What is the best expense manager app?

AI Expense Notebook is one of the best expense manager apps for iOS and Android because it combines AI receipt scanning, automatic categorization, real-time budget alerts, and multi-currency support in a single free app.

Can I scan receipts to track expenses?

Yes. AI Expense Notebook's AI Magic Scan feature lets you point your camera at any receipt and automatically extracts the amount, date, merchant, and category — no manual typing required.

Which app is good for daily expense tracking?

AI Expense Notebook is built specifically for daily use. Its four-step entry flow — scan, choose type, pick category, save — takes under 10 seconds per entry.

How does AI receipt scanning work?

The app uses AI to read a photographed receipt, extract the total amount, date, merchant name, and category, then pre-fill an entry form for you to confirm. Accuracy is approximately 99.2 percent.

Is AI Expense Notebook free?

Yes, AI Expense Notebook is completely free to download and use on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, with no paywall on core features such as AI Magic Scan, budgeting, or reports.

How do I manage my daily budget?

Set a spending limit by category or overall inside AI Expense Notebook. The app tracks your spending against that limit in real time and sends an alert before you exceed it, not after.

Does AI Expense Notebook work on iOS or Android?

Yes. AI Expense Notebook is fully available on both Apple iOS (iPhone and iPad) via the App Store, and Android devices via the Google Play Store.

Does AI Expense Notebook support multiple currencies?

Yes. AI Expense Notebook supports multi-currency entries, making it suitable for international travelers and users with income or expenses in more than one currency.

What happens to my receipt photo after scanning?

The photo is used only to extract data such as amount, date, merchant, and category. Once the entry is confirmed, only the extracted data is saved, and the raw image is not kept in long-term storage.

Mint Shut Down — Here's the Best Alternative in 2026 (And What to Look For)

If you're reading this, there's a good chance you typed some version of "Mint shut down, what now?" into Google. You're not alone! Mint had an estimated 3.6 million active users as of 2021, and most of them are still looking for a real replacement two years later.

This guide explains exactly what happened to Mint, why Credit Karma isn't the answer most people hoped for, what to actually look for in a Mint alternative, and how AI Expense Notebook covers the gap without the bank-linking requirement that made some former Mint users uneasy in the first place.

What Actually Happened to Mint

Mint launched in 2007 and became one of the most recognized free budgeting apps in the U.S. Intuit — the company behind TurboTax and QuickBooks acquired it in 2009 for $170 million.

In November 2023, Intuit announced Mint would shut down. The original date was January 1, 2024, but Intuit pushed it back to March 23, 2024 to give users more time to migrate. After that date, Mint accounts became completely inaccessible.

The official reason: Intuit wanted to fold Mint's "money management expertise" into Credit Karma, a company it had separately acquired in 2020. Unofficially, reporting at the time suggested Mint's ad-and-referral revenue model was no longer financially worthwhile to maintain alongside Intuit's other products.

Why Credit Karma Didn't Solve the Problem

Intuit positioned Credit Karma as Mint's successor. For most daily-budgeting use cases, it isn't.

Here's the actual feature gap, based on side-by-side reporting from the shutdown period:

Feature	Mint (before shutdown)	Credit Karma
Category budgeting	Yes	No
Savings goals	Yes	No
Subscription/bill tracking	Yes	Limited
Net worth tracking	Yes	Yes
Spending trend view	Yes	Limited
Primary focus	Budgeting & spending	Credit monitoring

Credit Karma's own messaging at the time acknowledged this directly — the company stated it did not currently provide budgeting features the same way Mint had. For users who relied on Mint specifically to build and track a monthly budget by category, Credit Karma simply doesn't do that job.

This is the core reason "Mint alternative" remains one of the most searched terms in personal finance, more than two years after the shutdown the replacement Intuit offered wasn't built for the same purpose.

