Quicken is no longer worth the price.

jjkrogs

Before you buy— [Removed-Disruptive].

I've been a Quicken user for at least 20 years now, back when you could purchase the software every 3 years— yet they still somehow managed to fix things without an annual subscription (weird, huh?)

The cost of Quicken has gone up, while at the same time, LESS of my banks will work with "One Step Update"— which is kind of the only thing that separates Quicken from an Excel spreadsheet, if we're being perfectly honest.

About 6 months ago, during a Quicken update patch, I lost the default setting to show my bills for the next year. That setting defaults to 14 days, every time Quicken starts. Despite literally hundreds of complaints on the forum, this hasn't been fixed, so I assume now it's a feature they intend to keep.

[Removed- Speculation]

The final blow came today, when I'm seeing 50% off deals for "new customers only". It's a slap in the face.

My subscription runs out next week, and I intend to let it.

jacobs

@jjkrogs I understand your reasons for being unhappy, but I think it's worth noting for others who may read this to make clear that we all use Quicken differently, and find value in it differently, so what is no longer worth it for one person is still very worthwhile for others. You find Quicken not worth it, but I use Quicken differently and find it very much worth it. Neither of us is wrong or needs to convince the other — I'm just noting that Quicken works well for some and not for others.

To briefly touch on a few of your points…

Yes, the cost of Quicken went up considerably after Quicken separated from Intuit in 2016 and moved to annual subscriptions in 2017. While no one can be happy with that, I'd note that Quicken was languishing at Intuit, and their increased revenue stream gives me hope the company and the program will be around well int o the future.

I'll disagree that "the only thing that separates Quicken from an Excel spreadsheet" is transaction downloads. Again, that may be the case for you, but it isn't for everyone. I actually enter most of my transactions manually, and still find great value in having all my financial history under the one roof Quicken provides.

The discounts for new customers is nothing new. Quicken has always done this, and it happens every year. And many, many other companies offer new customers promotions or discounts to get them onboard. You shouldn't perceive it as a "slap in the face". For instance, I just signed up for Hulu streaming service yesterday for 99¢ a month for a year, an 80% discount from the regular price. Why? Because they hope that after a year, I'll continue as a customer at full price. Quicken does the same thing. There's no reason for existing customers to get upset over their promotions to try to increase their customer base; after all more customers translates to more revenue which, at least theoretically, provides for more programmers or testers or other resources that ultimately benefit users.

In the end, each of us has to evaluate if we get enough value from Quicken to justify the $5 or $7 per month Quicken charges. If you determine it doesn't, then it's time to move on.

Quicken Jasmine

Hello @jjkrogs,

Would you mind providing more details regarding the issues that you are experiencing with One Step Update and downloading transactions?

I would love to be of assistance and I am sure that there are other users/superusers that might be able to jump in and assist if needed.

Thanks!

Ps56k2

following on with @jacobs - I use Quicken (Windows) for tracking my CC spending and the categories. I also use it for Investment tracking, and simple cost basis vs current market value, etc. In addition, I use it with some of the Tax Planner. I personally don't use any of the budget or goals or anything along those lines - for me - it's mostly nuts & bolts of historical entries and category spending.

Is it worth it - TOTALLY worth the $5.00/month -
I can look back and ask Q&A like …" how much was firewood over the past 5 years" or Apple stock prices.

mshiggins

@jjkrogs I don’t know about you, but I find it really irritating when someone tells me how to feel about something. If you feel that Quicken Inc giving discounts to new users is like a slap in the face, that is perfectly valid. If you feel like Quicken is no longer of sufficient value to merit the cost of subscription, that too is perfectly valid.

I’d like to be able to give you good news, but I’m afraid more bad news is coming. If you decide to continue using Quicken in manual mode after the subscription expires, there will be repeated reminders when you open Quicken telling you that your subscription has expired, including a large advert on the right hand side of the main Quicken window that cannot be hidden or dismissed.

If you decide to renew your subscription and want help with the issues you have been experiencing with downloading your transactions, there are a number of fellow Quicken users here who would help you with troubleshooting the issues.

For the reminders view reverting to 14 days every time Quicken is closed and reopened, the only known workaround is to revert back to a prior version that did not have the issue. You can find all the prior versions here:

https://www.quicken.com/support/reinstalling-and-patching-your-quicken-subscription-version-after-your-membership-has

Jon

People can certainly feel however they want to feel, but I'm always amazed when folks complain about new users getting a discount considering how commonplace that sales tactic is. And if you shop around right now there are subscription deals for existing Quicken users that are almost as good as 50% off, so it seems particularly strange to complain about it this weekend.

As for whether Quicken is worth the price, that's something everyone needs to decide for themselves. For me it's worth it - I started out in my early 20s using a spreadsheet to keep track of expenses (first on paper, then on the PC) and the subscription cost is worth it to not have to go back to that.

