The content on DollarSprout includes links to our advertising partners. When you read our content and click on one of our partners’ links, and then decide to complete an offer — whether it’s downloading an app, opening an account, or some other action — we may earn a commission from that advertiser, at no extra cost to you.
Our ultimate goal is to educate and inform, not lure you into signing up for certain offers. Compensation from our partners may impact what products we cover and where they appear on the site, but does not have any impact on the objectivity of our reviews or advice.
At its core, Rocket Money is designed to help ordinary people better track, save, and invest their money. Here's how to determine if its right for you.
Our mission at DollarSprout is to help readers improve their financial lives, and we regularly partner with companies that share that same vision. If a purchase or signup is made through one of our Partners’ links, we may receive compensation for the referral. Learn more here.
Rocket Money Fast Facts
Founded
2015 (originally as Truebill; renamed to Rocket Money in 2022)
Platforms
iOS, Android, and Web
Pricing
Free version; Premium $4 to $12/month
Features
Subscription management, budgeting tools, bill negotiation services, automatic savings
Security
Bank-level encryption and privacy measures for over 5 million users
User Rating
4.2 stars on the App Store (64k reviews), 4.3 stars on Google Play (55k reviews)
Individuals who would benefit from a bird’s-eye view of their finances, people with numerous subscriptions, and those who will likely benefit from their bill negotiation feature.
Congratulations, you’ve landed on a real Rocket Money review from a real user.
Not one of the regurgitated reviews you see from the big brands who claim to — but clearly never have — used the actual product.
Let me start by affirming a few things:
I’m a paying Premium Member who actually uses the service.
We receive a small commission if you try Rocket Money using one of our links.
Rocket Money has no input as to what is written in this review: good, bad, or ugly.
Now that that is out of the way, let’s begin.
At $4 to $12 per month for Premium Features, not everyone will benefit from paying for more than the Free version of Rocket Money. But reality suggests that nearly all of us have hundreds of dollars in cumulative spending each year that could be cleaned up if we actually knew about it.
Here are the important things you’ll want to know about Rocket Money so you can determine whether or not it’s a good fit for you.
What Is Rocket Money?
Most simply, Rocket Money is a personal finance app that provides tools for budgeting, subscription management, bill negotiation, and automatic savings.
Originally launched as Truebill, the app was acquired by Rocket Companies, known for its flagship business Quicken Loans, in 2021, and rebranded to Rocket Money the following year. The app has over 5 million members for whom Rocket Money has collectively saved over $1 billion.[1]
What We Like About Rocket Money
In a unique twist of fate, I stumbled upon a Zig Ziglar quote that I felt summarized Rocket Money’s approach to selling their service. (Unique because they have a different Ziglar quote embedded directly on their user dashboard).
If you believe your product or service can fulfill a true need, it’s your moral obligation to sell it.
This approach is reflected in the first pro of Rocket Money that I believe provides a valuable user experience:
Flexible pricing structure. It’s refreshing to see a company let the market (its users) dictate precisely what they feel is a fair price. Talk about rare.
Easily digestible overview of your financial health. It’s all here, in one, very easy-to-see place. In just seconds users can get an idea of how much is going in and out each month, where it’s going, and how much they have to their name.
Quickly identifies recurring payments or subscriptions. This is more of a judgment of American consumerism, but, sadly, this is a very useful perk. I found a $48 per year Amazon Kids subscription I had no idea we were paying for and a duplicate Disney+ subscription (caused by my ESPN+ subscription getting merged into Disney+).
Bill negotiation feature gets results. This is a super underrated feature, and one I hope the company never gets rid of. Rocket Money was able to call and negotiate lower rates for both my Comast and Verizon Wireless bills, saving me hundreds per year in payments.
Automatic savings buckets are helpful for those who are bad at saving. If you’re bad about budgeting for Christmas, your summer vacation, or simply want to establish an emergency fund, Rocket Money’s Smart Savings will do it for you.
