Alternative to YNAB

A free YNAB alternativeevery dollar, no subscription

Fernly follows the method YNAB made famous: money comes in as Ready to Assign, you give every dollar a job in a category, and you move money when life happens. It has targets, the month rollover rules, credit cards and reports. It costs nothing, needs no bank login, and keeps your numbers on your device.

FernlyPlan every dollar, privately, with no subscription.

Get Fernly free Choose its name and colour

Free, with no account. Pick its name and colour first if you like.

Free forever
No account
Works offline
Interface in English and French
Any currency

Fernly

Compare

YNAB and Fernlyside by side

What you need	YNAB	Fernly
Zero-based plan: Ready to Assign, Assigned, Activity, Available	Yes	Yes
Targets (weekly, monthly, yearly, by date)	Yes	Yes
Move money and cover overspending	Yes	Yes
Credit card payment categories	Yes	Yes
Reports: spending, trends, net worth, income vs expense	Yes	Yes
Import transactions from a file	Yes	YesCSV, OFX, QFX and QIF, duplicates skipped
Automatic bank sync	Yes	Nofile import or manual entry
Sync between devices, shared budgets	Yes	NoJSON backup to move data
Bank login or account numbers asked	Yes, for bank sync	Never
Account needed	Required	None
Works offline	Not documented	Yesfully
Price	$14.99 a month or $109 a year after a 34-day trial	$0, forever

What Fernly does not do

No automatic bank connection. You import your bank's CSV, OFX or QIF file, or type transactions in.
No sync between your phone and your computer, and no sharing a budget with a partner. A JSON backup moves your data.
No loan payoff planner, receipt photos or custom focused views.
No coaching content or workshops.

Price

What YNAB costsand what Fernly costs

YNAB has no free plan. After the trial you pay every month or every year.

Plan	Price	What you get
Trial	$0 for 34 days	Everything, no card needed
Monthly	$14.99 a month	Everything
Yearly	$109 a year	Everything; about $9.08 a month
Students	$0 for 12 months	With proof of enrolment

Source: ynab.com, checked on 16 October 2026. US dollars, before tax.

$0No plan, no trial, no card, nothing to cancel.

Fernly has no trial to run out. Budget for years for $0.

Why people switch

Why people leave YNAB

The price keeps climbing
The yearly price has gone from about $45 to $84 in 2017, $99 in 2021 and $109 today, according to CostBench's price history.
Source: costbench.com · ynab.com
No free tier after the trial
Once the 34 days are over, the plan locks until you subscribe. Budgeting to save money with a tool that costs $109 a year is a contradiction many people notice.
Source: ynab.com
Your data goes one way
YNAB exports your plan and transactions as CSV, but its own help centre says an export cannot be imported back into YNAB.
Source: support.ynab.com

Questions

Before you switch

Is there a free version of YNAB?

No. YNAB offers a 34-day trial, then costs $14.99 a month or $109 a year (students get a year free). Fernly uses the same zero-based method and is free with no time limit.

Can I import my YNAB data into Fernly?

Your transactions, yes: export them from YNAB as CSV and import the file into an account in Fernly, which detects the columns and date format and skips duplicates. Your categories and targets you set up once by hand.

Does Fernly connect to my bank?

No, on purpose. You never type a bank password. Download a CSV, OFX, QFX or QIF file from your bank and import it, or add transactions by hand.

Where is my budget stored?

In your browser, on your device. Fernly makes no network request while you use it. Download a full backup from Settings regularly, because clearing browser data erases it.

Does it work in euros or pounds?

Yes. Each budget has its own currency and number format, from dollars and euros to yen with no decimals.

Can I use it on my phone?

Yes. Install it on your phone's Home Screen from your personal link. Phone and computer keep separate copies; move data between them with a backup file.