Leaving 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.
If you love YNAB's zero-based method and only want it cheaper, keep that method in Actual Budget instead of switching to Hundo. Hundo fits if the method became a chore, you hold more than one currency, or you live outside YNAB's import regions: its budgets are plain spending limits with nothing to assign, suggestions from your own history fill an entry in one tap, one net worth adds up 166 currencies, and the tracker is free forever.
YNAB is a good product with a devoted following, and it deserves one. Its method - give every dollar a job, and only budget money you actually have - has pulled a lot of people out of a hole.
It is also $109 a year, or $14.99 a month, and a lot of people leave. They leave for four quite different reasons, and the right replacement depends entirely on which one is yours.
We make one of the alternatives, and for one of those four reasons it is the wrong one. That reason comes first.
Is there a cheaper app with the YNAB method?Link to this section
If "give every dollar a job" is what changed your finances, you do not want a different kind of app. You want the same method for less.
Hundo is not that, and we are going to say so plainly. Our budgets are spending limits per category - "£400 on groceries this month, and here is how close you are". There is no pool of unassigned money to allocate, no "ready to assign" figure, and no zero-based discipline. Someone who loves YNAB's method would find that a step backwards.
What you actually want is Actual Budget. It is built on the same envelope method - its own site says you "can only budget cash you have on hand" - and it is free and open source. It even has bank sync, through GoCardless in the EU and UK and SimpleFIN in the US and Canada. The trade is that you run it yourself, or pay someone to host it.
If that describes you, stop here. That is your answer.
What if zero-based budgeting feels like a second job?Link to this section
This one is rarely talked about, because it sounds like a personal failing rather than a product problem. It is not.
Zero-based budgeting works because it demands attention. Every dollar has to be placed, every overspend has to be covered by moving money from somewhere else, and a month where you do not keep up leaves a mess to reconcile. For people who thrive on that, it is the point. For a lot of others it becomes a chore they eventually stop doing - and a budgeting app you have stopped opening is worth nothing.
If what you actually wanted was simpler - know what you spend, get warned before a category runs over, see your net worth - then a spending-limit budget is not a lesser version of YNAB. It is a different, lighter tool, and it may be the one you will still be using in a year.
That is what Hundo does. Budgets are monthly or weekly caps filled automatically from the categories you choose, with nothing to allocate. If the chore was the typing itself, how to keep tracking by hand after the novelty wears off covers the ways the habit stops and a fix for each.
Does YNAB support multiple currencies?Link to this section
Not in one plan. This is where the difference is sharpest, and it is not a matter of opinion.
YNAB's own guidance on multiple currencies is to keep them apart. Its support article says:
When adding accounts to your plans, make sure all accounts in a plan use the same currency. Every account in your primary plan should be in your primary currency. Every account in your secondary plan should be in your secondary currency.
So a euro account and a dollar account live in two separate plans, and there is no single view of what you are worth across both. For someone who earns in one currency and spends in another, that is a structural problem, not a missing button.
Hundo was built around the opposite assumption. Over 160 currencies, each account, holding and budget in its own, a transaction allowed to be in a currency its account does not hold, and the exchange rate recorded for the day it happened rather than today's. One net worth figure, in the currency you think in - and the net worth chart tells you how much of the change over any period you pick was the exchange rate rather than your money.
There is a longer piece on what multi-currency has to get right, including four questions to ask of any tool. For a card purchase in another currency, which exchange rate to record sets out which number to write down.
Does YNAB import from banks outside the US, Canada, the UK and the EU?Link to this section
No. YNAB offers direct bank import for selected banks in the US, Canada, the UK and the EU, and file import everywhere else. If you are outside those regions, you were already typing or importing by hand - and paying a subscription for the privilege of a method.
Hundo does not connect to banks anywhere, so it does not beat bank sync where bank sync works. What it does is make the typing quick: your usual entries are suggested from your own history, one tap each, and a statement file imports in one pass. In Pro, entries can also be photographed, forwarded to your own receipts address, or drafted by an AI and confirmed by you.
How much does Hundo cost?Link to this section
The tracker is free forever, and nothing in it is capped: unlimited accounts, transactions, budgets, assets, net worth and reports. It is not a trial.
The paid part is the AI - connecting your own Claude or ChatGPT to your ledger. It is pay what you want: a year is $36 at the minimum and $72 suggested, or a flat $8 monthly. Every amount unlocks everything.
What do you lose by leaving YNAB for Hundo?Link to this section
Before you move two years of history anywhere, be clear about what you would lose:
- No bank sync. YNAB imports automatically in the regions it supports. Hundo never does.
- No zero-based budgeting. If the method is what worked for you, Actual Budget is the better move.
- No YNAB community. YNAB's education and community are genuinely excellent and there is nothing equivalent here.
YNAB vs Hundo at a glanceLink to this section
| YNAB | Hundo | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $109 a year, or $14.99 a month | Tracker free forever. Pro is pay what you want from $36 a year (suggested $72), or $8 a month |
| Free option | A 34-day free trial, no credit card needed | The tracker, free forever with nothing capped |
| Budgeting method | Zero-based: give every dollar a job | Spending limits per category, monthly or weekly |
| Bank connection | Direct import for select US, Canadian, UK and EU banks, file import elsewhere | None. File import (CSV, TSV, Excel) everywhere |
| Currencies | One per plan | 166, and each account, asset and budget keeps its own |
| Apps | Web, iPhone, iPad, Android and Apple Watch | Web app you can install as a PWA. No app-store app |
| AI assistant | A ChatGPT app that answers from YNAB's articles. It cannot see your plan | Yes, in Pro, reading your own ledger |
| MCP server | None among its official integrations. Community-built ones are listed as third party | Yes, in Pro |
YNAB column checked 15 September 2026 against YNAB's pricing page, app lineup, multiple currencies guide, ChatGPT App article and API page.
Pick by reasonLink to this section
| Why you are leaving | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Love the method, not the price | Actual Budget |
| The method became a chore | Hundo, or any spending-limit budget |
| You hold several currencies | Hundo |
| Outside YNAB's import regions | Hundo |
| You want your own AI reading your numbers | Hundo |
The worst outcome is swapping one app you have stopped opening for another. Pick the one that matches why you left, not the one with the longest feature list.
Common questionsLink to this section
Is there a free app that uses the same method as YNAB?Link to this section
Yes. Actual Budget is built on the same envelope method, and it is free and open source. The trade is that you run Actual Budget yourself, or pay someone to host it.
Does Hundo have zero-based budgeting like YNAB?Link to this section
No. Hundo budgets are monthly or weekly spending limits per category, with no pool of money to assign, so someone who loves YNAB's method would find them a step backwards.
Can Hundo replace YNAB if I hold several currencies?Link to this section
That is the case Hundo was built for. YNAB asks for every account in a plan to use the same currency, while Hundo keeps each account, asset and budget in its own currency and reports one net worth in the currency you think in.
Is Hundo cheaper than YNAB?Link to this section
For tracking and budgets, yes: the Hundo tracker is free forever with nothing capped, while YNAB is $109 a year or $14.99 a month. Hundo Pro, the AI assistant and your collectibles, is pay what you want from $36 a year, or $8 a month.
Checked 11 September 2026 against YNAB's pricing page and support documentation, and Actual Budget's site, with YNAB's figures checked again on 15 September 2026. Prices and features change; the linked pages are the authority.