They are still not at version 1.0, but the software is very impressive. I discovered a relative newcomer called SEE Finance. So being on the brink of purchasing iBank 4, I continued my search for alternative software. I started to realize the lack of Vanguard support was actually quite devastating for me. I tried the web download feature and discovered that because I have more than several funds in Vanguard that generate frequent events, using this feature would create more work for me than doing manual entry. Originally, the lack of Vanguard support wasn't necessarily a deal breaker for me, but then I realized that working around the issue would cause me to do a lot of work. I also really liked their forums because I was able to find a lot of information about the specifics of the product, from what it can and can't do, to how to actually do stuff. The user interface is polished, my data imported without serious incident, and there seemed to be a lot of interesting features. Other than the Vanguard issue, the iBank seemed really nice. Also, dragging their feet on supporting a newer version of an open standard strikes me as reminiscent of Intuit not updating Quicken to get off of Rosetta…this is the mentality I am trying to flee. Never mind the fact that Vanguard is now the largest mutual fund company. iBank has not updated their software to support OFX 2 and they seem resistant to the idea, with suggestions that it is not worth their time since Vanguard is the only institution using it. Their Direct Connect feature which automatically contacts your financial institution and syncs account data does not work with The Vanguard Group.Īccording to iBank's forums (apparently, there are already users already complaining about this), this is because Vanguard uses OFX 2 (an open standard for financial data exchange) instead of an older OFX 1.1. But there was one feature that really irked me. I just downloaded the free trial, and it seems to meet most of my requirements. IBank 4 seems to have hit critical mass and seems to be the most popular of the Mac personal finance software programs. Also, I am concerned about how hard it will be to run Java on Mac in the future.Īfter reading a lot of reviews and opinions, it seemed that only iBank 4 met my criteria. I ruled out Moneydance which I have read many good things about, mostly because I generally dislike using cross-platform Java UIs. I don't really need budget planning features. My requirements mostly center around finance and investment tracking. In a nutshell, I have started looking for a replacement. I am also still too paranoid/resistant to online services that track everything in one place, so I don't use those. But as many of you know, Intuit failed to update Quicken and has relied on Rosetta which no longer ships on Lion.Ī large part of my Quicken usage is to track investments so Quicken Financial Life or Essentials is not an option for me. I'm not particularly fond of it, but it generally worked, Inertia speaks. It came with some of my Mac's way back so I started using it. But I am one of those poor unfortunate souls that use Quicken for Mac. With Mac OS X 10.7 Lion now shipping, I am in process of upgrading.
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