Comparing Origin and Monarch Money

If you're interested in tracking your spending and creating a budget, you might be overwhelmed by the number of apps out there. We get it. 

One name that gets thrown around a lot is Monarch Money. We wanted to break down how Origin Financial and Monarch Money compare: what we share, and what’s different.  

While Origin and Monarch both have strong spend tracking and budgeting functions, Origin goes well beyond that. At Origin, we also offer high-yield cash accounts, no-fee index investing, estate planning, and one-on-one meetings with members of our Certified Financial Planner® team, who can assist you with everything from loan repayment to home buying to retirement planning. 

We’ll expand on those differences — and similarities — at more length below.  dive into the differences between Origin and Monarch a bit more. 

Budgeting

Origin and Monarch are fairly evenly matched here, with streamlined, easy-to-use budgeting functionalities. Both apps: 

• Have custom categories.

• Allow you to share your budget with a partner. 

• Send reminders about your monthly progress. 

• Gives you the ability to create advanced spending rules.

• Let you customize your dashboard. 

At the bottom of your dashboard, Origin provides a handful of at-a-glance insights into your finances — things like your credit score, individualized spending trends, or savings opportunities. 

And Origin’s user interface also differentiates us; we’re cleaner and more streamlined, minimizing text on screen so that you can keep your focus on the important things: your money. 

Spend Tracking & Cash Flow

Both Origin and Monarch offer spending tracking, which is a crucial part of creating — and sticking to — a realistic budget. Both apps allow you to filter and sort through transactions; split them (so that, for example, you can slot items from a big Target order into different budget categories); edit every detail; and add any relevant notes in a memo section. 

We don’t just track money you’ve already spent though; Origin also lets you know when you’ve got upcoming bills or subscription charges, including credit card payments (a feature Monarch also recently launched). 

Both apps also put your recurring subscriptions into one place, so you can keep an eye on just how much you’re spending on a monthly basis.

Monarch also offers spend forecasting, based on your spending habits over previous months; Origin does not. 

Net Worth Tracking

Both Origin and Monarch offer net worth tracking, which auto-updates when you connect your accounts and allows you to track your net worth over time. (We don’t offer historic net worth, though; we’re only able to track it once you connect your accounts to Origin.) 

Both Origin and Monarch have integrations with Zillow and Coinbase, meaning your net worth truly reflects all of your assets. 

Origin also offers equity tracking, if you have ever earned equity as part of your compensation package. Our product also simulates different tax scenarios so that you can make fully informed decisions. 

Financial Planning 

Monarch allows financial professionals joint access to their clients’ accounts, either for free or with financial professionals covering clients’ annual fees. 

That’s great, but Origin goes a lot further: We have a team of Certified Financial Planners® on staff, and our platform connects users with financial planners who can address their specific needs and develop financial plans with their specific goals in mind. As an Origin user, you’re always just a few clicks away from scheduling time to meet with a Origin financial planner, who can advise you on home buying, investing, retirement planning, debt repayment, and more. 

Plus, our AI financial assistant, Sidekick, is always on and able to answer your questions about budgeting, your cash flow, and your portfolio performance. Plus, you can access AI-powered workflows that give you a full snapshot of your investment positions in seconds (plus actionable guidance), help you understand your retirement readiness, and partner with you to create an emergency fund.

Investing 

Origin wins here, hands down, because we go well beyond just tracking and advising. We also offer a cash account with a market-beating interest rate, automated index investing, and stock bundles. (Monarch offers none of these.) 

As of early November, our high-yield cash account has a standard rate of 5.15% — plus an additional 0.5% for your first three months. We launched these accounts because we want to remove any obstacles to maximizing your money and putting your idle cash to work. 

Our automated index investing accounts are managed investment portfolios that put your money in globally diversified stocks and bonds based on your own timetable, goals, and risk preferences. Crucially, these have no asset under management (AUM) fees — unlike most major brokerage firms, which typically charge between 0.25% and 1%. Our subscription fee covers the cost of managing these accounts, so you keep more of the money you earn. With Origin handling trading and rebalancing, these are simple, super cost-effective way to build your wealth — which we don’t take a cut of. 

We also offer stock bundles, packages of individual stocks that focus on a certain objective or theme, like, say, cloud computing or dividend blue chip stocks. Bundles are designed to supplement your core portfolio; save you time (no more scouring forums to find new stocks that might be good investments); and help you discover stocks that interest or intrigue you. Plus, Origin does all the math to make the investment based on the dollar amount you want to invest (rather than the share quantity), eliminating work for you and streamlining the way to a more diversified portfolio.

Monarch allows you to track all of your investments in one place, and on its investments dashboard features a graph that compares your portfolio performance to that of the major indexes, but Origin offers that as well. 

Estate Planning

Aside from our team of financial planners, one of the things that really sets Origin above is our commitment to helping users navigate the full range of financial matters life throws at you. To fulfill that promise, we offer estate plans (Trusts and Wills), built with the input and supervision of estate lawyers, to ensure that your family and assets are protected. 

Our estate plans are valid in all 50 states. A basic will is included in every membership and, if you have an annual membership, you’ll get 30% off a Trust or Full Will. 

Monarch does not offer estate planning.

Tax Filing 

Origin partners with Column Tax to allow users to file their state and federal taxes for free every year. After all, when all of your money is already in one streamlined place, why not also file taxes there? Our tax filing system is capable of covering high levels of tax complexity; is backed by our maximum refund guarantee; and gives you access to on-demand tax expert support for free.

Monarch does not have tax functionalities.

User Experience

Here’s another category where Origin obviously comes out on top. On Reddit, many Monarch users say that they regularly have issues with connecting their financial accounts — everything from mortgage lenders to credit unions to major investment companies. Sometimes they simply won’t connect, but other times they’ll show outdated (or wrong) balances, or duplicate transactions. Its main selling point is budgeting and spending tracking, so accurate and up-to-date data is key to that functioning. If you as the user are having to manually update your accounts and transactions on a regular basis, you might as well revert to tracking your finances on a spreadsheet — that’s free at least. 

The Origin platform is also seamless and easy to use. The team recently refreshed the app in September 2024 to give you a beautiful and easy-to-use user experience.  

Responsiveness

At Origin, iterating on our product regularly is a priority for us. When users request specific functionalities, we deliver — quickly. In the past two months alone, we’ve rolled out highly requested features, including Apple Card and Cash connections; Coinbase and Zillow integrations; and advanced rules, which helps you fully customize your budget and spend tracking. 

We also have a product advisory council made up of real Origin users that gives feedback on each new functionality. And when it comes to technical support, our customer care team has a one-minute response time on live chat. 

Financial Education & Resources 

At Origin, our newsletter, The Gist, keeps readers informed about economic conditions and educated about personal finance matters that may impact their bottom line. (You can also sign up for it for free at the footer of our homepage.) We take financial education seriously at Origin, and our Resources tab is home to a host of blog posts breaking down some of the more complex elements of financial planning. 

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Fundamentally, Monarch is just budgeting and tracking — Origin is so much more. No other app on the market comes close to our all-in-one financial platform, where we are democratizing wealth-building and helping you maximize your money.

And if you're a former Monarch member making the switch to Origin, the first year of your membership is on us. You can get more details here and get started below.

Get one year free