Budget app without linking your bank account: why, and which ones

• Aggregators connect to your accounts and pull in transactions to categorize them automatically. They show your whole statement, including what only concerns you.
• Manual-entry apps only see what you add. You log the expense when you make it, in a few seconds.

Neither is better in absolute terms. To track all your personal finances, an aggregator saves time. To run a budget with other people, manual entry often makes more sense: you share the household’s expenses, not your full statement.

• You choose what you share. Your partner, roommates or family see the household’s expenses, not your personal purchases or your balance.
• No banking credentials to hand over. Nothing to authorize, nothing to renew.
• No sync to break. When a bank changes its systems or a connection expires, aggregators miss transactions. With manual entry, that problem does not exist.
• It works with every bank, including online banks, accounts abroad and cash.
• Logging an expense means noticing it. Many people find that the simple act of typing an amount makes them more aware of their spending.

• You have to remember. A forgotten expense shows up nowhere. The best habit is to log it on the spot.
• No full view of your accounts. A manual app does not replace your banking app for checking a direct debit or your balance.
• No automatic reconciliation with your statements: if you want to tick off every transaction, you do it yourself.

We only used information published by each developer, checked in November 2026. Features and prices change: check their website before choosing.

Sources: Shareroo, tricount.com and its features page, splitwise.com/pro. Tricount also offers, as an option, to add purchases made with a bunq card automatically; without it, entry is manual.

For a couple, family or roommate budget: SAVY

SAVY combines the household budget with expense splitting: a monthly budget with alerts at 80, 90 and 100%, who owes whom, recurring expenses, and stats for the current and previous month. Free: unlimited expenses, up to 4 members, 1 household of your own (you can join the ones you are invited to), 2 recurring expenses. SAVY Plus adds budgets per category, custom splits, 6 months of history, CSV/PDF export, and unlimited members and households. No web version, and no import from other apps.

For per-category budgets on iPhone: Shareroo

Shareroo describes itself as a shared budget app for couples, families and roommates, with no bank linking and monthly budgets per category. It is for Apple devices only, and recurring expenses and CSV export are part of the paid plan.

For trips and nights out: Tricount or Splitwise

Tricount is free, ad-free and unlimited, and great for a weekend or a group trip. Splitwise handles complex splits, but its free version limits the number of expenses per day. Neither shows a monthly budget on its website. See also Tricount for couples.

1. Set up your fixed bills first as recurring expenses.
2. Log each expense on the spot, before you put your phone away.
3. Set a realistic monthly budget, based on what you spent in previous months.
4. Review at the end of the month: what went over, what to adjust.

To choose the budget itself, a couple’s monthly budget walks through a method and a leftover income calculator.