Blog
Notes from building Hundo.
How we build Hundo, and what we have learned about keeping one honest picture of your money.
An EveryDollar alternative: first decide whether you are leaving the method
EveryDollar is Ramsey Solutions' zero-based budgeting app, and it supports only US dollars and sells Premium only in the United States, so the right alternative depends on whether the method, the currency or the country is the problem.
ReadA Goodbudget alternative: keep the envelopes, or keep your currencies
Goodbudget is an envelope budgeting app built for sharing a budget at home, and it tracks one currency at a time with bank sync for US banks only, so the right alternative depends on whether you are leaving the envelopes or the limits around them.
ReadHow to keep tracking expenses by hand after the novelty wears off
Manual expense tracking stops in four ways - you forget, the upkeep gets heavy, you skip entries, or you pause and never restart. What research on self-trackers found, and a fix for each.
ReadA PocketGuard alternative, when your bank is not in the US, Canada or the UK
PocketGuard works out how much you can safely spend from your connected accounts, and it connects to banks in three countries, so the right alternative depends on whether you are leaving over that number, the price or the map.
ReadQuestions worth asking an AI about your own spending
Once an AI can read your ledger, the useful questions are the ones only your own records can answer. Example questions, what a good answer to each must include, and how to catch a wrong one.
ReadA Quicken Simplifi alternative, for money outside the US and Canada
Quicken Simplifi connects to US and Canadian accounts, tracks USD or CAD one currency at a time and has no free trial, so the right alternative depends on whether you are leaving over the subscription, the map or the currencies.
ReadA Rocket Money alternative, when your bank is not in the US
Rocket Money is built for people in the United States with US banks, and its best-known features are a team that cancels subscriptions and negotiates bills for you, so the right alternative depends on which part you actually use.
ReadWhat is an MCP server? A plain explanation for your money
An MCP server gives an AI app like Claude or ChatGPT a fixed list of tools for another service. What that means for personal finance - the parts, where the data comes from, how changes work, and what to check before you connect one.
ReadWhich exchange rate should you record for a purchase in another currency?
Record what your account was actually charged, not the rate you saw online. Why one card purchase involves several rates, what to do while a charge is pending, and how to handle fees and refunds.
ReadWhen no budgeting app supports your country
Most finance apps inherit their country list from one data provider. Plaid publishes 20 countries, and there are about 195. Here is how to check an app before you trust it, and what to do when the honest answer is that nothing will connect.
ReadA Copilot Money alternative, when Copilot is US-only and USD-only
Copilot is well made and says plainly that it supports US institutions and US dollars only. That makes the alternative question simple: if you are outside that, you are not comparing features, you are looking for a different kind of app.
ReadAn Empower (Personal Capital) alternative: read the sign-up rule
Empower's dashboard links US institutions in US dollars, and signing up needs a US phone number. That decides the question for most people looking for an alternative, before anybody compares a single feature.
ReadAn expense tracker that never asks for a bank login
Most budgeting apps start by asking for your online banking password. Here is what you give up by refusing, what you get back, and how entry stays fast when nothing fills itself in.
ReadLooking for a Monarch Money alternative? Start with why
Monarch is a good app with a real price and a map that stops at two countries. Which alternative is right depends on whether you are leaving over the cost, the coverage, the bank connection or the currencies - and for one of those, stay where you are.
ReadA net worth tracker that counts the flat, the gold and the coins
Bank apps count what the bank can see. Portfolio apps count securities. Here is what it takes to put property, metals, crypto, vehicles and money you are owed into one number, and where the automatic part stops.
ReadIs it safe to connect an AI to your finances?
Two questions get run together - can the AI change your records, and where does your data go once it has read it. They have different answers, and only one of them is up to the app you connect.
ReadLeaving YNAB? First work out whether it is the method or the app
People leave YNAB for four different reasons, and the right replacement depends entirely on which one is yours. A straight guide - including when the answer is another envelope app, not us.
ReadFinance MCP servers compared: which one should you connect?
Six MCP servers that put your own money in your AI, judged on the two things that actually differ - where the data comes from, and what happens when the model wants to change something.
ReadHow to connect your finances to ChatGPT
Add Hundo to ChatGPT as a custom MCP server and ask it about your own money. It needs Developer mode, which is the one real hurdle, and everything after that is automatic.
ReadHow to connect your finances to Claude
Add Hundo to Claude as a custom connector and ask it about your own money. Seven steps, no API key, and nothing gets written to your ledger without your say-so.
ReadMint shut down. How to pick a replacement, including when it should not be us
Mint closed in March 2024 and most replacements now cost around $100 a year. A straight guide to choosing one - what the bank-sync apps do well, and the narrower case where a tracker with no bank connection is the better answer.
ReadWhat a multi-currency net worth tracker has to get right
Most apps call themselves multi-currency when they convert everything to one base at today's rate. That quietly rewrites your history and makes net worth impossible to read. Here is what the alternative looks like.
ReadBring Your Own AI to Your Money: The Case for an Agentic Finance Tracker
Most financial apps stuff a generic chatbot into a sidebar. Hundo is an agentic finance tracking app built on MCP - connecting your actual ledger directly to Claude, ChatGPT, or the AI model you already use.
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