Write It Down vs Mint
Mint shut down in March 2024. Millions of users lost years of financial history overnight when Intuit migrated them to Credit Karma. If that made you rethink where you store your money data, here is how a $5.99 Google Sheet compares.
| Feature | Mint / Credit Karma | Write It Down |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, ad-supported. Now part of Credit Karma, also free and ad-supported. | $5.99 once, or $8.99 for Advanced |
| Subscription | Free, but you pay with your data and attention. Constant credit product ads. | No. One payment, yours forever. |
| Learning Curve | Low to moderate. Lots of features buried under notifications and promotions. | Minimal. If you know Google Sheets, you already know it. |
| Platform | Web + mobile app (now Credit Karma) | Google Sheets. Works on any device with a browser. |
| Privacy | Requires bank credentials. Your spending data is used for ad targeting. | Zero bank connections. Your data never leaves your Google Drive. |
| Data Ownership | Stored on Credit Karma servers. Mint users lost years of data in the shutdown. | Lives in your Google Drive. You own it, full stop. |
| Best For | People who want free automated tracking and accept ads plus data sharing | People who want a clean tracker they actually own |
The Bottom Line
When Mint / Credit Karma is the better choice
You want automatic bank syncing, credit score monitoring, and spending categories without paying a dime. Credit Karma does all of that. The tradeoff is clear: your financial data gets used for ad targeting, and you will see constant credit card and loan offers. If free matters more than private, Credit Karma works.
When Write It Down is the better choice
Mint proved that free products can vanish and take your data with them. Write It Down is $5.99 once, lives in your Google Drive, and cannot be shut down by a company decision. No ads, no data harvesting, no bank credentials. You type each transaction yourself, which sounds like extra work until you notice it is the thing that actually changes your spending.
Credit Karma is fine if free and automated is what matters most. But Mint's shutdown showed what happens when your financial history lives on someone else's servers. Write It Down costs less than a sandwich, lives in your Google Drive, and will be there next year regardless of what any company decides to do.
Your data. Your Google Drive. No one can shut it down.
Write It Down is a $5.99 Google Sheets budget tracker. No ads, no bank login, no company that can pull the plug. Set it up in 2 minutes.