The best budget apps, by how you budget.
A budget app sets how much you plan to spend and tracks what you actually spend against it. Eight follow, each best for a different way to budget: Actual Budget, EveryDollar, Goodbudget, Monarch Money, Outlayr, PocketGuard, Spendee, and YNAB. Outlayr is ours; the other seven are not.
| App | Who it fits | Price | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual Budget | Best if you want free envelope budgeting on a computer, and can run or rent a server to sync | Free. Syncing between devices needs a server you run or rent, such as PikaPods or Fly.io | Windows, Mac, Linux, and the browser through a server |
| EveryDollar | Best if you live in the US and want a zero-based monthly budget with a free version | Free version. Premium is $17.99 a month or $79.99 a year, after a 14-day trial | Computer, phone, or tablet |
| Goodbudget | Best if you want envelopes on the web, Android, and iPhone, starting free | Free plan. Premium is $10 a month or $80 a year | Web, Android, iPhone |
| Monarch Money | Best if you live in the US or Canada and want budgets next to net worth, reports, and goals from linked accounts | $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, after a 7-day trial. Plus is $199.99 a year | Web, iPhone, iPad, Android, in the US and Canada |
| Outlayr | Best if you want a limit per category or for the month that says where your pace ends, in any of 165 currencies | Free. Pro is $7.99 a month, $49.99 a year with 7 days free, or $129.99 once in the US. Prices vary by country | iPhone and Android |
| PocketGuard | Best if you live in the US or Canada and want zero-based, envelope, or category budgets from linked accounts | $12.99 a month, $74.99 a year, or $149.99 once, after a 7-day trial | Web, iPhone, Apple Watch, Android |
| Spendee | Best if you want wallets in different currencies, with bank sync in Premium for banks across Europe and Latin America | Free Basic plan with 1 cash wallet and 1 budget. Plus $1.99 a month or $14.99 a year, Premium $5.99 a month or $35.99 a year, after a 7-day trial. Prices vary by country | iPhone, Android, web. Budgets are on the phone only for now |
| YNAB | Best if you want to decide what each dollar is for before you spend it, and are fine paying after the trial | $14.99 a month or $109 a year, after a 34-day trial. Students get 365 days free | iPhone, Android, web, Apple Watch |
Each detail about the other apps links to the page it was read on, checked 23 October 2026.
How we picked
Each app here plans what you will spend, not only what you spent, and each one fits a different way to budget, from envelopes to zero-based to a limit with a pace. They are in alphabetical order, not ranked.
Every detail about the other apps was read on that app's own site or help center on the date below the table, and links to the page it came from. These are the facts as each app states them, not results of our own testing.
Outlayr is ours. It gets the same facts as the others, including its own Watch out for row.
Actual Budget
Actual Budget is a free, local-first envelope budgeting app for Windows, Mac, Linux, and the browser, open source under the MIT license.
- Price
- Free. Syncing between devices needs a server you run or rent, such as PikaPods or Fly.ioactualbudget.org
- Budget style
- Envelopesactualbudget.org
- Adding entries
- By hand, QIF, OFX, QFX, CAMT.053, and CSV files, importers for YNAB4 and nYNAB, and bank sync through its serveractualbudget.org
- Currencies
- One. It does not support multiple currencies, and an experimental rule converts at a fixed rate you typeactualbudget.org
- Runs on
- Windows, Mac, Linux, and the browser through a serveractualbudget.org
- On a phone
- A web page you install, which works offlineactualbudget.org
- Watch out for
- Devices do not sync until you run or rent a server, and its homepage still lists GoCardless bank sync, which is closed to new accountsactualbudget.org
EveryDollar
EveryDollar is a budget app from Ramsey Solutions whose mobile app is sold in the United States, with bank connections in its paid version.
