Martia is the AI you talk to about your money. You ask in plain language — "how much did I spend on groceries last month?", "why did my balance drop last week?", "which subscriptions renewed in March?" — and you get an answer from real transactions in supported accounts such as N26, Revolut, ING and Santander. Enable Banking covers 2,500+ institutions across 30 European countries.
Built fresh in 2026 around the conversation. Free during early access — no account limit, no category limit, no AI question limit. A new app, no US-only merchant data, no subscription, no dollars.
Monarch Money, on the other hand, is a solid app for US and Canadian banks — dashboard first, AI Assistant added to the sidebar in 2023. For anyone banking in the EU or the UK it's a wall: no European or UK bank coverage, no native EUR or GBP, $99.99 a year for a tool that can't see your account. This article compares both honestly — what Monarch does better for the markets it actually serves, and where Martia's freshness makes a real difference for European users.
Which banks Martia connects to
Martia connects to banks in the EU and the UK through Open Banking. US banks are not supported.
Key takeaways
- Martia is AI-first since 2026 — chat is the primary interface. You ask, you get an answer from your real transactions from supported accounts across Europe
- 2,500+ banks across the EU and UK via PSD2 (Enable Banking, FIN-FSA-regulated) — setup in 2-3 minutes, read-only access
- Free during early access — no account, category or AI question limit. Monarch is $99.99/year (~€92) or $14.99/month
- Monarch: a dashboard-first app + an AI Assistant from 2023 as a sparkle icon — an optional add-on, not the spine of the product
- Monarch wins on product maturity, household collaboration and US and Canadian coverage — but none of those advantages matter if your bank is in the EU or the UK
What does Monarch Money offer?
What is Monarch Money?
Monarch Money is an American personal finance app whose tagline reads "The modern way to manage money." Founded in 2018 in San Francisco, it gained a large user base after Mint shut down in March 2024. More on monarch.com.
Monarch aggregates bank accounts, credit cards, loans, investments and home values in a single dashboard. It connects to 13,000+ institutions in the US and Canada through multiple data providers at once (Plaid, MX, Finicity). Auto-categorisation, recurring subscription detection, customisable budgets with rollover, reports, and goals.
Monarch's strongest feature is built-in collaboration. The Households model lets you add a partner, a financial adviser or a family member — with the ability to flag transactions as "Needs Review" and assign them to a specific person. Collaboration with a partner or a professional is included at no extra cost.
Monarch AI Assistant — added in 2023
In June 2023 Monarch launched the Monarch AI Assistant — a sparkle icon in the left-hand sidebar that opens a chat panel. You can ask about spending, cash flow and net-worth changes; the Assistant answers from your actual data. The assistant is optional — the app works without it.
Pricing is $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year ($8.33/month billed annually) on the Core plan — with a 7-day free trial.
Where Monarch Money beats most competitors
Three things. US and Canadian bank coverage — 13,000+ institutions across multiple providers is a number very few apps match. Built-in collaboration with a partner or adviser — included at no extra cost, with a real review-and-assign workflow. Categorisation maturity — years in market and a large user base. If you live in the US or Canada and run joint finances with a partner, it's hard to find a better tool.
Monarch's wall — geography and paradigm
Two walls Monarch hits for a European user. First — geographic: Monarch is only available in the US and Canada, so banks in the UK and the rest of Europe are out of reach. Second — paradigmatic: Monarch is built as a dashboard with an AI Assistant added in 2023 as a sparkle icon next to it. Fresh AI-first apps invert that relationship — chat is the interface, dashboards support it. Monarch can't rewrite that architecture quickly.
Where Martia does it fresh for European users
Martia is a European personal finance app built from scratch in 2026 — on the assumption that AI isn't an added feature, it's the primary interface. It solves the same problem Monarch does (multi-bank aggregation, categorisation, budgeting) but through European banking infrastructure, in EUR and GBP, with chat as the primary surface.
AI is the product, not a sparkle icon
Monarch added an AI Assistant in 2023 to a dashboard-first app — it lives behind a sparkle icon, opens a modal, and is optional. Martia is built around the conversation. You open the app, you ask in plain language — "how much did I spend on groceries last month?", "can I afford a €1,500 holiday?", "which subscriptions renewed last week?" — and you get an answer. (Yes, including the Friday transfer you don't remember.) The dashboard, categories and charts exist, but they exist to support the conversation, not as the main screen.
The difference isn't cosmetic. An app built around AI from day one designs its data schema, conversation context and follow-up handling differently. A dashboard with an AI add-on stays a dashboard with an AI add-on for a long time after the AI ships.
