Best Budgeting Apps Without Bank Linking in 2026

You do not have to connect a bank account to use a real budgeting app.

Several current budgeting tools still support manual entry, manual accounts, file imports, or a fully offline/self-hosted workflow. The main difference is what they ask you to maintain: envelopes, zero-based categories, a self-hosted ledger, a detailed transaction history, or one daily safe-to-spend number.

Disclosure: Depo is one of the apps in this comparison, and we make it. Features and prices for the other apps were checked against their official sites on September 21, 2026. Prices, trials, regional availability, and features can change.

Quick comparison

No single row tells you which app will stick. A manual budget can be wonderfully private and completely useless if you hate maintaining its particular workflow.

The useful question is: what do you want to know when you open the app?

Depo: for one daily safe-to-spend number

Depo is the narrowest tool in this list.

You enter income, essentials, savings, and spending manually. Depo turns what remains into one number: what you can safely spend today. Spend less and the remainder carries forward. Spend more and the future daily amount adjusts.

There is no bank connection and no Plaid flow. The U.S. App Store currently lists Depo as free with optional Depo+ purchases at $4.99 monthly, $39.99 yearly, or $99.99 lifetime.

Good fit if:

• you mainly want to know what is safe to spend today
• you dislike maintaining many category limits
• you intentionally want manual entry
• you use an iPhone
• you want bank credentials completely outside the product

Less suitable if:

• you want automatic transaction imports
• you need a full browser budget
• you want detailed envelope or zero-based planning
• you want household collaboration around a shared budget

The core trade-off is deliberate simplicity. Depo is not trying to become your complete financial dashboard.

You can see the calculation without downloading anything using the free daily budget calculator, or read the complete guide to using Depo.

Goodbudget: for classic envelope budgeting without mandatory sync

Goodbudget is built around digital envelopes. You assign money to purposes, record transactions against those envelopes, and use the remaining envelope balances to guide spending.

Bank linking is not required. Goodbudget’s own help pages say linking is optional and that users can manually record transactions or upload bank files. Automatic bank sync is available on the Premium plan for supported U.S. banks.

The official signup page currently lists:

• Free: $0
• Premium: $10/month or $80/year

The free plan includes a limited number of envelopes and accounts. Premium expands those limits and adds automatic bank sync.

Good fit if:

• the envelope metaphor makes intuitive sense to you
• you want iPhone and web access
• you want the option to stay manual now and add bank sync later
• you budget with a partner or across several devices

Less suitable if:

• you do not want to manage category/envelope balances
• you want the smallest possible daily workflow
• you want a self-hosted system

Official sources: Goodbudget pricing and Goodbudget bank-sync documentation.

Actual Budget: for self-hosting and maximum control

Actual Budget is the unusual option here because it is free and open source.

The official Actual app describes itself as 100% free and says it can run locally without creating an account. Its desktop client provides the budgeting features directly on your computer.

For mobile use, browser access, syncing across devices, or optional bank sync, Actual recommends running a server. You can self-host that server or pay a third-party hosting provider. In other words, the software may be free while your chosen hosting setup may not be.

Actual supports manual budgeting and transaction-file imports without a bank connection. Optional bank integrations can be configured when using the server.

Good fit if:

• you value open-source software
• you want your budget under your own control
• you are comfortable setting up or paying for a server
• you want a detailed envelope-style system with accounts and reports

Less suitable if:

• you want to download an iPhone app and start immediately
• server setup sounds like a weekend project you will never actually do
• you want a very lightweight budget

Actual is powerful precisely because it lets you own more of the stack. That also means you may need to own more of the setup.

Official sources: Actual Budget app and Actual installation guide.

EveryDollar: for zero-based budgeting with a strong free manual mode

EveryDollar is based on zero-based budgeting: plan income until every dollar is assigned a job.

The free version can be used manually. EveryDollar’s current help documentation says free users can add transactions manually and add manual bank accounts; automatic bank transaction imports require EveryDollar Premium.

As of September 21, 2026, the official Premium pricing page lists:

• $17.99/month
• $79.99/year
• 14-day free trial for eligible new users

The mobile app and Premium are U.S.-focused; EveryDollar says international users can still use the free web version.

Good fit if:

• you want a structured zero-based monthly plan
• you are willing to enter transactions manually on the free tier
• you may want automatic imports later
• you like budgeting by categories and planned allocations

Less suitable if:

• giving every dollar a job feels like too much maintenance
• you want bank linking to be unavailable rather than merely optional
• you need the same full mobile product outside the U.S.

For a head-to-head look at the two approaches, see Depo vs. EveryDollar.

Official sources: EveryDollar manual tracking and EveryDollar Premium pricing.

MoneyCoach: for Apple users who want detailed manual tracking

MoneyCoach is an Apple-focused personal finance app with manual accounts, expense tracking, budgets, reports, goals, and optional imports.

Its official site explicitly says a bank connection is not required. Users can start with manual accounts, add transactions themselves, import CSV data, and use Apple-specific workflows such as Shortcuts. Optional online banking is available for supported European banks.

MoneyCoach currently supports iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. It does not present itself as a web-dashboard product.

MoneyCoach’s public site says you can start free and upgrade to Premium. Its current terms say the available subscription price, billing period, and trial are shown in Apple’s App Store purchase screen rather than publishing one fixed web price. Because App Store pricing can vary by storefront and offer, check the purchase sheet on your device before subscribing.

