1 Quicken 2019 for Windows imports data from Quicken for Windows 2010 or newer, Microsoft Money 2008 and 2009 (for Deluxe and higher). Quicken 2019 for Mac imports data from Quicken for Windows 2010 or newer, Quicken for Mac 2015 or newer, Quicken for Mac 2007, Quicken Essentials for Mac, and Banktivity. Quicken for Mac: The Quicken Converter, and the Conversion Utility in QuickBooks, cannot convert Quicken for Mac data file. If you have Quicken for Mac, convert your data file first to Quicken for Windows or create a new QuickBooks company file instead. After buying Quicken Mac 2016 a couple years ago and promptly returning it, I recently took the plunge on Quicken Mac 2018. Although I'm not crazy about the subscription, one positive is that it allows you to run both the Windows and Mac versions. Quicken 2017 is an application that can help you to manage your own financial accounts from an easy single interface. Finally, with Quicken 2017 v4 Mac you will able to avoid from the sign in from multiple websites at the same time and order to keep track of your investments. Next time, install Quicken 2018 with 1-click Learn how MacUpdate Desktop can install apps on MacUpdate with the simple click of the icon. Plus, keep all your apps updated.
Quicken 2018 For Mac Review: Now Subscription Only
There are no huge changes in the Mac release of Quicken 2018 but there have definitely been improvements to Bill Pay, Loan Analysis and Investment tracking. The overall interface looks slightly slicker too. The biggest changes are undoubtedly the introduction of 3 versions of Quicken for Mac users and the switch to an annual subscription model.
3 new versions for Mac users to choose from
Much improved Investment Tracking
Better Loan Analysis
Subscription only - no one time purchase available
Still lacks Quicken 2007 core features
Many reports still missing
3.8Overall Score
Quicken 2018 for Mac is now available and the big news is that it has officially moved to a subscription only pricing plan. If this is the last straw for you, check out our look at some of the excellent Quicken alternatives for Mac that exist nowadays such as the impressive free version of Personal Capital.
MacHow2 was the first to report that such a move was in the pipeline shortly after the release of the Canadian version of Quicken 2017 for Mac although Quicken Inc later denied any decision had been made about the US product. Now however, it’s official that all Quicken 2018 products are only available on a subscription basis. In this review, we look at what this means for you and what’s new in Quicken 2018.
What’s New in Quicken 2018 For Mac?
For all Quicken for Mac users, the biggest changes in the 2018 version are:
1. Quicken for Mac is now subscription only – you can’t just make a one-off purchase anymore, you have to make an annual or bi-annual commitment to it. Note that 2 year subscriptions are only available from third-party retailers such as Amazon, Staples and Office Depot. Quicken Inc only sells 1 year subscriptions at the moment.
2. Quicken will now be available in 3 different versions that were previously only available on Windows:
Quicken Starter for Mac
Quicken Deluxe for Mac
Quicken Premier for Mac
3. In any subscription, you also get 5GB of Dropbox space to backup your accounts. Third parties such as Amazon are offering up to 15GB of Dropbox space included in 2 year subscriptions. Dropbox backup support already existed in previous versions of Quicken but you now get more space. You can simply configure Quicken 2018 to backup your accounts to Dropbox for extra security.
For Quicken Deluxe for Mac subscribers and above there are additional benefits:
You now get a customized investment portfolio with IRR and ROI. This also includes Investment Lot tracking, Linked eBills and PDF statements.
You now get “What-if?” analysis for loans with ability to vary payment scenarios
For Quicken Premier for Mac subscribers and above you also get:
Quicken Bill Pay for automatic payment of bills with 11,000 online billers now supported according to Quicken Inc
Priority Phone support. It’s not exactly clear what this means because as yet, there’s no official Quicken Policy on it but presumably it’s the same as Quicken Premium Support which previously was only available for Windows.
Quicken For Mac 2018 Pricing
Subscriptions for Quicken 2018 are available on a one year or two-year basis. However, Quicken Inc is only selling one-year subscriptions – two-year subscriptions are only available via third-party vendors such as Amazon. Subscribing for two years at a time works out cheaper than just a one year subscription, plus Amazon is offering 3 months for free and an extra 15GB of Dropbox storage (more on this later).