European and UK banks via Open Banking — not just the US and Canada
Monarch: no banks outside the US and Canada. Enable Banking's current registry for Martia covers 2,500+ institutions across 30 European countries. Check the current connection list for your bank. Connecting an account takes 2-3 minutes — you log in through your bank's own screen, Martia gets read-only access to your transactions. The infrastructure underneath is regulated by FIN-FSA and aligned with the EBA's PSD2 technical standards.
For more on how the bank link actually works, read how to connect a bank account to a budget app.
European merchants, European money
Martia categorises transactions against European merchant patterns. Lidl, Aldi, Albert Heijn, Carrefour, Biedronka → groceries. Shell, BP, Total → fuel. TfL, Deutsche Bahn, SNCF → transport. Revolut, Wise, SEPA transfers — recognised from local data, not a US merchant set. EUR and GBP are first-class currencies, not conversions. See how automatic expense categorisation works for the full picture.
Price: €0 vs ~€92 a year
Monarch costs $99.99 per year ($8.33/month billed annually) or $14.99 month-to-month. At today's rate that's around €92 a year. Martia is free during early access — no account limit, no category limit, no AI question limit. The headline cost difference matters less than the practical one: if your accounts are with a bank in the EU or the UK, Monarch can't see them. You'd be paying €92 a year for an app that has nothing to connect to.
Bottom line: Martia gives you fresh AI as the primary interface, your European bank connected in 2-3 minutes, and €0 to pay during early access. Three things Monarch doesn't offer European users in 2026 — and won't, quickly.
For the broader European market, see our ranking of the best finance apps in Europe for 2026.
Monarch Money vs Martia — comparison table
The table covers 11 criteria — from geographic coverage and AI philosophy to price and setup time. A highlight marks the advantage in that row, not an overall "winner".
| Criterion | Monarch Money | Martia |
|---|---|---|
| Geographic coverage | US + Canada (13,000+ banks) | EU + UK (2,500+ banks) |
| European and UK banks | 0 | 2,500+ institutions across 30 European countries; check the live list |
| AI approach | AI Assistant added in 2023 — sparkle icon in sidebar | AI-first since 2026 — chat is the main interface |
| Currency | USD native | EUR + GBP |
| Annual price | $99.99 (~€92) or $14.99/month | €0 (early access) |
| Setup for a user in the EU or the UK | Not possible — no integration with EU banks | 2-3 minutes via PSD2 |
| Open Banking protocol | Plaid + MX + Finicity (US and Canada) | Enable Banking / PSD2 (EU, FIN-FSA-regulated) |
| Partner / adviser collaboration | Partner or adviser at no extra cost + transaction flagging | Invite a partner (sees everything, changes nothing) |
| Product maturity | Founded 2018, large user base (grew after Mint shut down) | Fresh, early access 2026 |
| Data protection regime | US privacy law | GDPR + PSD2 |
| European context | None — US merchants and categories | Native — Lidl, Aldi, TfL, Deutsche Bahn, SEPA |
Recommendation: Monarch Money if you live in the US or Canada, run joint finances with a partner and want a mature, multi-year product with unlimited household collaboration. Martia if you live in Europe or the UK, bank with a European institution and want a fresh AI-first app where you ask questions in plain language.
Fresh AI for your European money — not a dashboard with chat added
Ask in plain language — "how much did I spend on food last month?", "can I afford a €1,500 holiday?" — and get an answer from your real transactions from supported accounts. Enable Banking's current registry covers 2,500+ institutions across 30 European countries. Check the live connection list for your bank. PSD2 connection takes 2-3 minutes. Free during early access.
When to switch from Monarch Money to Martia
The choice isn't about which app is "better" in the abstract. Both solve the same problem well, but for different markets and with different product philosophies. Honest user profiles below — if one of them describes you, the decision is simple.
Monarch Money is for you if...
You live in the US or Canada and bank with a local institution (Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, RBC, TD). You run joint finances with a partner — or work with a financial adviser — and want collaboration included in the price. You value a mature product with years of history and a large user base. $99.99 per year is a reasonable cost because you use the app daily and it works the way you expect. You see the AI Assistant as an optional add-on and prefer the dashboard.
Switch to Martia if...
You live in Europe or the UK and your bank appears on Martia's current Enable Banking connection list. You want to ask "how much did I spend on groceries last month?" and get an answer from your actual transactions, not from a sparkle icon in a sidebar. You'd rather use a fresh AI-first app than a dashboard-first app with chat added later. Paying ~€92 a year for a product that can't see your bank sounds like a poor deal.
