Monarch vs. TallyBeacon: an honest comparison
The short answer: Monarch is a connected dashboard for budgets, goals and net worth that a household can share. TallyBeacon is a Monarch alternative for people who want to know what's coming: your checking balance day by day, the safest day to pay your card, and a register you reconcile to your statement. TallyBeacon has a free plan; Monarch costs $99.99 a year.
We make TallyBeacon, so read this knowing that. Where Monarch is the better choice, we say so. Every Monarch price and feature was checked on October 17, 2026.
At a glance
| Feature | TallyBeacon | Monarch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, or $79 a year ($7.99 a month) for Plus | $99.99 a year or $14.99 a month; Plus about $199 a year |
| Try it | Free plan with no time limit; 30 days of Plus with no card | A first week free |
| Looking ahead | Your balance each day, 30 days ahead on Free and up to 90 on Plus, with your lowest point | A short cash flow projection from recurring bills; Plus forecasts net worth and cash flow over years |
| When to pay your card | The days you can pay and still keep a cushion | No |
| Reconcile to your statement | Yes, with undo | No |
| Budgets | Monthly, by category | Flexible budgets, plus savings goals |
| Share with a partner | Yes, with one partner on Plus; full or view-only access | Yes, on one subscription, with as many people as you like |
| Connecting your bank | On Plus, through Plaid; optional, and on Free you import your bank's files | Through Plaid, Finicity and MX; manual accounts too |
| Investments | Holdings and trades, prices entered by hand; performance on Plus | Connected holdings; deeper analysis on Plus |
| Where it runs | Any browser; installs on your phone from the browser | Browser, plus iPhone and Android apps |
| Ads and your data | No ads; never sells your data | No ads; says it doesn't sell your data |
The big difference: next month versus the next 30 days
Monarch is built around the month: what you've spent against your budget, where it went, and how your net worth is trending. Its Plus plan adds long-range forecasting, for questions like when you can retire or buy a home.
TallyBeacon is built around the days ahead. From your paychecks, bills and card payments, it works out your checking balance on each coming day, shows the lowest point before it happens, and marks the days you can pay your card and still keep the cushion you choose. If your money is tight between paychecks, that's the view that helps.
Reconciling
Monarch takes balances from your bank's connection: when one is off, its help suggests checking the transactions and refreshing. TallyBeacon lets you reconcile like a checkbook register: enter your statement's ending balance, tick off what's on it, and finish at a $0.00 difference, with undo if you tick the wrong one. How reconciling works.
Where Monarch is the better choice
- Bigger households. Monarch lets as many people as you like share one subscription. TallyBeacon shares with one partner.
- More ways to connect a bank. Monarch uses three connection services (Plaid, Finicity and MX), so if one can't reach your bank, another may. TallyBeacon uses Plaid.
- Phone apps. Monarch has iPhone and Android apps. TallyBeacon installs from the browser.
- Goals and long-range planning. Savings goals, and on Plus, forecasts years ahead.
- Investments. Monarch keeps connected holdings up to date. In TallyBeacon you enter prices yourself.
Where TallyBeacon is the better choice
- Seeing the next 30 to 90 days, day by day, before a low balance happens.
- Paying your card on the right day, with a cushion left in checking.
- Reconciling to your statement, to the penny.
- Price. A free plan with no time limit, or bank sync and everything else for $79 a year on Plus, against Monarch's $99.99.
- Sharing one forecast with a partner, with full or view-only access. A partner who already uses TallyBeacon keeps their own accounts; Monarch can't invite someone who already has a Monarch account. How sharing works.
- Moving from Quicken. Your whole history in one step from a QIF file, with categories, payees, splits and transfers. How the move works.
Switching from Monarch
Download your transactions from Monarch's website as a CSV file; look under Settings, then Data. Then, in TallyBeacon, open Import and use Moving from another finance app?. Every account in the file is listed; enter each one's balance today, since the file doesn't include balances, match Monarch's categories to yours, and bring everything over in one step. Transfers between your accounts are paired up so each lands once.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Monarch?
Yes. TallyBeacon has a free plan with no time limit: unlimited accounts, imports, reconciling, budgets and a 30-day forecast. On it you import your bank's files; connecting your bank is part of Plus, at $79 a year.
Does Monarch forecast my balance?
Monarch shows a short cash flow projection from your recurring bills, and its Plus plan forecasts net worth and cash flow over years. TallyBeacon forecasts your checking balance for each coming day and shows the lowest point.
Can Monarch reconcile accounts?
Monarch has no statement reconcile; it relies on your bank's connection. TallyBeacon reconciles to your statement with a running difference and undo.
Can I move my Monarch history to TallyBeacon?
Yes. Download your transactions from Monarch as a CSV file, then use Moving from another finance app? on TallyBeacon's Import page. Every account in the file comes over in one step.
Can my partner and I share TallyBeacon?
Yes, on Plus. Invite one partner by email, with full or view-only access. They keep their own sign-in and see the same accounts and the same forecast, and any accounts of their own stay theirs. For more than two people, Monarch is the better fit.
See the day-by-day view with sample data. The demo is a full account, nothing to sign up for.
Moving your history over? Book a free 30-minute call and Robert, who built TallyBeacon, will do it with you.
Create your free accountComparing more apps? Quicken alternatives in 2026 covers Quicken Classic, Quicken Simplifi, YNAB and free options too.
Monarch's prices and features checked October 17, 2026 (sharing, October 20, 2026), from its website and help center, and for its Plus plan's price, from published reviews; we re-check every quarter. Monarch is a trademark of its owner. TallyBeacon isn't affiliated with Monarch.