This is a strange time for us at IGG Software. In the past, people have picked iBank because they wanted something different than Quicken, something made for the Mac, something that we think is better. But for every person looking for a change, there were many people who were content staying with Quicken. It had worked for them for years, so why switch? Well now, with the release of Lion coming up, Quicken 2007 for Mac is ending as a viable piece of software.
For those of you who are being forced to make some tough choices, I am sorry. There are many of you who have used Quicken on the Mac for longer than you have had your jobs, longer than your children are old, and longer than your marriage. Some of you are from a generation that grew up on Quicken and know nothing else. For most software, you use it to do many one-time jobs: write a paper, give a presentation, or send an email. Once each job is done you start off with a new task and a new set of data. If you did not like the way Microsoft Word did the layout for your last document, you can try Pages for your next one – and even switch back and forth. Financial management software is not like that. It is software that you use to do one job (maybe more if you have a business) for many years.
So as you are looking at your alternatives to Quicken, whether you were happy with it or not, I would encourage you to think not just about what the software does today but what the company that makes it is like.
At IGG Software, we believe in one thing: if we provide great products and services we will have happy customers. This core belief drives everything we do. And this is how we do it:
- We structured the company so that there are no outside investors. This means that when we are choosing our priorities, the only people we are answerable to are our customers. This allows us to do things like provide free technical support even before people buy our products.
- We believe that to provide great products and services over the long term, we need to have that expertise in-house. We do not outsource development, support, marketing, or any critical areas.
- We eat our own dog food. All of IGG Software’s day-to-day finances are run through iBank, and tracking time for payroll is done with iBiz. This allows all levels of the company to be aware of the strength and weaknesses of our products.
- We believe that your data is just that: your data. It lives on your hard drive to be accessed by you. We do not collect any data without your express permission, and that data is only used to fulfill whatever service you have asked for. We do not want to make money by selling you (your data and behavior) to other people. We don’t even mass-market our new products to our own customers.
- We believe that the best ideas are sparked from our customers. We have lots of ways for people to give us feedback: through support, user forums, product reviews, Twitter or Facebook. Internally we keep a tally of what people are talking about as far as features, questions and support issues. We use this feedback constantly as we prioritize the work to be done.
- We want happy, engaged employees. Our telecommuting work environment enables us to hire the best people we can find regardless of where in the country they want to live.
- We want to create and use great products. As such, we have always been Mac developers at heart. Apple has been a great partner and although we do not always agree with everything they do, we share a belief that the end-to-end customer experience is the key to making great products. We are very excited about the future of the Mac and iOS and we want to be a part of it.
- We are in this for the long haul. We do not want to push a sale today if those methods will cost us two in the future. IGG Software has been around for eight years, and every year it has been both profitable and cash flow positive. As other companies and competitors have had to shut their doors during the recession, we have grown the number of people we employ by 400%.
That is who we are.
Finally, if you do choose to use iBank, remember that we are not the same as Quicken. iBank is its own product, and it does some things differently. But we’re not inflexible about it; let us know what you do like about iBank and let us know how we can improve it.
Again, I am sorry that many of you are being forced to make tough choices. I hope that whatever choice you make will help you manage your finances now and well into the future.
Thanks,
James
- Direct Access 2 and Open Banking Support in the UK and EU - February 17, 2021
- A chunk of sync update - June 27, 2014
- 2013 In Review - December 17, 2013
Nice article, albeit a bit wordy. After reading I don’t understand why Lion signals the end of the road for Quicken? Also, I’m a happy iBank user, and have been since circa 2006, and if you implement only one new feature for iBank 4, please make it single line registers, I have a copy of iBank 4 but I’m sticking with iBank 3 because I can’t stand the double line registers, or at least the option to disable them.
I hope you’ll listen to this customer 🙂
Lion will run only on Intel machines. Quicken 2007 is coded for the older PPC processors and hence requires Rosetta to translate its code into something OS X can understand. Lion ends the era of Rosetta, hence, PPC are DOA.
I have used Quicken for a number of years. Seeing the “Lion” writing on the wall, I decided to switch to iBank. This was after sampling a number of other programs, including Money and SeeFinance. Quicken Essentials was a “no” from the beginning. I do not like the direction Intuit is taking Quicken. Very satisfied with iBank, and look forward to new features and an iPad app.
I sent an email question on July 16th and have yet to receive a reply. I am a trial customer looking to become a permanent customer. Can someone please get back to me? I am a many years Quicken customer who wants to switch but need some answers first. Is there someone I can talk to on the phone?
