Allocated: a one time purchase YNAB alternative for Mac
Hi all — I looked into YNAB, balked at the subscription, and ended up building my own envelope budgeting app instead. It's called Allocated and I'd love any honest feedback.
Quick rundown:
- Mac only (for now), $59 one-time, 3-day free trial
- Data is a single JSON file on your computer, no bank sync, no cloud
- YNAB-style envelope model: Ready to Assign, credit card auto-funding, carry-over deficits, reconciliation
- CSV import with fuzzy category matching (categorize a payee once, it remembers)
- Workflows that walk you through opening and closing each month
- Newbie mode: hover any term for a plain-English explanation
- Savings folders tied to specific accounts (so $X in your BoA Savings is earmarked to a specific goal)
- Daily spending heatmap
Where it sits vs. other alternatives:
- vs Actual Budget: Honest pitch for Allocated: you pay once to skip the self-hosting, get a more polished Mac UI, and a more guided workflow (month-end / month-start wizards, newbie tooltips). If you're comfortable self-hosting and want sync, Actual is great.
- vs Aspire: Allocated is for people who'd rather not maintain formulas.
- vs Copilot / Monarch: these are auto-categorizing expense trackers, not envelope budgeting. Additionally, they are subscription based.
Honest disclosures:
- Mac only
- No sync. Intentional, but I know it's a dealbreaker for some.
- I'm one person, day job is medical residency. Email support goes to me directly.
Happy to answer anything. Any feedback on YNAB-fidelity or features I'm missing would be especially useful.
u/postcall_dev — 9 days ago