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YNAB

You Need A Budget

As of 30 August 2026, YNAB has a free plan and paid plans start at $9.08/month. YNAB (You Need A Budget) is personal budgeting software that helps individuals and families take control of their money using the zero-based budgeting method. Softwr lists it under Personal Finance. YNAB is made by You Need A Budget LLC, launched in 2004, available on Web, iOS, Android.

Overview

What YNAB does

YNAB (You Need A Budget) is personal budgeting software that helps individuals and families take control of their money using the zero-based budgeting method.

What people use it for

  • Personal and household budget tracking
  • Debt management and repayment planning
  • Family financial planning with multiple users

The honest half

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about YNAB.

  • Subscription priced exclusively in US dollars; international customers face unfavourable exchange rates
  • Multi-currency support restricted to one currency per spending plan
  • Bank import limited to select institutions in US, Canada, UK, and EU only
  • Household plan can only be shared with up to 6 people; additional members cannot access shared plan

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of YNAB

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

Pricing

What YNAB costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

Annual Subscription

$109 /yr

  • 34-day free trial with no credit card required
  • No credit card required to start
  • Share access with up to 6 people at no additional cost

Monthly Subscription

$14.99 /mo

  • Share access with up to 6 people at no additional cost
  • Real-time account syncing
  • Bank connection and transaction tracking

Capabilities

Features

  • Zero-based budgeting

  • Bank sync

  • Goal tracking

  • Reports

  • Multi-device sync

  • Bank connections

    Integration with Bank connections

  • Plaid

    Integration with Plaid

  • Bank-level encryption

    Bank-level encryption security feature

  • Read-only access

    Read-only access security feature

  • Web support

    Available on web

  • Ios support

    Available on ios

  • Android support

    Available on android

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

How much does YNAB cost per month?

YNAB costs $14.99 USD per month on a month-to-month basis, or $9.08 per month when paid annually as a $109 per year subscription. Both plans come with a 34-day free trial and no credit card required to start. Source: https://www.ynab.com/pricing

Source
Can I share YNAB access with my family?

Yes, both annual and monthly YNAB plans include the ability to share access with up to 6 people at no additional cost, making it suitable for family budget management. Source: https://www.ynab.com/pricing

Source
Does YNAB offer a free trial?

Yes, YNAB provides a 34-day free trial with no credit card required to sign up. This trial gives full access to all budgeting features including account syncing, transaction tracking, goal-setting, and debt management tools. Source: https://www.ynab.com/pricing

Source
Do students get a discount on YNAB?

Yes, verified college students receive a full year of YNAB access for free through YNAB's College Program. This allows eligible students to use all features at no cost for 12 months. Source: https://www.ynab.com/pricing

Source

Behind it

Who makes YNAB

Company
You Need A Budget LLC
Based in
Lehi, UT
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for YNAB, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

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