Credit monitoring under one roof. Most banking and financial apps offer free or paid credit monitoring services, but it’s convenient that Rocket Money does, too — allowing users to keep everything under one roof and easily monitor changes.
Like any financial app, Rocket Money isn’t perfect. Here are the cons and things that otherwise bothered us about that platform.
Not all features are available on desktop. Ironic because normally the opposite is true, but some features — like Credit Monitoring and Goals (Smart Saving) are only available through the Rocket Money Mobile app. This isn’t a huge headache, as I’m willing to use the app on both devices, but if you’re in the desktop-only crowd, this could be a major setback.
Account linking can be a headache. This isn’t unique to Rocket Money but is often a source of user frustration for everyone in the fintech space. Getting all your accounts attached to Rocket Money can be time-consuming, as you’ll generally need to log in one by one to get your best possible financial overview. Plaid, the most frequently used third-party financial connectivity service in the world, makes it as simple as possible, but it still inexplicably glitches out at times.
Cost won’t be worth it for some users. Low-income earners (or infrequent spenders) will not benefit as greatly (or at all) from the app if they are already good stewards of their money. The monthly fee, even at $4 per month, will simply outweigh any potential savings benefit, especially if users have few to no large recurring bills or service subscriptions.
Nearly all services can be found free elsewhere. Almost all of the services that Rocket Money provides (outside of Bill Negotiation) are free resources that your banking app or a simple Excel spreadsheet offers. The value is having them all in one very easy-to-understand dashboard that helps you make sense of what you’re looking at.
Users who value privacy may feel uncomfortable. I have personally used and tested dozens of products as a writer for DollarSprout. Using Rocket Money as it intended — and how it will most benefit you — requires sharing access to nearly all of your most important financial information (on par or similar to your banking institution or mortgage loan provider). This is somewhat obvious given the nature of their product — a bird’s eye view of your financial life — but it goes without saying that they are responsible for protecting a lot of information.
Acts as the main dashboard and is a comprehensive analysis of your spending habits. By categorizing your transactions into various categories such as groceries, entertainment, and utilities, it allows you to see exactly where your money is going each month.
You can view trends over time, set spending limits for different categories, and receive alerts when you’re approaching those limits. This detailed breakdown helps you identify areas where you can cut back, ultimately leading to more informed financial decisions and better budgeting.
🔍 Our Experience: A simple but underrated feature, the main dashboard provides that bird’s eye view that we feel will benefit the majority of users. It additionally provides a subtle form of accountability and encouragement. Users can see if they are ahead or behind the previous month’s earning and spending totals, providing a small psychological incentive to beat previous savings amounts.
Rocket Money’s Manage Subscriptions feature simplifies the process of tracking and managing your recurring expenses. By analyzing your bank and credit card transactions, the app identifies all your active subscriptions, such as streaming services, gym memberships, and software subscriptions.
You can easily view, manage, and even cancel unwanted or forgotten subscriptions directly through the app, helping you avoid unnecessary charges and streamline your monthly expenses.
🔍 Our Experience: If you found this review after seeing a Rocket Money commercial, you know this is the most heavily advertised feature they pursue. If you’re someone with a half-dozen or more recurring subscriptions, odds are there is at least one that you’re mindlessly paying for and don’t really use. This is where the cost-savings of Rocket Money can pay for itself.
I personally found a $48/year Amazon Kids subscription leaking out, as well as a duplicate Disney+ subscription getting drafted each month. (ESPN, owned by Disney, is now included with the Disney+ subscription my wife had separately signed up for years before, for our kids). It was an instant $160/year in savings — more than enough to justify the nominal but real cost of Rocket Money.
Rocket Money’s Budgeting feature mimics the workings of most popular budget apps on the market and allows you to create and manage personalized budgets based on your financial goals. You can allocate specific amounts to different spending categories, such as groceries, entertainment, and utilities.
The app tracks your spending in real time, providing insights into how well you’re sticking to your budget. With visual aids like graphs and alerts for overspending, this feature helps you maintain financial discipline and ensures that you stay on track with your financial plans.
