A budgeting app without Plaid — or any aggregator
Most budgeting apps route your bank login through Plaid or a similar service, which means a third company sits between you and your own transactions. Misto's doesn't. Your money comes in three ways — a statement you import, your bank's own sign-in page inside the app, or your own hands — and in every case the reading happens on your device.
Why people would rather not use an aggregator
Aggregators like Plaid, Finicity, and MX exist because banks never agreed on a standard way to share your data. They solve a real problem, and they're used by thousands of apps. But the way they solve it is by becoming a hub: you authorize them, they pull your transactions, and they hand a copy to the app you're using — keeping their own copy along the way.
That's two companies with your financial history where you wanted one, plus a credential grant you may not remember you gave. Aggregators have also been the subject of privacy lawsuits and regulatory attention over exactly this: what happens to the data they collect beyond the app that asked for it.
None of that makes them villains. It makes them one more party to trust — and for a privacy-first app, "one more party" is the thing we're trying to avoid.
Three ways in, none of them through a middleman
Import a statement
Download a CSV, PDF, OFX, QFX, or QIF from your bank and drop it in. The file is parsed on your device, never uploaded, and you review every row before it's saved. Free, on every device.
Sign in on your bank's own page (Premium)
Turn on bank sync and Misto's opens your bank's real sign-in page inside the app. You log in there — not on a form we host — and posted transactions are read on your device. No aggregator sits in the middle, and nothing can move money.
Add it by hand
Some people run their whole ledger manually and like it that way. Accounts and transactions take seconds to add, and the morning note works exactly the same.
You sign in on your bank's page. Misto's reads what your bank shows you.
Your bank's real sign-in page opens in an in-app browser. You log in there, with any two-factor step your bank requires. Misto's never sees or stores the password.
Once you're in, the posted transactions on the page are captured — read-only, on your device. Nothing is sent to an aggregator, and there's no capability to move money.
Misto's cleans up the merchant names, categorizes each transaction, and shows you the batch to review before it joins your ledger. Repeat whenever you like.
On-device bank sync is part of Misto's Premium — a one-time $49 unlock, no subscription. Statement import and manual entry are free forever.
Nothing held back for skipping the middleman
- Zero-based envelope budgeting & savings goals
- Statement Importer (CSV, PDF, OFX, QFX, QIF)
- Tax Vault — possible deductions, flagged for your review
- Misto AI's one calm observation each morning
- Every export, always — your data leaves free
- Works fully offline; 16 languages
Frequently asked
Does Misto's use Plaid?
No. Misto's doesn't use Plaid or any other bank-data aggregator. If you turn on bank sync, you sign in on your bank's own page inside the app and transactions are read on your device. If you'd rather not connect at all, import a statement or add accounts by hand — both are free.
What's the problem with Plaid, exactly?
Nothing sinister — Plaid is a legitimate, widely used service. The concern is structural: to use it you hand your bank credentials (or an OAuth grant) to a third company, and a copy of your transaction history then lives on that company's servers as well as the app's. For a lot of people that's one more party than they want holding the keys.
Is bank sync without an aggregator still read-only?
Yes. The in-app browser can read what your bank shows you after you sign in; it has no capability to initiate transfers, pay bills, or change anything. Misto's never has your bank password — you type it on your bank's page, not ours.
Which banks does it work with?
Statement import works with any bank that can export a file, which is effectively all of them. On-device bank sync depends on how your bank's website is built; it's a Premium feature and we're honest when a particular bank doesn't capture cleanly — you can always fall back to importing a statement.
Do I lose anything by skipping bank linking?
No. Budgets, envelopes, goals, the Tax Vault, statement imports, Misto AI's morning note, and every export are part of the free-forever core and work without any bank connection at all.
More comparisons
Honest, side-by-side looks at how Misto's differs — and where the other app is the better pick.
Your bank, your device, nobody in between
Create your free account and bring your money in on your terms — no aggregator, no bank password handed to anyone, and a ledger that stays with you.