Technology has provided us with a way to keep track of our finances quickly and easily. Indeed, it’s possible to have everything brought to you in one place. Adaptu is one of the financial apps that can help you manage all of your accounts from one place. Not only is Adaptu feature-rich, but it also offers you the benefits of a community. The Adaptu web site app is free to signup and use.
Features of Adaptu
Adaptu is a wholly-owned subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group. The application offers online money management, as well as an online community. As you might expect, the core of Adaptu is the financial management component. Similar to the other web 2.0 financial apps, you add your accounts on the web site, and they are automatically updated to provide you with information about transactions and net worth in real time.
In addition, Adaptu has an investment component, that is somewhat stronger than Mint.com, but weaker than Personal Capital. You can add investment accounts so that it’s possible to easily track your portfolio, and gauge its success. Integrating this with the more basic budget management function allows you get a complete financial picture quickly and easily from one dashboard.
Adaptu has a number features, including the ability to create charts that help you visualize your financial situation, and track your spending. The investment charts/reports are not as slick as the other web based finance apps. Like the other apps, you can also set up bill reminders to alert you send out a payment. On top of that, you can look into the future with the help of a calendar feature that projects your income and expenses. You can spot problem areas that might be coming up, and immediately see what might require tweaking.
Adaptu Community
The community at Adaptu is another bonus, and perhaps their strongest feature when comparing Adaptu vs Mint. Mint.com sort of has this section setup as a blog, but it’s better implemented with Adaptu. The community can be encouraging and helpful. You connect with like-minded people who can provide you with support and advice as you work toward your financial goals. Additionally, Adaptu provides a financial comparison tool. You can see how your spending compares to others in the Adaptu community, as well as compare your financial habits to those of others in the United States.
Adaptu Wallet
Of course, as a financial app, Adaptu also needs a mobile component. Adaptu has a mobile application that you can use on Kindle Fire, Apple iPhone, or a Google Android device. Currently there is no version made specifically for Apple’s iPad.
Adaptu Wallet provides you with access to your account information from anywhere, via your mobile device. You can keep up with the latest spending, and even use the predictive features of Adaptu on the mobile device.
Adaptu Wallet is somewhat unique compared to the other financial apps. It also helps you manage loyalty programs so that you don’t have to carry around all the little plastic fobs that come with many programs. This can also include your gym membership tags, as well as your grocery loyalty program. Another advantage is the ability to store other images of important documents like your insurance cards and business cards, as well as your Social Security card, and store them right on your phone. Adaptu Wallet uses bank-level security, but you still need to be careful, in the event that your mobile device is lost or stolen.
How Does Adaptu Make Money?
With the other web based personal finance sites, it’s clear how they will make money with their free service. They either upsell services of other financial institutions, or offer their own premium services. With Adaptu, their revenue model isn’t so clear. How does Adaptu plan to make money with their service? The only hint I see on their site is they might charge a “small fee” for enhanced tools. Whatever small fee means. Unless this service is purchased by another company, or a defined revenue model is created, don’t be surprised their freemium service model changes.
Bottom Line
Overall, Adaptu is a decent choice if you are looking for a money management application. Like Mint.com, Adaptu is more geared towards budgeting and tracking expenses than investing. While not weak with investing, Personal Capital is a better choice with their reporting tools. Adaptu isn’t as polished as the competing apps but is funtional. As with any web 2.0 app since they are all available for free, you can signup for all and just use the features you like best.
It’s mobile version has some nice features that many other mobile budgeting apps lack. The only issue with Adaptu is its interface. Things can get a little cluttered and complicated, and it’s not quite as user friendly as some of the other budgeting apps out there. With a little streamlining, though, Adaptu could overcome some of these issues.
I used Mint years ago and LOVED IT. I came back to it at the start of this year ready and eager to get back on top of my family’s spending/budgeting. MINT SUCKS NOW. period. I can’t even begin to voice how disappointed I have been with the service I used to love. I have had nothing but “temporary connectivity issue” after “temporary connectivity issue” which means that my accounts are not updated (it’s been weeks) and Mint has such terrible customer support (if you can even call it that…) that I keep getting these stock emails saying “we’re sorry… blah, blah, blah… blame the bank….” or telling me that the issue has been resolved when it most certainly HAS NOT.
So… I tried out Adaptu and I have to say I am not impressed. To say ” Adaptu isn’t as polished as the competing apps but is funtional.” might be putting it lightly. I found the interface to be clunky and cluttered and hardly useable. Mint spoiled me in that department. I was most put off by the fact that in order to make “rules” for how your transactions are categorized you must go in and type each one manually – unlike in Mint where you simply change the category while editing the transaction and it asks you if you would like to do this for all transactions like that one in the future. I also miss the option to “tag” transactions with personal tags – i.e.: I would tag my transactions in Mint by the name of the family member who did the spending and that would allow me to then graph/chart a comparison of each family members’ spending in any given category.
Overall, I am throwing in the towel on Mint but I am not sure Adaptu is the answer. They need to beef up their interface (hire some better designers) and streamline the process for editing transaction information.
Have you tried at Personal Capital? (which we also review) While thank you for your comments (on Mint.com as well), it sounds like you aren’t happy with any of them? With any product like this it’s a matter of trade-offs, no product is perfect and will match 100% of your needs. Out of all of the products we’ve reviewed, one must be a close fit to your needs?