Envelope-based zero-based budgeting
Assign every dollar of income to a category. Nothing floats. Reconciliation is enforced — a split that doesn’t sum to the transaction total is rejected. Roll last month forward in one tap.
Split a Costco run down to the item, sync transactions from your bank, and let AI do the boring categorization. Zero-based budgeting without the guilt pile.
A single Costco run is one $237.42 charge on your card — but it’s really groceries, household, and kids’ school supplies. Budget Factor splits it across your envelopes automatically — groceries, household, and school supplies each land where they belong.
Assign every dollar of income to a category. Nothing floats. Reconciliation is enforced — a split that doesn’t sum to the transaction total is rejected. Roll last month forward in one tap.
Point, shoot, split. AI extracts each line item with 95%+ confidence. Tax is distributed proportionally so the split reconciles to the cent. Your receipt image is processed and never stored.
Connect any US bank via Plaid — 12,000+ institutions. Transactions auto-import 1–4× daily. AI categorizes with confidence scoring; uncertain ones surface as suggestions you approve in one tap.
The “Needs split” queue keeps every unreconciled transaction visible until you handle it. No pile of unclassified spending to feel guilty about. Connected a bank late? One button files a year of imported history against your envelopes.
Write standing guidance in plain text and it’s injected into every AI decision. Budget Factor reads your last ~75 days and drafts a realistic envelope set from your actual spending — not generic household guesses.
Every suggestion shows which merchants informed it, with real dollar amounts. No black-box AI.
“Amazon Mktp is household supplies, not gifts”
“Keep discretionary categories lean — we’re saving hard right now.”
Both partners see the same envelopes, same transactions, in real time. Either member can edit anything. Invite by six-character code — no email spam. Solo works too — a single user is just a household of one.
Plaid connections cannot move money. Ever.
Your receipt image is processed and discarded. No image is ever stored on our servers.
Only Gemini (Google), only for specific tasks, on the paid tier that doesn’t train on your data.
Disconnecting a bank actually revokes the token at Plaid. Keep the history or wipe it — your call, per bank.
| Budget Factor | YNAB | EveryDollar | Rocket Money | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipt line-item splitting | Full AI extraction | — | — | — |
| Zero-based budgeting | Enforced at DB level | Yes | Yes | — |
| AI categorization + guidance | You steer the AI | Partial | — | Partial |
| Shared household | Included | Included | Single-user | — |
| No upsells / no tiers | ✓ | Multiple plans | Free + paid | Aggressive upsells |
| Pricing | $7/mo flat | $14.99/mo | $12.99/mo | $6–12/mo + upsells |
Two partners on a shared budget still pay $7. Save a month with the annual plan at $70/year.
Bank connections, receipt scanning, AI categorization, transaction sync.
Unlimited manual entry, envelopes, splits, history — everything else.
Your data stays. Every dollar of history you’ve entered is still yours to read — new bank syncs stop until you’re back.
A charge posted Jan 2 that belongs to December? Move it. Works for late-recording bills and reimbursements.
Multi-select mode for mass delete. Import went sideways? Reset in seconds.
Add Budget Factor to your home screen and it opens like a native app. Web-first, PWA-ready, 2FA via any authenticator app.
Free to use for as long as you like. Connect a bank to auto-sync, or just snap receipts.
Start free