- Price
- Free version. Premium is $17.99 a month or $79.99 a year, after a 14-day trialeverydollar.help.ramseysolutions.com
- Budget style
- A zero-based monthly budgetramseysolutions.com
- Adding entries
- By hand. Bank connect pulls transactions in Premium. No file importeverydollar.help.ramseysolutions.com
- Available in
- Mobile app and Premium in the US only. Elsewhere, a free budget on EveryDollar.comeverydollar.help.ramseysolutions.com
- Runs on
- Computer, phone, or tabletramseysolutions.com
- Watch out for
- Outside the US you get only the free web budget, with no mobile appeverydollar.help.ramseysolutions.com
Goodbudget
Goodbudget is an envelope budgeting app for the web, Android, and iPhone, with a free plan and bank sync for US banks in Premium.
- Price
- Free plan. Premium is $10 a month or $80 a yeargoodbudget.com
- Free plan
- 10 envelopes plus 10 annual or goal envelopes, 1 account, 2 devices, and 1 year of historygoodbudget.com
- Budget style
- Envelopesgoodbudget.com
- Adding entries
- By hand, or QFX, OFX, and CSV files. Bank sync for US banks in Premiumgoodbudget.com
- Currencies
- No currency symbols in the app or on the webgoodbudget.com
- Runs on
- Web, Android, iPhonegoodbudget.com
- Watch out for
- The free plan keeps 1 year of history, 20 envelopes, and 1 accountgoodbudget.com
Monarch Money
Monarch is a paid money dashboard that syncs linked accounts in the United States and Canada.
- Price
- $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, after a 7-day trial. Plus is $199.99 a yearmonarch.com
- Adding entries
- Synced from more than 13,000 banks and institutions, manual accounts, or CSV import on the webhelp.monarch.com
- Currencies
- Everything shows in dollars, with no conversionhelp.monarch.com
- Runs on
- Web, iPhone, iPad, Android, in the US and Canadamonarch.com
- Watch out for
- Accounts in different currencies add up as if they were one: 10,000 CAD and 10,000 USD show as $20,000help.monarch.com
Outlayr
Outlayr is an open source expense tracker you fill in by sentence, voice, or receipt, free to start.
- Price
- Free. Pro is $7.99 a month, $49.99 a year with 7 days free, or $129.99 once in the US. Prices vary by country
- Budget style
- A limit per category or per month, with where the pace ends
- Adding entries
- One sentence, voice, receipt scan, CSV import
- Currencies
- 165, converted at the rate of the day
- Runs on
- iPhone and Android
- Free plan
- 2 accounts, 2 category budgets plus one for the month, 20 voice or receipt captures every 30 days, and accounts in one currency
- Watch out for
- No web app. The free plan holds 2 category budgets plus one for the month
PocketGuard
PocketGuard is a paid budget app that syncs linked bank accounts.
- Price
- $12.99 a month, $74.99 a year, or $149.99 once, after a 7-day trialpocketguard.com
- Budget style
- Zero-based, envelopes, or by categorypocketguard.com
- Adding entries
- Synced from linked accounts in the US and Canada, cash transactions, or CSV importpocketguard.com
- Runs on
- Web, iPhone, Apple Watch, Androidpocketguard.com
- Watch out for
- Its pricing page shows no free plan, and its site says it is not available in some regionspocketguard.com
Spendee
Spendee is a budget app with cash wallets in several currencies and bank sync in its Premium plan.
- Price
- Free Basic plan with 1 cash wallet and 1 budget. Plus $1.99 a month or $14.99 a year, Premium $5.99 a month or $35.99 a year, after a 7-day trial. Prices vary by countryspendee.com
- Adding entries
- By hand, bank sync in Premium, or CSV and XLS files on the web, into cash walletshelp.spendee.com
- Currencies
- A currency per wallet, with your own exchange rate per transaction. A wallet's currency locks once it has transactionshelp.spendee.com
- Runs on
- iPhone, Android, web. Budgets are on the phone only for nowspendee.com
- Watch out for
- The free plan exports only the last 365 days, and export works on the phone onlyhelp.spendee.com
YNAB
YNAB is a paid budgeting method built on bank imports.
