Budgeting apps · #4 of 15 · ↑ Quicken Simplifi · ↓ Copilot Money
Actual Budget
sampled: 3 of 4 assistants this week
Actual Budget shows up in 18 of 64 answers across our tracked questions, landing an overall score of 23 out of 100 (Claude rates it highest at 36, ChatGPT gives it 20, and Perplexity 13). It does best on niche asks: named in all 3 answers for open-source or self-hosted picks, privacy-focused apps, and envelope or zero-based budgeting, plus 2 of 3 for international use and irregular income. It's never mentioned for net worth tracking, automatic bank syncing, freelancer budgeting, beginner-friendly apps, or subscription cancellation - suggesting AI assistants peg it firmly as a tool for technical, privacy-minded, envelope-style budgeters rather than an all-purpose pick.
this is mine claim it, free, forever. We also check whether ChatGPT and Claude can read actualbudget.org.
Who's talking about you
| assistant | score | named in, this week | usual spot, this week |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 20 | 25% of answers | #2.6 |
| Claude | 36 | 50% of answers | #3.5 |
| Gemini | not sampled this week | ||
| Perplexity | 13 | 15% of answers | #2.3 |
Questions you win
| question | named in | best spot |
|---|---|---|
| What's the best budgeting app for privacy that doesn't sell my data? | 3 of 3 | #1 |
| What's the best open-source or self-hosted budgeting app? | 3 of 3 | #1 |
| What's the best envelope or zero-based budgeting app? | 3 of 3 | #3 |
| What's the best budgeting app for people with irregular income? | 2 of 3 | #2 |
| What's the best budgeting app that works outside the US? | 2 of 3 | #2 |
| What are the best free budgeting apps? | 1 of 3 | #5 |
| Which budgeting app is best now that Mint has shut down? | 1 of 3 | #6 |
| What's the best budgeting app that works with a spreadsheet? | 1 of 3 | #6 |
| What's the best budgeting app in 2026? | 1 of 4 | #4 |
| Which budgeting app is worth paying for? | 1 of 4 | #5 |
Questions you lose
| question | who got named instead |
|---|---|
| What are the best budgeting apps? | YNAB, EveryDollar, Quicken Simplifi |
| What's the best personal finance app to see all my accounts in one place? | Monarch Money, Empower, Copilot Money |
| Which budgeting app is best for someone paying off debt? | YNAB, EveryDollar, PocketGuard |
| Which budgeting app has the best mobile experience? | Copilot Money, Monarch Money, YNAB |
| What's the best budgeting app for couples sharing finances? | Monarch Money, Honeydue, YNAB |
| What's the best app to track spending automatically from my bank accounts? | Monarch Money, Copilot Money, Rocket Money |
| What's the best app to find and cancel unwanted subscriptions? | Rocket Money |
| What's the best app to track net worth and investments alongside a budget? | Monarch Money, Empower, Quicken Simplifi |
| What's the best budgeting app for a freelancer or self-employed person? | YNAB, Monarch Money, Quicken Simplifi |
| What's the best simple budgeting app for someone who has never budgeted? | Rocket Money, YNAB, EveryDollar |
Assistants cited 15 pages for questions in this category that name your rivals and not you. Claim to see them. See all sources for Budgeting apps.
In their words
- ChatGPT“Actual Budget | Depends on setup/provider | Yes | Zero-based/envelope | Privacy/open-source enthusiasts”
- Claude“Actual Budget — Open-source YNAB alternative.”
- Perplexity“If you want the best overall choice for most people, Actual Budget is the strongest pick: it is local-first, open source, supports sync across devices, and is explicitly recommended as the best starting point for most users in a 2026 comparison.”
Closest rivals
- Actual Budget vs Copilot Money23
- Actual Budget vs Rocket Money22
- Actual Budget vs Empower19
- Actual Budget vs EveryDollar18
- Actual Budget vs Goodbudget18
All Actual Budget alternatives · Full Budgeting apps leaderboard · Sources