Best Free Budgeting Apps 2026: 7 Options Compared

Most free budgeting apps make money in one of three ways: they sell a paid tier, they earn referral fees, or they ask you to run the thing yourself. Knowing which one applies tells you what the free plan will really cost. Actual Budget and Firefly III are open source and you host them, so there is no tier to hit, but you must keep the server running and update it yourself. Goodbudget uses the envelope method with a free plan of 10 regular and 10 extra envelopes, one account and two devices. EveryDollar's free version covers a manual monthly budget with unlimited categories, while the bank connection is part of the paid plan. Rocket Money's free plan tracks subscriptions and transactions on a mobile app, with its upsell around bill negotiation and premium budgeting. Empower's dashboard is free, though it runs alongside advisory services that charge fees. GnuCash is the desktop choice for people who want a proper double-entry ledger. To choose, decide whether you want to enter transactions yourself, which is slower but private, or connect banks, which is faster and normally paid. Pick the method you will keep up with for three months, because the best budget is the one you actually update.

Actual Budget

MIT-licensed local-first budgeting app you host yourself; the repository lists no paid tier. You enter or import transactions yourself and maintain the server.

Price: Free (Open-source app you host yourself; the repository lists no paid tier) (Actual Budget pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web (self-hosted). MIT (open source).

Project activity: 29.8k GitHub stars · latest release v26.10.0 (Oct 2, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: Privacy-minded users who budget by envelope.

Firefly III

AGPL-3.0 personal finance manager you self-host, with no paid tier in the repository. More of a tracker and reporting tool than a lightweight budget app.

Price: Free (Open-source personal finance manager you host yourself; no paid tier in the repository) (Firefly III pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Web (self-hosted). AGPL-3.0 (open source).

Project activity: 25k GitHub stars · latest release v6.7.9 (Oct 11, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026

Best for: Self-hosters who want detailed reports.

Worth knowing: Self-hosted, so you run the server and back up the database yourself. The repository describes it as a personal finances manager.

Goodbudget

Envelope budgeting with a free plan of 10 regular and 10 'more' envelopes, 1 account, 2 devices and 1 year of history. Premium is $10 a month or $80 billed annually.

Price: Free (Free plan: 10 regular and 10 'more' envelopes, 1 account, 2 devices, 1 year of history); paid from $10 per month (Premium; $80 billed annually) (Goodbudget pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Web, iPhone, Android. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Couples sharing a manual envelope budget.

Worth knowing: Automatic bank sync is US banks only and sits on the paid plan.

EveryDollar

Free version supports a monthly budget, unlimited custom categories and manual transaction entry. Premium after a 14-day trial is $79.99 billed annually or $17.99 monthly.

Price: Free (Free version usable as long as you want: monthly budget, unlimited custom categories, manual transaction entry); paid from $17.99 per month, billed monthly (Premium; $79.99 billed annually) (EveryDollar pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary.

Best for: Zero-based budgeting without bank sync.

Worth knowing: Premium shown after a 14-day free trial for new users.

Rocket Money

Free plan tracks subscriptions, transactions and a total budget plus two custom categories, on mobile only. Bill negotiation takes 35% to 60% of first-year savings if it succeeds.

Price: Free (Free plan: subscription tracking, bill negotiation (35% to 60% of first-year savings, only if it succeeds), transaction history, a total budget plus up to two custom categories; mobile app only); paid from $7 per month (Premium, pay-what-you-think-is-fair, typically $7 to $14; Premium+ is $15) (Rocket Money pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Mobile app. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Finding and cancelling subscriptions.

Compare: Rocket Money alternatives

Empower Personal Dashboard

Personal Dashboard and its financial tools are free; separate advisory services charge fees based on assets managed. It is a net-worth and tracking view rather than a strict budget.

Price: Free (The dashboard experience and financial tools are free; separate advisory services charge fees based on assets managed) (Empower Personal Dashboard pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.

Best for: Tracking net worth across accounts.

Worth knowing: Reviews describe it as stronger at net worth and investment tracking than at detailed budgeting.

GnuCash

Free double-entry accounting for Windows, macOS and Linux, with no price on its site. Powerful for households that want real ledgers, with a steeper learning curve than apps.

Price: Free (double-entry accounting program with no price on its site) (GnuCash pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. GNU GPL (open source).

Best for: Desktop users who want full accounting.

Worth knowing: It is a desktop program, so it has no built-in bank feeds or online invoicing.

Which one to pick

• You want to host your own budget and own your data: Actual Budget
• You and a partner budget with envelopes: Goodbudget
• You want to find recurring subscriptions: Rocket Money
• You want a proper ledger on your own computer: GnuCash