Actual Budget

Actual Budget is a free, open-source application for personal budgeting and expense tracking built around the envelope budgeting methodology, a time-tested system where you allocate every dollar of available income to specific savings or spending categories before you spend it. The app runs on your own computers and devices, desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux) and mobile (iOS, Android), with data stored locally by default, meaning your financial records stay in your hands, not on a company's servers. Because Actual Budget is open-source, anyone can audit the code to verify how it works and what it does with your data, which is a level of transparency most proprietary budgeting apps cannot match.

The heart of Actual Budget is its privacy-first approach. Your data starts on your computer. The application syncs changes across your devices in the background using distributed systems technology, but the app works fully offline if your internet connection drops. If you want more than local storage and device-to-device syncing, you can self-host Actual's sync server to maintain complete control, or use PikaPods to run Actual as a hosted option without touching any infrastructure yourself; PikaPods users can be up and running in about 2 minutes. For those prioritizing security, optional end-to-end encryption means even Actual's servers (or PikaPods) cannot read your financial data. This combination of local-first architecture and encryption makes Actual Budget one of the most privacy-preserving options available for people who want a digital budgeting tool but distrust cloud-based financial management.

How money comes in

Actual gives you 3 routes to connect your accounts. For US and Canadian users, the app supports SimpleFIN, a privacy-focused bank aggregator that imports transactions daily without storing your bank login credentials. EU and UK users can connect via goCardless, a direct bank-to-app feed. Both options pull transaction data automatically into your account list so you're not manually typing every purchase. If direct bank connections aren't available for your institution or you prefer to avoid them entirely, Actual supports importing from standard financial file formats: QIF, OFX, QFX, CAMT.053, and CSV files downloaded from your bank's own website. You can also type transactions in by hand. If an imported transaction fails or your connection breaks, the app flags it in a transaction inbox where you review and approve each entry before it affects your budget.

Envelope budgeting and reporting

The envelope methodology forces you to face your real spending because you budget from income you actually have, not from estimates or future assumptions. Actual walks you through assigning each new deposit across your envelopes (categories) before you commit to any spending, then displays how much is available in each envelope and how much you've already spent. The app includes built-in reports for net worth (summing all your accounts together) and cash flow (income and spending over time), and if those don't answer your question, you can design custom reports to fit your specific needs. You can move money between envelopes freely, split a single transaction across multiple categories with individual notes for each piece, and link transfers between accounts so that moving money from checking to savings doesn't look like phantom income and expense. If you make a mistake, an undo and redo system lets you roll back changes.

Cost and the free tier

Actual Budget is free to download and use forever. There are no paywalls, no feature gates locked behind a subscription, and no free trial that expires into a paywall. The source code is publicly available on GitHub. If you use PikaPods for hosting instead of self-hosting, PikaPods charges a fee for running the server; Actual notes that PikaPods donates 20% of fees people like you pay to run Actual on their servers to the project's Open Collective. Self-hosting is an option for users comfortable with running their own servers. The site mentions you can save hundreds of dollars a year (at least!) by tracking your spending carefully against your income.

Advanced features and data ownership

For developers, Actual exposes a fully-featured API that runs locally on your computer, meaning you can write custom importers or build your own features without sending data anywhere. The app includes built-in importers for YNAB 4 and nYNAB formats if you're switching from another budgeting app, preserving your transaction history. You can choose between a built-in dark mode and light theme, or let your system settings control the appearance. Additional community importers are available for other software or file formats.

The core philosophy of Actual Budget is that you own your data entirely. You control whether to keep it local only, sync it across your devices, self-host, or use a third-party hosting service like PikaPods; you decide whether to enable end-to-end encryption; and you choose how to access it (the app, the API, custom tools). The app is built as a local-first system, which means it prioritizes your computer's storage and computation over cloud convenience.

Community and long-term support

Actual Budget maintains an active Discord community where users share budgeting tips and ask questions. The GitHub repository houses all the source code, open issues, and pull requests, which means the development roadmap is transparent and community members can contribute fixes or features. The project also accepts donations and has an Open Collective page if you want to support ongoing development. Because the software is open-source and locally focused, it's unlikely to disappear behind a paywall or shut down unexpectedly the way some venture-backed startups do; the code would persist even if active development stopped.

Who this suits

Actual Budget works well for users who care about privacy and data ownership, whether because they're uncomfortable with cloud storage or because they want to self-host for technical reasons. It's especially strong for people already familiar with envelope budgeting or Dave Ramsey's approach, though the software teaches the methodology and doesn't require prior knowledge. The open-source nature appeals to developers who want to audit the code or build integrations. The app handles multiple accounts (checking, savings, credit cards, loans) and reports accurately on net worth and spending trends, so it's suitable for anyone with moderately complex finances. The low barrier to entry (free) and lack of forced subscription mean it works for households at any income level.

The main limitation is that direct bank connections are limited to SimpleFIN (US/Canada) and goCardless (EU/UK); users outside those regions or with institutions that don't connect via these services must import files or enter transactions manually. The self-hosting option is powerful but requires comfort with running your own server. The app is desktop and mobile software, not a web-based tool, so you install it rather than log into a URL. If you rely exclusively on a web interface (perhaps to access your budget from computers you don't own), Actual Budget's desktop-first design isn't the best fit, though the mobile apps and PikaPods hosting address that for most users.

Actual Budget is a mature, genuinely free alternative to subscription budgeting apps, with a firm focus on your privacy and data control built into its architecture from the start. It's the option to choose if you want your budgeting tool to work for you without collecting data or changing its terms.