I’ve been using Quicken since 1990. Or maybe it was 1989? My memory is fuzzy. That’s over 30+ years! It’s probably the only piece of software I’ve used for that long.
Not even Microsoft Word or Excel has been in my library for that length of time (though they’re probably #2 if I started constructing that sort of list.)
For most of that time, Quicken has been stellar – rock solid.
But about 10 years ago (maybe a little before then), it started to stagnate. New releases were uninspired.
Later, bank account connections started to become unreliable.
Then came the removal of the BillPay feature. That was probably the beginning of the end for me.
I didn’t mind the removal because I suspect the vendor they were using declined to renew their contract.
What really pissed me off though was that the replacement they create in its place was so god-awful terrible. Critical features I relied on was just gone.
To this day, those features have not been replaced. And the new Bill Pay is still stunted.
Instead, the software just gradually become more and more unstable. Especially the bank connections.
Which made the requirement to update to a subscription model very very hard to swallow.
I wouldn’t have minded the subscription model at all – it makes sense since it costs a lot of money to keep the bank connections up and running, offer technical support and so on. (And we’re going to rely on a subscription model for Qmoney so I can’t throw stones there.)
But the bank connections continued to deteriorate.
And technical support was and continue to be an absolute disaster – I always end up having to bite my tongue whenever I call in because half the time they have no idea how to use the software. Of course, in their eyes I’m the stupid user – now I don’t even bother telling the person I’m speaking with I’ve been using the product for 25+ years.
And I don’t remember the last time I used a ‘new’ feature.
Basically, I feel like I’m not getting anything for the subscription other than the right to continue to use a piece of software that is slowly dying.
Time For Me To Find Something New
All in all, I really really want to move on to something better, or, at least, more stable.
Unfortunately, for the market that Quicken is addressing, there’s no replacement.
The closest thing used to be Microsoft Money which has been discontinued for a long long time now.
The next closest fit would be Quickbooks. While it’s overkill, the reporting is designed for business, not individuals. I’d use it if I could get the reports I needed out of it.
So, all in all, the only thing left to do is to create my own.
So, here we are. I am taking on a HUGE challenge and a massive personal risk.
I really hope there are enough Quicken users out there willing to transition to something new.
My fingers are crossed!