YNAB Classic App Reviews

I loved this app, but with its impending demise in 2017, its no longer worth downloading. Sooner or later after support stops, an OS update will break it. I decided to try the new web version, really trying to be open minded. Its a stripped-down and not even well-designed for what it does. For everybody who supports or hates the idea of a subscription service, set that aside and just focus on the new web version is just plain bad. Ive been a huge fan of YNAB. I bought copies for my college-aged children. This is a really disappointing change. Ive gone back to the Web app several times trying to make it work, and I just hate it. A few specifics: * They released it prematurely. You cant do in-line calculations to help figure out splits anymore. There are no reports yet. There is no value to having a trial version that will expire before critical features are added in the software. * Only one month shows at a time. I compared months to help decide budget amounts. * They have adamantly decided that we cannot rollover negative values in budgets because it conflicts with their philosophy. A lot of us, who DO understand the implications of letting a budget go negative, used that feature. * The amount in an account is based on today, not everything youve entered. Your account balance information is no longer any more informative than asking for your balance at the ATM. They dont think this is necessary because they believe sticking to the budget will protect your account balance, but I liked having a redundant system. * When they initially couldnt handle the traffic setting up account links, I couldnt get rid of those messages so that I could at least try editing budgets. The web interface should have been able to function in other ways even when he couldnt access bank accounts at the moment. Poor programming.

Maybe new YNABers will like the new YNAB software better. For us long time users though, the trade off is just not worth it. Yes, automatic imports from banks was long desired. Not at the sacrifice of so many crucial basic features though. Thats just what the new YNAB does. Strips all the features we have so effectively used to manage our budgets, and leaves them in the dust. For now, Ill stick with classic until it so unsupported as to render it useless. In the meantime, I, like MANY others, will be looking for alternatives. I can only hope for Steine that they can get enough new users to sustain their new direction. By my count, they are losing AT LEAST half of their long time clientele as a result of a horrific upgrade release. Thats what happens when you fix that which does not need fixing...

Purchased this several months ago. I travel a lot so did not get around to taking the classes. I go online tonight and my account is no longer active. My email is no longer "recognized" which means Ill be FORCED to purchase the new version again. They know my email address - I still have their emails on my inbox to prove it. Not cool.

I have to agree with all the people who expressed disappointment in the direction YNAB has taken with the subscription model. I was hoping to always use YNAB but if it goes away, then I will find one that is not subscription based. I love YNAB4; keep it so that we dont lose our $60 investment on a great app.

This app was great to use before the "classic" "update". Now the screen freezes on whatever account you are looking at, or scrolls to a blank page. I have just restarted the app 4 times to try to balance one account and I am still not done. I emailed customer support, they are going to take my input into consideration as they work on future updates. So much for supporting the app for all of 2016. Its already broken and they dont seem to care about updating it at all.

I regret giving YNAB $60. I especially regret recommending them to family & friends. Switching to a subscription model is one thing. Other software has made that switch. But Im definitely not paying for budgeting software that requires its own line item in my monthly budget. (Looking for ways to save? YNAB will make it easy to see why paying for it each month is a pointless waste!) The indefensible portion is that the existing software was also updated - and is now unstable to the point of being useless. Thats just adding insult to injury. Like a retailer walking into your house and breaking the screen on your tv... and then demanding payment each month to replace it. Your basic mafia tactics. Not to mention that you cant import your old budget into the new system. Which they discovered AFTER launch, and AFTER rendering the existing software unusable. How did ANY of us take advice about planning ANYTHING from these clowns? YNAB, you have transformed me from a passionate advocate to someone who will go out of his way to warn others against endlessly paying for your glitchy, overblown spreadsheet. Id ask for a refund, but Im sure corporate bankruptcy lawyers arent cheap.

Not interested in importing bank accounts (have MINT for that) and definitely not interested in a subscription. It hurt to pay the one-time (lol) fee for the software late 2015. Now this subscription BS. Sigh. Bait and switch.

When shopping for a financial planner, trust is the name of the game. How could you ever trust again a company that charges you $60 and then renders the product you PAID for useless? God forbid I should invest one more sec of time and/or effort only to see that my sunk cost will be used against me when the company decides is time for they new money-grabbing shenanigan.

I know that the YNAB team needs to make a living, and I would gladly pay a sizable standalone fee to keep using the previously excellent desktop software (or even accept ads incorporated if need be). The move to a subscription model is making me move to Mint. Its as simple as that. If the team is reading these reviews: if you move away from this strategy Ill come back, but not until then.

Bought ynab4 6 months ago and now suddenly they are discontinuing it and moving to a subscription service. No thank you. Looking for alternatives.

You ruined a beautiful app by switching to a subscription model. Please go back.

Update: Saw an update come through and was excited until I saw that the hideous "classic" banner is still there. Sounds like they dont take feedback seriously. Disappointing. Dont try to pretend the "classic" banner isnt really meant to make users want to upgrade to the new (ahem... beta) YNAB. You claim it is to avoid confusion between versions. Please.

Nail in the coffin boys and girls...going to a subscription based service is absolutely hilarious for everything this company says they stand for. Renting a budgeting tool is a finance 101 no-no. Im a 3+ year YNAB user and Im now looking for its replacement.

Old 5x star review below. Updated: 1x star. Im hugely disappointed by the pivot to an online SaaS product. YNAB was doing the right things, then they misjudged their customer base and went with an online offering, and alienated their users. Very sad. If I wanted to use Mint, I would use Mint. I dont want Mint, I want YNAB. My wife and I are considering our options and are not pleased, but will likely abandon this product. Sigh. ---- Old 5x Star Review 5x stars because the app does what it should, does it well, and less than 5/5 is petty. But. TouchID? Please? Also, itd be great if on import, if something was coded with the wrong Source, but is imported from a bank correctly, that something would flag this and make it easy to identify and fix. Keep it up!!!

Ill say it yet again.... Jessie changed the look of this app and made the app look homeless. This same app that was perfect is now flawed with that silly Classic ribbon. YNAB is no longer in my dock. Wicked hard to look at. Please change it. Please!!!!!!!

I hate you guys.

And now an "update" to hide the bad reviews! Wow. They have lost their way. Lots of irony to the last update. Its budget software but they want us to fork out money for something we do not need. The app worked and looked fine. Now it looks like a junky classic/lite app so you will buy the new subscription desktop app. They ruined the app icon for this reason alone, so you will buy the new one. Lame. $80 for the desktop so it isnt like this was a free service. We paid. It should stay as it was.

YNAB has been a vital part of my budgeting for years now, but the move to an exploitive subscription model and the release of the new, poorly conceived, web-only YNAB brings that to an end. The sudden trend of frequent new minor "updates" that push negative reactions to the changes off the Current Version reviews list seems to indicate that they know how much users hate these moves but just dont care. Recommend you pass on these products from now on.

You could easily have fixed the ugly icon banner when you were fixing the UI refresh issue. Do you not read these reviews at all? Or are you deliberately trying to get the rating for this version down to one so that the new version will look better in comparison? I am still rating this app five stars, because its a great app and I use it all the time. I am, of course, disappointed that you have decided to abandon it as Im certainly not going to store my personal financial data on your potentially insecure and unreliable servers when network security and availability is not your area of expertise. Even Dropbox has occasional problems. But at least their whole business model is based on their reliability and security so I know they take it seriously. You claim that you take it seriously, but I very much doubt that you have the necessary and sufficient network and security experts on staff since they are in extremely short supply.

Things have to change I guess. Please switch the icon back. At least until Ynab 4 users have a proper migration solution.