Origin Financial Budgeting App Review

Origin plans and costs

Origin offers two ways to pay its required membership fee: $12.99 per month or $99 per year. As with most apps offering monthly and yearly payment options, the annual plans offer a discount — and in Origin’s case, it’s a savings of $56.88 per year.

Origin doesn’t have multiple tiers for its subscriptions, such as a cheaper option that includes ads or a plan with fewer features — just one plan with two different payment schedules.

And if you want to try it out, it offers a seven-day free trial. Though, admittedly, that’s not a very long trial, so you may only get to test out a portion of its functionality.

What we like about Origin

At a glance, Origin might look like a typical budget app, but it offers much more than just budgeting and expense tracking. It provides an interest-bearing cash account, tax filing, investing, estate planning and more.

Oh — and there are no advertisements in the app.

Cash account with a mega APY

This feature is a big one. The Origin Cash Management Account comes with a base APY of 4.5% — easily overtaking some of the best high-yield savings accounts in the market. The account has no withdrawal limits or balance requirements and no monthly fee. The Cash Account is FDIC insured up to $250,000 through Origin’s partner banks.

On top of that, new account holders can earn an additional 0.50% APY, giving you an introductory rate of 5.00% for your first three months on up to $50,000 (as long as you fund the account within the first 30 days of opening).

However, while the account itself doesn’t have a service fee, remember that you’ll still have to pay the Origin monthly or annual fee, so consider that cost when comparing savings accounts. And the account doesn’t come with a debit or ATM card.

Track spending and budget

We love a good budget. Origin lets you create a custom budget with custom categories, such as dining out, childcare, household or transportation. One of the better perks of its budgeting feature is that it can automatically categorize your spending and lets you make custom rules for that sorting. It also offers a summary of income and expenses, and you can create custom filters by category, account or date.

Origin lets you sync your bank and investment accounts with the app. Most financial apps only use Plaid to sync accounts, but Origin uses three: Plaid, Finicity and MX.

Origin also has an AI-powered financial assistant named Sidekick, which is said to give spending or investment insights, offer expert analysis and provide real-time notifications about spending, your credit score and more.

You can also get breakdowns of your spending. For example, you can view your most frequent transactions. We think this feature is great, as it could really shine some light on where most of your spending is going.

Credit score tracking

Credit scores are never fun, but it’s good to know where your credit stands. Origin offers credit score tracking and push notifications for changes.

Origin shows your credit score from the FICO 8 model, which we’re happy to see, considering that it is the most commonly used model by lenders. Some apps, such as Credit Karma, show your VantageScore. While VantageScore is a legit credit-scoring model, it isn’t used by most lenders or institutions.

Free tax filing

Tax season has a way of sneaking up on you. With Origin, you can get free tax filing — federal and state. It also supports multi-state filing, reporting investments, itemized deductions, additional income and more. And there’s a maximum refund and accuracy guarantee.

The self-guided filing is free, similar to what you do with interview-style tax software such as TurboTax or FreeTaxUSA. You could opt for the optional Expert Assisted Tax Filing for $189. With that package, you can get support via phone or screen sharing, a review of your return and real-time guidance.

Estate planning

A rare feature, Origin can help you craft custom estate plans. As an Origin member, you can get a basic will created for free and it will meet the legal requirements in your state.

There are two other options as well, which can be much cheaper if you have an Origin membership:

• Full Will. $119 for Origin members or $149 for non-members, this option lets you create a will with more customization and specify things like appoint guardians, specify healthcare wishes, leave gifts, give access to medical records or make special requests.
• Trust. The most costly option — Origin members pay $359 and non-members pay $449 — gets you all the features of a will creation, including the ability to add protections to distributions and avoid probate court.

Where it falls short

And as much as we want everything to be free, Origin just isn’t one of those apps. It has many features and perks, but if you don’t plan on using most of them, it may not be worth the cost.

However, there are a few features you can use without paying the membership fee. For example, Origin offers a free in-app tax filing option for Origin subscribers and those with the free trial. So, if you can get your taxes filed within those seven days of the trial, you might not have to pay anything. Additionally, the Full Will and Trust estate planning products don’t require the membership fee — but you’ll pay a little more for those services as a non-member.

Not a replacement for everyday bank accounts

Origin is more designed as a way to track your investment, checking and savings accounts in one place, plus the additional features for all-around financial planning.

With that in mind, we wouldn’t say that Origin is designed to replace your existing checking or savings accounts. The Cash Management account doesn’t come with a debit or ATM card, and Origin doesn’t accept wire transfers.

Compare other budgeting apps

Narrow down top budgeting apps by fees, features and more. For a close comparison, tick the Compare box on multiple options to see benefits side by side.

Origin customer reviews and ratings

Origin Financial, launched in 2018, doesn’t have very much customer feedback to date. It has a Better Business Bureau (BBB) profile and holds the highest rating possible but doesn’t have any reviews. There’s also no Trustpilot profile just yet. We headed to the Apple Store and Google Play for a better idea of what customers think of Origin — and so far, it’s mostly positive.

Apple and Google users report good customer service, say it syncs seamlessly with their existing accounts, love that they can manage finances with a spouse or partner without extra fees, say it has great budgeting functionalities and report a holistic view of assets. A few long-time users say they love the new feature additions, such as the ability to file taxes and equity management.

Many reviews offer suggestions to Origin, such as the addition of a bills section. Some wish there was a way to edit transactions, such as renaming them or adding notes. Among the very few one-star reviews, some say they didn’t know Origin had a subscription fee or expressed difficulties syncing accounts or other technical issues.

On the whole, customers say Origin is a great app for most things finance and are looking forward to how the developers will tweak and improve it in the future.

Frequently asked questions

How does Origin Financial work?

Origin Financial, or Origin, is a fintech company, not a bank. The Origin app offers a cash management account, investing services, tax filing and more.

It has FDIC-insured bank partners to offer insurance on its deposit account, aka the Cash Management Account. Origin also offers investment advisory services through Origin Investment Advisory LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blend Financial Inc. DBA Origin Financial.

Is Origin Financial safe?

Origin states it uses market-leading security protections and protocols and advanced encryption. It also says it’s SOC-2 compliant and doesn’t share your financial information without permission.