YNAB is driven by a small (but growing!), passionate team. What really makes You Need A Budget different is that they can teach you how to manage your money and get ahead for good. Their Four Rules are the key, the magic, the secret sauce if you will. Learn their method and you could budget successfully, blindfolded, with one arm tied behind your back. Access to real-time information, from any device, anytime, makes it drop-dead simple to share finances with a partner (and not accidentally overspend at Target). Budgeting isn’t about restriction. It’s about setting and reaching your goals. And then set new, bigger goals, and doing it again. Eye candy (read: graphs and charts) make it fun to obsess over your progress. They encrypt their data, bcrypt hash all user passwords, and the data centers they use are accredited multiple times over.
| Support | Online | Customer Type | Large Enterprises Medium Business Small Business |
| API | Location / Phone Number | Lehi, Utah | |
| Deployment | SaaS/Web/Cloud Mobile - Android Mobile - iOS | Category | Personal Finance Software |
Disclaimer: The pricing details were last updated on 11/02/2020 from the vendor website and may be different from actual. Please confirm with the vendor website before purchasing.
You Need A Budget is Personal Finance Software. You Need A Budget offers the following functionalities:
Learn more about You Need A Budget features.
The pricing for You Need A Budget starts at $11.99 per month. You Need A Budget has a single plan:
Learn more about You Need A Budget pricing.
Yes, You Need A Budget provides API.
I've been with YNAB for a good 20 months now and it is a truly useful application.While you *can* get very similar results with a spreadsheet, having the ability to readily sync between phone and browser regardless of where you are is a godsend.As for the customer service, well, let me tell you a story... back when I first started, I use the 30-day free trial... and at the end of it I decided "YES! I want to pay for the subscription!"... only to realise that I didn't have the money for it... I hadn't budgeted for it! D'oh!So, a quick glance through the helpd pages suggested that customer service was amazing, so, not expecting much, I dropped them an email... and they were more than happy to extend my free trial for a month! While it is just good business sense for them, not a lot of other companies would be quite so happy to give their product away for free any longer than they had to - even if it ultimately means giving it away for more later.The customer service had me sorted out in a few hours - and offered me more than I had originally asked for to boot!Since then I've had a few problems the app that they have sorted me out with - again, very quick email/messaging responses, and they walked me throug the problem step-by-step.I couldn't ask for more: it honestly gets used every single day, and more than pays itself in terms of savings, and if I ever need to ask customer service anything, they are right there for me, and that is in addition to the forums community they have built around themselves!While the subscription isn't neccesarily cheap, in my case, it more than pays for itself every year!
YNAB organizes my spending. I can see how much I have left to spend in each category. I can keep track of loans I've made to people. I can see how much money I set aside for the IRS. It syncs with my bank account, so it's low maintenance. And the app is as charming as a budgeting app possibly can be. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
There is a bit of a learning curve. YNAB is based on the envelope method of budgeting. You only budget money that you have and you budget all of it when you get it. That's the fun part. Credit cards and loans are confusing to set up. Categorizing can be tedious, if you have a lot of transactions. But, the app does a good job of remembering what categories that you use for recurring transactions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
By using YNAB I'm able to successfully save for the IRS. As a freelancer my income varies month to month. It seemed impossible to stick to a budget before I started using YNAB. Now not only can I stick to it, but I can accurately forecast what's coming up. And I don't worry so much about bills and not having enough money for this or that. I can see by looking at the app exactly how far my money will last in the future. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I'm sure there are other budgeting systems out there, but this is one of the best I've ever come into contact with. I love the ease of being able to see exactly where my money is and the big-picture thinking.
There are some aspects of being able to transfer money to/from a savings account that bother me, for example, the fact that all of that money is still movable in the app even though in reality it's in a savings account so I don't want to have it added to my budget, but that's just a me preference.
Be open to the advice that they give you! Their customer service is incredible helpful. I'd recommend this to literally anyone.
YNAB has already transformed my money life; I've been using it ever since I got my first job after college and started receiving a consistent paycheck. It does wonders for my spending and has allowed me to save a lot already.
