YNAB alternatives: 8 apps compared on price, currencies and sharing

Why people look for a YNAB alternative

YNAB is built around giving every dollar a job before you spend it. People who leave often still like that idea. Their reasons tend to come from YNAB's own published terms:

• Price. YNAB costs $109 a year or $14.99 a month, plus tax, priced in US dollars, after a 34-day free trial.
• One currency per plan. YNAB's help centre says you can't use multiple currencies together in a single plan, that YNAB doesn't convert currencies within a plan, and recommends a separate plan for each currency. For a household paid in two currencies, that means two budgets.
• Bank coverage. Direct import supports "select US, Canadian, UK, and EU Banks". If your bank isn't on the list, you import files instead, and file import works on the web app or an iPad, not on iPhone or Android.
• Method fit. Some households want a plan that follows their income on its own instead of assigning money by hand. That's taste, not a flaw.

The short answer

• Free and close to YNAB's method: Actual Budget (free, open source, envelope budgeting) or Goodbudget's free plan.
• Free zero-based budgeting in US dollars: EveryDollar's free version.
• Automatic bank sync and net worth in the US: Monarch, or Copilot if everyone is on Apple devices.
• Several currencies with bank sync in many countries: Wallet by BudgetBakers, or Spendee.
• A shared household plan in more than one currency, with envelopes as a share of income and no bank login: Kinjar (ours, in early access).

The alternatives, one by one

Kinjar (our app)

Kinjar is a household ledger for couples and families. Envelopes such as living costs, savings, debts and travel are percentages of income, so each month's targets follow the income that actually came in. Accounts can be in different currencies (EUR, USD, GBP, CHF, RON and MDL today), with daily exchange rates and totals in one base currency. AI reads receipt photos and bank statement files (CSV or Excel), and you review the result before saving. A partner joins with an invite code and sees the same ledger. More on the method in our envelope budgeting guide.

Who it fits: couples who want one plan together, households with money in several currencies, and people who won't give an app their bank login. Drawbacks: Kinjar has no bank connection at all, so nothing arrives on its own; you upload statements or snap receipts. It's a web app you install on your phone, not an app store app. It's in early access, with a waitlist, so you can't pay for it yet.

Goodbudget

Goodbudget is plain envelope budgeting. The free plan gives you 10 regular and 10 more envelopes, one account, two devices and a year of history. Premium is $10 a month or $80 a year, with unlimited envelopes and accounts, five devices, and automatic bank sync for US banks.

Who it fits: people who want the envelope method for free or close to it. Drawback: Goodbudget says it is designed to track a single currency at a time and can't convert between currencies.

Actual Budget

Actual Budget is free and open source (MIT licence) and built on envelope budgeting, so YNAB users feel at home. It's local-first, with desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux. It can import a YNAB plan through a file you create with a YNAB personal access token. It's also a name that comes up in r/ynab threads about alternatives.

Who it fits: people happy to do some setup to get YNAB's method without a subscription. Drawback: using it on a phone, syncing between devices and bank sync (through GoCardless or SimpleFIN) all need a server, which you run yourself or pay someone to host.

Monarch

Monarch covers budgets, net worth and investments, with connections to 13,000+ banks and institutions. Core costs $99.99 a year or $14.99 a month after a 7-day trial that needs a payment method. You can add a partner for free, and it includes an AI assistant and receipt scanning.

Who it fits: US households who want everything synced, beyond budgeting. Drawback: Monarch shows everything in dollars, doesn't convert currencies, and recommends only USD or CAD accounts.

EveryDollar

EveryDollar, from Ramsey Solutions, is zero-based budgeting like YNAB. The free version lets you budget with manual entry; Premium is $79.99 a year or $17.99 a month after a 14-day trial and adds bank connection. Couples can share one budget with separate logins.

Who it fits: US budgeters who want YNAB's idea for free. Drawback: it supports only US dollars, and Premium can't be bought outside the US because it needs an American debit card.

Wallet by BudgetBakers

Wallet has full multi-currency support with real-time exchange rates, open banking connections to over 15,000 institutions worldwide, and import of CSV, XLS and OFX files. Premium adds group sharing, where you choose which accounts each person sees.

