Best automatic savings apps 2026
Can a chatbot really help you manage your cash? These virtual personal accountants are thought to be the future of banking – here's how they work and which ones to use.
Credit (background): Demogorgona – Shutterstock
Over the past few years, numerous automatic savings apps have emerged from the fintech (that's 'financial technology' for the uninitiated) scene.
These apps use AI software to understand your spending habits, in the hope of helping you improve your money management and even start saving some cash in the process.
Others simply help you save by automatically rounding up whatever you spend in your linked account to the nearest pound and paying it into a savings account where it will earn interest.
But how much will these bots really improve your finances? There's only one way to find out! We've downloaded, used and reviewed the best apps below.
Best automatic savings apps
These are the best online savings apps and bots with autosave features:
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Plum
Best for: Autosave and round-up features with no fees.
Access with: Plum's app.
Banks: Amex, Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Capital One, Chase, Clydesdale, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, M&S, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest, Revolut, RBS, Santander, Starling, Tesco, TSB, Virgin Money and Ulster Bank.
Can you use Plum if you're in your overdraft? Yes.
BONUS: Get a free £5 when signing up to Plum through our link.
How does Plum work?
You can use Plum via their dedicated app, monitoring your balance and spending throughout the month.
Every few days, it will deposit small amounts (or large amounts, depending on your balance) into virtual money pockets.
When using Plum, you can save when you're in your overdraft and even set a barrier to avoid being hit with any unarranged overdraft fees.
To withdraw cash from your savings, just tap "withdraw" on one of the money pots in the app, and it will be with you in less than 24 hours.
Plum also allows you to round spending up to the nearest pound and save the change, as well as set up regular automatic deposits to your Plum account every few days. Don't worry though, they'll always make sure that these deposits are affordable.
With a Plum account, you can set up savings pockets to receive 3.30% AER interest. This increases to 3.51% AER if you have a Plum Boost and 3.95% AER if you have a Plum Max subscription.
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Chip
Best for: Achieving your savings goals.
Access through: Chip's app.
Banks: Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Chase, Danske Bank, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest, RBS, Santander, Starling, TSB and Ulster Bank.
Can you use Chip if you're in your overdraft? Yes, but you must set up the Overdraft Save feature to do so.
How does Chip work?
Chip monitors your incomings and outgoings. Then, every few days it'll work out an affordable amount to save on your behalf (you'll get the option to cancel if you can't afford it right now).
If you want to save more or less, you can tell the savings bot or even make a manual transfer. While the app pays you some interest on your savings each month, it's worth noting that you're charged a 45p fee for each autosave you make.
Depending on which savings account you choose to open, you can earn up to 4.33% AER on your savings. Your pot of cash is instant access and any withdrawals from your Chip savings account will only take a few minutes.
It can take around seven days after signing up before you can start putting money aside with Chip, as your bank needs to first verify the Direct Debit (which is how the bot saves on your behalf).
Like Plum, Chip is compatible with most app-based banks, including Monzo and Starling. However, it's no longer compatible with Revolut.
Chip's free version allows you to use the savings account and three basic investment funds (however, they do charge a 0.25% fee on all investments).
Only Plum and Chip apps offer the autosave option, which decides how much cash you can afford to spare and automatically puts it into savings.
However, if you're just interested in the round-up feature, there are quite a few online bank apps which offer this.
Best round-up savings apps
These are the best apps offering round-up savings features:
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Moneybox
Best for: Rounding up from multiple accounts.
Access through: The Moneybox app.
Banks: American Express, Bank of Scotland, Barclaycard, Barclays, Co-op, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, M&S Banks, MBNA, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest, RBS, Revolut, Sainsburys Bank, Santander, Starling, Tesco Bank, TSB, Ulster Bank, Virgin Money and Yorkshire Building Society.
How does Moneybox work?
Moneybox is another great automatic savings app with several accounts on offer. You can either opt for a Simple Saver, Open Access Cash ISA, Cash ISA or notice account with options ranging from 32 days to 95 days.
If you're an impulse spender, you may want to consider a notice account. This makes you question if you really want to withdraw your cash, as you'd have to wait 32+ days anyway.
Need motivation to save? No matter which account you open with Moneybox, you'll be earning anywhere between 2.90% – 4.45% interest on your savings.
You can connect multiple bank accounts or credit cards you use with the Moneybox app. You will then be able to see your everyday transactions.
