Choosing software can be confusing.  The variety is getting more extensive and depending on what features you need, will determine the best product for you.

Moneydance

Moneydance is an application for personal finance that was developed by Reilly Technologies. The user interface is geared towards non-accountants although it is a double entry bookkeeping system. Moneydance can be run on multiple operating systems such as: Linux, Mac OS, OS/2, Unix, and Windows.

Online Banking: You can synchronize transactions with your records with the support of OFX, QFX, and QIF files.  You can also pay your bills instantly using its online bill pay option.

Schedule: Be on time with your payments, bills, and paychecks.  Moneydance tracks all of your overdue bills and calculates interest for your loans.

Budgeting: Budget your monthly expenses to your actual income.  Moneydance will show you where you are over or under budget.

Portfolio: Track your investments and keep your portfolio up to date.  You can view the total value of your investment accounts such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and CDs.

Import: Any program that exports data using the QIF format will be imported by Moneydance.

Compatibility: Moneydance can run on almost any operating system.  This gives you maximum flexibility.

International: Moneydance is used in over 75 countries and offers support in eight languages.  It makes it easy for tax reporting by tracking and calculating VAT and GST.

Privacy: You will be able to encrypt and password protect your data for increased security and privacy.

Quicken

Intuit Inc. developed Quicken as a personal finance management tool.  There are various versions of Quicken available such as: New user, Basic, Deluxe, Rental Property Manager, Premier and Home & Business. Most versions of Quicken are specialized for United States and Canada.  Although it can be used more widely no matter what country it is.  Quicken operates on Macintosh and Windows.  As you can see Quicken offers more options than Moneydance depending on what version fits your needs.

Quicken is a better choice for business’ or anyone that needs more options.  Moneydance is an alternative for individual needs.  It also depends on what operating system you are using.  Try to keep all this in mind when choosing your product.