Quicken 2019 for Mac Launches With Web Access

[MacRumors]

Quicken today announced the launch of Quicken 2019, the newest version of its popular finance and budgeting software for PC and Mac.

Quicken 2019 introduces web access for the first time, designed to allow Quicken customers to manage their finances online using Chrome, Safari, and other web browsers.

Users are able to check their balances, monitor transactions, view budgets, check spending trends, view past expenses, and access info on their accounts and investment holdings at any time.

A customizable web dashboard created for the web access experience lets customers customize their personal view to see full details on all features Quicken has to offer or a streamlined view with just essential information.

"Millions of people use Quicken to help them manage their financial lives. Because Quicken is important to them, our community of users is incredibly engaged. We prioritize updates primarily based on feedback from these users, and adding web access was the number one requested enhancement," said Eric Dunn, Chief Executive Officer of Quicken. "As an agile, independent company, we've been able to deliver this highly-anticipated feature, among other exciting new customer-inspired updates, on schedule and with great quality. This increased pace of releases and improvements is something our customers can count on and look forward to in the future."

Quicken 2019 also features several enhancements on the desktop, which are designed to offer up an overall faster experience. Quicken for Mac, for example, is up to twice as fast.

The software opens up quicker, charts and graphs load twice as fast, and backing up is four times faster than it was in previous versions of Quicken.

Quicken in 2018 launched a new monthly membership feature so customers who pay for a subscription will get access to Quicken 2019 at no additional cost. There are several plans available for purchase at different price points.

Quicken Starter with budgeting is available for $34.99 for a one-year membership, while Quicken Deluxe is available for $49.99 per year.

Quicken Premiere, with portfolio monitoring functionality and tax advice, is priced at $74.99 per year, while Quicken Home & Business is priced at $99.99.

Article Link: Quicken 2019 for Mac Launches With Web Access

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

I remember some years back when Quicken launched an update that deleted everything on the users desktop. Great update.

 

[jlforester]

Subscription only? No thanks Intuit.

 

[KazKam]

I will never ever ever EVER buy another Quicken product.

I had been using 2015 (and Essentials and previous versions) for the Mac, and was perfectly happy with it as my home ledger version of my accounts. As soon as Intuit sold off Quicken Mac and they went subscription only, they not only lost me because of the subscription, but because they actually intentionally "broke" basic functionality of my Quicken 2015 software. I am no longer able to import account files I download (not even directly link) from creditors. They also force nag screens to upgrade at every launch that use "dark" UI patterns in order to dismiss, and you are not able to dismiss permanently. I keep thinking what they did to owners of existing/past software must be illegal in some way. This article reminds me, I need to report them to the BBB (for all the good that'll do).

P.S. I've been researching Quicken alternatives for Mac recently and been curious about Banktivity and a few others that don't require you to store everything in the cloud or lock your data into a subscription. Any recommendations/endorsements?

 

[macintoshmac]

I remember some years back when Quicken launched an update that deleted everything on the users desktop. Great update.

Does more than we paid for.

 

[CarpalMac]

Subscription = Pass. End of my interest in their product .

 

[picaman]

Banktivity FTW. Switched from Quicken years ago and never regretted it. Mac and iPhone apps make it all very integrated and straightforward.

 

[brauntj]

I will never ever ever EVER buy another Quicken product.

I had been using 2015 (and Essentials and previous versions) for the Mac, and was perfectly happy with it as my home ledger version of my accounts. As soon as Intuit sold off Quicken Mac and they went subscription only, they not only lost me because of the subscription, but because they actually intentionally "broke" basic functionality of my Quicken 2015 software. I am no longer able to import account files I download (not even directly link) from creditors. They also force nag screens to upgrade at every launch that use "dark" UI patterns in order to dismiss, and you are not able to dismiss permanently. I keep thinking what they did to owners of existing/past software must be illegal in some way. This article reminds me, I need to report them to the BBB (for all the good that'll do).

P.S. I've been researching Quicken alternatives for Mac recently and been curious about Banktivity and a few others that don't require you to store everything in the cloud or lock your data into a subscription. Any recommendations/endorsements?

I've been using Banktivity now for about a month. They JUST released version 7. So far, its been a good experience. Single purchase (via Mac App Store or IGG website) and its yours. The iOS app is also free and I've had no issues with the two staying in sync. They also have a subscription-based "direct connect" option that I tried for a month. Its nice, but certainly not necessary as some of the accounts still sync and importing transactions isn't a difficult process.

