How to Build a Budget, and How Budgeting Apps Work: Pricing and Data Sharing

Quick answer

• Based on CFPB tools (CFPB, 2020): track your income and benefits, track your spending, map bills to due dates, then build a cash flow budget week by week.
• Many budgeting apps are paid subscriptions that renew automatically. Check the price, the trial, when billing starts and how to cancel.
• Linking bank accounts shares your transaction and balance data with the app and the data aggregator it uses.

Build a budget (based on the CFPB’s Your Money, Your Goals tools, CFPB, 2020)

1. Track your income and benefits. List all the money coming in (CFPB “Income and benefits tracker”).
2. Track your spending. Log what you spend (CFPB “Spending tracker”). The CFPB says: “Before you can build a cash flow budget, you will need to track your income, resources, and expenses for at least one month.”
3. Map your bills to due dates. Put each bill on a calendar next to your paydays (CFPB “Bill calendar”).
4. Build a cash flow budget. “A cash flow budget is all about tracking the timing of your income and expenses to make sure you have enough from week to week” (CFPB “Creating a cash flow budget”).

From there, the CFPB toolkit has tools for cutting expenses and setting SMART goals.

How budgeting apps charge

A “free trial” that turns into a paid plan is not the same as a free app. Check the price, whether a card is required, when billing starts and how to cancel.

Listed alphabetically; not a ranking. Criteria from our methodology: price, features, bank linking and security, platforms, data-sharing policy. From each provider’s own pages, accessed 10/19/2026.

App	Price (as stated)	Trial	Auto-renewal	Cancelling	Data sharing (as the provider states it)
Monarch Core	“a yearly subscription at $99.99 or a monthly subscription at $14.99” (Core plan)	First week free (“Your first week is on us,” Monarch pricing page, 10/19/2026). Terms: “You must stop using a Paid Plan before the end of the trial period in order to avoid being charged”	Terms: “Your enrollment in the Paid Plan will be automatically renewed every twelve (12) months” (terms describe the annual plan; monthly renewal terms aren’t stated)	“You can cancel anytime” (pricing page). Refunds: the pricing page says “we offer a no-questions-asked money-back guarantee” but doesn’t publish the guarantee’s terms or time limit. Monarch’s terms say “Subscription Fees are generally non-refundable unless otherwise agreed to by MM” and “no refunds will be granted for Subscription Fees paid unless otherwise agreed to by MM.” Ask Monarch how the guarantee applies before you rely on it, and check the terms (checked 10/19/2026).	Privacy policy: account data received “via Plaid, Finicity, Mx, or Spinwheel”; “We will never sell your financial data”; its privacy policy also says it shares some device, web and profile data “for targeted advertising purposes”. Security page: “We have read-only permissions and can’t access your money”
YNAB	“$109 USD* paid annually” or “$14.99 USD*/month” (*plus tax where applicable)	34-day free trial: “You won’t be charged unless you subscribe” (signing up directly; “third-party app stores may require credit card information”)	Terms: “Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of each billing period unless you cancel”	Terms: cancel “through your account settings or by contacting Support”; takes effect “at the end of your current billing period”	Privacy policy: uses aggregation services “(MX, Plaid, etc.)” with your consent; “We do not sell your Financial Data”; it does “perform typical targeted advertising”

Plain links: Monarch pricing · YNAB pricing

Platforms supported and full feature lists: see each provider’s site (not compared here).

Before you link accounts

When you connect a bank account, the app and its aggregator receive your transaction and balance data under their own privacy policies. Read both, and check how to disconnect accounts and delete data.

How we research and compare products

General information, not financial advice.