Quicken is an extremely popular software package for helping people get a better handle on their finances. For years, they were one of the most popular packages out there.
Then came the rise of cloud-based personal finance applications and Quicken soon found themselves behind on the times. It’s hard for a software application, paid for once and installed on your computer, to compete with apps that can be updated constantly.
Then, Intuit, Quicken’s parent company, acquired Mint, one of the most popular of the Quicken alternatives, and everyone thought Quicken was going to be retired.
But it wasn’t.
In 2016, Intuit sold Quicken to an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a private equity firm, and the fears of Quicken’s death were, for a time, put to rest.
Quicken is now a subscription based product that has experienced success in recent years (in fact, in 2021, Aquiline Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in the company) but you might be wondering – will Quicken be discontinued anytime soon? Should it be a concern?
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Quicken “Discontinues” Products
As you’d expect with any software that requires constant updates, Quicken does discontinue and retire their applications after a number of years. This is not unique to Quicken, it’s common for all software applications that are installed on a computer.
It is simply too costly to maintain old software, from both a programming and a support perspective.
This may not apply to applications that run on the cloud but almost anything with a year in its name will eventually get shut down. Support for those applications are typically shut down too.
For example, Quicken 2007 was shut down in 2016 as Intuit moved their engineers to Quicken for Mac 2016 and 2017 and the Quicken Customer Care team stopped taking calls for Quicken 2007. The product continued to run but parts of it could stop working since they weren’t being updated.
Quicken sunsets their older products but given the move towards a subscription model, it’s unlikely that Quicken itself will cease to exist. There is simply too much of an installed based (an estimated 2 million active users) for that to happen.
Plus, private equity firms aren’t in the business of buying businesses and shutting them down. (this is also not a case of a leveraged buy out where the firm saddles a company with massive debt)
Quicken Discontinuation Schedule
Quicken maintains a “Discontinuation Policy” that shows the following products and their discontinuation date:
| Quicken Product | Discontinuation Date |
|---|---|
| Quicken for Mac 2007 and 2007 for Lion | See our Support Policy |
| Quicken 2015 Canada | May 31, 2018 |
| Quicken 2016 Canada | May 30, 2019 |
| Quicken 2015 Windows and Mac | April 30, 2018 |
| Quicken 2016 Windows and Mac | April 30, 2019 |
| Quicken 2017 US Windows and Mac | April 30, 2020 |
| Quicken Bill Pay | August 31, 2020 |
| Quicken Subscription Products | Based on subscription length purchased |
| Quicken Premium Support | One year from purchase date or upon subscription expiration |
All the products with online services (transaction downloads, online bill pay, etc.) continue to offer those services until the discontinuation date. On that date, the following services stop working:
- Online bill pay
- Downloading and/or importing financial data
- Downloading stock quotes, news headlines and other financial information into Quicken
- Uploading portfolio information from Quicken to Quicken.com
- Live Support
- Software patches and updates
“Quicken Subscription Products” refers to the currently available version Quicken (named Quicken Starter, Deluxe, Premier or Home & Business) – it’s available by subscription but is not a cloud based product. It’s a desktop program but carries no year designation. It’s designed to never go through the upgrade process so you won’t need to buy a new version, transfer your information, etc.
Is Your Version Discontinued?
You don’t have much of a choice – you have to upgrade.
Many of the products that were discontinued were discontinued several years ago so if you’re still using them, you may be running into more issues now that a few years have passed.
In many instances, you have to convert. If you are using a very old version of Quicken, like from the 2000s, you may have to use the cloud-based converter. You can’t upgrade from one discontinued version to another discontinued version, it must be to a Quicken Subscription Product.
Quicken Data Access Guarantee
With the subscription product, Quicken offers a Data Access Guarantee that states you can always view, edit, export, and manually enter transactions and accounts even if your subscription ends. You will have this access whether you renew your subscription or not, so they don’t lock you out if you stop paying.
And since the data is stored on your computer, you don’t have to worry about someone else having access to them.
Online services are not available when your subscription ends, which is to be expected.
Is Your Quicken Scheduled for Retirement?
If your version of Quicken is on the above list, it’s slated for discontinuation (or more accurately, has already been discontinued).
If it’s not, it’s because it’s likely a Quicken Subscription Product and there are no plans to retire the product.
Quicken is now an independent company (from Intuit) and has no plans to stop operations – so if you’re worried they’ll “go under,” you don’t have to be. They’re in great shape.
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