Monarch shows a partner everything.
Wonderful lets you choose.

What Monarch does well, and where it falls short for two

Sharing with a partner

Monarch is the simpler of the two when a couple wants nothing kept apart. A partner joins under the same subscription with their own login^[10][11], and from then on both people see everything. The couples page says “both parties will have full visibility into all accounts and transactions associated with it”^[10][11][1], and Monarch's own help center says there is no way to hide a bank account or a transaction from a member once they are in^[1].

That suits a pair who have merged their money. It is harder for a pair who haven't: one partner may keep a personal card, an account for a gift, or savings that is theirs. In Wonderful each person connects their own banks and chooses, per account, whether the other sees everything, only totals, or nothing^[17]. Joint accounts belong to both of you.

Splitting what you share

Monarch's couples page describes shared goals that two people fund from separate accounts, and tagging a partner to review a transaction^[10][11]. It does not describe splitting one expense between two people, so a couple who want to know who owes whom would keep that somewhere else, in a spreadsheet or a split app. Wonderful splits shared costs evenly, by income, or any way you choose, and keeps a running total of who owes whom^[18]. The guides on splitting bills by income and paying a partner back go through how that works.

How each one budgets

Monarch lets you pick between two styles: Flex, which sorts spending into fixed, flexible and non-monthly buckets and gives you one main number to watch, or Category budgeting^[7][12]. Money left in a category can roll into the next month^[12], and it forecasts spending into future months^[3][12]. It also tracks net worth across every connected account.

Wonderful starts from the paycheck instead. Every paycheck gets a plan for bills, spending and saving before it lands^[18], it lists what is due before your next one, and savings goals show the month you will reach them^[18][18]. Each charge counts as yours, your partner's or ours^[18]. There is more on this in budgeting for couples.

Where Monarch is ahead

Monarch has an iPhone app, an Android app and the web^[7][8][9]. Wonderful is on the web only for now, in a browser on a computer or a phone^[18]. Monarch connects investment accounts and real estate through 13,000+ institutions^[9]; Wonderful gives no investment advice or portfolio analysis, and counts investments toward net worth as balances^[18]. Monarch is rated 4.9 on the App Store from 116K ratings^[7][8]; Wonderful is new and has no store ratings yet.

Which one fits

Pick Monarch if you and your partner are happy to see everything of each other's, you want a phone app, or you want investment tracking in the same place as your budget. Pick Wonderful if you keep some money your own, you want a plan for each paycheck, or you split shared costs by what each of you earns and want the running total. Couples who share only some accounts can read how others handle it in couples finance apps and privacy.

What Monarch costs, next to Wonderful

The two land in the same place on price. Monthly is $14.99 on both. Yearly is $99.99 on Monarch and $99 on Wonderful, so the difference is a cent a month. The real difference is in what the plan holds: Monarch names two tiers, Core and Plus, and says Plus adds forecasting tools, several income sources and deeper investment tracking^[3][7]. Wonderful has one plan for the household^[16]. Neither has a free plan after the first week, and a partner costs nothing extra on either.

What Monarch users say

Why people leave Monarch

1. Connections that drop. App Store reviewers describe accounts that "disconnect all the time" and a bank that stayed broken for a month.^[14]
2. Price against what the plan includes. One reviewer calls it "double the competitors" with no alerts near a budget.^[14]
3. Billing after cancelling. Several App Store reviews from July to October 2026 say they were billed after they cancelled or found it hard to cancel.^[14]
4. A partner who cannot join. One reviewer could not get a spouse's membership to work with the account already started.^[14]