Monarch Money and Copilot Money are both automatic tracking apps with budgets, investments and net worth in one place, so the choice mostly comes down to your devices, where you live and who you share money with. Copilot is built for Apple devices: its help center lists iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web, and it covers US accounts. Monarch lists the web, iPhone, iPad and Android, and supports the US and Canada. Copilot costs a little less per year, and Monarch gives a partner their own login at no extra cost. Everything below comes from each company's own site and help pages, checked in October 2026.
Price as listed in October 2026
- Monarch Money (Core): $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial. No free tier is listed.
- Copilot Money: $13 a month or $95 a year, with a one-month free trial. Its terms say a payment method is required for the trial, and its FAQ says there's no free tier.
Monarch also has a Plus tier, which adds its forecasting tool and deeper investment tools. Its help center says to confirm the Plus price at checkout. Monarch offers a money-back guarantee on purchases made on the web (not through the App Store).
Here is what a year costs. Paying monthly, Monarch Core comes to $14.99 × 12 = $179.88 and Copilot to $13 × 12 = $156, a gap of $23.88. Paying yearly, Monarch Core is $99.99 and Copilot is $95, a gap of $4.99. So the yearly plans are close. Against paying monthly, the yearly plan saves $79.89 on Monarch and $61 on Copilot.
Prices are from Monarch's pricing page and Copilot's site. They change, so check before you pay.
Devices and countries
This is the clearest difference between the two.
Copilot's help center lists iPhone, iPad, Mac and web, and its pages don't mention an Android app. It covers US accounts only. If everyone who will use the app is on Apple devices in the US, Copilot's native Mac and iPhone apps are a real draw.
Monarch lists the web, iPhone, iPad and Android, and its help center says it supports the US and Canada. You connect USD or CAD accounts, and Monarch doesn't convert between currencies. If you or your partner uses an Android phone, or you live in Canada, Monarch's own pages cover that and Copilot's don't.
Both connect to banks through more than one data provider. Monarch uses Plaid, Mastercard Data Connect and MX, and lets you switch provider for an account. Copilot uses Plaid for most banks, with Mastercard, MX and Akoya for banks Plaid lacks. Both let you add accounts by hand.
Budgets
Monarch offers two budget styles. Flex budgeting splits spending into fixed, non-monthly and flexible groups, so you only have to watch one flexible number. Category budgets set a limit per category. Either style can roll unspent money over to the next month.
Copilot uses category budgets with an optional rollover. You can edit budgets month by month and see them up to 12 months ahead, and budgeting is optional if you only want to track. The dashboard shows a Free to Spend amount that leaves out scheduled recurring payments.
Neither is a zero-based app, where you assign every dollar before you spend it. If that's the method you want, see our post on Monarch Money vs YNAB.
Sharing with a partner
Monarch's help center says a partner gets their own login with the same access as you, at no extra cost under one subscription. The person you invite needs to be new to Monarch, without an account of their own. Shared Views let you filter by your accounts, your partner's or joint ones.
Copilot's help center describes sharing by sending your partner the magic-link sign-in, so they log in to the same account with full control. Separate logins aren't described. It suggests category groups and tags to tell each person's spending apart.
If you want two separate logins, Monarch's pages describe that. If one shared login is fine, both work.
Card payments, refunds and paybacks
Credit card payments
Both keep card payments out of spending. Monarch's help center says a card payment usually shows up twice (the bank debit and the card credit), both categorized as Credit Card Payment, and that these are left out of budget, cash flow and spending. Copilot keeps card payments and transfers between your own accounts out of spending budgets as Internal Transfers, and you can mark a transaction as an Internal Transfer and apply that to similar ones.
Refunds
Say you buy a $100 jacket and return it for a $40 refund on the same card. Your real clothing cost is $60.
Monarch's help pages suggest putting the refund in the same category as the purchase so the two offset each other. Copilot's help says to mark the refund as Regular (not Income) in the same category, with its date matched to the original purchase. Copilot's beta Money Assistant also suggests refund matches. Done either way, the category shows $60.
Paybacks from friends
Say you pay $90 for three concert tickets and two friends each send you $30. Your real cost is $30.
Monarch lets you split a transaction by amount or percent, by hand or with a rule, and has built-in "Split" and "Reimburse" tags. Copilot handles a reimbursement by splitting the payment you received and setting the piece to Regular in the original category, and it can split a transaction across months. Monarch's help pages don't describe a Splitwise connection, and in Copilot's help center Splitwise appears only as a feature request. For Venmo, Copilot reads receipt emails you forward to a Copilot address.
Investments, AI and the rest
Both show investments. Monarch shows holdings, allocation and performance from connected or manual accounts; its help notes that MX connections don't send holdings. Copilot's Investments tab shows holdings, allocation and performance, and its help notes that investment history isn't backfilled and investment transactions often don't appear.
For planning further out, Monarch's Plus tier projects net worth and cash flow over the years ahead. Copilot shows budgets up to 12 months ahead, built from expected recurring charges.
Both use AI. Monarch has an AI Assistant for questions about your own data. Copilot Intelligence learns how you categorize once you've reviewed 30 transactions, and the beta Money Assistant gives daily briefings and can change budgets, categories and rules after you approve.
Both find recurring bills. Monarch reminds you three days before a bill is due. Both let you export transactions as a CSV file.
Who each one suits
Copilot suits you if:
- everyone using it is on iPhone, iPad or Mac
- you live in the US
- you want categories that learn from your own choices
- one shared login is fine for a couple
Monarch suits you if:
- you or your partner uses Android
- you live in Canada
- you want separate logins for a partner at no extra cost
- you want a long-range forecast and are open to paying for Plus
Copilot's one-month trial gives you more time to test, and Monarch's is 7 days. Try each through at least one card payment and one refund before you pay. For a closer look at either app, see our pages on Monarch Money and Copilot, or the full list of comparisons.
If you'd rather use a browser than a store app, or friends often pay you back, Monio is another option: it runs in the browser on any phone or computer, connects to Splitwise and matches paybacks to the purchase they were for, for $7.99 a month or $80 a year.
Questions
Which is better, Monarch Money or Copilot?
It mostly comes down to your devices, where you live and who you share money with. Copilot is built for Apple devices and covers US accounts, while Monarch lists the web, iPhone, iPad and Android and supports the US and Canada.
Is Copilot cheaper than Monarch Money?
Slightly. As listed in October 2026, Copilot is $13 a month or $95 a year and Monarch Core is $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, so the yearly plans are $4.99 apart.
Can a partner have their own login on Monarch or Copilot?
Monarch's help center says a partner gets their own login with the same access as you, at no extra cost under one subscription. Copilot's help center describes sharing by sending your partner the magic-link sign-in to the same account, and separate logins aren't described.
Does Copilot count credit card payments as spending?
No. Copilot keeps card payments and transfers between your own accounts out of spending budgets, as Internal Transfers.