Quicken For Mac Review 2022

Quicken is still one of the most popular personal finance software on the market and in this Quicken For Mac review, we take a closer look at what it can do and how it compares to the Windows version.

Although there are much better alternatives to Quicken for Mac on the market nowadays such as excellent tools like Empower, it’s still a powerful budgeting tool that’s easily still one of the most widely used personal finance software out there.

However, the developer Intuit has stopped releasing annual versions of Quicken as they previously used to such as with Quicken 2018 For Mac and Quicken 2019 For Mac.

So there’s currently no such thing as Quicken 2021 For Mac or Quicken 2022 For Mac.

Instead, Quicken has switched to a subscription pricing model with improvements and updates rolled out on a continual basis.

You May Also Like:

• 10 Best Quicken For Mac Alternatives
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Quicken For Mac vs Quicken For Windows

Quicken is available both as a desktop version for Mac and Windows but also in a more limited Cloud version known as Quicken On The Web.

In some ways this introduction of the online version (albeit more limited in features) is better for Mac users because for many years the desktop version of Quicken For Mac has lagged behind the Windows version.

Unfortunately, this disparity hasn’t changed much in the desktop version of Quicken For Mac in 2022 which still isn’t as good as the Windows version in terms of interface, navigation and features.

Quicken for Mac also isn’t as intuitive as Quicken for Windows especially when it comes to finding things on the dashboard or the ability to organize widgets on the home screen.

Some of the features that are still missing from Quicken For Mac compared to the Windows version are:

• Excel export support
• You can’t compare buy and hold options
• No Debt Reduction Plan tools
• No property value tracking
• No loan amortization tracking
• No credit score reports
• No paystub tracking
• No retirement planning (which means you can’t connect retirement accounts in Quicken for Mac)
• Asset allocation views
• No true multi-currency support
• Reporting is far more limited especially when it comes to reports on transfers
• The bills and payees statuses can be confusing with debts often showing where bills have already been paid
• Less banks are supported in the Mac version of Quicken when it comes to connecting and syncing accounts
• Limited investment tracking such as lack of the Morningstar Portfolio X-ray tool
• The Rental Property Manager is only available in Home & Business which isn’t available for Mac

If you request these features to be added to the Mac version of Quicken, the standard reply is that if enough users vote for it, it will be added in the next version.

Finally, although Quicken does import Quicken for Windows files into the Mac version, the results can be extremely messy.

Because there are many features missing from the Mac version, importing Quicken files between the platforms isn’t as smooth as it should be and you may find yourself spending a lot of time cleaning them up.

The only advantage of Quicken for Mac over Quicken for Windows is for those that have financial accounts in both Canada and the USA.

The Mac version of Quicken can sync simultaneously with Canadian and US financial institutions whereas the Windows version can only sync with one country at a time. This will obviously only be an advantage for a limited number of users.

If you’re really unhappy with Quicken For Mac and want all the features you get in the Windows version, your only option is to run Windows on your Mac and install the Windows version of Quicken.

We’d probably also advise doing this rather than trying to import lots of data from Quicken for Windows into Quicken for Mac.

If you go down this route, we strongly recommend using Parallels which is by far the easiest way for anyone to run Windows on a Mac.

This also works for running Windows on M1 Macs too.

Quicken On The Web

There’s also a limited cloud version of Quicken called Quicken On The Web which offers some of the features that are in the desktop version.

Quicken On The Web is integrated with the desktop version of Quicken For Mac and all changes are synced via the Cloud. In the online version of Quicken, you can do all the essentials including:

• See balances, transactions, accounts, budgets and investments
• Track investment performance
• Track spending and expenses

You can also customize the dashboard of Quicken Online and in some ways it’s easier to navigate that the desktop version of Quicken For Mac.

If Quicken keeps adding features to Quicken On The Web, then it will be a good thing for Mac users as means the platform you are using won’t be as important as it used to be.

Quicken For Mac Improvements

The most noticeable improvement in the latest version of Quicken For Mac in 2022 is the responsiveness and speed of the application.

Quicken For Mac launches much quicker than ever before with charts and graphs also loading faster than previous versions.

Depending on which subscription you have, the latest desktop version of Quicken For Mac has also introduced:

• Bill center dashboard and PDF download of bills
• Improved ability to track the principal and interest on your loans
• What-if analysis on loans
• Customizable investment portfolio with IRR and ROI
• Tax optimization on investment sales
• Free bill pay with Quicken Bill Pay
• Priority customer support access

All versions of Quicken on all platforms have also been improved with the following features:

• Backups that are around four times faster than previous versions
• 11,000 online bill payment providers with PDF download of bills
• Enhanced portfolio view
• New look bills and income section
• 5GB of free Dropbox offline backup

Quicken For Mac Pricing

Quicken is available in 4 versions although only 3 are available on Mac:

• Starter
• Deluxe
• Premier
• Home & Business (Windows only)

Intuit has also introduced a new app called Simplifi to the Quicken range which, as the name suggests, is supposed to be a simpler way of managing your finances quickly.

At the moment Quicken are offering 40% off Quicken Deluxe for Mac and Quicken Premier for Mac although these are limited offers and promotions often change throughout the year.

Note that Quicken does not offer monthly subscriptions. All subscriptions are paid annually in advance. If you fail t renew your subscription after a year, you’ll still have access to your account and be able to enter transactions manually but you won’t get any future product updates or sync your accounts.

There are also free Quicken mobile apps available for iPad, iPhone and Android devices.

All Quicken products can be tried free for 30 days before you have to pay for a subscription.

You can see how the different versions of Quicken For Mac compare below.

Quicken For Mac Versions Compared

Is Quicken Safe To Use?

Like all personal finance apps, Quicken uses high grade encryption to manage your accounts and connect to financial institutions.

Quicken is perfectly safe to use and doesn’t actually “touch” your money so it can’t actually move your money apart from instruct your bank to pay bills using Quicken Bill Pay.

Is It Worth Getting Quicken For Mac?

If you’ve got years of transactions in previous versions of Quicken for Mac then Quicken For Mac is still worth getting.

Although some other personal finance apps can import Quicken data, they often do a poor job and you’re much better sticking with Quicken in that case.

However, if you’re expecting the same product as the Windows version or need investment tracking, there are much better alternatives worth considering.

Does Quicken Work On M1 Macs?

The latest version of Quicken For Mac works natively on the latest Apple Silicon M1 Macs and this is one of the reasons it’s much faster than previous versions.

Previously, Quicken for Mac still worked on M1 Macs running Big Sur and Monterey thanks to a free tool in macOS called Rosetta which automatically translates Intel only apps to work on M1 Macs. However, this is a slightly slower process and not optimized for the M1 chip.

If you’re still working on Quicken 2007, it will still convert them to work on the latest version of Quicken on M1 Macs.

Quicken For Mac Alternatives

Quicken is still one of the most widely used budgeting tools on the market but there are much better personal finance software on the market nowadays.

One of the poorest aspects to Quicken is the investment tracking. Especially if you invest in cryptos, there’s no support for crypto investment tracking in either Quicken For Mac or Windows.

Empower is free to use and the best personal finance software on the market with far superior net worth tracking and investment management.

You can read our full Empower review for more.

Alternatively, you may want to to give Moneydance a try. Moneydance is a Mac desktop personal finance software with some really robust budgeting tools and no subscription.

You can also check out our guide to the best Quicken for Mac alternatives for more.