Every unit of income gets a job in Actual Budget - a local-first personal finance app built on envelope (zero-sum) budgeting, where you can only budget cash you actually have, which keeps the plan honest by construction. The data model is a SQLite file that lives on your device and works fully offline; the self-hosted Node.js sync server adds background multi-device synchronization using CRDT-based distributed-systems machinery, browser and mobile access as an installable web app, and automated backups. Optional end-to-end encryption makes the synced data unreadable even to the server hosting it. Transactions enter three ways: manual entry, file import (CSV, QIF, OFX, QFX, CAMT.053), or automatic bank syncing through GoCardless for EU/UK banks and SimpleFIN for US/Canada. Built-in YNAB4 and nYNAB importers migrate complete budget histories, and reports, schedules for recurring transactions, and rule-based transaction cleanup handle the day-to-day. A fully featured local API lets developers script custom importers and automation against their own data. 100% free, open source, and 26k stars strong.

After the bills are covered, how much is actually safe to spend? monetr organizes an entire budgeting application around that one question. Inspired by the defunct Simple bank, it budgets paycheck by paycheck rather than month by month. Funding schedules encode when you get paid - including multiple schedules per account and a weekend-exclusion option for deposits that land early - and every expense or savings goal is tied to one. monetr then calculates how much of each recurring obligation (rent, car payment, subscriptions, on any repeat interval) to set aside from each paycheck, so a large bill never has to come out of a single check. What remains after allocations is surfaced as Free-To-Use, and a forecasting timeline projects contributions, due dates, and leftover funds forward so low-balance periods are visible before they happen. Transactions arrive either as OFX uploads from your bank or automatically through a Plaid connection using your own API credentials, keeping balances and transactions synced without manual entry. The app is mobile-friendly and installable as a PWA on desktop or phone. Self-hosting via Docker Compose is completely free, with all source code public and your financial data on your own hardware.