If you are looking for a Rocket Money alternative, it helps to know what you want to be different. Some people want an app that does not connect to their bank. Others want something simpler, or only want reminders before renewals. This guide compares the three main approaches behind apps like Rocket Money: bank-linked apps, manual trackers that work without bank linking, and spreadsheets.

Facts about Rocket Money here come from its own website and help center, and facts about Subex come from ours. We make Subex, so keep that in mind when you read our description of it.

How Rocket Money works

According to Rocket Money’s homepage, FAQ and help center:

  • Bank linking: you link checking, savings, credit card and investment accounts. Rocket Money says it connects to them through Plaid, its account connection partner.
  • Finding subscriptions: Rocket Money finds subscriptions by reviewing transactions from your linked accounts and lists them in its Recurring tab. Bills paid by check or from unlinked accounts can be added by hand in the mobile app.
  • Plans: the app is free to download, with Free, Premium and Premium+ tiers. Rocket Money says the free tier includes subscription, bill and spending tracking. Premium is a monthly membership where you choose your price within an available range.
  • Cancellation: Premium members can use the Subscription Cancellation Assistant, where Rocket Money cancels a subscription for them. Rocket Money says subscriptions billed through Apple, Google Play, Amazon, Roku or PayPal have to be cancelled directly with that platform.
  • Other features: Premium adds budgets, credit reports, net worth tracking, automated savings and more. Rocket Money also negotiates some bills, with a fee that it says applies only if it saves you money.

That is the core of the bank-linked model: connect your accounts once, and the app builds the list from your transactions.

Three ways to track subscriptions

1. Bank-linked apps

Rocket Money is one example of this approach.

What you get: subscriptions found from your transactions, including ones you may have forgotten, plus a wider view of your spending.

What it takes: connecting your financial accounts to the app through a linking provider. Charges paid outside the linked accounts still have to be added by hand.

A good fit if: you want discovery and budgeting in one place and are comfortable linking accounts.

2. Manual trackers without bank linking

Manual trackers ask you to enter each subscription yourself, then handle the remembering. Subex is one of these:

  • You add subscriptions by hand, from the app’s built-in catalog or as custom entries. There is no bank login, no card linking and no inbox scanning.
  • You can turn on a reminder 1 or 3 days before each renewal, set per subscription.
  • Step-by-step guides open each provider’s own cancel page. You finish the cancellation with whoever bills you; Subex does not cancel for you or contact providers.
  • It handles weekly to yearly billing cycles in 65 currencies.
  • It is free for one subscription added by hand. Premium is $49.99 a year or $7.99 a week and adds spending breakdowns by category and billing cycle.
  • It is on Android today. The iPhone app is not available yet.

What you get: a renewal calendar and reminders without giving anyone access to your accounts.

What it takes: entering subscriptions yourself. Subex does not detect anything, so a subscription you do not add is not tracked.

A good fit if: you know roughly what you pay for, want a heads-up before each renewal, and would rather not link a bank.

3. Spreadsheets

A spreadsheet costs nothing and links to nothing. You list each subscription with its price, billing cycle and renewal date.

What you get: complete control over the layout and the math.

What it takes: updating dates by hand after each renewal, and no reminders unless you add calendar events yourself.

A good fit if: you already budget in a spreadsheet and only have a few subscriptions.

Our guide on how to track subscriptions compares these and two more methods in detail.

Side by side

  • Finds subscriptions for you: bank-linked apps such as Rocket Money do, from linked transactions. Subex and spreadsheets do not.
  • Needs a bank or card connection: bank-linked apps do. Subex and spreadsheets do not.
  • Renewal view or reminders: Rocket Money’s help center describes an Upcoming view with a two-week calendar for Premium members. Subex sends an optional reminder 1 or 3 days before each renewal. A spreadsheet needs separate calendar events.
  • Cancels for you: Rocket Money Premium offers a cancellation assistant, except for subscriptions billed through platforms such as Apple, Google Play, Amazon, Roku or PayPal. Subex does not cancel; it links to the provider’s cancel page. A spreadsheet does neither.
  • Wider finances: Rocket Money covers budgets, credit reports and net worth on Premium. Subex covers only the subscriptions and bills you add.
  • Price: Rocket Money has a free tier and a choose-your-price Premium. Subex is free for one subscription, then $49.99 a year or $7.99 a week. A spreadsheet is free.

Questions to ask before you switch

  • Do you want an app to find your subscriptions, or do you already know what you pay for?
  • Are you comfortable linking bank and card accounts to a third-party app?
  • Do you need budgeting and credit tools, or only renewal reminders?
  • Do you want someone to cancel for you, or are you happy to cancel yourself with a guide?
  • Which phone do you use? Subex is Android-only for now.

If you are leaving Rocket Money

Cancelling Premium and disconnecting your accounts are separate steps. Rocket Money’s help center says you manage your Premium membership from Settings, then Membership, that cancellation takes effect at the end of your billing cycle, and that cancelling Premium does not delete your account. It also says disconnecting a bank account does not cancel Premium, and that unlinking permanently removes that account’s historic data. Note down the subscriptions it found before you unlink anything.

Our guide on how to cancel Rocket Money has the full steps. Leaving another finance app too? See how to cancel Albert, or browse all our cancellation guides. If a manual tracker sounds right, download Subex for Android.

FAQ

Yes. Manual trackers such as Subex and plain spreadsheets work without any bank connection. The trade-off is that you add each subscription yourself.

Does Subex cancel subscriptions like Rocket Money?

No. Subex does not cancel subscriptions or contact providers. It opens a step-by-step guide to the provider’s own cancel page, and you finish the cancellation with whoever bills you.

Is Subex free?

It is free for one subscription added by hand. Premium is $49.99 a year or $7.99 a week and adds spending breakdowns by category and billing cycle.

Is Subex available on iPhone?

Not yet. Subex is on Android today, and an iPhone version is coming.

Does disconnecting my bank cancel Rocket Money Premium?

No. Rocket Money says disconnecting a bank account does not cancel Premium. Cancel the membership separately from its settings.