iBank vs. Quicken Financial Life

I have a really bad taste in my mouth over Quicken. They've sucked on the Mac for so long and been rather uncaring about the platform for so long that I'm really hesitant to reward them with even more of my money.

At this point, if I were in a mood to spend money picking a home accounting package, i'd give serious thought to anyone other than Quicken, just to help send Intuit a message.

This is actually a question I'll be trying to answer once I get a macbook, currently I'm holding out for the refresh. Has there been any news on when Quicken Financial Life is actually going to be released? I read up on it a while ago and like the idea that they're doing a complete revamp and actually tailoring it for OSX instead of being a subpar port of the Windows version (from what I've read).

Be interested in knowing if they've got a release time set or if its still just fall of '08. But yeah, ibank seemed really to be the only other decent contender for being able to do budgeting/household finances and follow a portfolio of investments.

I use to use Quicken '06 and made the switch to iBank. It's pretty easy to set it up to download your transactions online. Color coding transaction by type is pretty handy too. I just think that once QFL comes out it will be pretty weak and buggy. It will take Quicken a couple updates to get it right.

Other packages do do online downloads. You're just not looking hard enough.

I had Quicken, and I dumped it. Went to iBank and it's been great. You can download transactions easily, and with the iBank iPhone feature I can key in items as my phone to see a running balance. I don't plan on going back to Quicken, too clunky and slow.

iBank 3.1

I have been a quicken user since before time. But a few years back I bought a Mac and now I cant stand quicken.
Recently, I have been researching iBank. I have heard alot of good and bad for this software. They now have a 3.1 version out. Has anyone any feed back on this?
I downloaded it for free, and am going to try it, but haven't got the chance yet.

Scott Saint said:

I have been a quicken user since before time...

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Not sure if I qualify as before time but I have a continuous Quicken file since 1992. Switched to a Mac about 2 months ago using Fusion/Windows/Quicken for now. Really want to stay Quicken and patiently waiting on 09 but concerned it won't match the Windows version. Will iBank read/convert the Quicken data file?

Julien said:

Not sure if I qualify as before time but I have a continuous Quicken file since 1992. Switched to a Mac about 2 months ago using Fusion/Windows/Quicken for now. Really want to stay Quicken and patiently waiting on 09 but concerned it won't match the Windows version. Will iBank read/convert the Quicken data file?

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I downloaded iBank and it wouldn't read Quicken 2007 qdfm files.

gonna try today

i am going to try ibank now, but i dont think i am going to put my quicken file in it. i am planning on starting fresh with ibank and just leaving quicken on the mac.

I use iBank and Im very happy with that small application. It usually convert all formats just fine. I'm downloading quicken files from my bank and they are imported into the iBank without any problems. I would really recommend iBank to all mac users. Version 2 was not bad but had many shortcomings. 3.1 is really nice.

davidg4781 said:

I'm setting my stuff up for Quicken Online right now. So far, it's kind of neat. And at $3/month, it'll be 2 years before I start losing money as opposed to buying a software package.

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Thanks for this suggestion. I didn't even know Quicken had an online version. It's perfect because my wife likes to hold onto the checkbook and I hate having to call and find out if we have money in the account. This way we both can monitor and update the account as needed.

I would like to see the addition of a Bill Pay option. I'm actually surprised this feature hasn't been implemented yet.

But for $3/month I can't really complain. It's nice just to be able to stay current with our accounts.

did not work

it must have been me, but when i started down loading info from my bank into ibank, my whole mac crashed. my mouse wouldn't work, and i had to power it off from the on button on the back, twice. i removed ibank from the computer, and am now using my old Quicken 07. i will continue with this until maybe 09 when hopefully something better comes out.

I'm also in the market for personal finance software, nothing too fancy needed. Just household budgeting, CC management, checking account and a 401k...the basics pretty much...but I would like to utilize downloading of account info and have it inputed into whatever financial software I use.

I see there are a few people recommending ibank. I've done some searching/reading and there were plenty of mediocre to poor reviews for ibank so I had crossed it off my list of possibilities (that can change I guess). Moneydance seemed to get good reviews and does the downloading of account info that many of us desire. Does anyone have knowledge/experience with the current version of moneydance?

I have pretty much ruled out the current Intuit products because of the seemingly overwhelming poor reviews on either their products, service and/or business vision.

Guess I'm still feeling my way around looking for the right (for me) personal finance software. I'll be following the thread with great interest to see what light you guys can shed.

Thanks in advance.

CLuv said:

and with the iBank iPhone feature I can key in items as my phone to see a running balance.

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I'm unfamiliar with iBank, could you elaborate on this feature?

ScottSyrNY said:

I see there are a few people recommending ibank. I've done some searching/reading and there were plenty of mediocre to poor reviews for ibank so I had crossed it off my list of possibilities (that can change I guess). Moneydance seemed to get good reviews and does the downloading of account info that many of us desire. Does anyone have knowledge/experience with the current version of moneydance?

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I'm a current Moneydance user. I use it for a simple bank account and I "manipulate" it using sub accounts to do envelope budgeting. Its java, been around for ages and fairly mature. The GUI is a bit finicky though but it performs its job well and is quite feature full. I don't use it for online though (no online connections with any Australian bank) so can't comment on that.

iBank I thought was ok in version 2 if a little buggy. With v3 the developers chose to glam it up with coverflow and other such nonsense rather than concentrate on finance functionality.

Another I think is pretty good is LiquidLedger. It doesn't do online but its got loads of features with a pleasant and straightforward interface. Worth checking out.

I don't know what kind of functionality you need, but I would recommend Moneydance. In addition to being a great product, the user agreement is fair! It may do all you need - I just don't get all that sophisticated with this kind of software.

The data file is uploaded to your MobileMe/.Mac account, or whatever you want to call it. Then when you access it via your iPhone you log onto your iDisk through https, and then it presents the file as a web app. From there you see your balance, and you can "touch" your balance to enter in transactions. It then saves the transactions to update your balance. You can sync this data within iBank between your desktop data file and the "iPhone" file saved on your iDisk.
I hope that helps in understanding the function.

davidg4781 said:

What do y'all think about waiting for QFL or purchasing iBank now?

I'm currently using Quicken 2006, and it's getting by, but it's slow and clunky (and I want something new to play with). If iBank wasn't so expensive, I might just buy that now, and would consider QFL when it launches (if it ever does). For $60, that's pretty close to what QFL will be.

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I hope Quicken Financial Life is powerful program that is compatible with Quicken and MS Money data. But there's little information on it and the early previews suggested it's going to be a lightweight app.

Until it comes out, or something better, I use MS Money in Parallels / WinXP. I've been doing personal finance for 15+ years, and about ten of those in MS Money. And I hope to keep doing so, with my records for the next 10 or 20. So as long as possible, I need an application that can read Money (or Quicken) data -- and can export it if I need to change applications.

I've not heard that any of the indy finance apps are Money or Quicken compatible or have anywhere near the same feature set. If they are in the same league, I'd love to hear it.

Qif

Peace said:

I downloaded iBank and it wouldn't read Quicken 2007 qdfm files.

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Go to File - Export - To QIF

iBank will import the QIF file. It won't import when using it as a demo, but it does list all the transactions. It will read Quicken 2007 files...

just thought I'd resurrect this thread......what are the opinions on the current available personal finance software apps......post your experiences/insights...products to stay away from, etc.

iCompta is just great. It's a freeware though it's far better than many commercial apps. Moreover a new iPhone version has just been released on the app store and it can synchronize easily with the desktop version.