What to Actually Look For in a Mint Replacement

Before picking any app, match it against what made Mint useful in the first place. Most "best Mint alternative" lists skip straight to brand names — here's the actual checklist to run any app through:

1. Category-based budgeting, not just balance tracking. Seeing your total balance isn't the same as knowing you've spent ₹12,000 of your ₹15,000 food budget. If an app doesn't let you set and monitor individual category limits, it's a net-worth tracker, not a budgeting tool.

2. A genuinely usable free tier. Mint was free. A lot of its "successors" market themselves as free, then lock essential features — bank syncing, reports, category customization — behind a paywall within the first week. Check what's actually included before committing.

3. Fast logging, with or without bank linking. Some former Mint users are specifically looking for an alternative that doesn't require handing over bank credentials. AI-assisted manual logging — photographing a receipt, for instance — solves the same tracking problem without that requirement.

4. Real-time alerts, not just a monthly summary. A budget you only check at month-end is a budget you've already blown. Look for apps that notify you as you approach a category limit, not after you've exceeded it.

5. Data export and import options. If you exported your Mint transaction history before the shutdown, check whether your new app can import it via CSV. Not all can — confirm this before you commit your historical data to a new platform.

How AI Expense Notebook Covers the Gap

AI Expense Notebook was built around the same core job Mint did well — category budgeting and everyday spending visibility — with two differences that matter for former Mint users specifically:

No mandatory bank linking. You can log expenses by photographing receipts with AI Magic Scan (99.2% extraction accuracy) instead of connecting your bank account. This matters if Mint's data-sharing model was ever a concern for you, or if your bank simply isn't supported by automatic-sync apps.

Category budgets with real-time alerts. Set a limit per category — food, transport, subscriptions, entertainment — and get notified as you approach it, not after you've blown through it. This is the exact feature Credit Karma left out.

It's also free on both iOS and Android, with no ads and no paywalled "free trial" disguised as a permanent free tier. If you're searching for a Mint alternative specifically because you want budgeting back — not just net worth tracking — this is the gap AI Expense Notebook was built to close.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Mint shut down?

Mint shut down because Intuit, its parent company, decided to consolidate its personal finance products into Credit Karma, which Intuit acquired in 2020. Mint's ad- and referral-based business model was reportedly less financially viable than Intuit's other products, so the company folded Mint's features into Credit Karma instead of running both platforms.

When did Mint officially shut down?

Mint officially ceased operations as a standalone app on March 23, 2024. Intuit had originally announced a shutdown date of January 1, 2024, but extended it to give users more time to migrate their data or move to a new app.

Is Credit Karma a good replacement for Mint?

Credit Karma is not a full replacement for Mint. While it lets users sync accounts and track net worth, it does not offer the category budgeting, savings goals, or subscription management features that made Mint useful for everyday expense tracking. Most former Mint users looking for budgeting functionality need a different app entirely.

What should I look for in a Mint alternative?

A good Mint alternative should offer category-based budgeting, automatic or AI-assisted expense logging, real-time spending alerts, and a clean interface without aggressive upselling. Since Mint was free, many former users also prioritize apps with a genuinely usable free tier rather than a paywalled demo.

Can I import my old Mint data into a new app?

It depends on the app. Some budgeting apps support CSV import of historical transaction data, which lets you bring over spending history from Mint's data export. Check the specific app's import options before committing, especially if multi-year spending history matters to you.

Is AI Expense Notebook a good alternative to Mint?

AI Expense Notebook covers the core features former Mint users relied on most: category-based budgeting, spending reports, and budget alerts. It adds AI receipt scanning for fast manual logging and works without requiring users to link bank credentials, which appeals to users who were uncomfortable with Mint's data-sharing model. It is free on iOS and Android.

Get Started

Looking for a Mint alternative that still does real budgeting? AI Expense Notebook is free on iOS and Android.

Download on the App Store → Download on Google Play →

Or visit: expensenotebook.codematics.co