Blog
Notes on money, subscriptions, and building Herbert.
June 26, 2026
Best Empower (Personal Capital) Alternatives in 2026 (Free + Actually Proactive)
The best free Empower alternative is Herbert: it texts you about forgotten subscriptions and idle savings without connection issues. No advisor upsells, no fee.
June 24, 2026
Best Hiatus App Alternatives in 2026 (Free + No Billing Drama)
The best free Hiatus alternative is Herbert: it texts you about forgotten subscriptions and cancels them on a one-word reply. No $9.99/month, no concierge delays.
June 23, 2026
How to Find Forgotten Subscriptions (The Methods That Actually Work)
Four ways to find subscriptions you forgot you were paying for: bank statement scan, email search, bank subscription filter, or Herbert, which texts you automatically for free.
June 22, 2026
Best Quicken Alternatives in 2026 (Free + No Renewal Surprises)
The best free Quicken alternative is Herbert: it monitors your accounts for free and texts you when something needs attention. No $36-$120/year that quietly rises at renewal.
June 22, 2026
Best Monarch Money Alternatives in 2026 (Free + Actually Proactive)
The best free Monarch Money alternative is Herbert: it texts you about forgotten subscriptions and savings instead of waiting for you to log in. No $99.99/year fee.
June 21, 2026
Best PocketGuard Alternatives in 2026 (Free + Actually Proactive)
The best free PocketGuard alternative is Herbert: it texts you about forgotten subscriptions and idle savings instead of waiting for you to check the In My Pocket view.
June 21, 2026
Money you don't even know you're losing
People guess they spend $86 a month on subscriptions. The real number averages $219. Here is why that gap exists, and how Herbert closes it by texting you instead of waiting for you to check.
June 20, 2026
Best Subscription Tracker Apps in 2026 (One Actually Texts You First)
Herbert finds forgotten subscriptions automatically and texts you. Bobby tracks manually for free on iOS. Rocket Money auto-detects for up to $14/mo. Here's exactly which fits your situation.
June 19, 2026
Best Simplifi Alternatives in 2026 (Free + Actually Proactive)
The best free Simplifi alternative is Herbert: it texts you about forgotten subscriptions and idle savings instead of waiting for you to log in. No $48/year fee.
June 18, 2026
Best Money Saving Apps in 2026 (Free, Proactive, and Worth It)
The best money-saving app is the one that finds the money you're already losing and tells you about it without waiting for you to log in.
June 16, 2026
Best Personal Finance MCP Servers in 2026 (Connect Your Money to Claude and ChatGPT)
The best personal finance MCP servers let AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT read your real bank and card data. Here is how the main options compare: Monarch Money and Copilot Money for app users, Firefly III for self-hosting, Era and Lunch Flow for raw Plaid access, and Herbert for a free, read-only server that also texts you when it finds money.
June 15, 2026
Best YNAB Alternatives in 2026 (Free + No Weekly Ritual)
The best free YNAB alternative is Herbert: it texts you about forgotten subscriptions and savings without requiring you to budget every dollar. No $14.99/month fee.
June 14, 2026
Best Copilot Money Alternatives in 2026 (Free + Works on Android)
The best free Copilot Money alternative is Herbert: it texts you about forgotten subscriptions and cancels on a one-word reply. No monthly fee, no iOS required.
June 13, 2026
Best Mint Alternatives in 2026 (Free + Doesn't Wait for You to Log In)
Mint shut down in March 2024. The best free replacement is Herbert: it texts you about subscriptions and savings instead of waiting for you to open an app.
June 12, 2026
Best Truebill Alternatives in 2026 (Truebill Is Now Rocket Money)
Truebill became Rocket Money in 2022. The best free alternative is Herbert: it texts you about forgotten subscriptions and cancels them on a one-word reply. No monthly fee.
June 12, 2026
Best Rocket Money Alternatives in 2026 (Free + Actually Proactive)
Herbert is the best free Rocket Money alternative: it texts you about forgotten subscriptions and cancels them with a one-word reply. No app to open, no monthly fee.