free plan), but the prices change significantly. For example:

• Free Plan: PocketSmith refers to this as ideal for "casual budgeters," but it may not fully support your needs. When you get a full financial overview and forecasts, all data must be entered manually, which can be time-consuming. Users are limited to tracking two accounts.
• Foundation Plan: At $9.95 per month, you unlock features such as automatic bank feeds and transaction categorization. It eliminates the need for manual data entry, provided your bank is among the 12,000+ supported institutions. This plan allows for unlimited budgeting and financial projections for up to ten years. A 10-account limit is in place, which should suffice for most users.
• Flourish Plan: This plan costs $16.66 per month and is ideal if you want to manage over ten accounts. You get all the same features as the Foundation plan but with more banks (up to 18 from all countries) and projections up to 30 years.
• Fortune Plan: This plan costs $26.66 per month and is for financial professionals. You get all the same features as the Flourish plan but with unlimited access across the board.

It's notable that the price, even for the Foundation plan, is higher than many competitors, and since the free program requires you to do most of the work yourself, it doesn't stand out as a competitive option.

No money-back guarantee

Unfortunately, according to PocketSmith, there aren't any guarantees or refunds available if you don't enjoy the program. Their site notes that PocketSmith offers the service on an "as is" and "as available" basis and does not provide any warranties of any kind. So you'll need to be sure about the program before you buy if you don't want to be out any money.

Mixed reviews and mid-tier ratings

Like many other software options in our review, PocketSmith doesn't have any presence on the Better Business Bureau. So, during our research into the company's reputation, we needed to rely on reviews and ratings on mobile app stores. Unfortunately, the ratings aren't overly impressive. Across both app stores (Apple and Google Play), PocketSmith only has a rating of 3.3 stars out of 5. Customers are mostly unimpressed with the pricing here. They feel like the higher prices don't add much value, and many customers say that the app lacks features compared to the desktop version. Considering that many companies have much higher ratings from users, PocketSmith falls behind the pack a little.

Great option for future projections

If you're looking for the best option for future projections and international compatibility, PocketSmith remains a solid choice for personal finance software. However, given the higher costs and the 3.3-star average from reviewers, we have to agree with the crowd that PocketSmith isn't an outstanding service compared to other options out there.