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Quicken users know it can be a love/hate relationship. As one of the oldest commercial software products around (the first release was for MS-DOS in 1983!), Quicken has been a mainstay of personal finance for generations. It has developed a reputation as the most robust product for keeping track of personal finances. Since Microsoft Money was discontinued in 2009, Quicken has been the go-to software for personal budgeting, expense tracking, and reconciling multiple accounts. Now, there are rumors flying around the Internet that Intuit, the maker of Quicken, is planning to sell off that segment of their business. Press releases from Intuit have indicated they will release and support Quicken 2016. In my opinion, future versions of the software are not guaranteed. With the uncertainty surrounding future versions of Quicken, is it worth upgrading to Quicken 2016?
Quicken 2016 Release Date
An exact release date for Quicken 2016 has not been published, but Intuit has followed an annual release cycle for new versions since 1998. Each year, the new version has typically been release in September or October. The 2016 version is expected to be release on October 1, 2016, but that date has not been officially confirmed. The release dates for the last three years were:
- Quicken 2015 – Released September 22, 2014
- Quicken 2014 – Released October 1, 2013
- Quicken 2013 – Released October 26, 2012
Based on these previous release dates, we should expect the 2016 version to come out around the beginning of October.
3 Year Upgrade Cycle
Intuit has funneled customers of their personal financial management software into a 3-year upgrade cycle. While the software itself will continue to work indefinitely, the online features are disabled after three years. This includes accessing and downloading transactions from checking and credit card accounts. Since most users of the software rely on downloading account transactions to reconcile their accounts, this effectively forces them into upgrading to the latest version a minimum of every third year. In addition to disabling online services after three years, the Quicken software is no longer supported with bug fixes or other software patches. Customer service support from Intuit is also discontinued after the third year. This means any users who are running Quicken 2013 or older will definitely want to upgrade to Quicken 2016 if they wish to continue using the online capabilities of the product. Users who don’t use the online services, such as downloading transactions from their accounts, may still want to upgrade so they will continue to receive bug fixes and security updates. The discontinuation dates for online services for the last four releases of Quicken are:
- Quicken 2012, Quicken Mac 2005, Quicken Essentials for Mac – April 30, 2015
- Quicken 2013 – April 30, 2016
- Quicken 2014 – April 30, 2017
- Quicken 2015 Windows and Mac – April 30, 2018
Why Upgrade to Quicken 2016?
Taking into consideration the possible discontinuation of Quicken after the 2016 version, many users will want to upgrade to this last version simply to keep the ability to download and reconcile account transactions for another three years. The discontinuation date for online services in the 2016 version should be April 30, 2019 if Intuit sticks with the previous pattern. Upgrading to Quicken 2016 will give users three more years of full functionality. This may be just enough time for a viable Quicken alternative to come out and save users from being stuck without a sound personal financial management platform.
UPDATE: The leader of Quicken, Eric Dunn, recently released a statement promising Quicken will not be going away and will continue to be developed and supported. See the full news release.
Where to Get the Latest Version of Quicken
If you would like to update your version of Quicken, visit our Quicken Store to get the latest version of Quicken today.
Nate Phillips has been using Quicken and TurboTax for over 20 years. He has spent part of that time as a Quicken beta tester, helping identify bugs and annoyances with Quicken updates before they are released. Nate holds a master’s degree in Computer Science and has numerous technology certifications.