Thanks (and hopefully a new customer shortly),
Frank Orawiec
Hi Frank,
I am sorry to hear that there has been a delay in our response. I replied to your email yesterday but apparently you did not receive it. Can you please check your spam filters/folders to see if you can locate my reply? I also just sent another email and it looks like it did go through as I did not receive a delivery failure notice after sending it. I am looking forward to working with you once we get this sorted out.
Thanks!
Ian Hebson
Technical Support
IGG Software,INC
http://www.iggsoftware.com
I too, am a Quicken 2007 user and about to kiss it goodbye whether I go with Lion or not. Their Quicken Essentials is just plain bad and I’ve asked for a refund. I am now trying out iBank and iFinance. So far iBank looks better BUT you don’t have iBank Mobile for the iPad. Will there be an app for that soon?
Tech Support @ IGG is A++! I had foolishly downloaded Lion on Day 1 & couldn’t access Quicken ’07 to export my files — Tech Support converted all 3 of my data files for me & had me fully migrated by this morning — I’m hoping for an Android App to make my conversion complete… A BIG thank you to Nancy & Melissa for ALL their Help!
After trying Moneydance, SEE Finance, and iBank, I’ve decided that iBank is the best. In many ways I like it better than Quicken 2007. But… as many users have commented in the Forum here, iBank doesn’t handle asset price history very well. It can’t import it from Quicken security detail entries, and it can’t import it from transaction histories.
That leaves me with the prospect of extra work to enter price histories by hand. So for now I’ve decided to stay with Snow Leopard so that I can keep using Quicken 2007. In other words, I am avoiding the tough choice for awhile longer!
I emailed you on July 21st and have not received a reply. Is iBiz compatible with Lion? If not, when can we expect an update?
While I haven’t yet upgraded to Lion, knowing it was on the way pushed me to iBank about 3 months ago. I’ve been using Quicken since at least 1990. I will not miss the company, I will not miss the bugs. I’m pretty happy with iBank although I really hope IGG can address what I feel is the weak link between the two products: Reporting. I’ve become somewhat comfortable with the differences in the way the two products think differently. There is functionality in iBank I really like. I’m still using both Quicken 2007 and iBank in tandem (that’s work!) but as I continue to move forward, I am very close to pulling the Quicken plug. Except for reporting where iBank is lacking functionality and I wonder if I’ll have to somehow launch evil Quicken to get what I need. So IGG, I hope you get a lot of Quicken converts like myself. I don’t want iBank to be a Quicken clone, I like what I see. But I need all that data I put into your product to be better handled in terms of data reporting and I’d be happy to provide examples anytime (my needs are pretty simple too). Thanks for providing an alternative .
I really need help. I am in the trial perios right now. In addition to my US accounts–I have accounts overseas who only allow me to export my bills in .csv. I followed your instructions and dragged the files in–but it won’t take. PLEASE help.
Also I was using Quicken 2004 for years to keep track of my reciepts–cash etc. ( in their budget tab) How can I import those categories and expenses from previous years? Finally–How come my TD ameritrade Securities don’t register in IBank.
If you need assistance, please visit our support page, http://www.iggsoftware.com/support.php
The blog is a great place to leave comments about a post, but not a good place to seek help.
That’s all fine and well to say Ian, but I emailed you via the support page on the 21st and have yet to receive a reply. Is iBiz compatible with OS 10.7 (Lion)????
iBIz has been tested on Lion and is compatible.
I’m going to look into why you didn’t receive a reply from us.
Good riddance to Quicken Mac. I thoroughly despise Intuit at this point.
Anyway, +1 to single line registers. Yes, I know you guys are infatuated with the double line method, but couldn’t you give us an option in preferences or something?
+1 for a decent iPad app too.
Hello Ian, I downloaded Lion and then downloaded your demo because my quicken 2006 for mac won’t work anymore. I’ve spent the morning transferring my accounts and syncing to my Schwab accounts, so far so good. So far, IBank seems a little bare bones but there’s just one little, very little thing that I would like to see included… I’m used to using the pop-up calendar to date my transactions. Way faster and so much easier than typing in the date each time. This can’t be that much of a code, how about it?
Maybe you offer that feature but I just haven’t figured out how to turn it on? Anyway, I’m sliding slowly into the IBank fold, thanks for offering the demo so I can be confident that I’m making the right move.
When you are editing a date in the account register view, press the down arrow key to bring up a calendar picker.
Thank You! I’ll be purchasing your wonderful (calendar picker enhanced – just press the down key stupid, or fully read the manual)
software today.
Great product for the Mac and iphone, but they are lacking a mobile edition for Android. So, if you have an Android mobile phone (and lots do), this is something to think about – mobile apps are pretty important. I think they are “taking votes” or something to that affect. Long and short, I don’t think anything has been decided on a mobile option for Android – but from the looks of the forum, lots are interested.
