Alternatives
YNAB alternatives
YNAB, short for You Need A Budget, is a budgeting app built on a method: decide what each dollar is for before you spend it. It imports transactions from the accounts you link, runs on iPhone, Android, the web and Apple Watch, and one subscription can be shared with family. New users get a 34-day free trial.
Why people look
Why people look for a YNAB alternative
The reasons that come up most. Whether they apply to you depends on what you want from a budget app, and whether you need the receipts behind it.
A $180 store charge lands in one budget category, but half of it was something else.
Smartbills reads each item on the receipt, so you can see what the charge was made of.
My partner and I share some purchases but not all of them.
Tap who had what on the receipt, and each share is tracked until it's paid back.
I need a receipt for a return, and my budget app only has the amount.
The receipt is in your wallet, searchable by item, with the return deadline counted.
The shortlist
5 alternatives to YNAB
The apps people try instead of YNAB, each with what it's for. The order isn't a ranking, and the criteria are explained below.
- 01
Monarch Money
Monarch Money brings all your accounts, budgets and net worth together. Smartbills adds the itemized receipt behind each purchase.
Best forHouseholds who want every account, budget and goal in one shared view.
Compare it with Smartbills - 02
Copilot Money
Copilot Money is a polished budget and investment tracker for Apple devices. Smartbills keeps the itemized receipts behind your spending, on iPhone and Android.
Best forApple users who want a beautiful budget and investment dashboard.
Compare it with Smartbills - 03
Goodbudget
Goodbudget brings envelope budgeting to your phone. Smartbills keeps the itemized receipts you spend from those envelopes, ready to split and return.
Best forHouseholds who like the envelope method and want to share one budget.
Compare it with Smartbills - 04
Rocket Money
Rocket Money finds subscriptions and can cancel them for you. Smartbills flags them too, and adds the itemized receipt behind every other purchase.
Best forUS households who want a full budgeting app and someone else to handle cancelling subscriptions and negotiating bills.
Compare it with Smartbills - 05
PocketGuard
PocketGuard shows what's left to spend after bills. Smartbills keeps the itemized receipt for what you did spend, for splitting, returns and tax time.
Best forPeople who want one number that says what they can safely spend today.
Compare it with Smartbills
Disclosure
And Smartbills, which is ours
Slipping our own product into a roundup without saying so is exactly what makes these pages worthless, so to be clear, this one is ours.
Smartbills
Best for: People who want to know what they bought, split it fairly and keep the proof.
Smartbills vs YNABHow this list was put together
These are the apps that come up alongside YNAB when people look for a budget app. The order is editorial rather than a ranking, because we don't benchmark apps we don't run, and Smartbills isn't a budget app itself: it keeps the receipts behind your spending. Each entry links to a full comparison with claims specific enough to check.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What people ask us before they sign up.
Get started
Comparing YNAB with something else?
Keep your budget where it is and let Smartbills keep the itemized receipts behind it, for splitting, returns and tax time. It's free.