Mint seems to push out updates to its website and mobile apps constantly, but the iPad version was a long-awaited release for many people who use the service regularly. On the other hand, Mint’s website and applications, which can all provide access to a single account’s information stored on Intuit’s servers, are free with ads for cards, banks and insurance companies tailored to a user’s spending habits sprinkled throughout. It’s only available for Windows, and it stores data on the user’s computer, which is important for the security-minded but prevents people from accessing their accounts from multiple devices. Quicken comes in many flavors and can cost anywhere from $30 to $150, with one advertisement for a Quicken credit card shown infrequently. Quicken 2012 has a revamped look and a new debt-reduction-planning feature. Intuit, which also makes TurboTax, maintains the two personal-finance tools in tandem, and recent updates to each, such as the free Mint iPad app that launched on Wednesday or the major new version of Quicken that hit stores last month, are indicative of how different their audiences think about their money.

Many families use either Quicken or year-round to track budgets and review billing statements. Software developer Intuit isn’t concerned about which of the two most popular applications for personal finance people choose.

Intuit mint vs quicken