Best Budgeting and Expense Tracking
Most people who quit YNAB, Mint, Monarch, Simplifi, Copilot, Tiller, or Lunch Money quit for the same reasons: a mandatory bank connection, a budgeting methodology to learn, or a spreadsheet to maintain. ZenExpenses is the simple alternative: upload a statement, see where the money went.
What makes an expense tracker actually stick
- No bank login shared. You upload statement files instead of connecting accounts, so it works with any bank in any country and your credentials stay with your bank.
- No methodology. No envelopes, zero-based budgeting, or "age of money". Categories and totals, which is what most people actually wanted.
- Automation where it counts. Rules categorize recurring merchants, so a month takes minutes to process.
- Shared expenses built in. Splits for roommates, couples, and trips, kept separate from personal totals.
How it compares
- vs YNAB: YNAB is a budgeting methodology first; if you want to see spending rather than practice zero-based budgeting, it is heavy. ZenExpenses is tracking first, with optional limits.
- vs Mint (discontinued) and Monarch/Simplifi: those center on live bank connections and net-worth dashboards. ZenExpenses trades the live feed for privacy and universality: one upload a month, no broken sync.
- vs Tiller and spreadsheets: Tiller feeds a spreadsheet you then maintain. ZenExpenses does the categorization and reporting without formula upkeep.
The monthly workflow
1. Download last month's statement from your bank and upload it.
2. Rules categorize the recurring merchants; you assign the handful left over.
3. Review totals by category and compare with previous months.
About twenty minutes a month, and nothing breaks if you skip one; just upload two statements next time.
Try the simple approach
Upload one statement and see your spending by category, no bank connection and no setup project.
Try ZenExpenses ↗