I have used Quicken since about 1992 with a windows os. Recently I switched to an Apple and have tried Quicken on it…bad news I don’t like it so will switch to iBank on 8/1/2011.
Thanks for offering a alternative.
Bob Young
Not sure if this is the appropriate place to ask but I am in the position as you’ve described needing to move from Quicken 2007 for Mac to another option. Since I do not currently use online banking, bill pay or downloading directly from the bank is iBank an appropriate choice for me to manually record and preserve my financial records? Is it best to move directly or not from Quicken 2007 for Mac to iBank or better to convert to Quicken Essentials first? I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.
Please contact out tech support folks, http://www.iggsoftware.com/support.php
No need to got Q Essentials first.
Please please please enable iBank to download scheduled transactions from financial institutions. Quicken allows you to do this, and it makes budgeting much easier and is a huge time saver. Currently, iBank only downloads cleared transactions. For me the lack of this feature is a deal breaker, and without it I’ll either have to stick with Quicken (and therefore not upgrade my Mac OS to Lion) or find another Quicken alternative. I really like the demo version of iBank I am using now (minus the inability to download scheduled transactions, of course), and would love to switch to iBank permanently. Please enable this feature! It’s the one area where Quicken is vastly superior.
Until you guys have BILL PAY BILL PAY BILL PAY BILL PAY built in, no one should be switching from Quicken for Mac to iBank if they were using that feature. They’d be better off converting to Quicken for Windows in a Virtual Machine.
We’re all standing here waiting to literally THROW MONEY at you, ICG. Get ‘er done.
You can pay bills through the web module in iBank assuming your bank supports this on line. I had Quicken bill pay (I just canceled and saved $14 a month, more than enough to pay for iBank several times over). Since I have a business account though Wells Fargo, its free. Like Quicken, setup the bills, everything is done for you once you log into your account using iBank’s web browser. The web browser inside iBank is super nice.
And then there’s this:
http://www.macworld.com/article/161401/2011/08/lion_personal_finance_quicken_alternatives.html
iBank has been great. Congrats on the great work.
My request: I do hope you get flooded with business from new US customers due to the arrival of Lion, but please don’t forget your international customers! We have particular needs (automation is tougher to work, multiple currencies, etc). As for evolution of iBank, I would love to see the ability to do deeper graphing and analysis of spending. Graphs according to a particular category, for example.
iBank seemed great till I discovered that budgets aren’t supported on the iPhone app. What the hell?
LOL… that’s funny Shawn. But it does bring up a point worth taking note of. I’m looking at your comments on iTunes Store, your own forum and a lot of people have brought it up to your attention that budgets are not on the iPhone. I’m pretty sure I even read a blog post where someone said that it hasn’t been added since 2009.
Your desktop version has a lot that I want. The fact that I can manage both business and personal accounts from one window is nice and the reports are excellent. But Moneywell has a much better iPhone app and you can attach a picture of a receipt to a transaction. I’m torn here… would love to pic you guys but the iPhone app is killing it.
Are you going to continue to be hush hush with your customers about your intentions for having budgets on the go?
Lion was the excuse and impetus for me to finally leave Quicken 2007 behind. I’ve been using Quicken since before 2000 and a great product called Managing Your Money before then. The transition to iBank was thankfully not too difficult. A day to straighten out some Quicken issues and now free. The only area that Q2007 is superior is reporting. More flexible reporting is high on my wish list.
P[ease work out a way to transfer Quicken Essentials to I Bank
I am preparing my Mac to switch from Snow Leopard to Lion. As a result, I need to migrate from Quicken which I know like the back of my hand. I moved my financial data into iBank without much trouble. It was great that my categories imported! I am learning how to do everyday things, and though the user interface is quite different from Quicken, I like what I see so far.
However, like others before me, I would like more custom reports. At tax time, I want to be able to get a report showing how much was spent last year (and this year to date) for a particular category or payee.
Thanks for being there.
I vote for BILL PAY. Since there does not seem to be any personal finance APP that does this and Quicken is jumping ship, I’d pay big for this feature.
I’m with everyone else on the need for Bill Pay. I’ve been using Quicken since it came out. Before that I used CheckFree, starting around 1992. Both have allowed me for nearly 20 years to enter future transactions, select “send,” and have bills paid electronically or via check as of the date I specify (which may be weeks in the future), and entered into my check register at the same time. I’ve grown so used to this feature that it never occurred to me that iBank wouldn’t have it. I’ve exported all my accounts to iBank, set up electronic downloads, and have to say that I’ve been very impressed with how easy it is to convert from Quicken to iBank. You’ve got a great product and a great interface, but how can it be 2011 and you haven’t added the ability to pay bills electronically? This is beyond belief! I’ll be happy to buy your product when this feature becomes available. Until then, I guess I’ll have to stick with Snow Leopard and Quicken 2007.
