Frequently asked questions

A method where every dollar of income gets assigned a job — rent, groceries, savings, fun — before the month starts, until the amount left to assign is exactly zero. Zero doesn’t mean spending everything: saving is a job too. It means no dollars floating around without a purpose.

No — and you can’t yet, actually. BetterBudget has no bank sync today (it’s on the roadmap). You log transactions manually in seconds or bring history in via CSV import. Many budgeters find that the small act of logging is exactly what keeps them aware of their spending.

Yes. You start with a sensible category template and a short guided tour, and the method is one rule: assign every dollar a job. The streaks and celebrations exist precisely to carry you through the first months while the habit forms.

Everyone you invite joins the same budget with their own login. Owners manage the budget and billing, adults can assign money and log spending, and limited members (great for teens) log their own transactions without moving money. Every transaction shows who spent it, and changes appear for everyone in real time. The limited role is a Business-plan feature; two adults budgeting together fit comfortably on Plus.

Free is a complete zero-based budget for one person: 40 categories, 2 goals, 5 recurring expenses, 2 accounts. Plus ($4.99/mo or $49/yr) adds a second seat, unlimited categories/goals/recurring, 6 accounts, envelope carryover, CSV import, and advanced reports. Business ($9.99/mo or $99/yr) raises it to 10 seats with everything unlimited and adds member roles.

Nothing breaks. Everything you’ve created keeps working and stays visible — you just can’t add new items past the limit (a 41st category on Free, say) until you upgrade or archive something. We never hold your existing data hostage.

Every new account can claim a 14-day trial of Plus with no credit card. When it ends, you move to the Free plan automatically — nothing is charged. Anything you created beyond Free’s limits stays visible; you just can’t add more until you upgrade.

Yes. The CSV importer (Plus and Business) accepts any transaction CSV — you map the date, amount, and payee columns yourself — and it ships with an EveryDollar preset that pre-fills the mapping automatically. Imports are duplicate-safe, so re-running a file won’t double your history. See the migration guide for a step-by-step walkthrough.

Per category, you choose: reset to zero each month, or carry the leftover forward. Carryover categories behave like real envelopes — underspend groceries by $40 in July and August’s envelope starts $40 fuller. Sinking-fund goals use carryover automatically, since that’s the whole point of a sinking fund.

Because budgets fail when the logging habit dies, not when the math gets hard. BetterBudget tracks a daily logging streak, a weekly review streak, and a months-budgeted streak your household shares, plus XP, levels, and 14 badges for real milestones like zeroing a month or funding a goal. Daily XP is capped so the game rewards honest habits, not grinding.

Your budget is visible only to you and the members you invite. We don’t run ads, and we don’t sell data — paid plans are the entire business model. You can request an export of your data or delete your account whenever you like. See the privacy policy for the details.

Yes, from the billing page in a couple of clicks. You keep paid features until the end of the period you’ve paid for, then move to the Free plan with all your data intact.