🔍 Our Experience: If you found this review after seeing a Rocket Money commercial, you know this is the most heavily advertised feature they pursue. If you’re someone with a half-dozen or more recurring subscriptions, odds are there is at least one that you’re mindlessly paying for and don’t really use. This is where the cost-savings of Rocket Money can pay for itself.
I personally found a $48/year Amazon Kids subscription leaking out, as well as a duplicate Disney+ subscription getting drafted each month. (ESPN, owned by Disney, is now included with the Disney+ subscription my wife had separately signed up for years before, for our kids). It was an instant $160/year in savings — more than enough to justify the nominal but real cost of Rocket Money.
Smart Savings helps you build your savings effortlessly by automating the process. By analyzing your spending habits and cash flow, the app determines safe amounts to transfer into designated spending buckets or sinking funds, which are FDIC-insured through its partnership with NBKC.
You can set specific savings goals, such as an emergency fund or a vacation, and Smart Savings will automatically set aside money to help you reach those targets. This feature ensures you’re consistently saving without having to think about it, making it easier to achieve your financial goals.
🔍 Our Experience: Anyone who struggles to save for events they know are coming up will benefit from this. No more holiday debt, no more scrambling last minute to find cash. Merely take the 60 seconds it takes to create a spending bucket several months ahead of whatever you anticipate needing cash for and let Rocket Money stash it in a place you’ll never touch it. When you need it, it’s there.
I want to surprise my wife — a dreaded Cowboys fan — with tickets when they come to Pittsburgh (my team) this year. By the time we leave for the trip, my savings bucket will be fully funded and the surprise trip can proceed as planned.
When Rocket Money launched as Truebill in 2015, it was effectively a bill negotiation app that aimed to lower your monthly expenses by negotiating with service providers on your behalf. While their focus has since broadened, they’re still happy to analyze your bills for services like cable, internet, and phone, identify opportunities for savings, and contact the providers to secure lower rates.
This service can result in significant savings over time without any effort on your part. Additionally, Rocket Money charges a fee only if they successfully negotiate a lower bill, ensuring that you benefit directly from any reductions they achieve.
🔍 Our Experience: I had 2 eligible bills that I asked Rocket Money to negotiate on my behalf with mixed results. My Verizon Wireless bill and my Comcast Internet bill.
I agreed to give them 35% of my first-year savings as a commission for them doing it on my behalf (the lowest) possible contribution. It’s a win-win for me because their professional negotiators called on my behalf and it cost me nothing other than a portion of whatever they were able to save me that first year (every ensuing year goes to my pocket, for life).
They were able to reduce my bill by $2 per month, which wasn’t much (from $193/month to $191/month) but, to be fair, there wasn’t much in the way of wiggle room for them to negotiate. My plan will drop nearly $85 just next month as my wife and I pay off our phones and the insurance is dropped. We’ll be down to the barebones unlimited data plan for 2 lines.
For Comast, no change…yet. We just recently signed up 11 months ago when we bought a new home and are in the first year of a promo rate. That said, Rocket Money took note of that when they called and spoke to Comcast, and is taking the initiative to call Comcast back next month to try and renegotiate as my bill is expected to over double. I’m hopeful to see a positive change here, as paying for high-priced internet in the long term after the promo rate expires doesn’t sound appealing.
Note: I have a very high tolerance for sharing my personal information with companies; that said I recognize that not all users will share this same tolerance. This feature is very invasive feeling from a privacy standpoint. They will need access to the security PIN you create with these companies to access your account and negotiate on your behalf. They will also ask for permission to temporarily change the email address on your account so they can accept the new billing terms/contract on your behalf. Despite my high tolerance for allowing access, I opted to deny this access and asked them to allow me to consent to the changes (they voluntarily offer this). I want to read/sign contracts for myself, and this is no condemnation of Rocket Money — it’s just to shine a light on the process.
Rocket Money’s Credit Scores feature provides you with easy access to your credit score and detailed credit report. By regularly updating your credit information, the app helps you monitor changes and identify factors that may be impacting your score.
