Casharchy vs YNAB: a YNAB alternative with a free plan
YNAB is built around one method: give every dollar you already have a job. Casharchy is built around a forecast: what will be in checking on each date ahead. Here is how they compare, using YNAB’s own pages.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Casharchy | YNAB |
|---|---|---|
| How you budget | Monthly category budgets in Spending. Bills you have forecast count as Projected, so the month’s total is complete before it ends. | Zero-based “give every dollar a job”: you assign only money you already have (source) |
| Bank connections | Read-only connections through Plaid on the paid plan ($8 a month). Every tab also works with figures you enter or import. | Optional Direct Import through MX and Plaid, in the US, Canada, the UK and parts of Europe; YNAB advises not relying on investment and loan links (source) |
| Investments | Holdings across every brokerage, retirement and HSA account, combined by position and category and measured against targets you set. | Tracking accounts hold a balance you update; no holdings or targets (source) |
| Checking balance forecast | A day-by-day checking ledger: rows after today are your forecast, and the running balance shows what you expect to have on every future date. | No forecast feature by name; with scheduled transactions, View Running Balance shows a future running balance in the register (source) |
| Debt payoff | A payoff schedule for each mortgage, loan and card from your payment and any extra principal. | Loan accounts, a loan payoff simulator (web) and debt payment targets (source) |
| Net worth | A balance sheet of every account, asset and debt, with saved snapshots over time. | A month-by-month Net Worth report (source) |
| Tax estimate | A federal tax worksheet from the paychecks and income you enter (a planning estimate, not tax advice). | Not offered |
| Platforms | Web, in any browser, including on a phone. No native app. | Web, iPhone, iPad, Android and Apple Watch (source) |
| Sharing with a partner | One sign-in for the household’s workspace; no charge per person. | YNAB Together: the subscriber plus up to five people, each with a login (source) |
| Price and trial | Free by hand. $8 a month or $80 a year (2 months free) adds bank connections and the AI tools. | $14.99 a month or $109 a year; 34-day free trial, no card needed (source) |
YNAB facts checked October 19, 2026 on YNAB’s own pages, linked in each row. Products change; follow each link for the current detail.
Who should pick YNAB
- You want a method, not just a tool: YNAB’s rules and teaching are the product, and assigning only money you already have is the point.
- You budget with several people who each want their own login and app, including Apple Watch.
- You bank outside the US: YNAB connects to banks in Canada, the UK and parts of Europe.
Who should pick Casharchy
- You think in dates: what checking will hold on the 1st, after rent and before payday.
- You want your investments in the same place, by holding, against the allocation you chose, alongside debt payoff, net worth and a federal tax estimate.
- You would rather start free and enter figures yourself, and add bank connections later.
Read more about the cash flow forecast, budgets, brokerage targets, debt payoff and net worth.
Moving from YNAB to Casharchy
- In YNAB on the web, choose your plan’s name at the top of the left sidebar, then Export Plan. YNAB downloads two CSV files; the transactions file is the one you need (source).
- In Casharchy, open Spending and press Add Transaction, then choose Paste CSV (bulk import).
- Paste the file’s contents or choose the file. Dates, descriptions, amounts, categories and account names are read from the header row.
- Check the preview: money out shows as negative. Rows that match a transaction you already have (same amount within two days) are skipped, and any category Casharchy doesn’t know gets a picker.
- Press Import. The whole file is saved at once as one step you can Undo.
YNAB’s Outflow and Inflow columns are read as money out and money in. Budget amounts and goals are not transactions and don’t carry over; set Spending budgets once for the month.
Questions from YNAB users
Can I keep budgeting the YNAB way in Casharchy?
Partly. Spending budgets are set per category for the month, and Cash shows what checking will hold on each date, so you can see whether a bill is covered before it’s due. Casharchy has no “Ready to Assign” pool and doesn’t require you to assign money before it arrives; future paychecks sit in the forecast as dated rows instead.
Does Casharchy track my 401(k) the way YNAB tracking accounts do?
It goes further. Instead of one balance you update, Brokerage keeps each holding with its shares and price, combines the same fund across accounts into one position, and shows how far each category is from the target you set. Net Worth then counts those accounts automatically.
Can a partner use it too?
Yes. A Casharchy account is one sign-in for the household’s workspace, with no charge per person, so a couple shares the same ledger, budgets and portfolio. YNAB instead gives each person their own login.
What Casharchy costs
Free when you enter figures by hand. Bank connections through Plaid and the AI tools are $8 a month, or $80 a year (2 months free). There is no trial clock: the free plan has every tab and stays free.
YNAB is a trademark of its owner, named here only to identify the product. Casharchy is not affiliated with it.
Try it with your own numbers
Free when you enter figures by hand. Bank connections through Plaid and the AI tools are $8 a month, or $80 a year (2 months free). No card needed to start.