Copilot vs Monarch in 2026: which is better for you?

Copilot vs Monarch price

This is where Copilot changed. Its pricing page now shows one plan, called "One simple plan," at $18 a month, or $109 a year shown as $9 a month. The $109 is labeled a limited time offer, "instead of $119." The App Store lists the same app at $13.00 a month and $95.00 a year.^[3][5] Neither page explains the gap, so the price you pay depends on where you sign up.

Monarch's pricing page and App Store both show $14.99 a month and $99.99 a year. The App Store also shows a Plus plan at $199.99 a year, and the pricing page says Plus adds forecasting tools, several income sources and deeper investment tracking.^[7][8]

Put the yearly prices next to each other. On the websites, Copilot's $109 is $9.01 more a year than Monarch's $99.99. On the App Store, Copilot's $95 is $4.99 less. Paid monthly, Copilot's site price comes to $216 over twelve months and Monarch's to $179.88. Copilot's App Store monthly price comes to $156. So the cheaper app flips with where you buy and how you pay, and the yearly plans are the lower cost on both apps if you are sure you will stay.

Monarch also lists a code, WELCOME, for 30% off the annual Core plan for one year for new users. It cannot be combined with other offers and may expire at any time.^[7] Copilot's pages list no discount code. For the full breakdown of each, see our Monarch pricing and Copilot Money pricing pages.

Neither app has a free plan. Copilot's FAQ says there is no permanent free tier. Monarch lists only the first week as free. The trials differ: The App Store and the FAQ say one month free for new users. The pricing page does not state a trial or whether a card is needed.^[3][4][5] For Monarch, The pricing page says "Your first week is on us." The App Store says the app is free to try for 7 days before a monthly or annual membership is billed. Neither says whether a card is needed.^[7][8]

How budgeting works in each

Both apps sort your transactions for you and let you fix the sorting. Where they differ is in how they ask you to budget.

Copilot describes adaptive budgets that adjust to how you spend, plus savings goals and a cash flow view. You can make your own categories with colors and emojis. Its Money Assistant is an AI you can ask about your money. The page says it "always asks before acting," and can fix transactions, match a refund to its purchase and flag spending trends with budget suggestions. The App Store says the assistant is available only on iPhone.^[2][5]

Monarch gives you a choice. Flex budgeting splits spending into fixed, flexible and non-monthly buckets and gives you one main number to watch. Category budgeting is the other, with a limit per category. Rollovers carry money left in a category into the next month, to cover bills that do not come every month. It also forecasts spending into future months, which its pricing page lists under Plus. Goals have a target, a planned monthly amount and an image, and you can tie an account to a goal.^{[7][8][13][14]}

If you want the app to suggest, Copilot is the one built around that. If you want to pick a method, Monarch gives you two. If you want a strict method where every dollar gets a job, neither is that: see Monarch vs YNAB, or YNAB vs EveryDollar. Our guide to budget categories covers how many lines a couple needs, whichever app you choose.

Copilot vs Monarch for couples

This is the biggest difference between the two today.

Monarch: A partner joins at no extra cost under the same subscription and gets their own login. The page says, "Partners will each have their own login, but can view each other's data."^[11][12] Both partners see everything. The page says, "both parties will have full visibility into all accounts and transactions associated with it," and tells people to check they are comfortable with that first. The help center adds: "You cannot hide bank accounts or transactions in Monarch."^[11][12][16] It does not describe splitting a bill between two people: its couples page covers shared goals that two people fund from separate accounts, and tagging a partner to review a transaction.^[11][12]

Copilot: Households are marked "Coming soon" and partner invites "coming this fall" on the home and pricing pages. Once live, the pages say up to 3 people share one subscription at no extra cost with full access.^[2][3] In the meantime, its help article describes another way in. Your partner signs in to your account with a magic link: you open the sign-in email Copilot sends you and forward it to them. The article warns that "any additional logged-in devices will also have full control of the account." It suggests a group of categories for each person and tags to show whose spending is whose.^[1]

So the shape is different. In Monarch each of you is a member with your own login. In Copilot, today, your partner is signed in to your account, and a proper household is what the fall update is meant to add. Pages say "coming this fall" with no year, so plan on what is live now. Neither app's pages describe hiding one account from your partner, and neither describes splitting a shared bill between two people.

On cost for two, Monarch covers a partner under one subscription. Copilot says up to 3 people will share one subscription at no extra cost once households are live. If you want to see how a split by income would look for your two paychecks, our fair split calculator does it in a minute, and budgeting for couples covers the choices a pair faces.

Platforms, banks and what they cost to leave

Copilot runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web. It has no Android app, and the App Store says its assistant works only on iPhone. Monarch runs on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, and its pricing page recommends signing up on the web instead of through an app store.^[7][8][9] If one of you has an Android phone, that settles it for Monarch.

Both are read-only with your accounts. Copilot says it connects to 16,000+ US institutions, with direct links for Venmo, Apple Card and Coinbase, and that it does not store bank credentials or sell financial data. Monarch says 13,000+ institutions. Both numbers are the apps' own claims, and a number says little about whether your two banks work well, so check yours before you commit to a year.^[4][5][10]

Both have a rating story too. Copilot is 4.8 stars on the App Store from about 31K ratings and has no Google Play listing. Monarch is 4.9 on the App Store from 116K ratings and 4.8 on Google Play from 26.1K.^[5][8][9] Both are well liked, and in both, the one-star reviews are mostly about connections that drop.

What people say

We could not read Reddit, so these are public App Store reviews, word for word, with a link to each.

Copilot's reviewers praise how it looks and moving to it from Mint. The complaints are price, thin updates and connections that fail. One September 2026 reviewer says in-app support and the AI chat no longer respond.^[6]

Monarch's reviewers like the single view for two. The complaints are accounts that disconnect, price against what is included, and several July to October 2026 reviews of being billed after cancelling.^[15]

Choose Copilot or Monarch

There is no clear winner for everyone. For a couple that wants a partner in the app this month, the pages make Monarch the one that does it today. For one person on an iPhone who values how the app looks, Copilot is what its 4.8 stars and 31K ratings point to.

A third option

We make Wonderful, so weigh this accordingly. It is a web app for couples who keep their own accounts: each person connects their own bank and chooses what the other sees, account by account, and shared costs split evenly, by income or any way you choose, with a running total of who owes whom. It is $14.99 a month or $99 a year for both of you, with a free week and no free plan after it. It has no iPhone or Android app yet, and no investment advice. If you want investment tracking or a native app, the two above are closer. If the question is what a partner sees, see Wonderful vs Monarch or Wonderful vs Copilot.