The Martia Freshness Test
The Martia Freshness Test is a simple way to settle the choice between Monarch and Martia. The rule: if you're asking today "what's the best finance app in 2026 and how does it use AI?" — there is one option. Not because Monarch is "worse". Because a dashboard-first app and an app architected around AI are different products, no matter how many annual iterations the first one gets.
For more European options, see our best household budget app ranking for 2026 or the Copilot Money alternative for Europe.
Frequently asked questions
Why Martia instead of Monarch Money?
Monarch Money is a mature app for US and Canadian banks, founded in 2018. Its AI Assistant launched in June 2023 — it sits behind a sparkle icon in the sidebar, next to the dashboard. Martia is built around the AI from day one: conversation is the primary interface and the dashboard supports it. On top of that, Martia connects to European and UK banks over Open Banking, costs €0 during early access (Monarch is $99.99/year) and is fluent in EUR and GBP. Monarch is only available in the US and Canada, so it can't connect a bank in the EU or the UK.
Does Monarch Money work in Europe or the UK?
No. Monarch is only available in the US and Canada, where it connects to 13,000+ institutions through Plaid, MX and Mastercard (Finicity). Banks in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy and the rest of Europe aren't supported. Currency support matches: Monarch recommends connecting only USD or CAD accounts.
Is it hard to migrate from Monarch Money to Martia?
Migration comes down to connecting your European accounts to Martia — it takes 2-3 minutes via PSD2 and you never hand over your bank password. Historical data from Monarch (if you had US or Canadian accounts there) doesn't move across automatically, but Monarch lets you export transactions to CSV. For most European users this point is academic — Monarch never connected to the bank you actually use, so there's nothing to migrate beyond the categories in your head.
Monarch Money vs Martia — how much does each cost?
Monarch Money costs $14.99 per month or $99.99 per year (~€92) on its Core plan — with a 7-day free trial. Martia is free during early access — unlimited accounts, unlimited categories, unlimited AI questions. For a user in the EU or the UK the cost calculation is even sharper: Monarch can't connect to your bank in the first place, so $99.99 buys you a product that never sees your money.
Doesn't Monarch already have an AI Assistant?
Yes — Monarch launched the Monarch AI Assistant in June 2023. You access it via a sparkle icon in the left-hand sidebar; it opens a chat panel where you can ask questions about your spending, cash flow and net worth changes. It's optional — Monarch works without it and is designed dashboard-first. Martia inverts that relationship: chat is the primary surface, dashboards and charts are the supporting layer. The two products treat AI very differently — one as a feature added to a dashboard-first app, one as the architecture itself.
What does Monarch Money do that Martia doesn't?
Two things stand out. Product maturity — Monarch was founded in 2018 and gained a large user base after Mint shut down in March 2024; categorisation has been tested at scale. Built-in collaboration — Monarch lets you share with a partner or a financial professional at no extra cost, and household members can flag transactions as 'Needs Review' and assign them to each other. Martia lets you invite a partner who sees everything and changes nothing, but it has no adviser workflow. If your banks are in the US or Canada and you manage joint finances with a partner, Monarch is the stronger choice.
Are Monarch Money and Martia safe?
Both apps use read-only access — they can't move money or change account settings. Monarch connects to US and Canadian banks via Plaid, MX and Finicity. Martia connects to European banks via Enable Banking — a PSD2 provider regulated by Finland's FIN-FSA and supervised by national regulators across the EU. When you link an account you log in directly through your bank's official screen — your password is never shared with the app.
Paying ~€92 a year for an app that can't see your bank?
Martia connects to European banks in 2-3 minutes through PSD2, costs €0 during early access and answers questions in plain language about your money. A fresh app built around AI — not a dashboard with chat bolted on later.
Sources
- Monarch Money — official site, monarch.com
- Monarch Help Center (2026), About Monarch's AI Features, help.monarch.com — how the AI Assistant works and where to open it.
- Product Hunt (2023), Monarch AI Assistant, producthunt.com — launch of the AI Assistant on 13 June 2023.
- Monarch Help Center (2026), International Accounts and Currency, help.monarch.com — availability in the US and Canada only, and supported currencies.
- CostBench (2026), Monarch Money Pricing 2026, costbench.com — current pricing and plans.
- Enable Banking, enablebanking.com — the European PSD2 infrastructure Martia uses to connect to banks.