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Tiller Money review
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An automated budget for all the spreadsheet lovers out there.
Tiller Money isn’t your typical budgeting app. It uses Google Sheets and Excel to help you manage your money. It’s jam packed with tons of customizable templates to help you budget and pay off debt. But there’s no mobile app. If you’re on the go, you’ll have to either manage your budget using Google Sheets or wait until you can hop on a computer.$79 per year
Fee
N/A
APY
Expert review
Review by
Cassidy Horton
cassidy.horton@findercrew.comCassidy Horton is a writer for Finder, specializing in banking and investments. She has a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and a Master of Business Administration from Georgia Southern University. Cassidy enjoys educating people about financial services, exploring the Pacific Northwest and watching endless reruns of The Office.
Expert review
Tiller Money is best for all the spreadsheet enthusiasts out there who don’t want to take the time to learn a new budgeting software. It connects with over 21,000 financial institutions to automatically import your transactions and is chock full of customizable templates to help you create a budget that’s unique to you.Tiller Money costs $79 per year, which is cheaper than what you’ll pay with other leading budgeting apps like YNAB and EveryDollar.But there’s no mobile app, and some customers say there’s a learning curve if you’re not comfortable with spreadsheets.
How does Tiller Money work?
Tiller Money uses Google Sheets and Excel to automate your budget. You’ll start by signing in to Google and connecting to your financial accounts. Then, you’ll use Tiller Money‘s foundation budgeting template to set up your budget. You can customize the template as much as you’d like and add additional templates for specific goals like debt payoff, quarterly estimated taxes, year-to-date spending and more.Each day, Tiller Money imports all of your transactions and dumps them into a spreadsheet. You can then manually categorize the transactions or set up automatic categorization rules to have the system do it for you. You’ll also get an email each day detailing your latest transactions and balances.
Tiller Money uses Yodlee, a financial aggregation service, to connect to 21,000 financial institutions.How much does Tiller Money cost?
Tiller Money costs $79 per year, which breaks down to $6.58 per month. For comparison, YNAB costs $84 per year, or $11.99 per month, and EveryDollar costs $129.99 per yearYou’ll pay the annual subscription fee once your 30-day free trial ends.
Students can get Tiller Money for free for one year by filling out the form on its website.
Is Tiller Money safe to use?
Tiller Money protects your data using 256-bit AES bank-grade encryption. The company uses read-only data, which means it doesn’t view or store your bank account information. For added security, you’ll be asked to set up two-step verification when signing in with Google.What are the pros and cons of Tiller Money?
Tiller Money has these benefits and drawbacks:Pros
- Try before you buy.Tiller Money has a 30-day free trial, which the company will extend if you need more time. Students get a free one-year subscription.
- Flexible budgeting templates. Modify any part of your budgeting template, including categories, transactions, fonts, colors and more. Explore Tiller’s free library of add-on templates and reports to build a custom dashboard to tackle all your financial goals.
- Auto-categorize transactions. Save time by using the AutoCat feature to create automatic customization rules for transactions. For example, you could set a rule that says “Any transaction containing ‘McDonalds’ should be categorized as ‘Dining Out.'” That way you never have to categorize those transactions again.
- Education. The company hosts free weekly webinars to help you learn more about how to budget with Tiller Money. There’s also a community forum where you can ask questions and get feedback.
Cons
- Doesn’t connect with non-US banks. You can’t use Tiller Money to track financial accounts housed outside of the US.
- No mobile app. You can edit transactions using the Google Sheets app on your phone, but rummaging through all those cells won’t be as easy as it would be with a regular budgeting app.>
- Limited Excel version. As of October 2020, Tiller Money‘s Excel version is in Beta. It doesn’t come with the AutoCat feature and there’s only one budgeting template.
If you’re looking for a traditional budgeting app, compare your options until you find one that checks all your boxes.
Tiller Money reviews and complaints
Customers love Tiller Money because they’re able to customize each spreadsheet to their liking. Many reviewers say they’re using the platform as an alternative to Mint, Quicken and Microsoft Money.
Although negative reviews are sparse, some customers say the learning curve is high if you’re not comfortable with spreadsheets. Others also report having connection issues with their bank from time to time.
Compare Tiller Money with other budgeting software
How to sign up
Sign up for Tiller Money in eight steps:
- Visit the Tiller Money website
- Click Free Trial
- Click Sign in with Google
- Sign in to your Google account
- Read and accept the term and conditions and click Start Trial
- Enter your card information and click Start Trial
- Click Start with Google Sheets or Start With Excel
- Click Add New Accounts to connect your financial accounts to Tiller Money
