IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS

Hardbacon Review for 2024: Plan, Budget, and Invest

Advertiser Disclosure
Written By
Julija A.
Updated
September 25, 2024
Some or all of the products/services listed on this page are from our affiliate partners from which we receive commissions. This, however, does not influence the evaluations in our reviews. Learn more by reading our Advertiser Disclosure.

Hardbacon provides users with information and tools to help them make informed financial decisions. The fintech company offers reviews of financial products, including credit cards, loans, and investments, as well as resources on budgeting, goal-setting, and other financial topics.

Premium version cost:
$12.99 per month, $99.99 per year

A comprehensive free plan

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Fortunly Rating

Fortunly's Rating: Our editorial team determines the rating based on a set of evaluation criteria developed for each product and service category.

Free plan:
Yes
In-depth reports:
Yes
AI recommendations:
Yes
Connecting bank accounts:
Yes
Premium version cost:
$12.99 per month, $99.99 per year
pros thumb up Strengths
  • Special offers
  • A comprehensive free plan
  • Extensive comparison options
  • Affordable premium version
  • Planning, budgeting, investment apps
pros thumb up Weaknesses
  • Poor customer support

What Is Hardbacon?

Hardbacon runs a personal finance review website and app that helps you get a clear overview of your finances. The website and app allow users to compare credit cards, crypto platforms, and insurance companies, while its various loan, mortgage, and other calculators help you determine debt repayment expenses.

You can opt for Hardbacon’s free or premium plan. The free plan’s tools and features are included in the premium version, whose additional elements include investment recommendations.

How Hardbacon Works

In a nutshell, Hardbacon helps you manage various aspects of personal finances with tools enabling you to plan, budget, and invest.

You can compare various financial products and services, including:

  • Loans
  • Options to improve your credit score
  • Credit cards
  • Cryptocurrencies
  • Travel insurance offers, hotels, flights, etc.

Furthermore, you can compare various exclusive offers. And some of them relate to:

  • Cash bonuses
  • Referral bonuses
  • Incentives for opening free KOHO accounts
  • Receiving the best mortgage rates with platforms such as Homewise, etc.

Hardbacon Plans

As previously mentioned, your personal finance assistant has two versions, so let’s see how much Hardbacon plans cost and what they offer:

Version

Fees

Basic

Free

Premium

$12.99 per month

$99.99 per year

The Free Version

Albeit free, the basic plan has various useful features allowing you to:

  • Connect accounts
  • Create practice accounts
  • Visualize asset allocation
  • Connect cryptocurrency wallets
  • Plan financial goals and retirement
  • Benefit from premium financial data access
  • Make a budget and visualize bank transactions
  • Keep subscriptions and recurring payments in check

The Premium Plan

On top of the free plan’s features, the premium version adds the following:

  • An in-depth report on your investments
  • Comparing yourself to other investors using your portfolio score
  • A diagnostics tool revealing your portfolio’s pros and cons
  • Model investment portfolios organized according to theme

The premium plan also has an AI tool providing clients with suggestions and recommendations.

Comparison Options

You’re presented with various comparison options as soon as you land on the website’s main page. From there, you can access the following alternatives, among many others:

  • Debts
  • Loans
  • Banking
  • Mortgages
  • Credit cards
  • Rewards points
  • Financial independence

As you can see, comparison options cater to people with different financial needs.

For example, if you compare credit cards, the interface prompts you to a questionnaire to determine your goals and find the best company and deal. To that end, you may need to specify your:

  1. Primary objective (rewards or low-interest rates)
  2. Annual income
  3. Credit score, etc. 

If the Investing section catches your eye on the main page, you are only a click away from accessing the website’s investment fee calculator, the Registered Retirement Savings Plan savings calculator, etc. Here you can also compare:

  • Online brokers
  • Robo-advisors
  • Crypto exchanges, etc.

Hardbacon Mobile App

The mobile app lets you manage your finances through the planning, budgeting, and investment stages. 

Planning

The planning tool helps you set plans and figure out how soon you can reach your goals. Along the way, it helps you avoid mistakes and updates your action plan by taking your income into account. Finally, it enables you to prioritize goals and estimate their impact on your finances.

