A Goodbudget alternative
An envelope app that doesn't connect to your bank.
Goodbudget is the best-known envelope budgeting app, and for a lot of people it is still the right one. In August 2024 it added automatic bank sync. If the reason you chose envelopes was to keep your bank login out of it, Minturn Money is the envelope app that still does.
Free tier, no card · 14-day trial on paid · works offline
Side by side
Where the two actually differ.
Only facts we can stand behind, dated. Both are envelope apps; this is about the choices around the envelopes.
| Goodbudget | Minturn Money | |
|---|---|---|
| Bank connection | Automatic bank sync through Plaid, added August 2024 | None. No bank login, no aggregator |
| Premium, annual | $80 a year | $59.99 a year |
| Premium, monthly | $10 a month | $6.99 a month |
Free tiers are not compared here — check each app’s current limits before you choose. Minturn Money’s paid tiers come with a 14-day free trial on your first subscription.
Why no bank connection
The envelope method never needed your bank.
Envelopes work because you decide first and spend second. Typing a purchase in takes a few seconds, and those seconds are the point: it is the moment you notice. An automatic feed of transactions turns a budget back into a record of what already happened.
- No credential to store, so none to leak
- No third-party aggregator between you and your money
- Works on a plane, in a tunnel, with the router off
- Statement reconciliation on Ultimate reads a file you downloaded yourself — still no login
Available
-$46.90
Funded
$200.00
Spent
$246.90
Available
-$46.90
Ramen Bar
Aug 24
-38.40
Two Rivers Coffee
Aug 23
-11.20
Alpenglow Pizza
Aug 21
-64.20
What you get
The envelope method, with a few edges.
Everything below is in Minturn Money today. The tier is stated where one applies.
Envelopes that read at a glance
One bar per envelope separates spent from left, and shows overspending in its own colour — past the budget, or past the money that was there.
Paycheck-sized periods
Weekly, biweekly or twice-monthly budget periods that start on your payday. Premium.
A shared workspace with roles
Share a budget with up to four others, with per-member spending limits and approval for bigger purchases. Ultimate.
Reconcile without connecting
Download a statement, let the app read the file and match it to what you logged. Ultimate.
Your budget stays on your device
The budget lives in the app. Nothing of it reaches our servers unless you turn on cloud sync, a paid feature.
Offline first
The whole app runs on your device. Nothing waits on a network, on any tier.
Switching
Moving over in one evening.
FreeEverything here works on the free tier. Premium adds unlimited envelopes and paycheck periods; the 14-day trial lets you try them first.
- Write down your envelopes and their monthly amounts. They are the part of your old budget worth keeping.
- Pick a clean start date — your next payday or the 1st — rather than migrating half a month.
- Create the envelopes in Minturn Money and fund them from the money actually in your account today.
- Log purchases as you make them for the first week. After that it is habit.
Questions.
Is Minturn Money a Goodbudget clone?
No. Both apps use the envelope method, which is roughly a century older than either of them. The method is shared; the app, its design and its choices are our own — most visibly the choice not to connect to banks.
Does Goodbudget connect to banks now?
As of September 2026, yes: Goodbudget added automatic bank sync through Plaid in August 2024. If automatic bank import is what you want, that is a genuine reason to choose it. Minturn Money does not connect to banks.
How do the prices compare?
As of September 2026, Goodbudget Premium is $80 a year or $10 a month. Minturn Money Premium is $59.99 a year or $6.99 a month, with a 14-day free trial on your first subscription. Ultimate, which adds a shared workspace and statement reconciliation, is $89.99 a year.
Can I move my Goodbudget envelopes across?
Not automatically — there is no importer for another app’s data. Most people rebuild their envelopes by hand in a few minutes, since the targets are numbers they already know, and start the new month fresh in Minturn Money.
Can my partner and I share one budget?
Yes, on Ultimate: a separate shared workspace that up to four other people can join, with roles, per-member spending limits and approval for larger purchases. Your personal budget stays separate.
Which platforms does Minturn Money run on?
iPhone and iPad from the App Store, and any modern browser everywhere else — Android, Windows, Mac and Linux — where it installs as an app.
Goodbudget is a trademark of its owner. Minturn Money is not affiliated with or endorsed by Goodbudget. Competitor details are as of September 2026 and may have changed.
Envelopes, without the bank login.
Free to start, no card. 14 days of Premium if you want the rest.
Never Summer Mountains · mark byzewski, CC BY 2.0