I like that you can set up multiple budgets
The auto syncing sometimes is problematic
Really great tool for keeping track of expenses. The auto-syncing option unfortunately doesn't always work.
I keep track of my budget so I know what I can spend on itemized business expenses. I also use it for tracking expenses and income for tax purposes
What's best about YNAB? It gives you more control over your money than you ever imagined you could have. The instruction from CEO Jesse Meekum, both on budgeting rules and how to use the software, give us security as freelancers that we never thought would exist.
They are phasing out support YNAB classic which I've used for years. The new model is a monthly fee, unlike the classic which was one fee for life. I'll still use it though.
Hang in there, there's a little learning curve, but the AHA moment when you realize what the software does for you is worth it.
By breaking up infrequent but predictable expenses into set monthly amounts, my business has been able to thrive even having an income that goes up and down. It also helps to figure out policy changes I need to implement, since I have income data on each client, I am empowered to make changes to the policy which meet client needs more efficiently. For example, setting up a flat fee service for clients who cancel a lot.
Changed my life! Thank you.I have used this app for years, I have recommended it to countless friends. The principles it teaches are great and the way it works really has changed my life. Couldn't do without it. Thank you so much!
I've been a subscriber of YNAB for over 4 years and love their product. Learning to manage my money with their tool and guidelines has changed my life. The product has not always been perfect and there have been some bumps along the way, but I am still more than happy to subscribe and truly believe in the value it provides. If someone asked me "what is your favorite app or service subscription?", I would tell them YNAB without any hesitation.Every interaction with customer service has been fantastic. They are kind and helpful, and when I send feature requests or suggestions it feels like they actually listen to me.
YNAB focuses you on your budget rather than account balances. It helps people build a habit of proactivity with their money instead of just letting things happen as they may. It’s incredibly intuitive and easy to use but also very powerful and flexible.
Price is a bit on the high side, but I’ve been won over on the value, so it didn’t keep me from purchasing. I used older versions for a few years, but the new cloud version had automated several of the things I used to do manually, so it was worth the upgrade.
I wish there were a cleaner way to handle reimbursements. For business expenses where I know I will be paid back, it stinks having to take money from other categories to cover. I’ve found workarounds, but it’s a little convoluted.
YNAB is not just an app but a gateway into a mindset of proactivity in personal finance. If you use it, it will work. It will not do the work for you, though.
It helps me take control of my spending and tell my money where to go rather than letting impulse spending bust my budget. We live on less and save more - measurably more.
Have been a user of YNAB since 2016. I was initially put off by the subscription model since their previous stand-alone (YNAB 4) product was a once off purchase.However I can not stress highly enough of this product and the support that comes with it. It has changed mine and my partner's life for the better as we have regained total control over our finances and actually achieving goals. To get the most out of it, I cant stress enough on doing their free webinars that come with the subscription.Unlike the poster below, I live outside the US so direct import is not an option. To be honest, I wouldn't activate it if I could. I would miss having the full awareness of our finances I have at present. A manual import isn't really much of an effort also.It is an amazing product, but the caveat is you need to spend a good month getting used to the system and sticking with it. I have no affiliation with YNAB, except I have since gotten several friends and family onto using it also. A fine company that delivers on what they say. Keep it up.
YNAB is very flexible and allows you to adjust it to your specific needs. It's based on four specific rules and once you get those down, everything else falls into place. They have excellent customer support with an extensive knowledge base, community and webinars to help you through any roadblocks. Best of all, it helped me get my finances in order and stay in the green!
Initially learning some of the rules and specifics of how YNAB wants you to enter info was complex. After some time and adjusting, I was able to figure out the "why" behind their decisions. It's a small learning curve with a big pay off.
Take the time to review their rules and the knowledge base for information about how to specifically set up some of your categories, account for your credit card spending (this one was tricky for me), and how to deal with possible overspend. A small amount of research up front will pay off since you won't be scratching your head later on and editing entries.
Getting my finances in order, saving lots of money, smarter investments and getting a few months ahead of my budget.