Budgeting

Theis personal finance app assists you in keeping expenses under control, too. Many users get surprised by how much money they spend on hidden costs. The key features of Hardbacon’s budgeting tool include:

  • Expenditures management
  • An overview of small expenses that make a big difference 
  • Bank, credit card, and investment account synchronization

Investment

This is another tool offered by the mobile app that should appeal to traders interested in a broad range of investment types. The Hardbacon investing tool helps you discover your portfolio’s drawbacks through:

  • Portfolio comparison and analysis
  • Return reports for selected periods
  • Notifications when stocks drop below or rise above a specified threshold

Free Trial

If you consider subscribing to the Premium package but aren’t sure how much it would benefit you, Hardbacon offers you a free 30-day trial to test its bonus services. Note that this offer is available to new users who haven’t subscribed to it before. 

Educational Sources

Our review also found extensive resources users can access from the topic they are researching. 

For example, if you wish to learn how to calculate interest on your loan, you can find popular articles and frequently asked questions when you select the Loan category on the website. Other categories include Budget, Financial Planning, and Mortgages.

Hardbacon Customer Support

As for the customer service, our review yielded few results. We found the only trace of any support upon selecting a category (Loans, for example) and scrolling down a bit to discover a short contact form that requires you to provide your email address and ask your question.

The website also has the Assistance page containing a mix of FAQs and a help center.

Hardbacon Pros and Cons

Using Hardbacon for your business in Canada will get you various personalized tips, which are certainly beneficial. Still, some aspects could use improvement.

Benefits

  • The app provides an overview of all your finances and can help you improve them by analyzing your current situation.
  • The platform has various exclusive offers benefiting users with different financial interests and needs. Some of them relate to bonuses for referrals, crypto trading, bank accounts and products, etc.
  • A diagnostic test for your portfolio is like a check-up of its strengths and weaknesses. It tells you what is likely to work and what isn’t. This information can help you make changes to improve your investment strategy.
  • The financial planning tool uses 256-bit SSL encryption to keep your data safe. It stores all of the data in Amazon-secured data centers. A team of expert developers constantly monitors the system to ensure top-notch security.

Drawbacks

  • Customer support is Hardbacon’s weak link. A contact form is virtually the only way to get in touch with support.
  • 256-bit encryption is more secure than 128-bit encryption but also slower. That means it may take longer to encrypt and decrypt data, which can be a drawback for some users.

How Hardbacon Compares to Other Finance Apps

Hardbacon Logo
Hardbacon
Premium price:

$12.99 per month/$99.99 per year

Key basic features:

  • Connecting bank accounts
  • Financial goal planning
  • Practice accounts
Key premium features:

  • AI tool recommendations
  • Investment performance report
  • Strengths and weaknesses
Mint Logo
Mint
Premium price:

$4.99 per month/$34.99 per year

Key basic features:

  • Net worth and cash flow
  • All accounts in one place
  • Personalized trends and insights

 

Key premium features:

  • Double cash back
  • Customized debt plan
  • Personalized financial advice
Moka (ex-Mylo) Logo
Moka (ex-Mylo)
Premium price:

$3.99 per month

Key basic features:

  • Growth-optimized portfolios
  • Unlimited tax-free accounts
  • Cashback offers
Key premium features:

  • Double cash back
  • Customized debt plan
  • Personalized financial advice

These are some key differences between the Hardbacon budgeting app and its competitors. If none of these is your cup of tea, you might wish to explore other popular budgeting apps.

Summary

Hardbacon provides versatile tools helping users keep their finances in check, including credit card, loan, and other types of debt.

It tracks expenses users might not be aware of and points out a portfolio’s strengths and weaknesses, among many other benefits.

Last but not least, it employs high safety standards, making your data secure.

FAQ

What is a Hardbacon app?

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Hardbacon is a free app that provides users access to comprehensive financial tracking and analysis tools. It allows them to track spending, investments, and debt and set and monitor financial goals.

What plans does Hardbacon offer?

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Hardbacon has two plans. The free version gives users access to a basic portfolio tracker and lets them connect accounts and plan finances. The premium service ($12.99 per month or $99.99 per year) adds features such as investment reports, AI recommendations, and more.

Can I compare credit cards with Hardbacon?

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Our in-depth review found that you can use this app to compare credit cards and learn how to improve your credit score, as well as find the best credit card for your specific needs.