It handles investments, real estate, loans, etc. fairly well. I do like Quicken's investment presentation a little better, but its certainly good enough with Banktivity. The custom folders and organization of Banktivity is also a huge plus. Quicken force-feeds your accounts in to certain categories, which I hated. I have retirement accounts, accounts for my kids, personal brokerage accounts, etc. that I like to keep organized a particular way.

The 'upcoming transactions' organization did take a little getting used to with several quirks that didn't seem very intuitive. I still make mistakes once in a while setting up recurring transactions. But after you get used to it, again, its not bad at all.

I guess what I'm saying is if you were a fan of Quicken, you'll like Banktivity once you get used to the minor differences.

 

[lenard]

Banktivity all the way. Love the syncing between desktop and IOS. Transaction matching is great too.

 

[robbyx]

P.S. I've been researching Quicken alternatives for Mac recently and been curious about Banktivity and a few others that don't require you to store everything in the cloud or lock your data into a subscription. Any recommendations/endorsements?

Banktivity is the only legitimate Quicken alternative in my mind. And it’s great! I was not a fan of the old iBank, but Banktivity is a completely different experience. It’s incredibly fast when scrolling through registers. The UI is logical and intuitive. Reporting is comparable to, if not better than, Quicken. Securities are well supported. Version 7 has added a number of mortgage-related features.

At this point I don’t think there’s anything Quicken does that Banktivity cannot handle. I’d never buy Quicken again either. With Banktivity I don’t have to compromise. It’s a great app.

 

[motm95]

I'll take the other side of the argument.

I actually think Quicken has improved significantly since Intuit sold it to HIG Capital in 2016. I have the 2017 Quicken Mac version and it's great. One time purchase and no subscription. All the useless sales and promotional and extra services fluff has been stripped out and now it's a no-nonsense piece of software. I can download all my transactions from various financial institutions without issue and without additional cost.

I tried Banktivity and it was okay, but to get most of the automatic downloads from my banks, I had to subscribe to their Direct Access subscription service at $45 per year. No thanks.

 

[Weaselboy]

Happy Banktivity user here also. The have been pretty good about updates and update pricing over the years.

Here are my redacted notes from the updates.

===

iBank Amazon DL
2/11/2012

11/20/2013
iBank 5 $29.99 upgrade price transaction ID XXXXX

4/27/17
iBank 6 $29.99 upgrade transaction ID XXXXX

9/24/18
Banktivity 7 34.99

 

[aristobrat]

I tried Banktivity and it was okay, but to get most of the automatic downloads from my banks, I had to subscribe to their Direct Access subscription service at $45 per year. No thanks.

No-fuss direct downloads (i.e. I click a button and all of my accounts automatically update) is the #1 reason I'm super hesitant about switching away from Quicken.

I'm not a fan of subscriptions, but the reality was that I dropped $60+ every time a new Quicken for Mac update came out (before the subscription model) anyway.

I'm a "basic features" user, and I like that the Quicken subscription has a $35/year basic plan that meets my needs. That's 1/2 the cost I'd pay for a "before subscription" Quicken update. And the amount of bug fixes and new features that come out every few weeks is amazing compared to when Intuit owned it.

 

[Weaselboy]

I tried Banktivity and it was okay, but to get most of the automatic downloads from my banks, I had to subscribe to their Direct Access subscription service at $45 per year. No thanks.

I use Bank of America and it seems to work fine with the in app OFX file imports and I have not need to pay for the Direct Access service. What extra does the Direct Access get you?

 

[phantom5251]

You Need a Budget is great. Direct import access is subscription based on I think, but they have a good UI and mobile app as well. I think EveryDollar is another one that is free, but if you want bank import, it's a yearly sub.

 

[motm95]

I use Bank of America and it seems to work fine with the in app OFX file imports and I have not need to pay for the Direct Access service. What extra does the Direct Access get you?

Apparently, Banktivity has their own proprietary subscription service that will provide automatic downloads from financial institutions that don't provide free OFX downloads.

I just re-downloaded Banktivity and imported my Quicken data (which worked great) and started setting up the automatic downloads. About half of my accounts were able to work using the in-app OFX downloads, and half would not work and I got a dialog box saying in order to have automatic downloads for those accounts, I had to subscribe to Banktivity's Direct Access service for $44.99. All of these accounts download fine (and for free) in Quicken 2017 for Mac.

 

[RobbieTT]

Moneydance user here. Started with Quicken back in the '90s, then moved to MS Money before finding Moneydance. Happy with the experience so far.

 

[robbyx]

I'll take the other side of the argument.

