Resources
Tools I Actually Use
Financial tools, official portals, and reference resources for Indian personal finance. Curated for genuine usefulness — not comprehensiveness. If it is on this list, I use it or I consider it the primary source for that purpose.
Some links may be affiliate links. Affiliate disclosure →
Credit
For monitoring bureau scores, pulling full credit reports, and understanding what lenders see.
The most widely used credit bureau in India. Free annual report at cibil.com.
Most lenders use CIBIL as their primary score — start here.
Free annual report from the second major bureau. Useful cross-reference with CIBIL.
Some lenders weight Experian differently. Worth checking if you are applying for a large loan.
Third major bureau. Particularly relevant if you have microfinance or cooperative credit history.
Most major Indian banks (HDFC, SBI, ICICI, Axis) provide free CIBIL score access in-app.
Convenient for routine monitoring. These are CIBIL scores re-packaged — not a separate bureau.
Taxes
For filing returns, checking withholding data, running regime comparisons, and staying compliant.
The official government portal for ITR filing, Form 26AS, AIS, TIS, and tax payments.
This is the source of truth. Use this before any third-party filing tool.
Download both from the e-filing portal before filing. AIS covers dividends, interest, and capital gains reported by third parties.
Mismatches between your ITR and AIS trigger notices. Check it every year.
The Income Tax Department provides an official online calculator for regime comparison.
Run your actual numbers here before deciding. The answer is rarely obvious.
Guided online ITR filing, HRA calculation, capital gains tax, and return preparation. Free for basic returns.
Investments
For research, verification, performance data, and education on Indian mutual funds and equities.
Verify any registered intermediary, fund house, or advisor before investing. SCORES portal for grievances.
Check here first. Unregistered "advisors" are common — this takes 30 seconds.
NAV data, fund category returns, AUM, and the full list of registered mutual funds and distributors.
Free API and data for historical NAV, fund codes, and portfolio analysis. Useful for building your own trackers.
Mutual fund research, expense ratios, portfolio overlap, and historical return comparisons.
Expense ratio comparisons and rolling return data are the most useful features here.
Free historical price data, annual reports, corporate actions, and index data directly from the exchanges.
Free, well-structured finance education covering equity, derivatives, personal finance, and macro concepts.
The best free structured finance curriculum I have found in the Indian context.
Retirement
For tracking EPF, managing NPS, and monitoring PPF — the core retirement vehicles for Indian salaried professionals.
Track EPF balance, employer contributions, and interest credited. Check annually that contributions are deposited correctly.
Employer non-deposit is common — verify every year.
Manage NPS contributions, asset class allocation, and Tier I/II accounts.
Track PPF balance and interest accrual through your bank or post office portal.
PPF interest rate is declared quarterly by the government. Lock-in is 15 years.
Budgeting
For expense tracking, cash flow visibility, and building spending habits that are sustainable.
A well-structured spreadsheet built around your real spending categories beats most tracking apps.
Free, accessible from any device, and fully customisable. I use this over every dedicated budget app.
Download monthly PDFs or CSVs from your bank portal. Most Indian banks provide 6–12 months of history.
Raw data from the source. No syncing issues, no third-party access to your credentials.
All provide monthly transaction summaries and spending history. Cross-check discretionary spend.
UPI summary + bank statement together gives the complete picture.
Note