Guide · Comparison
Budgetto compared with YNAB and Spendee
Updated: 20 August 2026
Budgetto costs €0 with no ads or data sales, YNAB costs $14.99 a month or $109 a year, and Spendee is free with paid plans from $1.99 a month (checked on 20 August 2026). YNAB changes your behaviour with the envelope method and Spendee is better for sharing with a family; Budgetto gives you an overview and a forecast without a bank connection.
Three budgeting apps, each trying to do something different. Below: what they cost, how they handle your bank account and where your data is stored. Including a section on where YNAB and Spendee do better than Budgetto, because they do.
The numbers side by side
| Budgetto | YNAB | Spendee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | €0 | $14.99 a month or $109 a year | Free, Plus $1.99 a month, Premium $5.99 a month |
| Bank connection | None, and there won't be one | Yes | Yes |
| Entering it yourself | Always | Possible | Possible |
| Method | Overview and forecast | Envelope method, strict | Overview, shared wallets |
| Forecast | Per month, from your own history | Limited | Limited |
| Languages | NL, FR, EN | EN | Several |
| Where the data is stored | Server in the EU | US | EU (Czech Republic) |
| Installing | No, website | App plus web | App |
| Export | CSV and JSON | CSV | CSV, on paid plans |
YNAB and Spendee prices checked on 20 August 2026 on their own pricing pages, neither converted nor rounded. They change; check for yourself on ynab.com and spendee.com before you make a decision.
They don't solve the same problem
The table suggests this is the same app in three flavours. It isn't, and that matters more than the price.
YNAB is a method with software around it. You give every euro that comes in a job in advance, and you may not spend anything you don't have an envelope for. That is strict, it takes discipline, and for those who stick with it, it works better than anything else. It is also the reason people give up on it.
Spendee is an overview app with strong shared wallets. Two people keeping track of a household or a trip together are well served there.
Budgetto doesn't do methods or envelopes. It keeps track of what comes in and goes out, and works out what will be left over in the coming months based on your own history. No rules you have to follow, but a number that lets you look ahead.
What free means here
In this category, free is a word that usually means something other than what it says. The three usual versions:
- Free with ads, so your attention is the product.
- Free with a limited version, so it is a trial period with no end date.
- Free because your data is sold or analysed.
With Budgetto it is none of those three. There is no paid version, no ads, no tracker and no reselling. GY Digital pays the server costs itself, and the app is small enough for that to work.
That is also the honest warning: there is no business model behind it that guarantees you it will still be here in five years. That is why you can export everything to CSV or JSON and import that backup again. You aren't locked in anywhere, and with a free app that matters more than with a paid one.
Where YNAB and Spendee do better
This section belongs here, because otherwise this isn't a comparison but a brochure.
- YNAB changes your behaviour. The envelope method forces you to choose in advance, and that demonstrably works better than looking back afterwards. Budgetto lets you look, not choose. If your problem is spending and not a lack of overview, Budgetto has less to offer you.
- Both of them have a real app. Budgetto is a website you can put on your home screen. That works, but it isn't the same as an app with offline access and widgets.
- Both of them can connect to your bank. If you have fifty transactions a week, you won't keep up entering them yourself. See the guide on budgeting without linking your bank for the trade-off.
- Spendee is better at sharing. Shared wallets for a family or a trip are well put together there. Budgetto is built for one person.
- They have been around for years. A company with paying customers has a reason to keep existing. Budgetto runs on the goodwill of one developer.
In short
- If you want a method that forces you to handle money differently, and you don't mind paying for it: YNAB.
- If you want to keep track of a wallet together with someone, with a bank connection: Spendee.
- If you want an overview and a forecast, without a subscription and without connecting your account: Budgetto.