Alluvium
Alluvium
Log inStart free

Alluvium vs YNAB

Two real budgeting apps.
Two different philosophies.

YNAB is a method first and software second — envelopes, and a discipline you learn. Alluvium is an accounting engine first: allocate percentages of your income, then let a double-entry ledger keep every number exact. Both are honest paid products. Here is which one fits you.

Start freeSee pricing
  • Percentage-based budgets
  • Double-entry ledger
  • Automatic bank sync
  • No credit card to start
In $13.4KOut $11.2K

What Alluvium does differently

Accuracy first, then automation.

Budget by percentage, not by envelope

Allocate shares of your income instead of refilling envelopes. A $2,500 month and a $10,000 month both stay balanced without re-budgeting.

Double-entry, so transfers behave

Every dollar posts twice. Moving money between your own accounts never looks like income or spending, and net worth stays exact.

Rules you write and audit

Automate categorisation with transparent rules matching source, amount, or pattern — readable, editable, never a black box.

Built on the household

The household is the unit, not an add-on. Share one financial picture without passing spreadsheets around.

Side by side

YNAB vs Alluvium.

We deliberately leave prices out — they change, and a stale number here would be misleading. Check YNAB's site and ours for current pricing.

YNABAlluvium
Core methodZero-based envelopes — give every dollar a jobPercentage allocation of income
Accounting modelEnvelope ledgerFull double-entry
Variable incomeRe-budget as money arrivesPercentages re-balance on their own
AutomationDeliberately hands-on — the method is the pointRules you write, applied on import
Bank syncYesYes
Learning curveReal — you are learning a systemSet your percentages once
Business modelPaid subscriptionPaid subscription — no ads, no data selling

Which one is for you

We would rather you picked right.

Pick YNAB if…

You want your budgeting app to change your behaviour. YNAB's envelope method has a genuine track record of getting people out of paycheck-to-paycheck cycles, and the friction is deliberate — assigning every dollar by hand is what makes the lesson stick. If you want to be taught a system and will do the weekly work, YNAB is the better buy and we would rather you were happy there.

Pick Alluvium if…

You already know where your money goes and want the numbers to be exactly right. Percentage budgets suit variable or irregular income, double-entry means transfers and reimbursements never distort the picture, and transparent rules do the sorting so you are not re-categorising by hand each week.

Common questions

Is Alluvium cheaper than YNAB?
Check both current prices directly — ours is on our pricing page and YNAB publishes theirs. Both are paid subscriptions with no ads. Alluvium starts with a free trial and no credit card, so you can compare on the product rather than on a number.
Can I move my YNAB data to Alluvium?
Yes. Export your transactions from YNAB as CSV and import them into Alluvium. Your history comes with you rather than starting from zero.
Does Alluvium do zero-based budgeting like YNAB?
Not in the envelope sense. Alluvium allocates percentages of income to budget groups instead of asking you to assign every dollar by hand. If the envelope method is specifically what you want, YNAB does it better.
Why does double-entry matter for a personal budget?
Because single-entry tools double-count transfers. Move $500 from checking to savings and many apps read it as $500 of spending plus $500 of income. Double-entry posts both sides, so your net worth and savings rate stay correct without manual cleanup.
Does Alluvium connect to my bank?
Yes. Link your accounts and transactions sync automatically, and your rules categorise them as they arrive.

Try it on your own numbers.

Import your history, connect your banks, and see whether exact beats familiar.

Start free — no credit card

YNAB and You Need A Budget are trademarks of their respective owner. Alluvium is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YNAB.