I actually think Quicken has improved significantly since Intuit sold it to HIG Capital in 2016. I have the 2017 Quicken Mac version and it's great. One time purchase and no subscription. All the useless sales and promotional and extra services fluff has been stripped out and now it's a no-nonsense piece of software. I can download all my transactions from various financial institutions without issue and without additional cost.

I tried Banktivity and it was okay, but to get most of the automatic downloads from my banks, I had to subscribe to their Direct Access subscription service at $45 per year. No thanks.

I’m able to download directly into Banktivity without subscribing to IGG’s service. I have accounts with 6 financial institutions. The only one that does not download directly into Banktivity is Barclays.

Glad to hear Quicken is better now, but there’s still no way I’d trust it to stick around, especially as a native Mac app. Now that they’re moving to the web, no one should be surprised when they drop native Mac app support because the Mac market isn’t big enough.

 

[motm95]

I’m able to download directly into Banktivity without subscribing to IGG’s service. I have accounts with 6 financial institutions. The only one that does not download directly into Banktivity is Barclays.

Glad to hear Quicken is better now, but there’s still no way I’d trust it to stick around, especially as a native Mac app. Now that they’re moving to the web, no one should be surprised when they drop native Mac app support because the Mac market isn’t big enough.

I completely agree and if that time comes, then I probably will move to Banktivity. I just wish more of my accounts worked with the free OFX download. I also have Barclays that doesn't work, neither does my Target credit card, or my Ally online savings account, just to name a few. I've got 11 accounts, 5 work with OFX and 6 don't.

 

[neliason]

I will never ever ever EVER buy another Quicken product.

I had been using 2015 (and Essentials and previous versions) for the Mac, and was perfectly happy with it as my home ledger version of my accounts. As soon as Intuit sold off Quicken Mac and they went subscription only, they not only lost me because of the subscription, but because they actually intentionally "broke" basic functionality of my Quicken 2015 software. I am no longer able to import account files I download (not even directly link) from creditors.

They did that for years. Every three years or so your ability to download transactions no longer worked. I can’t imagine anything substantial changed in that time. Developers of a worthwhile product deserve to make a living. But the forced upgrades never added anything really useful or new. All it did was restore functionality you used to have. Between that and my business bank account charging for Quicken transaction downloads I reverted to a spreadsheet. It works great for my needs.

 

[Jsfrederick]

I will never ever ever EVER buy another Quicken product.

I had been using 2015 (and Essentials and previous versions) for the Mac, and was perfectly happy with it as my home ledger version of my accounts. As soon as Intuit sold off Quicken Mac and they went subscription only, they not only lost me because of the subscription, but because they actually intentionally "broke" basic functionality of my Quicken 2015 software. I am no longer able to import account files I download (not even directly link) from creditors. They also force nag screens to upgrade at every launch that use "dark" UI patterns in order to dismiss, and you are not able to dismiss permanently. I keep thinking what they did to owners of existing/past software must be illegal in some way. This article reminds me, I need to report them to the BBB (for all the good that'll do).

P.S. I've been researching Quicken alternatives for Mac recently and been curious about Banktivity and a few others that don't require you to store everything in the cloud or lock your data into a subscription. Any recommendations/endorsements?

I use Moneydance (www.moneydance.com). Switched from Quicken in 2004 and have not looked back.

 

[GIZBUG]

Quicken : overpriced, incomplete software app that hikes the price for you to beta test for them. JUNK.

Everydollar app is what I recommend

 

[pws442]

I use a Virtual Machine on my MBP just so I can run the Windows version. Have yet to find anything that can import 25 years of transactions. Nada, zilch, zip. Will forgo online transactions but sticking with H&B 2017.

 

[robbyx]

I completely agree and if that time comes, then I probably will move to Banktivity. I just wish more of my accounts worked with the free OFX download. I also have Barclays that doesn't work, neither does my Target credit card, or my Ally online savings account, just to name a few. I've got 11 accounts, 5 work with OFX and 6 don't.

Yeah, that's a lot of accounts that don't work. The question is, how often will Quicken force you to upgrade to maintain download functionality? I used Quicken for Windows for a while (in VMware Fusion) and had to upgrade to keep downloads working.

Since I only have one account that doesn't work with Banktivity, I don't really care about it not downloading. It's my Apple Visa card and I don't use it anyway. I just have it to take advantage of financing deals when I buy a new device. If I needed to pay $45/year for Banktivity downloads, I would. I think the price is a little steep, but I like the fact that I'm supporting a Mac-first shop with my dollars.

 

[xero9]

I'll never understand why Intuit comes out with these products but don't bother to release them for the Canadian market. The price of Moneydance is nice but I'm not entirely happy with it