Subscriptions are tied to your Quicken ID and you can install Quicken on unlimited Macs or PCs with one subscription (more on this later). Note that there is no free trial although Quicken offer a 30 day money back guarantee if you’re not satisfied (which is down from 60 days compared with previous versions).
The exact pricing for the different versions of Quicken 2018 on Mac and Windows are as follows:
Quicken Starter (Mac & Windows)
One-year membership: $34.99
Two-year membership: $49.99 (available at retail)
Quicken Deluxe (Mac & Windows)
One-year membership: $49.99
Two-year membership: $79.99 (available at retail)
Quicken Premier (Mac & Windows)
One-year membership: $74.99
Two-year membership: $119.99 (available at retail)
Quicken Home, Business & Rental Property (Windows)
One-year membership: $99.99
Two-year membership: $149.99 (available at retail)
You can see full details of how Quicken 2018 versions compare here but In a nutshell, Quicken Starter will be too basic for most needs and most serious Quicken users will need Quicken Premier. The only difference between Quicken Deluxe and Quicken Premier is that Quicken Premier supports Bill Pay. If you can live without that, then the Deluxe version will do. The system requirements for all versions of Quicken for Mac 2018 are OS X 10.11 El Capitan or higher.
Although the news that Quicken 2018 is subscription only will grab all the headlines, the reality is that it was already semi-subscription anyway. The online features such as Bill Pay and transaction downloading already had a 3 year limit on them meaning after three years, you had to renew your payment for those services to keep them going. However, there’s no doubt that this move will significantly increase the cost for those Quicken users that didn’t upgrade every year. If you look at the bigger picture however, a Quicken 2018 subscription works out at little more than a few dollars a week which, if you find that Quicken is helping you save and manage your money, it doesn’t seem too bad at all.
Intuit ID Becomes Quicken ID
One big change that affects all Quicken users is that Intuit ID has been replaced by Quicken ID. If you’re using an earlier version of Quicken for Mac or Quicken for Windows and use online services like Bill Pay, you may have already been prompted to update with a “Mandatory Quicken Update Required” message.
Don’t worry – this is not trying to force you to upgrade to Quicken 2018. It’s simply upgrading you from an Intuit ID to a Quicken ID which is used from now on to tie your subscription to your Quicken accounts.
You cannot share a Quicken ID with other users. Your subscription is tied to one Quicken ID and password which requires multi-factor authentication to log into via your phone or email. You could of course share your ID, password and phone/email authentication with another user but it’s neither secure nor practical to do so.
Main New Features
The most noticeable changes in the Mac version of Quicken 2018 are as follows:
New Bill Management Center. Bill Pay now supports around 11,000 online billers and the bill management center has been revamped.
What-If? Analysis for Loans. You can see how different scenarios will affect your ability to payback loans. Loan Amortization was already introduced in Quicken 2017 and continues in Quicken 2018 although it’s only for fixed rate loans, not variable or daily interest rate loans.
The other notable changes are to the Investment Center which looks a lot slicker and more detailed. However, although overall Quicken 2018 feels a bit quicker and snappier than 2017, there does seem to be some lag when scrolling through investments, especially when dealing with several years of data. Stock price updates and stock prices from other countries aren’t available though and many investment reports aren’t available in the mobile version.
Note that one current bug is that if you’re migrating from Quicken for Windows to Quicken for Mac, currencies are not imported properly. For example, UK pounds will be imported as US dollars instead so if you have multi-currency accounts in Quicken for Windows, you should hold switching for now. Note also that there’s no support for crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum in Quicken 2018.
Still No Transaction Download Acceptance & Matching Control
One of the most requested features by Mac users is the ability to control transaction downloading and matching in Quicken For Mac. This is one of the many features that used to exist in Quicken 2007 for Mac but later disappeared when they rebuilt Quicken for Mac in 2010 never to return. It used to be possible to require manual acceptance or automatic reordering into the register but downloading to the register in the Mac version still does not allow users to control or verify that transactions are correct.
The ability to review downloads from your bank and credit card transactions before you accept and categorize them is useful in catching fraudulent charges or errors, editing transactions and other tweaks or checks. Another other problem is that automatically accepting immediately affects the balance of your register or account before they have been verified. If you’re someone who likes to check receipts against the downloaded version, then you’ll find this very time-consuming as you’ll be left double checking every automatically accepted transaction.
Is Quicken For Mac 2018 Now The Same As The Windows Version?