You can receive alerts about significant changes, such as new accounts or inquiries, and get personalized tips on how to improve your credit score.
🔍 Our Experience: This is a bit of a redundant feature as many banking apps now include this by default, but if yours does not, it is an easy way to keep tabs on it and make sure nothing looks off with your report. It’s barebones but allows you to quickly spot changes, new inquiries, and educates users on the categories credit bureaus look when calculating your score
Rocket Money’s Net Worth feature offers a comprehensive view of your overall financial health by calculating the total value of your assets minus your liabilities. The app aggregates data from your bank accounts, investments, debts, and other financial holdings to provide an up-to-date snapshot of your net worth.
This feature helps you track your financial progress over time, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions to grow your wealth.
🔍 Our Experience: This feature can be a source of frustration for many users as it essentially requires that you successfully sync every financial account you have with Rocket Money. This has proven difficult even on a personal level as the security settings associated with my mortgage company app and my primary retirement are giving me trouble. They restrict access from third-party apps (in this case Rocket Money), making it more difficult to import those balances into my Net Worth calculations. As such, I don’t have a clear Net Worth overview with Rocket Money — a similar problem I’ve had with Empower in the past.
Rocket Money offers flexible, affordable pricing plans in an effort to meet consumers at a price point they feel comfortable with. The platform provides both free trials and premium options, allowing users to choose the level of service that best fits their financial goals.
At sign-up, users must select a payment method that unlocks all the Rocket Money premium features, ensuring they get a true feel for the platform.
All new users receive a free 7-day trial Premium Membership, after which billing begins (unless the user cancels).
Annual Plans: Users can choose to pay $4 or $5 per month, billed upfront annually. These plans offer a cost-effective solution for long-term users who are committed to using Rocket Money for at least one year.
Monthly Plans: For more flexibility, Rocket Money offers monthly subscription options ranging from $6 to $12 per month. These plans are billed monthly and provide users with the convenience of not having to commit to a full year upfront.
If a user cancels their Premium membership during the trial period, they’ll still be able to enjoy Premium features for the remaining balance of the 7 days, after which their account will revert to Free-only features.
Note: To try Rocket Money in any capacity — even if only to use the free 7-day trial — users must enter a billing method. There is currently no way around this.
What Users Say
To provide a balanced perspective, we’ve gathered both positive and negative experiences from other Rocket Money users.
Expand the images below to see verified product reviews from aggregated from the major app stores.
Positive Sentiment
Negative Sentiment
Alternatives to Rocket Money
If you’re hesitant about using Rocket Money and want to explore other options, here are four other popular money-saving apps, each offering unique features and pricing plans to help you achieve your financial goals.
YNAB (You Need A Budget) focuses on proactive budgeting and gives users a clear view of their finances by encouraging them to plan every dollar. The software is designed to help users break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle and save more money.
Key features include real-time syncing, goal tracking, and detailed financial reporting; pricing starts at $14.99 per month or $98.99 per year with a 34-day free trial.
Empower (formerly Personal Capital) combines budgeting tools with robust investment tracking features. It’s geared towards users who want to manage both their day-to-day finances and long-term investments in one place.
Key features include budgeting and expense tracking, retirement and investment planning, net worth tracking, and access to financial advisors for personalized advice; pricing is free for basic tools, with advisory services commanding AUM-based fees.
Oportun (formerly Digit) is designed to help users save money effortlessly by analyzing their spending habits and automatically setting aside small amounts of money for savings. It’s ideal for users who want to save without having to think about it constantly.
Key features include automated savings, personalized savings goals, overdraft prevention, and financial insights; pricing is $5 per month after a 30-day free trial.
EveryDollar is a budgeting app based on the zero-based budgeting method popularized by financial expert Dave Ramsey. It helps users allocate every dollar to a specific category, ensuring they stay on top of their finances.
Key features include a user-friendly interface, goal tracking, customizable budget categories, and bank account syncing for real-time updates; pricing is free for the basic version, with EveryDollar Premium at $79.99 per year.
