u/tide816

[Self-Promo] I'm the developer.

Intro post · Week 1: YNAB import.

Budget Name: Tarn

Budget Style: Zero-based envelope budgeting

How similar to YNAB?

Same envelope core: assign every dollar, available rolls over, two-tap overspending cover. Simplified credit cards, no targets yet.

It went quiet here for a few weeks. Then a long-time YNAB user left a comment on the intro post with a list of things they missed, and that list became this update. Everything below came from that one thread.

What changed

• Light or dark, your call. Settings has an Appearance row: System, Light or Dark. System does what Tarn always did, follow your phone.
• Your own envelope groups. "+ Add group" at the bottom of the budget. Tap a group's name to rename or delete it. If a group still has envelopes, Tarn asks where they should go first, so nothing is lost with it.
• What you assigned, right on the budget. Under each envelope's available amount you now see what you assigned this month, so the number has context. Tap an envelope name for the full picture: Assigned, Activity, Available.
• Two small fixes from the same thread. More room between the keypad and the Add button (the 0 was sitting right on top of it). And the quick-entry default of "the envelope you used last" now really is the last one. On iPhone and Firefox it could pick the wrong one when you'd made several entries in a day.

Not done yet, so you know

• No reordering groups. Next if anyone needs it.
• The same user suggested hiding "+ Add envelope" until you're editing. I like the instinct and I'm still working out how to do it without adding a mode.
• Still single device. Sync is planned as an optional add-on later; the local core will never require it.

The person behind that list said the minimalism is Tarn's strong point. That's the plan: the envelope method, done well, and not much else. If you've tried Tarn and something got in your way, that's the comment I'm hoping for.

Tarn is a free local-first web app: no signup, no bank connection, works offline once loaded.

tarn-8k3.pages.dev

[Self-Promo] I'm the developer. Intro post from last Sunday.

Budget Name: Tarn

Budget Style: Zero-based envelope budgeting

How similar to YNAB?

Same envelope core: assign every dollar, available rolls over, two-tap overspending cover. Simplified credit cards, no targets yet.

Reading this sub, one pattern is hard to miss: the moment people think about switching is the moment they picture retyping years of data. So the first update is YNAB import.

How it works:

1. In YNAB, use Export Plan Data.
2. In Tarn, open Settings, then Import from YNAB, and pick the zip you just downloaded. No unzipping.
3. You get a preview first: accounts, envelopes, transactions, monthly assignments, and where your To Be Assigned will land. Nothing is replaced until you confirm, and Tarn downloads a backup of anything it replaces.

Honest limits:

• Single currency for now.
• Money YNAB kept in credit card payment categories returns to To Be Assigned, because Tarn has no payment choreography. The preview shows you the exact amount.

If you have a YNAB export lying around, I would honestly love to know what breaks. It handles the real export I tested, but one budget is one budget.

Tarn is a free local-first web app: no signup, no bank connection, works offline once loaded.

tarn-8k3.pages.dev

[Self-Promo] I'm the developer.

Budget Name: Tarn

Budget Style: Zero-based envelope budgeting

How similar to YNAB? The envelope core is the same family: assign every dollar, available rolls over, covering overspending takes two taps. Credit cards use a simplified model (recording a credit purchase deducts from the envelope right away). No targets yet.

Like many here, I wanted the envelope method without the subscription treadmill. So Tarn is just a web page. Open the URL and you're budgeting in about 30 seconds, no signup, no bank connection. Once loaded it works offline, and you can add it to your home screen like an app.

The part I care most about: there is no backend. Your budget lives in your browser, not on my server. If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, the app keeps working and your data is still yours (CSV and JSON export shipped on day one). I should also say plainly that I build Tarn solo and use AI to help write the code. The money math itself is small, hand-designed, and covered by automated tests that check no action can ever create or destroy a cent.

What it does today:

• Real envelope mechanics: assign, rollover, cover overspending
• Quick entry made for the checkout line (it stays open for the next one)
• Reconcile against your bank statement in three steps
• Light and dark mode, phone or desktop

What it doesn't do yet, so you don't waste your time:

• YNAB import. Top of the roadmap. I wanted export working before import, on purpose: you should be able to leave before I ask you to move in.
• Multi-device sync. Planned as an optional add-on later. The local core will never require it.
• Targets/goals, and YNAB-style credit card payment choreography.

It's free while in beta. When it eventually charges, that will be discussed here first, not sprung on you. Most of us are on this sub because of a bait-and-switch; I'm not building another one.

Link: tarn-8k3.pages.dev

(A tarn is a small, still mountain lake.) I'll be in and out of the comments today and tomorrow — ask me the hard questions.