Are you looking for tips on monitoring your finances, budgeting, plus help with saving money? Then the Snoop app could be the one for you. Let’s see how the app works and why it could help you to get your financial life in order.
Snoop summary
Pros and cons:
✅ Easy to set up and use
✅ Receive money-saving tips
✅ Free version should be fine for most people
❌ Doesn’t link to as many financial accounts compared to rival apps
❌ (Paid for) Snoop Plus doesn’t bring much to the table
❌ No savings or investment options
Snoop
What is the Snoop app?
Snoop is an app available on Android and Apple which allows users to keep a better eye on their finances and create budgets by connecting their financial apps into one. On top of this, they’ll be sent “Snoops’ – handy tips to give you ideas on saving money.
How much does the app cost?
There are two versions of Snoop. The basic app is completely free to use. But if you want some added features to take your finances a step further, you might want to upgrade to the subscription service -Snoop Plus. More on that below.
Also worth reading
Is it safe?
Snoop is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
When connecting to your bank, Snoop uses 256-bit encryption and never sees or stores your login details. Snoop does not have the authorisation (or ability) to move any money from your accounts.
Snoop belongs to Usnoop Limited, a British company based in London and incorporated in January 2019.
How does Snoop work?
Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can connect your current accounts and credit cards to Snoop. This is all done through open banking. If you already have your bank’s app on your phone, this shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds. Then, you will need to grant permission to Snoop.
Once done, Snoop starts working away in the background and analysing your transactions. The app will then start sending you ‘Snoops’. These little snippets offer you advice about all your finances and you’ll be pleased to hear that it isn’t all about selling you services.
What are the main benefits of Snoop?
So, what can Snoop do for you?
An overall picture of finances – once you’ve linked your accounts to Snoop, you will instantly see your ‘Total Net Worth’. Well, this is limited by the accounts you can actually link.
Now, Snoop says this is only available with the Plus version, but I see my net worth without paying a subscription.
Budgeting – one of the major features of the Snoop app is the ability to create a monthly budget.
Snoop can set your budget by looking at your previous spending habits and breaking them down into categories.
If you don’t think much of Snoop’s budget, you can make your own.
As the month goes on, you’ll be able to see how your budget is faring, also taking into account expected bills. Snoop will also send you nudges to keep you updated.
Spending analysis – Snoop shows you where you’re actually spending your money.
You can do this by month or whatever time period you like. On my account, I can see how much I’ve spent from all of my accounts since 2017!
Again, everything is shown in categories, so you can compare easily if you spend more on one part of your life than another.
Spending analysis also allows you to sort your spending by merchant and compare month-on-month spending.
List of bills – there is a section on the app that allows you to see all your bills, both paid and expected. Here, you can activate a tracking feature, which allows you to put an end date for that bill if needed. Snoop will then send you a reminder when that bill is due to end. This is great so you don’t let a contract roll over and you can negotiate a better deal.
Compare – this part of the app allows you to compare prices and deals for services such as broadband, mobile phone contracts and banking.
Snoops – Snoops are money-saving tips. Some are more specific to you, whilst others are fairly generic.
For example, Snoop saw that I had been investing with Nutmeg and linked to a recent article about what had affected the stock markets. Snoop also saw that I had shopped in Boots and showed me how to get a £25 eye test for free. Other Snoops included how, as a Sky Mobile customer, I could stream Sky TV for free to my phone.
Any downsides?
Snoop is a bit of a let-down when it comes to connecting accounts. Although it will connect to almost all the major banks, there are still lots of accounts missing, like PayPal, Nutmeg and other investment accounts. For me, this is essential if you really want to know your total wealth. Rival apps like Emma and Moneyhub can do this, so it would be nice to see Snoop follow suit.
The Snoops can be a little misleading at times. I received this Snoop:
On the menu, it told me that I had just paid £102 to Sky Mobile, which caused me to panic slightly. But when I opened the Snoop, it told me it was over the last five months. Not the best way to get information across!
Snoop Plus
Like many budgeting apps, the free version of Snoop comes with limits. If you upgrade to Snoop Plus, it becomes more customisable. Some of these features include:
Create unlimited custom spending categories – with the free version of Snoop, the list of categories is a little limited and not always accurate. With Plus, you can get a much better picture.
Add accounts manually – as I mentioned above, Snoop can’t connect and get a direct feed from all accounts. However, you can manually add accounts and the amount of money in them.
Track spending from payday to payday – Snoop runs on a monthly cycle, but the issue is, most people aren’t paid on the first day of the month. If you’d like to run a budget from the day you’re paid, you’ll need to upgrade to Plus.
Unlimited refund alerts – if you’re expecting a refund, you can set up an alert so that Snoop lets you know when it arrives.
If you decide to take out a Snoop Plus subscription, it will cost you £4.99/month or £31.99/year.
Is Snoop Plus worth it?
For me, it’s a no. Yes, they make the app a little better, but I don’t think they justify the price. These added features you can find on similar apps like Moneyhub. And to be frank, Moneyhub does it far better and the subscription is much cheaper.
What other people think
When writing my reviews, I always look to see what other people think of the app. Snoop seems to have ignored Trustpilot and has never claimed their profile, so there are very few reviews on there. However, on the Google Play store, Snoop scores an impressive 4.4 out of 5 from well over 1,500 reviews.
My Snoop app review conclusion
So, is the Snoop app worthwhile?
There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking on offer, but the information provided is useful and very easy to digest. If you lead a busy life and don’t have much time to look through your finances often, this app could provide useful money management tips.
I’m not too impressed by Snoop Plus but I hope this will develop over time. And you can try it for free for one week to see for yourself.
To find out more and download the app, click on the button below.
FAQs
Does Snoop sell your data?
Snoop Plus is only a small part of the app, so it’s important to establish how Snoop makes money from the free service. They sell data relating to your spending habits, which identify trends to companies. It may sound slightly scary, but this data shouldn’t be identifiable to you.
Michael Andrews
Thursday 18th of May 2023
Excellent review Pete and well done for your site. I've just discovered it and it is full with useful information.
My main issue with the Snoop app is with its data collection. Although they claim to pool the data and make it anonymous, it might be still possible for companies to target a specific person.
For example, an article published in 2022 explained how AI can identify people even in anonymized datasets (published in SceinceNews).
The other issue is with how well your data is protected (for example, the Cambridge Analytica scandal where personal data belonging for millions of Facebook users was collected without their consent by British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica).
The lesson is that if you are told that your data is collected always assume the worse case scenario.
As the saying goes, if you are not paying for the product then you are the product.
Dr. Arnold Harris
Sunday 6th of March 2022
I have used Snoop for quite a while now but I find I need to be able to ask you a question and I find that it is not possible to contact you by phone or email so that worries me. I understand that you need to run your business "without people" but that is not quite enough for me. What do I need to do to close Snoop? Just get rid of the app?? Dr. Arnold Harris
Money Saver Pete
Sunday 6th of March 2022
Hi there. To be on the safe side, I would email them to let them know you want to close your account - hello@snoop.app Then, remove your accounts by tapping on the cog icon and going to 'Manage Accounts'.
Andrea Aitchison
Sunday 30th of January 2022
This button sends me to a different site.
Money Saver Pete
Sunday 30th of January 2022
Hi Andrea. What device are you using and where is the button sending you? I have checked and it still takes me through to the Snoop site.