What is the best free budgeting app that you can use without linking your bank account?

The best free budgeting apps that you can use without linking your bank account are Goodbudget, EveryDollar, WalletHub, PocketGuard and Honeydue. These apps allow you to manually enter your expenses to track them, and they offer you budgeting tips you can use to manage your finances.

Best Free Budget Apps to Use Without Linking Your Bank Account

Goodbudget

Goodbudget uses the envelope budgeting method, which allows you to create envelopes for each budget category, such as housing, transportation, and entertainment. You can manually enter your expenses and assign spending limits for each envelope. With the app’s free account, you can create up to 20 envelopes.

EveryDollar

EveryDollar is based on the zero-based budgeting strategy, where you allocate every dollar to a specific expense so that every month your income minus expenses will always equal zero. The idea is that every dollar has a purpose in your budget. The app’s free account allows you to input your income and expenses and track them throughout the month, so you don’t go over budget.

WalletHub

WalletHub allows you to manually add transactions, categorize expenses and create customized budgets with a free account. You can also easily reference your average spending by category to inform your budgeting efforts and customize your budget categories any way you want. In addition, you can share your transactions with others – if you want to review expenses with your spouse or accountant, for example – and you’ll get spending reports so you have a clear view of your finances.

A free WalletHub account also comes with valuable non-budgeting features like access to your credit score, the ability to set and track debt payoff goals, recommendations for financial products like credit cards and loans, a thorough credit analysis, and a personalized credit improvement plan.

PocketGuard

With a free PocketGuard account, you have the option to manually add and track your expenses. You can also create budget categories and set spending limits for each. PocketGuard doesn’t give you the option to sign up for a free account on their signup page, but they do email you about unlocking their free account if you put in your information.

Honeydue

Honeydue is an app designed specifically for couples. Couples can manually enter their transactions, and the app enables couples to chat about transactions within the app. Honeydue also sends bill reminders so couples can avoid late fees.

Finally, the YNAB app is another great option that doesn’t require you to link your accounts, but it has a monthly or yearly fee. YNAB is based on the envelope strategy and lets you input your bills and transactions to track them and set spending limits.

For more budgeting tools and tips, check out WalletHub’s guide to budgeting.