The Bottom Line
Rocket Money’s full suite of features, combined with its affordable pricing, makes it a valuable tool for the average person to monitor their finances and potentially save money.
The app’s bill negotiation and subscription monitoring features offer practical ways to reduce expenses, but even if these services don’t result in direct savings, Rocket Money still provides an effective platform for gaining a better understanding of income and expenses.
Personally, I’ve found Rocket Money to be quite useful in uncovering forgotten subscriptions and negotiating lower bills, which has saved me hundreds of dollars. This enhanced financial awareness has helped me stay on top of my budget and make smarter financial decisions, making Rocket Money a worthwhile investment at the lowest price point for anyone looking to improve their financial health.
Yes, Rocket Money is safe and legitimate to use. The app employs bank-level security measures, including 256-bit SSL encryption, to protect your data. Additionally, Rocket Money adheres to strict privacy policies and does not store your banking credentials, ensuring that your personal and financial information remains secure.
Can Rocket Money negotiate my bills for me?
Yes, Rocket Money offers a bill negotiation service. The app can help lower your bills by negotiating with service providers on your behalf. This feature aims to reduce your monthly expenses on services such as cable, internet, and phone bills.
How does Rocket Money track my subscriptions?
Rocket Money automatically tracks your subscriptions by analyzing your bank and credit card transactions. It uses Plaid, a secure service that connects financial apps to your bank accounts, to identify recurring payments and categorize them as subscriptions. This allows you to see all your active subscriptions in one place, helping you manage and cancel unwanted or forgotten subscriptions.
Does Rocket Money sync with my bank accounts?
Yes, Rocket Money syncs with your bank accounts. The app connects to thousands of financial institutions, enabling it to import and analyze your transactions in real time. Additionally, Rocket Money has partnered with NBKC to provide banking features associated with its Smart Savings feature, enhancing your ability to manage your finances. This synchronization helps you keep track of your spending, budget effectively, and monitor your financial health.
Is there a free trial available for Rocket Money?
Yes, Rocket Money offers a free 7-day trial. This trial allows you to access the premium features of the app and evaluate its effectiveness before committing to a subscription. If you decide not to continue, you can cancel before the trial period ends to avoid any charges.
Are there any hidden fees with Rocket Money?
No, there are no hidden fees with Rocket Money. The app is transparent about its pricing, and you will only be charged based on the subscription plan you choose. Additional services, such as bill negotiation, may involve a one-time fee or a percentage of the savings achieved, but these are clearly communicated upfront.
Methodology
To evaluate a fintech app like Rocket Money, we used a comprehensive methodology focusing on several key categories critical to the user experience and financial management capabilities.
Each category was thoroughly assessed based on specific criteria and user feedback, resulting in a sub-score for each category.
The overall rating was then calculated by averaging these sub-scores, providing an objective and detailed evaluation of the app’s performance.
User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX). Assesses the design, intuitiveness, and overall user-friendliness of the app. 4/5
Feature Set. Evaluates the range and usefulness of features like budgeting tools, expense tracking, subscription management, and bill negotiation. 5/5
Customer Support. Reviews the availability, responsiveness, and quality of customer support services. 3.5/5
Security. Analyzes security measures such as encryption, authentication protocols, and compliance with financial regulations. 4/5
Pricing. Considers affordability and value for money, including free trials and subscription options. 4.5/5
Performance and Reliability. Looks at the app’s stability, speed, and reliability in daily use. 4.5/5
Integration and Compatibility. Examines how well the app integrates with other financial tools and services. 4/5
Flexible pricing structure. It’s refreshing to see a company let the market (its users) dictate precisely what they feel is a fair price. Talk about rare.
Not all features are available on desktop. Ironic because normally the opposite is true, but some features — like Credit Monitoring and Goals (Smart Saving) are only available through the Rocket Money Mobile app. This isn’t a huge headache, as I’m willing to use the app on both devices, but if you’re in the desktop-only crowd, this could be a major setback.