The big question on many Mac users lips will be is Quicken for Mac now finally exactly the same as on Windows? Despite now offering more versions of Quicken that were previously only available on Windows, unfortunately the answer is no. In fact the core functionality of Quicken 2018 still doesn’t match up to Quicken For Mac 2007. The download transaction matching feature mentioned earlier is just one of many features that exists in Quicken for Windows and not in the Mac version but there are many more basic differences.
Most notably, the Reporting features of Quicken 2018 are still far behind what was available in the 2007 apart from improvements such as Investment Lots. There have also been slight improvements in how you can control reports such as font size, row colors, Excel export and an increase in the number of rows and columns supported. Unfortunately Tag Reports, Category Reports, Columnar Reports are all basic reporting features which are still either poorly implemented or lacking in Quicken 2018 on macOS.
However there is hope for reports junkies as Quicken Inc claims that there is a new reporting engine being used in Quicken 2018 which is already being used in the Transaction, Comparison and Transaction reports along with the standard portfolio view. This suggests that the addition of new types of reports is in the pipeline and could be easily added in future updates to Quicken 2018.
What Happens To Your Accounts If You Cancel A Quicken Subscription?
If you discontinue your subscription Quicken’s Data Access Guarantee states that you’ll always have full access and ownership of your data. However, note that this only applies to Quicken Deluxe and above – Quicken Starter data will become read-only and you won’t be able to edit your accounts anymore. For subscriptions to Quicken Deluxe and above, if you cancel your subscription or it expires, you will still be able to view, edit, export and manually enter transactions and accounts. However, you will no longer be able to use any of Quicken’s online services such as downloading of transactions, mobile syncing, Bill Pay etc. Quicken will continue you inform you of changes and updates to the product.
What Happens If You Don’t Want Quicken To Store Your Data In The Cloud?
The move to a subscription only model means that some users will feel even more uneasy than they already do about Quicken having more control over their financial data. However, even with a subscription, you can still prevent Quicken from storing your data online although it does mean losing access to certain services. If you want to make sure that your accounts are now uploaded to Quicken Cloud then you must disable Quicken Connect, Mobile Sync, Alert Notifications and any Clean-up Payee options you may have activated.
Quicken For Mac 2017 Download
If you still want to be able to download transactions from your bank, you can use Quicken Direct Connect instead which is a direct connection between your bank and Quicken which bypasses Cloud storage. Alternatively, you can use Web Connect which downloads a QFX file from your bank or financial institution and which you can then upload to Quicken. You can find details here out how to configure Direct Connect and Web Connect on Mac.
How To Turn Off Subscription Auto Renew In Quicken 2018?
One of the slightly annoying issues we found is that you can’t actually turn off auto renewal of Quicken 2018 subscriptions in Quicken or on Quicken.com. You have to phone customer support to deactivate it. Quicken Customer Support is available on +1 (650) 250-1900 between 5:00am to 5:00pm Pacific, Monday through Friday. Be warned that at the moment, you may face long waiting times on phone support as the release of Quicken 2018 means the lines are much busier than usual.
How Many Macs Or PCs Can You Install Quicken 2018 On?
You can install Quicken 2018 on as many computers as you like as long as they are tied to your Quicken ID. Initially there was a 3 computer limit but Quicken Inc has revised the Quicken Terms of Use to remove any mention of this limit shortly after the launch of Quicken 2018. However, all versions will be limited to the functions and settings that are configured for your Quicken ID such as Credit Score etc.
When it comes to Cloud syncing, this is more limiting than the old Intuit ID system which allowed you to create a new separate ID for each data file so you could have multiple credit score for multiple accounts. If you therefore used to have different family members or colleagues using the same version of Quicken as you but with their own account, Cloud syncing separate accounts under one subscription will no longer be possible. For each account you want to create and sync across mobile devices, you’ll need a new subscription. If you don’t need Cloud syncing though, this won’t be a problem.
Note that you don’t have to buy the PC and Mac versions separately – a Quicken subscription now entitles you to download both the Windows or Mac version as many times as you like.
