The zero-based budgeting app that bends to how you actually spend.
Give every dollar a job and decide what happens next — instead of just watching transactions roll in. Manual entry by design.
Spread one-time costs across the months they actually hit.
Your $1,200 car insurance isn’t a January problem. Stop pretending it is — let it draw down monthly like a real liability.
Pull from next month when groceries blow up.
Real budgets bend. So does this one. Move dollars between months without losing the zero-based math underneath.
Every feature came from someone who actually budgets.
No roadmap committee. No corporate growth bets. Just what the people using it asked for next — shipped in days, not quarters.
Watch a one-minute video of BudgetLabs and some of the features within.
Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for! Honestly, I’ve tried several different budgeting apps, and this one is most user friendly!
App Store review
Budget like you mean it.
I used YNAB. I used Mint. Both pulled in my transactions automatically, and somehow that made me care about them less. There’s something that happens when you enter a purchase yourself — even if it takes five seconds — that makes it real.
I’d been doing that in a spreadsheet for fifteen years. When I finally got the chance to turn that process into a real product, BudgetLabs is what came out. Manual entry is the feature, not the friction.
Choose your plan.
Core planning is free forever. Pro adds AI when you want admin work to disappear.
Free
$0 foreverEverything you need to run a strong monthly budget.
- Full budgeting dashboard and categories
- Transactions, calendar, debt and assets
- Lab scenarios and goals
- One budget
- Hank AI limited to 5 chats / day
- Smart Import limited to 1 / day
No card required
Pro
Best valueMore from your budget: AI coaching, faster analysis, smarter categorization — without giving up control.
- Everything in Free, plus higher AI limits
- Hank: no daily cap on chats
- Smart Import: clean, categorized transactions instantly
- Family Sharing: up to 5 members
- Unlimited budgets: for you, your family, or any situation
Cancel anytime · no data deleted
Things people ask.
Direct answers. If something’s missing here, ask the community — Chris reads it.
Q.01Is BudgetLabs really free?
Yes. Core budgeting — categories, transactions, debt and asset tracking, the Lab, scenarios and Goals — is free forever. Pro ($1.99/mo or $19.99/yr) raises the AI usage limits and unlocks Family Sharing.
Q.02Does BudgetLabs do zero-based budgeting?
Yes. Every dollar of your income gets assigned to a category before the month starts. A floating widget on the dashboard surfaces whether you’re surplus (have unassigned dollars left to plan) or deficit (planned more than your income covers) and walks you to a balanced budget.
Q.03What’s the cheapest budgeting app?
At $1.99/mo or $19.99/yr, BudgetLabs is the cheapest paid zero-based budgeting app in the category. The free tier covers the full core loop, so most people don’t need to upgrade right away.
Q.04Can I share my budget with family?
Yes — Family Sharing is included with Pro. One $1.99/mo (or $19.99/yr) subscription covers up to 5 members on the same shared budget. No per-seat charge. Invite by email; the recipient signs up or in and gets full read & write access.
Q.05Do I need bank connections?
No — and BudgetLabs doesn’t offer them. Transactions go in by hand, by CSV import, by Smart Import (paste raw bank text or upload a PDF; AI extracts the rows for you to review), or by snapping a receipt. The brief pause where you confirm a transaction is the point — it’s what keeps you paying attention.
Q.06Can I request new features?
Absolutely. Send feature requests through Support. I review them weekly and prioritize based on real user impact.