Budgeting apps that don't sell your data — checked, not assumed

Actual is the gold standard for the structural argument: it's MIT-licensed, describes itself as "unabashedly local-first software," and the sync server is something you run — on your own hardware, or on a host like PikaPods. There is no company with your data because there is, in the usual sense, no company. Optional end-to-end encryption covers the sync.

Bank sync is available through GoCardless (EU/UK) and SimpleFIN (US/Canada), which are aggregators, so the no-middleman argument only holds if you import files or enter by hand. The mobile experience is a PWA plus community apps rather than polished native apps, and there's no AI layer. If none of that bothers you, it's excellent and free.

Lunch Money is a small, founder-run product with a clear stance: the subscription is the business model, and the founder has been public about rejecting data monetization. It has strong CSV import and rules, multi-currency support, and a well-liked interface.

It's a cloud app — your transactions live on Lunch Money's servers and are readable by the service — and automatic bank sync uses Plaid. Those aren't hidden, and for many people a trustworthy operator is enough. It's just a policy answer rather than an architectural one.

Goodbudget's design choice is the privacy feature: it doesn't link to banks at all. You enter transactions by hand or upload a bank file, so there's no aggregator and no credential grant. It's been doing envelope budgeting for a long time and does the shared-household case well.

Data is stored on Goodbudget's servers, and the free tier is deliberately limited (a small number of envelopes and accounts) to nudge you toward Plus. The apps feel their age in places. But as a "no bank login, no data business" option it's honest and durable.

YNAB's business is the subscription, which is why its privacy policy reads cleanly: there's no incentive to monetize your data because you're already the customer. Its real strength is teaching — workshops, forums, and a method that changes how people think about money.

It's cloud-hosted and readable by the service, bank sync goes through aggregators, and it doesn't work offline. The price has risen several times. None of that is a privacy problem, exactly; it's the standard cloud trade.

Monarch is subscription-funded and doesn't sell your data. It's the closest thing to Mint in scope — broad bank and brokerage coverage, investment holdings, a polished shared-household view — with a real team behind it.

Everything lives on Monarch's servers and comes in through aggregators that keep their own copies. It's the strongest cloud option on this list on features, and the weakest on the "where does it live" question. Fair trade for many people; just a different one.

Pocket Clear markets itself squarely on privacy and publishes a lot of comparison content about which budgeting apps sell data. The app itself is simple and mostly manual, which keeps aggregators out of the picture.

We couldn't verify an architectural guarantee equivalent to local-first storage or zero-knowledge backups from its public materials, so we'd classify it as "privacy by policy" until it documents otherwise. If you're evaluating it, read the policy the way you'd read anyone else's.