The problem isn’t with switching from Quicken to iBank… the problem is with dealing with all the showstopping bugs in iBank that Quicken never had. I’ve reported over 30 bugs to the iBank team in just the last 2 months. What is the timeline on getting these fixed?
I had used Quicken on the PC platform going back to DOS 3.3. Back then, Quicken was a solid little program for $12 that managed accounts and printed checks on dot matrix printers from form-fed stock. It did its job well. It grew and adapted when Windows became the new standard. The CEO of Intuit had been an Apple board member and there had been a Mac version which roughly corresponded to the PC version.
My last PC version was a mess. It was something like 2400 files mashed together. It worked at times and not at others. It was TOO automated, leaving the user with little control. It had become designed to push a user into an annual upgrade before the bugs had even been worked out on the current version.
When I bought my first Mac, I bought Quicken 2007 (in late 2006). It was not even up to the standard of the PC version. It was worse. It made errors. It was horrific to use and took way too much time. I began to look around and I found iBank.
iBank offered a fresh, new look in V3. I liked it. It did not take long to get used to a good interface that looked like a Mac app versus windows sprayed around the screen at random. I had just made the conversion when Snow Leopard made it possible to jettison Rosetta and get back 8GB. I let it go and there was no looking back. iBank 4 is even better and I see it growing and evolving, nut just slapping half-baked features together for marketing hype.
I also can see and have experienced direct interaction with IGG when problems do occur. Ironically, ALL of my problems have been the result of the Quicken data format and the way they change that with banks in order to force upgrades. Now I know their game, but I got help from IGG to deal with it. That’s something I never got from Intuit: help. They like to run from their customers and IGG engages theirs.
I accept that finance and especially downloading of data will always be in flux but it is good to know I’m supporting a company that wants to keep up and wants to deal with the curves that are thrown our way. It is good to have that safety net. It’s also good to be an IGG customer.
In anticipation of getting a new computer with Lion I got iBank with the 30 day trial but didn’t really use it till the trial expired. I think iBank is a great product now that I’ve purchased it and used it to prepare my 2010 taxes (we always file at the last minute as my wife an I each have our own businesses.) Esthetically it far surpasses Quicken and the learning curve was very moderate meaning that it must be fairly intuitive. Thank you for the great application.
David McMorran
I too would like to see finer granularity in reporting AND the ability to export those reports to csv files.
I love ibank, and understand it was designed for Mac. I also love my Mac, but what I do not love, is an iphone. The lack of flash make it incompatible with my business. So, please, please release an ANDROID app for ibank!
would also like to see and android app.
I am also migrating from iphone to android if there was an android version of the app this would be perfect.
This app NEEDS an Android version of the mobile app. Ive been using ibank for years but I may have to stop and find an alternative program to use since there is no Android version of the mobile app to enter the transactions into.
Please, please, please make an android app! Soon!
Please, please, please make an android app! Ive migrated to android already and it would just be perfect if you could sync with it.
I hope you guys are reading these. I have long preferred Apple products for most things. As a Software Engineer of 30 years experience the sophistication of simplicity screamed “quality product” to me. The sad truth is however, that Apple has pooched some things spectacularly and needlessly. We all make our mistakes but in this case, Apple has driven me off my iPhone 3gs by creating a software “upgrade” that hobbled the GPS and WiFi (yes… it’s been in for repair… wiped back to working then update back to not.) The cost and plan options available with the newer iPhones are simply not justified.
I do not like Quicken… have not for many years. I do like iBank but, as with Quicken and my iPhone, if you don’t catch up to where things are at… it will cost you business. As a developer, I know the value in core competencies but, put simply, there are darn good tools for making mobile apps multi-platform. Hire someone or contract it out but get there fast. The market is shifting.
Count me as another vote for android. We’re going to update to iBank 5 after the end of the year, and would dearly love to see an Android app for it.
I moved from iOS to Android 2 months ago. One of the my biggest worries was the iBank app. I tried using Google Sheets (Drive), but finally found a replacement (moving my desktop software as well), with some differences (of course some bad and some wonderful ones), the YNAB (You Need A Budget), multi device (iOS, Android, MacOS, etc). http://www.ynab.com
It would be great to have iBank as an option in Android, but since it isn’t, I’m moving foward…