YNAB vs Actual Budget

YNAB8.8Visit Actual Budget7.7Visit

Higher score YNAB #5 in Personal Finance Software 8.8/10 34-day trial Free trial✓ 4 of 4 features Visit YNAB

vs

Actual Budget #16 in Personal Finance Software 7.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Actual Budget

• YNAB fits best

  Structured zero-based budgeting

• Actual Budget fits best

  Free, private, customizable budgeting

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Side by side

Feature	YNAB 8.8/10 Visit ↗	Actual Budget 7.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.8	7.7
Ranking	#5 in Personal Finance Software	#16 in Personal Finance Software
Best for	Structured zero-based budgeting	Free, private, customizable budgeting
Pricing model	Paid	Free
Starting price	$9.08/user/mo	Free
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	34 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Mobile	Cloud, Desktop, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux
Integrations	2 integrations	5 integrations
Features YNAB 4/4 · Actual Budget 4/4
Budgeting tools	✓	✓
Bill tracking	✓	✓
Net-worth tracking	✓	✓
Report export	✓	✓
Specs
Account sync	Both	Both
Mobile apps	Both	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Category-based spending plans with goals and target tracking Automatic bank imports plus manual transaction entry Reports, exports, and synchronization across web and mobile apps	Free MIT-licensed software with envelope-style budgeting Local-first storage with optional synchronization and encryption Supports broad file imports, reports, exports, and an API
Cons	No permanent free plan Annual pricing requires annual billing Bank connections depend on Plaid	Official mobile applications are deprecated Bank synchronization must be triggered manually Multi-device synchronization requires an Actual server
Our verdict	YNAB is personal finance software for individuals and households that want to assign available money to spending categories and follow a structured zero-based budget. It combines spending plans with automatic bank transaction imports,… Read the review →	Actual Budget is a free, open-source personal finance application for individuals who want envelope-style budgeting with control over how their data is stored. It supports account management, transaction categorization and imports,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• YNAB — where it wins

  • Category-based spending plans with goals and target tracking
  • Automatic bank imports plus manual transaction entry
  • Reports, exports, and synchronization across web and mobile apps

  Where it doesn't

  • No permanent free plan
  • Annual pricing requires annual billing
  • Bank connections depend on Plaid

• Actual Budget — where it wins

  • Free MIT-licensed software with envelope-style budgeting
  • Local-first storage with optional synchronization and encryption
  • Supports broad file imports, reports, exports, and an API

  Where it doesn't

  • Official mobile applications are deprecated
  • Bank synchronization must be triggered manually
  • Multi-device synchronization requires an Actual server

• YNAB8.8/10 · 34-day trial

  A paid budgeting app for structured spending plans, goals, debt, and account syncing.

  Visit YNABFull verdict →
• Actual Budget7.7/10 · Free plan

  Free, open-source budgeting with local storage, imports, reports, and optional self-hosting.

  Visit Actual BudgetFull verdict →