I’ve tried a few budgeting apps but keep running into paywalls, confusing features, or limits that make them hard to use long term. I’m looking for a truly free budgeting app that’s secure, easy to use, works on both phone and desktop, and actually helps track spending and savings goals. What are you using that genuinely works, and why do you recommend it?
Short answer from my own trial and error: for a truly free, daily-use budget with no paywall nonsense, look at:
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Monarch’s out, YNAB’s out, Copilot’s out. All paywalled where it hurts over time.
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The usual free picks that feel “almost” good enough:
• Mint is gone
• NerdWallet app feels more like marketing
• Rocket Money pushes upgrades
• Goodbudget has tiny free limits
• PocketGuard “free” hits you with upsell friction
The ones that work long term and stay free:
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Money Manager Ex
• Free, open source
• Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS (through a 3rd party app)
• No sync by default, you save your file in Dropbox, Google Drive, etc for cross device
• Good for envelope or category style budgeting
• No ads, no subscription
Downsides
• Setup looks old school
• Manual input unless you export CSV from your bank -
Lunch Money, Monarch etc are nice but not free, so I’d skip for your use case.
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Spreadsheet plus bank app combo
• Google Sheets or Excel
• Template:
Columns: Date, Merchant, Category, Amount, Account, Notes
Use SUMIF or SUMIFS for monthly totals per category
• Syncs on phone and computer
• Data stays in your account
• 100 percent control, no feature paywall
Downsides
• You must enter or paste data
• No pretty UI -
For a polished free app with sync and no hard paywall right now, check:
• Moneon (free version is decent if you are ok with manual entry)
• Spendee free, but limits wallets and features
If you want low-friction daily use:
• Pick one tracking method, not three
• Use manual entry for every card purchase for two weeks
• Set 6 to 10 categories max, nothing fancy
• Do a 10 minute review once a week on laptop
My honest pick for “works on phone and desktop, free, no surprise paywall, secure enough”:
• Money Manager Ex if you want an app
• Google Sheets if you prefer flexibility
If you sync the Money Manager Ex file with Google Drive or Dropbox, you get almost the same feel as a cloud app, but you avoid the “free trial forever until it is not free” trap.
Totally feel you on the paywall landmines. I agree with a lot of what @ombrasilente said, especially about Mint being gone and Rocket Money / PocketGuard feeling like upgrade funnels, but I’d actually nudge you toward a slightly different setup.
If your requirements are:
- Truly free long term
- Phone + desktop
- Not a spreadsheet nerd fest
- Reasonably secure
Here are a few that have held up decently in real-world daily use:
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Bluecoins (Android only, but with a twist)
If you’re on Android, Bluecoins’ free version is honestly one of the most practical daily-use budget trackers out there.- Strong points:
- Fast manual entry, good recurring transactions, solid reports.
- Works offline, your data can be backed up to your own cloud.
- Weak points:
- No iOS.
- UI is “functional” more than pretty.
You can pair it with a simple desktop spreadsheet only for monthly review rather than full-on managing everything in Sheets like @ombrasilente suggested.
- Strong points:
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Money Manager (the brown icon one, not MMEX)
Different from Money Manager Ex and, imo, more approachable for non-techy folks.- Pros:
- Very easy to enter stuff on your phone.
- Nice calendar and category views.
- Free version is enough for a basic monthly budget if you’re okay with mostly manual entry.
- Cons:
- Desktop version is kind of clunky.
- Some features are paywalled, but the core “track spending and see where money goes” stays usable for free.
- Pros:
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Firefly III (for the tinkerer who hates subscriptions)
This is where I disagree a bit with the “just use Money Manager Ex + cloud” suggestion. If you’re willing to put in a bit of setup time and want something that actually feels like a modern web app:- Self-hosted, open source, very powerful.
- Access from browser on desktop and phone, plus community mobile apps.
- You control the data.
The catch: - Needs some tech comfort to install (Docker, hosting, etc).
If that sentence already annoyed you, skip this one.
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GnuCash (if you like desktop first, phone second)
- Desktop app that’s free and mature.
- There are companion mobile apps where you log expenses on phone then sync later.
- Very stable, no surprise “premium upgrade” requests because no one’s trying to turn it into a SaaS.
Downside: - Interface feels like 2008 accounting software, because it basically is.
- Learning curve can be steeper than MMEX.
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Hybrid approach that doesn’t suck (imo the most realistic)
Instead of hunting for the “one perfect app” that does everything for free forever, try this combo:- One simple phone app you actually like using for daily entry only.
- One desktop spreadsheet or simple desktop app for weekly review and planning.
Benefits: - If the phone app dies or adds paywalls later, you still have your core data in a format you control.
- You’re not relying on bank-sync magic that breaks every other week.
- You reduce clutter: phone = capture, desktop = thinking.
For most people who want practical, free, and not too nerdy, I’d say:
- If you like apps and low friction:
- Android: Bluecoins free + monthly category summary in a simple spreadsheet.
- iOS: Money Manager (brown icon) free + spreadsheet for high-level planning.
If you’re willing to tolerate slightly “old school” UI, then yeah, Money Manager Ex or GnuCash are very solid like @ombrasilente mentioned. I just wouldn’t expect them to feel as smooth as the big paid names like YNAB or Monarch. You trade polish for “no one can randomly double the price on you later.”
Most important part: whatever you pick, commit to:
- Entering every transaction the same day, even if it’s just rough.
- Reviewing once a week for 5 to 10 minutes on desktop.
The tool matters a lot less than that habit, and happily that habit is still 100 percent free.