The Level Money Alternative

Earlier this month, we here at Tiller heard the news that Level Money, a once innovative personal finance iOS and Android app published by Capital One, will be removed from the app stores next month.

When they launched, Level Money introduced a brand new style of application built on top of automatic transaction aggregation. Their product was very lightweight and laser-focused on helping their customers manage their cash flow month-to-month, week-to-week, and day-to-day. Their design was sleek, and the app was fun and insightful. Kudos to the Level Money team on a great design. We’re sorry to see it go.

We’ve also heard from several Level Money users who have recently come to Tiller, which inspired this blog. Why would Level Money users shift to a spreadsheet?

A competitive landscape for personal finance apps

Since Level launched several years ago, there has been an explosion of personal finance mobile apps, many of them, like Level, are very focused on a particular financial situation. There are apps aimed at helping couples with their spending, apps aimed at helping prevent fraud and identity theft, apps to help with paying your bills, apps focused on savings… you get the picture.

While it’s fantastic to see all of this innovation in the space, there are inherent limitations to any app. We actually believe the the best budgeting app isn’t really an “app.” When talking to folks who are truly financially engaged and dialed in we found that their tool of choice is, you guessed it, a spreadsheet.

Those conversations and that research formed the foundation for our work on Tiller, the only tool that automatically feeds your bank, credit card, loan, and other financial transaction and balance data into a Google Sheet.

A case for the finance spreadsheet

Really though, why would I shift from an app to a spreadsheet, you might ask? If you fancy the stats here are a few to consider:

• 92% of people who switched from a personal finance app to a spreadsheet believe they are now more aware of their spending habits.
• 89% of people who switched from a personal finance app to a spreadsheet say they now have more control over how they track their money.
• 83% of people who switched from a personal finance app to a spreadsheet say spreadsheets are easier and simpler to use.
• 81% of people who use a spreadsheet to track their finances say they have better reporting options compared to whey they used a personal finance app.
• 96% of people who switched from a personal finance app to a spreadsheet are satisfied with using a spreadsheet to track their finances.

What’s the takeaway?

Spreadsheets are flexible, customizable and easy to use. Combined with the power of Tiller, they’re also automated. The old paradigm of manually updating your finance spreadsheet is no more when you use a Tiller-powered Google Sheet. Tiller offers a variety of finance templates to get you started or you can build your own from scratch. You can completely customize your sheet (even if you start with one of our templates).

You can create multiple sheets and link different accounts to each depending on your financial tracking needs. You can share your Google Sheet with those who need to see it, like an accountant or spouse, with control over read-only or edit permissions. Most of all, spreadsheets for finance work. There is no personal finance app on the market that gives you this level of flexibility and control over how you manage your money.

Know where your money is going

Budget or track your spending. Monitor your net worth. Build your personal money management dashboard to stay engaged and reach your financial goals. Get in control of your future.

If you liked Level Money because of its ability to show you where you are financially today, give Tiller a try, we’re certain you’ll be pleasantly surprised.