Cadence Money

Cadence Money is a Canadian personal finance app built to handle the specific needs of Canadian users while also supporting US-based accounts and multi-currency balances. Created by Travis Hogan, who spent 7 years at 1Password building products for millions of people, Cadence brings that design expertise to budgeting. The app is owned and operated in Canada and runs on iOS, Android, and web browsers, making it accessible from multiple devices. Unlike many budgeting apps built in the US, Cadence was built by a Canadian, for Canadians, but explicitly extends its support to US users with multi-currency handling and access to US-based banks.

The Canadian advantage with US reach

Cadence's distinguishing feature in the crowded budgeting market is its native support for Canadian account types. It tracks TFSAs (Tax-Free Savings Accounts), RRSPs (Registered Retirement Savings Plans), FHSAs (First Home Savings Accounts), RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans), and RDSPs (Registered Disability Savings Plans). These account types are tax-advantaged and unique to Canada, and most US-built budgeting apps ignore them entirely. The app also supports multi-currency transactions in Canadian dollars, US dollars, and British pounds. For Americans, Cadence explicitly offers support for USA-based banks and USA account types on the Cadence+ and Cadence Premium tiers. This makes it one of the few budgeting apps that handles cross-border financial life, whether you're a Canadian with US investments or a US resident managing accounts in multiple currencies.

How money syncs and what you track

Cadence connects to your banks through automatic syncing on the Cadence+ and Cadence Premium plans; the basic Cadence plan does not include bank syncing but lets you import transactions manually. Once transactions land in the app, smart categorization learns from your spending patterns. You can split transactions across multiple budgets, create rules to automatically assign future transactions to categories, and set recurring patterns that the app detects automatically. The app also tracks upcoming income and bills with a calendar view, sends alerts when a bill is coming due, and flags unexpected changes to recurring payments like a rent increase.

Beyond budgeting, Cadence offers comprehensive net worth tracking. You can add accounts, real estate properties, vehicles, and other manual assets to see your complete financial picture. The app shows your net worth with daily snapshots, lets you track stock and crypto holdings with daily gain and loss estimates, and generates reports across daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, and all-time timeframes. For those managing multiple investments, portfolio performance tracking is built in. You can also compare your spending to regional averages to see how your bills stack up against similar households in your area.

Financial goals and the missing automation

Cadence lets you set financial goals like saving for an emergency fund, a vacation, or retirement. The app suggests goals based on your current situation and recommends monthly contributions to keep pace. You can convert completed goals into annual budgets. One feature called WorryFree mode simplifies budgeting down to a single spending limit per month. However, the pricing page notes that Cadence has no automated rule-based budgeting engine beyond the category learning and transaction splitting it provides; the comparison table shows that category-based budgeting is the default approach rather than envelope-based "zero-dollar" budgeting where every dollar is assigned before you spend it.

What it costs and what tiers include

Cadence prices are shown in Canadian dollars and billed annually only. There is no monthly subscription option. The three tiers are: Cadence at $2.49 CAD per month billed annually (basic budgeting and net worth tracking without bank syncing), Cadence+ at $4.99 CAD per month billed annually (which adds automatic syncing of up to 3 banks), and Cadence Premium at $8.99 CAD per month billed annually (unlimited bank syncing). All three tiers include unlimited transactions and import history, budget creation, net worth tracking with daily snapshots, financial goals, reporting features, insights and spending alerts, transaction rules and categorization, bill and income tracking, iOS, Android, and web apps with dark mode, widgets, and home-screen customization, plus passkey sign-in and two-factor authentication.

The difference between tiers is purely how many banks you connect. You pay more only if you want automatic syncing instead of manual entry. The company notes that all plans are yearly subscriptions with no monthly option, which helps them reduce pricing and predict resource needs. New users get a 14-day free trial to test any plan.

Privacy, security, and no AI training

Cadence emphasizes that it is a fully independent Canadian small business, never sells user data, and never trains AI models on financial information. The app uses bank-level security with encryption at rest and in transit. Every login can use passkey authentication (biometric or device confirmation) instead of passwords, and two-factor authentication with recovery codes is available. The company's positioning directly contrasts with competitors: "If you pick something cheap or free, you're often limited on features, stuck with dated design, or risk your most sensitive data being sold to third parties. If you go the powerful route, you pay significantly more for features you won't use, and your data could unknowingly be used to train their AI models." Cadence avoids both traps by focusing on what users actually use regularly and keeping the price sustainable without selling data or running AI on your finances.

How it compares to YNAB, Monarch, and Copilot

The site publishes a direct comparison to three other major budgeting apps. YNAB starts at approximately $12.55 per month, Monarch Money at approximately $11.51 per month, and Copilot Money at approximately $10.94 per month (all approximate conversions, with Copilot available in the US only). Compared to these, Cadence's $2.49 entry price is significantly lower. The comparison table shows Cadence includes features like multi-currency support, Canadian account tracking, passkey sign-in, and MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration that some competitors lack. Cadence's main weakness in the comparison is that it requires manual entry on the basic plan, while some competitors include bank syncing at all tiers; however, Cadence+ at $4.99 still undercuts YNAB, Monarch, and Copilot on price while syncing up to 3 banks.

Who this suits

Cadence is the obvious choice for Canadians managing Canadian tax-advantaged accounts or anyone in North America handling multiple currencies. The 14-day trial lets you test whether the interface and feature set match your workflow. If you want strong encryption and privacy guarantees without AI training, Cadence delivers that explicitly. The affordability makes it accessible for people just starting to budget; the investment tracking makes it suitable for people managing portfolios and real estate. Because the basic plan works without bank syncing, you can also use Cadence if you prefer manual entry for privacy or control, or if your bank is not supported for automatic syncing.

Cadence is less suited to people who want US-only feature focus or who need the most advanced automation. The lack of monthly billing and the requirement to commit annually is a constraint; if you want to try before paying for a full year, the free trial period is your only gate.

The verdict

Cadence Money is a thoughtfully designed Canadian budgeting app that extends legitimately to the US market, with pricing that undercuts major competitors by a significant margin. The support for Canadian account types is genuine added value that no competitor offers at any price. Privacy, strong encryption, and the refusal to train AI on your data are stated commitments, not afterthoughts. The 14-day free trial removes the financial risk of trying it.