| Cost | Free open-source core; pay only for optional hosting | $99.99/yr or $14.99/mo | About $109/yr or $14.99/mo | Free self-hosted; ~$3/mo managed | About $95/yr or $13/mo | Free, funded by ads and referrals |
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| Who owns the data | You do — plain-text files on your own disk | Monarch's cloud; CSV export in 10,000-row chunks | YNAB's cloud; CSV export per budget | You do — a local budget file you sync yourself | Copilot's cloud; CSV export | Intuit's cloud; limited export |
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| Budgeting | Custom budgets and queries you define yourself | Category and flexible budgets with rollovers | Zero-based envelopes — the strongest method here | Envelope budgeting, YNAB-style | Light category budgets | None |
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| Bank sync | Optional hosted sync; CSV import any time | Broadest coverage, switchable aggregators | Solid coverage across US, Canada and the UK | Bring your own connection | Good US coverage | Automatic for supported accounts |
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| Investments | Full lots, cost basis and capital gains | Holdings and balances; deeper analytics on the paid tier | Tracking accounts only | Basic tracking accounts | Holdings and performance views | Balances only |
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