Chris_QPW

Note, not 50%, but right now Quicken can be had for 40% off (you don't have to be a new user):

And I might add something else, anyone can "become a new users" provide they don't mind the possibility of resetting up their online services. Anyone can create a new Quicken Id, which is how they see that you are a new user or not. You will need a different email address, but I have found that I can even just go into the old Quicken Id account and change it to junk email address. But maybe to be safer you could create a new Google or Outlook or such email account, change your old email address there to this new one. And then when creating the new Quicken Id use your old email address.

When you get the new Quicken Id associated with the new subscription you can just open your data file and log out of the old Quicken Id and in with the new one. It might even allow you to keep all your online connections (I haven't tested this in a long while), but if it doesn't I recommend doing the Quicken copy/template option to get a data file that you know all the online connections have been removed and then set them up again. I have done these kinds of thing for the "Free Quicken Starter edition" with TurboTax which has the same restriction of being only for "new users". I have used this in the past just to test what the Starter edition supports.

Jon

That Newegg deal is even better after the promo code is applied which drops the price to 30.99 - that's 48% off the list price of 59.89.

Chris_QPW

Thanks @Jon I wasn't sure if that price was before or after the promo code.

Chris_QPW

For what it is worth went out to the mailbox (which I don't do every day) and found my Quicken Premier subscription update (box with just an activation code in it, no CD) from Newegg and extended my subscription till January 18th 2025.

I paid $44.83 including tax (shipping was free) for the Premier edition.

jl747

@Chris_QPW

Same here but mine was 45.09 including tax for the Premier (from Newegg also).
Will enter code when it gets closer to my expiration date in January.

Jon

You can enter the code anytime during the last 6 months of your subscription and it will add to the time you have left. The only time you might want to wait is if you're changing subscription levels because in that case it will reset the clock - for example, if you upgrade from Deluxe to Premier I believe you will lose whatever time you had remaining on your Deluxe subscription.

jl747

@Jon

I know.
I just like to do it as close to the expiration date if I can.
No change in version.

retird

@Chris_QPW

Strange that right now a 1 year Subscription at Newegg is cheaper than getting a New User Version from Newegg…..

1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION:

NEW USER 1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION:

retird

@Jon

If you know:

When a person purchases a subscription and receives an authorization code with plans to just renew his current version how long is the authorization good for before it expires? In short terms "what is the shelf life on an authoriation code before it can no longer be used"?

THX

Greg_the_Geek

Retail purchases: Activation codes are good for one year after purchase.

https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-manage-my-quicken-subscription

jjkrogs

Hey everyone, appreciate the feedback. I came back to the forum today to figure out why suddenly Ally Bank was throwing a CC-502 this morning. Always something…

I did go into depth on my initial post, but as you can see, much of it was deleted by moderators. Not because it was inappropriate, but because it made further points as to why I felt my Quicken experience has not improved, even though I'm being asked to pay more and more. Apparently those points were something Quicken didn't want others to see. It's their site, I guess.

As a side note, $50/year won't break me, but it's the principle. I pay for a service that should "just work". Quicken, often, doesn't "just work". (RE: see my reason for returning today).

I do appreciate the reply here that advised my experience beyond Dec 6 will be annoying, I'll move everything over to my new service this weekend. Thank you!

RayMichael

Long term Quick books user since 2012. I changed to Mac at sometime during this period. When Updating to 14.0 on the Mac brought on an incompatibility issue. I was told the cheapest way was to move to online for the 5 General Ledgers I use for tracking different farming and finance General Ledgers. I do not use payroll, billing, or invoicing. The salesman and I interrupted it differently as I thought all 5 could be utilized with one subscription when I purchased Online version. Once the first month was over I unfortunately find four stop working. When obtaining a quote I find it financially unfeasible to pay for 5 GL's. After uploading all 5 companies to online version I now can not download the check register. The most important asset in accounting.

It is best I keep much of the criticism to myself. The fiasco as it has become for Mac users is so expensive to change. I also feel the Mac version has to a certain extent has been treated as a step child. Less R&D spent on Mac version. The debacle with a non-compatible version for the Apple update angered many Mac users as it was seeded in June of this year. Yes, I agree we are a minority user in Quickbooks.

Thank you for allowing me to express my unsupported experience of online assistance, Assistant Mentor not making a call, and non-response on call backs when leaving a number.

Ps56k2

this is the QUICKEN forum -

not related to anything regarding Quickbooks

jacobs

@RayMichael Quickbooks is software from Intuit for small businesses. Quicken from Quicken, Inc. is personal finance software. At one point in history, both programs were owned by Intuit, but that hasn't been the case for many years now. Other than both having "quick" in their names, the programs are not related.

You should look for a Quickbooks user forum to post your concerns with Quickbooks. Best wishes!