Best Deals To Buy Quicken 2018
The launch of Quicken 2018 has already seem some pretty competitive pricing mainly between Amazon, Staples and Office Depot. Retailers are currently the only ones offering two year subscriptions – you can only get one year if you buy direct from Quicken. The best deal we’ve seen so far is for Quicken Premier on Amazon which is currently offering an exclusive extra 3 months subscription free plus an additional 15 GB of Dropbox storage on Quicken 2018 Premier meaning you get 27 months with 20GB of Dropbox storage. In fact all versions of Quicken 2018 purchased via Amazon are offering the exclusive 3 month extra and 15GB extra Dropbox storage deal.
You can however also buy it online from vendors such as Staples and Office Depot. Be aware that currently, all vendors outside of Quicken are selling the CD version of Quicken 2018. However don’t worry as this doesn’t mean you actually need a CD/DVD drive in order to install it. It just means that you will be shipped a physical box with an installation CD in it but within the box, there is an activation code with a URL to download Quicken from so that you can also install it without the CD. If you buy from Amazon or a high street retailer website such as Staples or Office Depot, you will be emailed an activation code. Purchases direct from Quicken do not require any activation code.
Note that as yet, there is no version of Quicken 2018 on the Mac App Store although this will probably be released soon. Existing Quicken 2017 users will probably get some kind of discounted upgrade offer direct from Quicken in the app or via email at some stage.
One word of warning – avoid purchasing Quicken from eBay as most likely they are bootlegged or illegal copies of Quicken. Nowadays every copy of Quicken sold by third-party vendors comes with a one time activation code and without that code, it won’t work.
Quicken was traditionally known as one of the best personal finance software options for desktop users. However, the Mac version had traditionally lacked the features found in the PC version, and that was disappointing to many users. While last year's version was a big improvement, it still wasn't there for everyone.
After using Quicken for Mac 2019 for several weeks, we're happy to see that Quicken has continued the improvements over prior years. It's not as robust as we'd like to see yet, but it's definitely been moving in the right direction.
So, how did Quicken for Mac 2019 do? Honestly, it's an incremental improvement over 2018. But we like the direction it's going, and if you can get a great deal on pricing (which you typically can on Amazon or when they have a sale), it could be worth it.
Incremental improvements over 2018 version
A great mobile app with seemless sync across platforms
Price is still a concern, but if you can find a great deal, go for it
Product Name
Price
Platform
Promotions
Quick Navigation
Key Features Of Quicken For Mac 2019
Quicken For Mac continues to build on the many traditional features that Quicken users expect. As always, it comes with great spending tracking (compared to other online options like Mint and Personal Capital), it has investment tracking, and budgeting.
For 2019, they have improved the usability of the platform, but the navigation is still a little challenging. Even after using Quicken for about a week, I still find it hard to get to different reports. It's not intuitive.
They also improved the web interface for Quicken. If you don't want to use the desktop software, and prefer a web version (like what you get with Mint), you can have that now. But I prefer the app over the web version.
Here's what the home screen looks like:
Instead of being under reporting, most of the things you'll care about are actually available by clicking on the 'Acccount' sidebar - for example, your income and spending isn't viewable under 'Reports', but it's actually visible under 'Banking'.
Here's an example:
Here's another example. One silly thing that's missing is having income and expenses together on one page. I think there is a report you can run, but there's no easy to access dashboard that compares your income to your expenses (except in the mobile app, which is odd).
Quicken for Mac dramatically improved their investment tracking for 2018, but this is one area that didn't continue to improve into 2019.
There are still issues here. When I imported my accounts, some positions transferred the cost basis, while others didn't. Not a huge deal, but very odd. Also, it's still missing key reports that I valued in the Windows version - most notably the asset allocation and ability to play with your allocation in the program.
See the investment screen here:
Also, Quicken touts that you can now see investment performance, but it consistently showed 'N/A' for every account. My guess is that Quicken calculates this in the program, versus using historical data. That is a good thing in that you get a real snapshot of your performance, but a bad thing in that you need the Quicken app to consistently update to make it happen.
Here's what the screen looks like:
If you check the comments below, you can find other frustrating experiences with the investing tracking in Quicken for Mac. It has so much potential, but it's just not there yet.
Quicken 2019 Mobile App
The Quicken 2019 for Mac mobile app is probably my favorite feature that has been improved. This app has existed since the last few versions, but I found it glitchy years ago and gave up on it. For this review, I started using it again, and it's actually a bit more user friendly than the desktop version.
