Personal Finance · alternatives
Alternatives to Starling Bank
19 personal finance tools sit alongside Starling Bank in this directory. Below is what separates each from Starling Bank on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 19
- With a free tier
- 16
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Starling Bank starts at
- Free
Why people look past Starling Bank
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. Starling Bank has a free tier. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
UK-licensed digital bank with FSCS-protected deposits and no foreign currency card fees
- Sold on a Free core current account; paid Plus and Premium tiers add features model rather than Free personal current account; business accounts have free and paid tiers.
- 3 tiers to Starling Bank's 2.
Multi-currency financial app operating as a licensed bank in parts of the EU and as an e-money institution elsewhere
- Sold on a Free standard tier; paid plans add higher limits, insurance and perks model rather than Free personal current account; business accounts have free and paid tiers.
- 3 tiers to Starling Bank's 2.
Buy now pay later app offering short interest-free plans and longer plans that charge real APR interest
- Sold on a Free for short Pay in 4 plans; longer plans carry a disclosed APR up to roughly 36 percent, merchant pays a transaction fee model rather than Free personal current account; business accounts have free and paid tiers.
Free, open source, self-hosted personal finance manager with double-entry style accounting
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Free personal current account; business accounts have free and paid tiers.
- 1 tier to Starling Bank's 2.
The official free mobile app of the US Internal Revenue Service for refund status and basic tax tools
- Sold on a Free government app, no payment of any kind model rather than Free personal current account; business accounts have free and paid tiers.
- 1 tier to Starling Bank's 2.
Buy now pay later app splitting purchases into four instalments, owned by Block
- Sold on a Free to shoppers with no interest on the standard plan; merchant pays a per-transaction fee, late fees apply to missed payments model rather than Free personal current account; business accounts have free and paid tiers.
- 1 tier to Starling Bank's 2.
Every Starling Bank alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starling Bank (this page) | Free | Free personal current account; business accounts have free and paid tiers | 2 | |
| MonzoIf you want another fully licensed UK bank with a comparable FSCS-protected, app-first personal account | Free | Free core current account; paid Plus and Premium tiers add features | 3 | vs Starling Bank |
| RevolutIf you want broader multi-currency and investing features alongside everyday banking | Free | Free standard tier; paid plans add higher limits, insurance and perks | 3 | vs Starling Bank |
| Affirm | Free | Free for short Pay in 4 plans; longer plans carry a disclosed APR up to roughly 36 percent, merchant pays a transaction fee | 2 | vs Starling Bank |
| Firefly III | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Starling Bank |
| IRS2Go | Free | Free government app, no payment of any kind | 1 | vs Starling Bank |
| Afterpay | Free | Free to shoppers with no interest on the standard plan; merchant pays a per-transaction fee, late fees apply to missed payments | 1 | vs Starling Bank |
| Actual Budget | Free | Open source, no licence fee; optional paid hosted sync and subscription tier | 2 | vs Starling Bank |
| Google Pay | Free | Free | - | vs Starling Bank |
| Goodbudget | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs Starling Bank |
| Copilot Money | Free, then $95/year | Subscription | 2 | vs Starling Bank |
| Investopedia Stock Simulator | Free | - | - | vs Starling Bank |
| Credit Karma | Free | Freemium | 1 | vs Starling Bank |
| Kraken | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs Starling Bank |
| Mint | Free | Free | - | vs Starling Bank |
| Apple Pay | Free | Free | 1 | vs Starling Bank |
| Cash App | Free | Free | 2 | vs Starling Bank |
| Strands | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Starling Bank |
| Lunch Money | $60/year | Pay what you want, annual, above a published minimum | 1 | vs Starling Bank |
| Betterment | Free | Subscription | 4 | vs Starling Bank |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Starling Bank badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (16)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Monzo , Free
- Revolut , Free
- Affirm , Free
- Firefly III , Free
- IRS2Go , Free
- Afterpay , Free
- Actual Budget , Free
- Google Pay , Free
What you would be giving up
Starling Bank is most often brought in for a uk resident wanting a free, fully licensed current account with fscs deposit protection, a sole trader or small business wanting a business account with built-in invoicing rather than a separate accounting subscription, a frequent traveller wanting fee-free card spending abroad on a uk-regulated account, a saver wanting goal-based spaces sub-accounts without opening a separate savings product. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Starling Bank is broadly right and the question is cost, the Starling Bank pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Personal Finance category lists everything the directory holds, and best personal finance tools ranks them.
Starling Bank runs on ios, android, web. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Starling Bank alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Starling Bank?
- 19 other personal finance tools are listed in this directory, led by Monzo, Revolut, Affirm, Firefly III. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Starling Bank?
- 16 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Monzo, Revolut, Affirm, Firefly III, IRS2Go.
- Is there a reason to switch away from Starling Bank?
- Nothing in the data flags one. Starling Bank has a free tier. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from Starling Bank?
- Starling Bank is most often brought in for a uk resident wanting a free, fully licensed current account with fscs deposit protection, a sole trader or small business wanting a business account with built-in invoicing rather than a separate accounting subscription, a frequent traveller wanting fee-free card spending abroad on a uk-regulated account, a saver wanting goal-based spaces sub-accounts without opening a separate savings product. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Starling Bank?
- None of the personal finance tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Starling Bank alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Personal Finance, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Starling Bank against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Starling Bank covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every personal finance tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Personal Finance category, 19 tools beside Starling Bank. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.