The Best Apps and Services for New Graduates

Many navigation apps can help a graduate navigate an unfamiliar city, but Waze could provide that preferably Away. The free service’s crowdsourced alerts can help drivers avoid roadworks or traffic jams that aren’t always visible in competing apps, including Google Maps – its sibling. By connecting to streaming services like Spotify and TuneIn, it’s easier to add music to a longer trip without having to use separate apps. The ads that run while paused aren’t ideal, but the sacrifice might be worth it if it helps a graduate get to a new job on time.

If your graduate relies on public transportation, Transit’s app is practically a must-have. It provides detailed, real-time public transit directions in hundreds of cities, informing riders of when to depart and which stops to take. More importantly, it integrates with alternative transportation options like shared bikes, scooters, and Uber rides. The core app is free, but it’s worth paying $25 a year for a Royale subscription (unless a local agency offers it for free) to search for public transit and future schedules.

Ridesharing is now used for more than just getting to parties or visiting family – for some, it may be the most effective way to get to work. With that in mind, a Lyft Pink or Uber One subscription could well be a welcome gift. Both $10-a-month services offer discounts on rides and food delivery, as well as a handful of other perks, such as Lyft’s free priority pickup and Uber’s access to top-notch drivers. Both services are good choices, but you should make sure there are enough drivers where your recipient lives.

Students can make do with a free cloud account or join their parents’ family plan, but there’s a good chance they’ll want their own paid account after they graduate. Luckily, all major platform developers have cloud service packages that cover the majority of their needs. Apple One ($17 per month for Individual), Google One ($20 per year for Basic), and Microsoft 365 Personal ($70 per year) all offer additional cloud storage as well as services you probably use for entertainment, productivity, and security become.

The choice of service depends on what your graduate is looking for. Unsurprisingly, Apple One is best for iPhone and Mac users – you get 50GB of iCloud storage, Apple Music, Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade. Google One, meanwhile, offers 100GB of shared storage, advanced photo editing features, and a VPN to secure your connection. Microsoft 365 Personal provides a significant productivity boost with Office apps, 1 TB of storage and security tools like Windows Defender. While these packages don’t cover every possible need, they can easily save you money instead of paying for each individual service.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) can be extremely helpful for those who are security conscious. It can hide sensitive information from prying eyes and make it easier to access regional content that would normally be off limits. There are many good VPNs out there, but our pick for a graduate is ExpressVPN. Although it’s not the cheapest at $100 per year, our security reporter Katie Malone says it’s extremely versatile. It’s easy to set up, works on many devices, includes a password manager, doesn’t log activity, and is even gaming friendly. Simply put, your former student is more likely to keep the VPN running no matter what they are doing.

Passwords are already a nuisance in school, but things get even worse after school – how is a graduate supposed to remember all the new logins for utilities and other essential services? That’s why we recommend 1Password. For $36 per year, it makes it easy to log in on many of your devices. Credit cards and other sensitive information can also be stored. More importantly, 1Password is moving to using passkeys to access its accounts. A graduate doesn’t have to worry about anyone guessing their master password, effectively gaining access to their entire digital life.

Money management will be more important than ever for graduates, and Quicken’s Simplifi budgeting app can help them get control of their finances. It’s currently our favorite budgeting app and we recommended most Mint users switch to it after that service was discontinued earlier this year. We like Simplifi’s clean interface and overall ease of use: It’s a relatively straightforward process to connect all your accounts, including those with Fidelity, and the app then shows you things like current spending, upcoming recurring payments, top spending categories, and a Snapshot of your current spending plan and more. The app also does a good job of categorizing transactions, and your graduate can, for example, mark certain transactions like the monthly phone bill as recurring. And you can gift them a subscription to start with, but the standard price of $48 per year will hopefully be affordable enough for your giftee to continue paying for it in the future if they find it useful.

To-do lists can help anyone stay on track, but the free options (like Google Keep) may not be enough for a graduate who suddenly has to juggle more than just classes. If that’s the case, they might be happy to receive a Todoist Pro subscription as a gift. While the free version already includes advanced features like filters and labels, the Pro version for $48 per year offers really useful extras like reminders, automatic backups, more filters, and larger 100MB file uploads. Add access across many platforms and it’s an easy choice for someone trying to figure out how to manage their personal and professional life.

Graduates don’t have to stop learning just because they graduate. A subscription to Masterclass Individual may seem expensive at $180 per year, but it could easily help graduates learn important personal and professional skills from (often famous) experts in various fields. They can perfect their cooking skills with Gordon Ramsay or write with Margaret Atwood. And importantly, it’s not just about watching videos – students can follow a curriculum that includes completing real-world projects. Skillshare ($168 per year) may be more appropriate if a recent graduate primarily values ​​creative skills, but the Masterclass may be worth it if the goal is to hone life skills or simply indulge curiosity.

If you know a graduate who owns an iPhone and wants to get fit, an Apple Fitness+ subscription is an easy gift. For a relatively low annual outlay of $80, you get access to 12 workout types that cover a wide range of duration and skill levels to fit into a busy schedule. For those who prefer to exercise outside, there are even audio-only running and walking workouts. The service works best when paired with an Apple Watch, but that’s no longer necessary – an iPhone is all you need to participate.

Peloton gear isn’t always a meaningful gift for a graduate, but a Peloton One subscription certainly is. The $13 per month membership gives Android and iOS users access to Peloton’s renowned trainers, who will guide you through a variety of workouts, which even include boot camps. This is also an ideal gift if your recipient prefers structure – there are a number of programs that help develop skills, such as marathon running. Add community elements (such as seeing who is taking the same training) and it can help newbies stay engaged.

There’s a good chance the grad in your life wants to soundtrack their commute or workday, and a subscription to Apple Music ($99 per year) or Spotify Premium ($10 per month) should provide exactly what they need seeks. Both music streaming services offer ad-free streaming and offline access to a wide selection of songs and well-curated playlists across many devices – you can listen to Apple Music on an Android phone or play Spotify on your favorite gaming console.

The choice depends on the taste of a graduate. Apple Music clearly has an advantage for users heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem, but is also best if you want lossless or spatial audio. Spotify, on the other hand, has a strong social element, broader device support (particularly for smart speakers), exclusive podcasts, and a library of niche playlists that’s hard to beat.

There’s a good chance your giftee has already signed up for Amazon Prime Video or Netflix, but what if they want more? This is where a streaming service like the Disney+ subscription could come in handy. The ad-free plan for $110 per year ($8 per month with ads) provides access to a library that may not beat the competition in quantity, but plenty of new and older material from the many major Disney franchises contains. Graduates can see what The Mandalorian is all about the Marvel Cinematic Universe before the next big movie comes out.

YouTube TV has seen price hikes, but for most people, including new college grads, it’s still the best live TV streaming service. The $73 per month basic plan offers over 100 channels, including multiple 24-hour news channels and live sports from ESPN. Channels like HBO also bring add-ons. There is extensive device support and unlimited cloud DVR storage, so a graduate never has to miss a favorite show.