Money
Budget
Budget by OpenApps is a free YNAB alternative. Free. No subscription, no trial.
A free zero-based budget. Give every dollar a job, no bank login. Plan each month by assigning every dollar to a category until nothing is left to assign, the way YNAB works. Enter spending fast on your phone, import a bank CSV, share the budget with a partner and see reports. No subscription and no bank connection.
Instead of YNAB, Monarch Money, Copilot Money, Goodbudget
What you get, free
- Zero-based monthly plan with rollover, overspending you can cover, and targets
- Accounts by hand, including credit cards with payment categories
- Fast entry on phones, split transactions, transfers and repeating transactions
- Reconcile against your bank balance; import and export CSV
- Reports: spending by category and payee, income versus spending, net worth
- Share with a partner by invite link; only members can read the budget
- Assistant API with revocable keys to log receipts and read balances
Budgets are small records, so hosting costs almost nothing. Bank sync is not included; if it is ever added it will be optional and at cost.
For AI assistants
With a key the owner creates, an assistant can log a receipt as a transaction and answer how much is left in a category.
The app's guide for assistants is at budget-free.openapps.xyz/llms.txt, and its API at https://functions.bounded.sh/apps/e4fe6272d152c03d11432fc6/api.
How it compares
| App | Free plan | Paid plans |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | Free. No subscription, no trial. | None |
| YNAB | No free plan after a 34-day trial. | No free plan after a 34-day trial. YNAB lists $14.99 a month or $109 a year (2026). |
| Monarch Money | No free plan after a free first week. | No free plan after a short trial. Core is listed at $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year (2026). |
| Copilot Money | No free plan after a one-month trial. | No free plan after a one-month trial. Copilot lists $13 a month or $95 a year (2026). Apple devices and web only. |
| Goodbudget | 10 regular and 10 extra envelopes, 1 account and 2 devices. | The free plan allows 10 regular and 10 extra envelopes, 1 account and 2 devices. Premium is $10 a month or $80 a year (2026). |
Free plans checked October 2026 on each company's own page: YNAB, Monarch Money, Copilot Money, Goodbudget. Paid prices are approximate and change often.
Questions
Is Budget really free?
Does it connect to my bank?
Is it like YNAB?
Can my partner use it with me?
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Use Budget now
No account. Free for as long as it exists, and it is an OpenApp, so its source is public.