PocketSmith Review of Reviews
- Matthew
- Mar 29
- 6 min read
PocketSmith Review Roundup: What Everyone's Saying About This Kiwi-Born Budgeting Tool
I’ve long been a fan of PocketSmith. It’s the budgeting app I trust with my own money, and I’ve written in the past about how it helps me stay ahead of bills, plan for holidays, and make sure I’m not haemorrhaging cash on late-night Uber Eats. But I’m not the only one with thoughts on this New Zealand-made personal finance powerhouse. Over the past few years, reviewers across the globe have put PocketSmith through its paces.
So, I decided to pull together everything that’s been said – from CNET to Reddit, YouTube to MoneyWise, including my own experience here at PocketKiwi. Whether you're on the fence about trying PocketSmith or you're a seasoned user curious what the wider world thinks, this is the ultimate review-of-reviews.
TL;DR: What Most Reviews Agree On
Across nearly every review I found, three key strengths of PocketSmith keep coming up:
Powerful Forecasting Tools – The standout feature everyone raves about.
Highly Customisable Budgeting – A bit of work upfront, but the payoff is big.
Detailed Financial Visibility – Once set up, it's like having x-ray vision into your money.
And, of course, a common caveat: It takes some effort to get it working just right.
Budgeting and Planning: Where PocketSmith Shines
Forecasting is PocketSmith’s not-so-secret weapon. Nearly every review – from CNET, TechRadar, and MoneyCheck to Money Under 30 and Best Wallet Hacks – highlighted this as its most compelling feature. Unlike many budgeting apps that stop at the current month, PocketSmith lets you forecast your finances 6, 12, even 30 years into the future.
I’ve leaned on this feature to map out everything from holiday spending to house deposit savings. Ruth from The Happy Saver echoed this, explaining how she uses the forecasting tool to mentally (and financially) prepare for big bills like dental work or Christmas travel.
Another underrated but incredibly powerful feature is rollover budgeting. While not everyone mentions it by name, those who dig deep into PocketSmith (like myself) will find it a game changer. I wrote a full breakdown on PocketKiwi about how rollover budgets work, but in short: it allows your budget to behave like your actual money. If you underspend in one category, the surplus rolls over. If you overspend, it doesn’t magically reset at the end of the month – it carries forward.
This makes PocketSmith ideal for people who want to stay flexible but still track their budget accurately over time. Instead of punishing you for a lumpy month, rollover budgets smooth things out and reflect your real spending habits.
Where other apps say "this is where you are," PocketSmith asks, "where do you want to be?"
Setup & Learning Curve: A Divisive Point
Here’s where opinions begin to diverge. TechRadar and Modest Money praise PocketSmith’s feature depth, but they (like me) caution that you need to put in some time to get it humming.
The Happy Saver was blunt: the learning curve is real, but worth it. Redditors echoed this sentiment, with one user likening the first month to "training a puppy – frustrating but weirdly rewarding."
Contrast that with users coming from simpler apps like Mint or YNAB: some find PocketSmith over-complicated for their needs. If you're after plug-and-play simplicity, you might bounce off it. But if you love tinkering and tailoring, you'll thrive.
Interface & Usability
This is another area where reviewers vary. Sites like CNET and MoneyWise praised the desktop interface, with particular love for the calendar view.
YouTube reviewers showed how clean and functional the platform can be, once your categories and feeds are set up.
That said, several reviewers (including users on Reddit) criticised the mobile app as being less intuitive and less powerful than the desktop version. It’s a tool best used on a bigger screen.
However, it's worth noting that PocketSmith themselves have acknowledged this gap and are actively working on improving their mobile experience. In a recent blog post titled "The Future of PocketSmith's Mobile Applications", the team outlined their roadmap for a more powerful, responsive, and user-friendly mobile experience.
If you're a mobile-first user, it’s worth keeping an eye on these developments, as the next generation of PocketSmith's mobile tools promises to close the usability gap significantly.
Pricing: Value vs. Cost
The question of price brings out some of the strongest opinions.
PocketSmith offers three tiers: Free, Foundation (paid), and Flourish (premium).
MoneyCheck and Modest Money saw good value in the paid plans given the robust forecasting and depth. But others, like Best Wallet Hacks and Reddit users, questioned whether the premium tiers justify their monthly cost when compared to free tools.
From my perspective, while the free version is fine as a basic demo, it’s really the paid plans that unlock the true power of PocketSmith. Features like bank feed syncing and automatic categorisation save hours of manual work and provide the real-time, accurate data needed for meaningful budgeting and forecasting.
If you’re serious about getting your finances in order, I genuinely don’t think the free tier cuts it.
Security and Privacy
All reviewers seemed to agree on this front: PocketSmith is secure, especially since it operates in read-only mode with your bank accounts.
The Happy Saver did a great job explaining this – how PocketSmith can import your transactions without the ability to move your money. That reassurance matters, especially for people cautious about linking up their bank accounts.
Customer Support and Community
User experiences here are largely positive. My own interactions with PocketSmith’s support have been fast and friendly. Redditors generally agreed, noting prompt replies and helpful troubleshooting.
And then there's the Kiwi connection. Many reviewers (especially local ones like Banked.co.nz and The Happy Saver) appreciated that PocketSmith is proudly New Zealand-made and operated. For some of us, that counts for a lot.
Notable Quotes from Around the Web
"PocketSmith is like the grown-up version of a budgeting app" – TechRadar
"PocketSmith helps me manage and understand our money" – The Happy Saver
"It’s the only app that thinks long-term like I do" – Reddit user
"Learning curve, yes. But once you’re over it, you’ll wonder how you ever budgeted without it" – PocketKiwi (yes, me!)
Final Verdict: Who Is PocketSmith For?
If you want:
Long-term financial planning
Customisable budgets and categories
A detailed, calendar-based look at your financial life
...then PocketSmith might be your new best friend.
But if you're after:
Instant gratification
Mobile-first simplicity
Free-only tools with zero setup
...you might find it a bit much.
My Take
For me, PocketSmith is all about making budgeting and tracking spending against our budgets as effortless as possible. My wife and I mostly use it in a set-and-forget way. Once we've set up our budgets and categories, we don't need to touch it much. That means we can focus on our financial progress at a high level – checking in on how we're tracking toward our goals – rather than getting bogged down in the day-to-day details.
It’s that simplicity layered on top of powerful features that makes PocketSmith so valuable. It gives us clarity and confidence in our finances without needing to constantly micromanage.
When you line up all the reviews, the consensus is clear: PocketSmith is a deep, detailed, future-facing tool. Not perfect, not always easy, but immensely rewarding once you’re in sync with it.
If you’re ready to go beyond spreadsheets and see your financial future with more clarity than ever before, give it a go.
Start with the free version, get your feet wet, and if you’re anything like me – or Ruth, or TechRadar, or that Reddit user who finally figured it out – you might just stick around for the long haul.
Happy budgeting!
Have I helped?
I hope you have found this article useful.
Websites cost money to run and I put a lot of thought and time into Pocket Kiwi content so please consider using my link when signing up to a paid PocketSmith account, or buy me a coffee. Every little bit helps.
References Reviews
Here’s a list of all the sources referenced throughout this article:
[Reddit Threads – User Experiences from r/PersonalFinance and r/YNAB]
PocketSmith Blog – The Future of PocketSmith’s Mobile Applications
PocketKiwi.com – My own hands-on reviews and personal budgeting experience