Good fit if:

• you live inside the Apple ecosystem
• you want detailed manual transaction tracking
• widgets, Shortcuts, Apple Watch, and iCloud workflows matter to you
• you want optional bank automation rather than mandatory linking

Less suitable if:

• you need Android or a browser dashboard
• you want one narrow “can I spend this?” number
• you do not want to categorize transactions

Official sources: MoneyCoach no-bank-linking overview, MoneyCoach features, and MoneyCoach terms.

Koody: for manual category budgeting with file imports

Koody is explicitly positioned as a manual-first budget app that does not require bank linking.

You can create manual accounts, enter transactions yourself, and use category budgets. Koody also supports statement imports; its current site says CSV and PDF imports are available on the Plus plan.

The official pricing page currently lists:

• Free: $0
• Standard: $2.99/month
• Plus: $4.99/month
• yearly billing with a discount is also offered

Koody is available on web, iOS, and Android.

Good fit if:

• you want a conventional category budget without handing over bank credentials
• you want web and mobile access
• you like the option to import statements instead of typing every transaction
• you want more reporting and record-keeping than a simple daily number

Less suitable if:

• categories are exactly what you are trying to escape
• you want your data in a self-hosted open-source tool
• you want a bank-sync-first experience

Official sources: Koody manual budgeting overview, Koody pricing, and Koody statement imports.

Which app is best for daily safe-to-spend?

Depo is built most directly around that specific question.

Its central output is not a category dashboard or a full account register. It is the amount safe to spend today after the month’s protected money is accounted for.

That narrowness is the advantage if your budgeting problem is decision fatigue. It is the disadvantage if you want deeper account management.

Which app is best for envelope budgeting?

Goodbudget is the clearest traditional envelope option in this group. Actual Budget also uses an envelope-style approach, but it comes with a more technical ownership/setup model.

Choose based on whether you want a hosted consumer app or an open-source system you control more directly.

Which app is best for self-hosting?

Actual Budget.

It is the only app in this comparison built around an open-source, self-hostable model. That gives you more control over where the software runs, but it also gives you more responsibility for setup and maintenance.

Which app is best for detailed manual tracking?

MoneyCoach, Koody, EveryDollar, Goodbudget, and Actual can all support substantially more detailed transaction/category work than Depo.

The difference is the organizing idea:

• MoneyCoach: Apple-first transaction tracking and reports
• Koody: category budgets plus manual/file-import workflows
• EveryDollar: zero-based monthly plan
• Goodbudget: envelopes
• Actual: open-source envelope budgeting and accounts

If you enjoy detail, that is a feature. If detailed maintenance is what made you quit previous budget apps, it is a warning.

What do you give up by avoiding bank sync?

Manual budgeting has real costs.

You have to keep the data current

The app cannot know about yesterday’s grocery run unless you enter or import it.

If you stop updating the budget for two weeks, the numbers can become fiction.

Reconciliation takes more attention

Automatic imports are useful for catching forgotten transactions, duplicate subscriptions, and purchases made by another person on a shared account.

Manual users need another way to notice those.

Account balances may drift

If the budgeting app is not connected to the bank, your budget balance and bank balance can diverge. Periodic checks matter.

But manual entry also has advantages.

You decide what data enters the app. You can record spending immediately rather than waiting for a transaction to clear. You are not dependent on bank-connection reliability. And the act of entering a purchase can make the budget feel more intentional.

Neither workflow is morally superior. One is more automated; the other keeps more of the process under your control. For the day-to-day workflow side, see how to budget without linking your bank account.

Who should actually use automatic syncing instead?

Choose a bank-sync-first app if you already know that manual entry is the reason your budgets fail.

Automatic syncing may be the better fit when:

• you have many accounts or credit cards
• several household members spend from shared accounts
• you regularly forget transactions
• you want net-worth and account reporting to stay current with less input
• transaction categorization and review are more useful to you than deliberate manual entry

Do not choose a manual app because “privacy” sounds virtuous and then abandon it after ten days.

A budgeting system only helps while its numbers are current enough to trust.

A practical way to choose

Ignore the longest feature list.

Try to identify the smallest workflow you can realistically repeat for three months.

If you want one daily answer, Depo is intentionally narrow.

If you want envelopes, Goodbudget is straightforward.

If you want open source and self-hosting, Actual is the obvious candidate.

If you want zero-based category planning, EveryDollar has a functional free manual mode.

If you want deep Apple-native manual tracking, MoneyCoach is built for that ecosystem.

If you want category budgeting plus file imports on web and mobile, Koody is a strong fit to examine.

The “best budgeting app without bank linking” is not the one with the most features. It is the one whose manual work you are actually willing to keep doing. For deeper head-to-head detail, see the Depo comparisons.

FAQ

Can I budget without connecting my bank account?

Yes. Every app in this comparison can be used without a mandatory bank connection. Some also offer optional bank syncing, while Depo is designed without bank linking.

Is a manual budgeting app safer?

It reduces the need to share bank-access credentials or connection tokens with a budgeting service, but “safer” depends on the whole system: device security, cloud sync, account security, backups, and the app’s data practices. Read the privacy policy of any app you use.

Is there a free budget app without bank login?

Yes. Goodbudget, Actual Budget, EveryDollar, Koody, and Depo all have free ways to start without mandatory bank linking. Feature limits differ.

Is there a budget app without Plaid?

Yes. Depo does not use bank linking at all. Other manual-first tools can also be used without Plaid or another account aggregator, although some offer optional connections separately.

What if I hate entering every purchase manually?

Look for file imports or optional bank sync. Koody supports statement imports on eligible plans, Goodbudget supports manual bank-file imports, Actual supports file imports, and some apps offer automatic bank connections as an optional paid feature.