Review: Intuit Quicken 2011 Finance Application

The new version supports data downloads from 12,000 institutions, it's less cluttered than previous versions, and it's easier to set up. But at $30 to $150 for various versions, it's "pricey," this reviewer says.

"Quicken 2011 is one of the biggest new releases in the recent history of Intuit's venerable personal finance package, and for anyone still interested in managing their finances on the desktop, it's well worth a look.

In addition to a major overhaul that makes setup easier than ever and updates the app's look and feel, Quicken 2011 supports transaction data downloads from more than 12,000 financial institutions. That's about 2.5 times as many as the 5000-odd institutions supported in Quicken 2010, so if you've been holding off on personal finance software because your local bank doesn't work with it, you might find that things have changed. The ability to automate data entry is one of the most useful features of a personal finance package, since it makes seeing where your money is going and, by extension, planning for the future so much easier."