- Price
- $14.99 a month or $109 a year, after a 34-day trial. Students get 365 days freeynab.com
- Budget style
- You decide what your money is for before you spend itynab.com
- Adding entries
- By hand, Direct Import from select US, Canadian, UK, and EU banks, or CSV filesynab.com
- Currencies
- One per planynab.com
- Runs on
- iPhone, Android, web, Apple Watchynab.com
- Watch out for
- No free plan after the trial, and export is web only, without targets or category notessupport.ynab.com
Which kind of budget app fits you
Envelopes. You split your money into envelopes, one per category, and spend only what is in each. When one is empty, that spending stops until you refill it. Actual Budget and Goodbudget are built on envelopes, and PocketGuard offers them too.
Zero-based. Before the month starts, you give every unit of income a job until nothing is left to assign. EveryDollar is a zero-based monthly budget, and PocketGuard offers it too. YNAB works the same way in its own words: you decide what your money is for before you spend it.
A limit with a pace. You set a limit per category, or one for the month, and log as you go. The app tells you what is left and where your pace ends. Outlayr works this way, carries over what you did not spend, and says how far short this pace ends or the day the money ran out.
If you want to plan every dollar ahead, start zero-based. If you want to stop overspending in a few categories without planning the whole month, a limit with a pace takes less upkeep. Envelopes suit people who think in cash, even when they pay by card.
Questions
What is the best budget app?
The one that matches how you budget. For envelopes, Actual Budget is free on a computer and Goodbudget runs on the web and both phones. To plan every dollar ahead, EveryDollar is zero-based in the US, and YNAB has you decide what your money is for before you spend it. PocketGuard offers several styles with linked accounts in the US and Canada. Outlayr sets a limit per category or month and says where your pace ends.
What is the best free budget app?
Actual Budget is free software, with a server needed to sync devices. Goodbudget's free plan has 20 envelopes, 1 account, and 1 year of history. Spendee Basic has 1 wallet and 1 budget. EveryDollar has a free version, web only outside the US. Outlayr's free plan has 2 category budgets plus one for the month, and 2 accounts. Monarch, PocketGuard, and YNAB are paid after a trial.
Which budget app works in more than one currency?
Outlayr converts 165 currencies to your main one at the rate from the day of each purchase. Spendee gives each wallet its own currency and lets you set a rate per transaction. YNAB uses one currency per plan, Actual Budget one with an experimental fixed-rate rule, and Monarch shows everything as dollars. Goodbudget shows no currency symbols. EveryDollar and PocketGuard do not say.
Which budget apps work outside the United States?
EveryDollar's mobile app and Premium are US only, and Monarch is for the US and Canada. PocketGuard links accounts in the US and Canada, and Goodbudget's bank sync is for US banks. YNAB imports from select US, Canadian, UK, and EU banks. Spendee connects banks in many countries, including much of Europe and Latin America. Outlayr works in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French, with 165 currencies.
How much does Outlayr cost?
The tracker is free, with budgets, goals, subscriptions, and widgets. The free plan includes 20 voice or receipt captures every 30 days, 2 accounts, 2 category budgets, and accounts in one currency. Outlayr Pro raises those limits and adds sync. In the United States it is $7.99 a month, $49.99 a year with 7 days free, or $129.99 once. Your app store shows the price for your country.
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Keep reading
Guides
Plan a budget and see where this pace ends.
Outlayr sets a budget per category or one for the whole month, carries over what you did not spend, and says where your current pace ends before the month does.
Guides
YNAB alternatives, by what you need.
A YNAB alternative is a budget app you move to when YNAB's $109 a year, its one currency per plan, or its way of budgeting stops fitting. Seven follow, each best for something different: Actual Budget, Copilot Money, EveryDollar, Goodbudget, Monarch Money, Outlayr, and PocketGuard. Outlayr is ours; the other six are not.
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Outlayr as a Goodbudget alternative.
Goodbudget is an envelope budgeting app for the web, Android, and iPhone, with a free plan and bank sync for US banks in Premium.