The short version
Rocket Money is best at finding and killing wasted subscriptions; YNAB is a genuine budgeting method rather than a savings tool. Neither does forecasting, and Rocket Money's core saving features are US-centric.
Why people compare them
People searching for a budgeting app that also cancels subscriptions end up weighing these two against each other.
Price and fit, side by side
| Feature | YNAB | Rocket Money |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | YNAB$109 per year | Rocket MoneyFree tier, then $7 to $14 per month |
| Free tier | YNABNo | Rocket MoneyYes |
| Billed in pounds | YNABNo | Rocket MoneyNo |
| Best for | YNABPeople who want to change their spending habits and will do the weekly work | Rocket MoneyUS users who want forgotten subscriptions found and cancelled for them |
Where YNAB wins
- The zero-based method genuinely changes behaviour for people who stick with it
- Excellent teaching material and an unusually loyal community
- One subscription covers up to six people
Where Rocket Money wins
- A genuinely useful free tier that includes subscription tracking and bill negotiation access
- Letting people choose their own premium price is unusually honest, and every payer gets the same features
- 4.5 from around 372,000 US App Store ratings, which is a serious body of feedback
Where both fall short
- Neither applies UK tax rules to what it shows you.
- Both are built US-first, so UK users pay in dollars and work around US assumptions.
If neither is quite right
If what you actually want is the retirement answer rather than a better dashboard, that is the gap Delphina was built for: UK pensions, ISAs and tax, projected to the age you want to stop. It does not do the job YNAB does for people who want to change their spending habits and will do the weekly work, so if that is the real problem, YNAB is still the better buy. Free plan is £0, no card.
YNAB vs Rocket Money: common questions
YNAB is $109 per year and Rocket Money is $7 to $14 per month. Compare the billing period before the number: an annual price and a monthly price are not the same thing.
You can, and some people do, because they solve different halves of the problem. It does mean paying for both, so add the two annual figures together before deciding.
Judge it on billing currency, Open Banking coverage and whether ISAs and pensions are handled. Check each one against those three points, because a tool that scores well elsewhere can still be a poor fit in the UK.
YNAB suits people who want to change their spending habits and will do the weekly work. Rocket Money suits us users who want forgotten subscriptions found and cancelled for them. The one that matches how you already think about money will take less setting up.
YNAB scores 4.6/5 on Trustpilot from 3,054 reviews. Rocket Money scores 4.5/5 on Apple App Store (US) from 372,000 ratings. Weigh the volume as well as the score.
Delphina covers the gap both leave, which is UK pensions, ISAs and tax projected forward to retirement. The trade-off is that it does not do the job YNAB does for people who want to change their spending habits and will do the weekly work, so if that is the real need, pick one of these two.