If you choose to, the app will automatically round up transactions from all connected accounts. The amount will then be debited from your account each week and added to your Moneybox account.
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Chase
Best for: Round-ups with high interest.
Access through: Chase's app.
Banks: Chase.
How do Chase round-ups work?
The Chase round-up account offers the highest interest on round-ups of the automatic saving apps we've listed here. At 5% AER with no fees, it's well worth considering if the round-up feature is what is most important to you.
However, unlike the accounts mentioned above, you'll only be able to round up transactions made when using its debit card. Your balance from the round-up account will also be transferred to your current account each year, so you'll have to start again.
The account has loads of other features, and you can set up multiple easy access savings accounts to transfer money into from your Chase current account. But if you are using multiple accounts, you may find you save quicker with the round-up features offered by Plum and Moneybox that work with other banks.
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Monzo
Best for: Multiple savings pots.
Access through: Monzo's app.
Banks: Monzo.
How do Monzo round-ups work?
If you have a Monzo current account, you can open a savings pot and choose to round up your spending automatically.
With one of Monzo's Instant Access Savings Pots, you'll receive 3.25% - 3.75% AER interest (variable). So if you turn on round-ups on this pot, every time you spend on your account, Monzo will automatically round it up to the nearest pound and save the difference into this savings pot. You'll then be gaining interest on everything that is rounded up.
You can open up to 20 different Instant Access Savings Pots, but you'll only be able to use the round-up feature on one.
You can also set yourself goals with Monzo's savings points and set up automatic transfers to whichever pot you choose. The app can also work out your essential monthly spending for you, so you can see how much it's possible for you to save.
Still unsure which of these apps will work out best for you? You could try signing up for all of them.
Using a few of these apps simultaneously won't affect how they work, and you'll be able to tell within a few weeks which best suits your needs. And they're free, so why not?
4 things to know about automatic savings apps
Credit: sergey causelove – Shutterstock
If you're considering making an account with an automatic savings bot, here's what you should know:
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AI robots monitor your spending and save your change
We all know the key to being better with your money is to keep an eye on your spending, but sometimes logging into your online banking is too painful.
The creators of automatic savings apps reckon the solution to this is to let robots – sorry, 'digital personal savings assistants' – do it for you.
These bots use a clever algorithm to assess your spending, see how much cash you can afford to spare and squirrel it away for you in a virtual savings pot. They'll keep you updated on the savings they make through a chatbot or their app.
The idea is that if a few quid is saved every few days, you're not likely to miss it and will start building up a nice little savings packet without actually having to do anything.
In fact, some apps will even save your change for you. This means that if you spent, say, £9.50 on something, the app would round it up to the nearest pound (£10) and put the extra 50p in your savings account automatically.
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Savings apps keep your personal data safe
Although you give these apps access to your bank account, it'll be in read-only mode.
These bots can only view what's going on in your account (and report it back to you), and any cash that they siphon to your savings pot is done by a Direct Debit that you sign up for when you open your account.
You'll be notified when any amount is about to be saved and you'll have the chance to cancel it. You can also withdraw cash/return savings to your current account at any time.
If the bot is operating via Facebook, don't worry – they also have no access to the data you've stored there (other than the bare basics like your name and email, but they'll already have those from your sign-up).
Similarly, Facebook has no access to your banking data (outside of what you discuss with your bot in Messenger).
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Your money is safe if the app goes bust
Banks tend to be FSCS protected, meaning that if a bank goes bust, your balance is insured for up to £120,000.
Some of these online savings apps aren't FSCS protected, but this doesn't mean your money is at risk – there are barriers put in place to make sure you're still protected.
The money saved in a virtual savings pot will be stored as digital cash by an external e-money provider, which is in turn held in an account in your name at a UK bank.
Your cash is safeguarded, meaning no one can get their hands on it apart from you. If one of these apps were to go bust, the bank would simply return your cash to you.
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Your spending data may be shared in the future
These apps will never sell your data.
That said, it's worth being aware that they all have plans to use the info they gather about your spending habits to offer you financial products that will (according to their software) suit your circumstances.
This can mean anything from credit cards and savings accounts to things like utility bills!
Should you accept a recommendation and successfully apply for a product, the company behind the app will receive a commission. This is part of how they intend to keep these services free in the future.
And yes, just to clarify, we've had confirmation that these apps really will always be free to download.
Save over £660 in a year with the 1p savings challenge – it's the next easiest way to save after automatic bots!
Disclaimer: Most of the apps in this guide are not banks.
