# YNAB alternatives, honestly ranked, with the catch on each

URL: https://www.orla.finance/en/ynab-alternatives
Markdown twin of that page. Append `.md` to any Orla page URL to get one.

People leave over the price, the country, or money that stopped fitting in a bank.

Prices read off each product's own pages on 13 September 2026. Orla is one of five here, and not the answer to all three reasons.

#### Five, and what each is actually for

- Actual Budget (Open source): Best for: The envelope method, no subscription; Price: Free, self-hosted; The catch: You host it, or pay a small host to. Nobody is on call when it breaks
- Lunch Money (Independent): Best for: The cheapest honest subscription, with a rules engine and an API; Price: $10 a month or $100 a year, your price; The catch: Crypto is a balance only, in their own words
- Monarch (Household): Best for: A polished household budget with planning; Price: $99.99 a year, with monthly billing offered; The catch: United States and Canada only. No free tier, and the trial asks for a card
- Copilot Money (Apple): Best for: The best made of them, if your money is American and in dollars; Price: $95 a year; The catch: US institutions only, USD only, no Android
- Orla (This site): Best for: Several currencies, exchanges and wallets, and a company book beside your own; Price: Free, then $25 or $69 a month; The catch: The dearest of the paid plans here, and no app in the stores yet

#### You probably want Actual Budget, and we will say so

The method, open source and local first, with optional end-to-end encryption.

- The envelope system, kept whole, without a subscription.
- Your data stays yours, on a machine you control.
- The cost is that hosting and upgrades are your job, and there is nobody to email at midnight.

#### One reason, and it is narrow

Not the cheaper answer, but the one for money that stopped fitting.

- Coins that move, not coins that sit: a sale, income in stablecoins, a transfer between your wallets, each with a cost basis.
- Several currencies at once, each account in its own, totalled in the one you pick.
- Invoices, if part of your income arrives because you asked for it.
- Separate books for a household, a trip or a company, on the same login.

If one of the other four fits you better, take it.