Here's the home screen of the mobile app:
As you can see, you get your account balances and recent transactions right at the top of the page. You can link this with Quicken's new credit card, and easily categorize your transactions on the go. It then seamlessly syncs with the desktop version.
One of the features I love on the mobile app, which is missing in the desktop version, is easily being able to see your income and expenses against each other.
Here's what that looks like:
I don't know why this can't just be included on the main page. There's also something funky up with the net income over time graph.. maybe a glitch?
The pricing for Quicken For Mac 2019 continues to be a focus point for most users. Quicken changed their pricing model last year to a subscription-based model, instead of a one-time fee. I see this as both good and bad.
It's bad, because many Quicken users kept their software for years, and never upgraded. For users, this was fine - because you could avoid bad rollouts like Quicken for Mac 2017. However, to continue to receive updates and banking information, you had to update every few years anyway or Quicken would cut you off.
It's good, because my hope is with more recurring revenue, Quicken can continue to improve their software and ensure banking connectivity.
Quickbooks desktop for mac 2019. Quicken For Mac 2019 has three price points this year. I think 90% of users would benefit simply using the Deluxe version, which is $49.99/yr at full price.
Here's what the pricing looks like:
Deluxe
Best For:
Users with investments and loan tracking
Price:
$49.99/yr
It's hard to say if Premier is worth the huge additional price. I think Deluxe is the best value, for the added features of investment and loan tracking. But I've never used BillPay, and I highly recommend that most people don't use a service like BillPay because not only does Quicken charge more, but many banks charge for the service as well.
Note: For Windows, there is also a Home and Business version. However, we think most consumers with a small business would benefit more from using a tool like Quickbooks, versus using Quicken Home and Business.
Special Promotional Pricing
As you probably already know, Quicken is notorious for running promotional pricing all the time. Recently, they were offering 40% off their prices - which I think is a fair price for the product.
I would have a hard time paying $49.99 per year for Deluxe, but paying $29.99 per year makes much more sense - especially considering that I would typically upgrade every 2-3 years, this aligns much better with the pricing I'd expect.
However, in our search for deals, we found that Amazon.com is offering a 14-month subscription of the Deluxe version for $38.49 (which is 30% off full price). Given the $49.99 price is $4.17 per month, Amazon's deal is $2.75 per month. Still not as good as Quicken's own sale, but the second best deal we've found.
Check out the deal on Amazon here.
Quicken World Mastercard
Another interesting product/feature that Quicken launched this year is the Quicken World Mastercard. The Quicken credit card provides real-time transaction notifications in the Quicken mobile app, and offers integration with Quicken for Mac desktop.
This card also gives you a free year of Quicken Deluxe when you spend at least $500 in the first 90 days. If you already have a subscription, you'll get a 1 year extension.
The card offers 2x rewards points on all your qualified spending, and has no annual fees.
Given that this card is really about integration with Quicken, we're surprised that you don't get Quicken free every year as long as you spend at least $500 per year. Otherwise, all the rewards are on par or below the other top rewards credit cards out there.
Quicken For Mac 2018 Trial
Pros And Cons Of Quicken For Mac 2019
As you can see, there are some definite improvements in Quicken for Mac 2018 versus the prior year. However, it's still not perfect and it still has a lot less features than you'll find in the Windows version.
Tnpsc Notifications 2017 To 2018
Pros:
Great mobile app to compliment the desktop version
Improved Loan Tracking
Spending Tracking Categories and Reporting
Cons:
Poor Navigation And Not Intuitive
Still Lacking Some Key Investment Features Like Asset Allocation
New Subscription Pricing Isn't Worth It At Full Price
Final Verdict
The final verdict is that we're giving Quicken for Mac 2019 four stars. As I've been using it more and more, I'm actually liking it more than many of the free online money management tools out there. This is especially true since the mobile app has become much more useful.
Quicken 2018 For Mac Download
However, for those that want desktop software, AND if you can get it at a discounted price, Quicken for Mac is a much better piece of software than before.
Have you tried Quicken for Mac 2019? What are your thoughts?
Quicken For Mac 2019
Quicken 2017 For Mac
Product Cost - 60
Ease Of Use - 83
Tools And Features - 90
Customer Serivce - 85
80
Quicken 2018 For Mac Review
Summary
Quicken For Mac 2019 has continued to improve on what’s been working and has an even better mobile app experience.