Who it fits: people outside the US who want bank sync and several currencies. Drawback: Premium prices are shown only inside the app, so you can't compare the cost before installing it.

Spendee

Spendee has multiple currencies, shared wallets for partners and roommates, bank sync on Premium and a new AI receipt scanner. Basic is free; Plus is $14.99 a year and Premium $35.99 a year, and local prices can differ by country.

Who it fits: travellers and couples after a cheap shared tracker in several currencies. Drawback: budgets are on iOS and Android only for now; Spendee says they're coming to the web.

Copilot Money

Copilot runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web, with automatic categorisation, an AI assistant and connections to 16,000+ banks. It has one plan at $109 billed yearly (marked as a limited-time price).

Who it fits: US users on Apple devices. Drawback: it supports only US financial institutions and only US dollars, and partner invites were still marked "coming this fall" when we checked.

YNAB and the alternatives side by side

Want one plan for the household in every currency you use? Join the Kinjar early access list.Get early access

Worked example: a euro and dollar household

Emma and James Carter live in the EU. Emma is paid €3,000 a month into Revolut in euros; James is paid $2,500 into HSBC in dollars. They also keep dollar savings at Wise and some euro cash, and want one household budget.

In YNAB, they pick one currency per plan. Because YNAB doesn't convert currencies within a plan, its help centre recommends a separate plan for each currency. So the Carters run a euro plan with Emma's accounts and a dollar plan with James's, each with its own categories, and they add the two together themselves when they want to see the whole month.

In Kinjar, all four accounts sit in one ledger, each in its own currency, with euros as the base currency. James's $2,500 is converted with daily exchange rates. At an example rate of €0.90 per dollar, the month's income shows as €5,250, and the envelopes are shares of that one figure:

When James moves $500 from HSBC to the Revolut account, Kinjar records it as a transfer with currency exchange and the fee, so both balances stay right. If the dollar weakens, the euro income falls and the targets follow it, with no plan to redo.

Stay with YNAB if...

• Your bank is covered by YNAB's direct import and you want transactions to arrive on their own. Kinjar has no bank connection.
• Your household earns and spends in one currency, so one plan covers everything.
• You want apps for iPhone, Android, iPad and Apple Watch, or you use YNAB's API or Zapier integration.
• You share the budget with up to six people. Kinjar's household plan covers five.
• You're a student: YNAB offers students a free 365-day trial.
• The method works for you and the price fits. A working habit is worth more than a cheaper tool.

How to move from YNAB to another app

Export before you cancel. According to YNAB's help centre, export is only available in the web version, and the steps are:

1. In the YNAB web app, click the name of your plan at the top of the left sidebar.
2. Choose Export Plan from the menu.
3. YNAB downloads two files: your plan (categories and category groups) and your transaction history. They're CSV files, or tab-separated TSV files if your currency uses a comma for decimals. The file name starts with "YNAB Export" and your plan's name.
4. Write down your targets and category notes by hand: YNAB says the export doesn't include them. Receipt photos can only be downloaded one at a time.
5. If you have several plans (for example one per currency), export each one.

Then check how your new app takes the data. Actual Budget has its own YNAB importer, which works from a file made with a YNAB personal access token. For the others, read their import help before you cancel.

Moving to Kinjar: there's no dedicated YNAB importer, so keep the YNAB files as your archive and start fresh. Add each account in its own currency, set envelopes as percentages of income (YNAB's category groups often map onto four to six envelopes), then import the last month or two of statements from each bank as CSV or Excel. Kinjar reads the layout, applies your rules, flags duplicates and shows a review screen before saving. Invite your partner, and run both apps for a month before you stop paying for YNAB. The features page shows each step.

How much YNAB costs

YNAB's pricing page lists $109 a year (shown as $9.08 a month, paid annually) or $14.99 a month, plus tax. Prices are in US dollars. Paying monthly for a full year comes to $179.88. There's a 34-day free trial with no card when you sign up directly, and students get a free 365-day trial. For comparison, Kinjar's planned price is €49 a year or €5.99 a month for a household of up to five, with a founding price of €29 for the first year for people on the waitlist. Details on the pricing page.

Facts about other apps checked on their websites on 3 November 2026.