Articles
For people moving off a budgeting subscription: what your data looks like when you take it with you, and how the method works when nobody is charging you monthly for it. Nothing here tells you what to do with your money — that is yours to decide, and it is not our field.
Budget apps that don't need to connect to your bank
You don't have to hand a budgeting app your bank login. Of the seven apps below, three never connect to a bank at all, and four connect only if you set it up — usually on a paid plan, and only in some countries. Without a connection you type transactions or import a file from your bank: you give up automatic updates, and no third party holds a key to your accounts.
Envelope budgeting without a subscription
The method is older than the software. The subscription is paying for something specific — and it is worth knowing what, before you decide whether you want it.
The best YNAB alternatives on Apple devices in 2026
Fundkeep is ours and it is first here, so read this accordingly — every price and platform below was read from the company’s own page or Apple’s listing on 26 September 2026. Staying on Apple devices, Fundkeep is the closest match to how YNAB works. Using Windows or Android too, Zeroed is. Willing to run a server, Actual Budget costs nothing.
How to export your YNAB data (and what's missing from the export)
In YNAB's web app, click your plan's name at the top of the left sidebar and choose Export Plan. Your plan, month by month, and every transaction come out as two CSV files (TSV if your currency uses a decimal comma). Targets and category notes are not in them — how to save those by hand is below.
The calculator
If you would rather see the arithmetic than read about it, the page for people leaving YNAB has a slider: pick how long you expect to keep budgeting and it shows what each way of paying comes to.