Side by side
| Feature | UrBudget | Buckets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9 once, on all your own computers, with future updates. Refunds within 14 days | $64 once, for all your computers and those of family members living in your home. Lower prices in some countries. No refunds |
| Free trial | 30 days, with no account or card. Afterwards it opens read-only until you buy | No time limit. The trial is the full app, with a sticker in the corner, a bucket for saving up for the license and occasional reminders to buy |
| Runs on | Windows 10 and 11, macOS 12 or later | Windows, macOS and Linux. A phone app for Android, and for iPhone as a TestFlight beta, that's read-only for now |
| Where your budget lives | In a file on your computer. Works offline, with automatic backups | In a file on your computer (a SQLite database, as UrBudget's is), with automatic backups |
| Between devices | Optional sync for $2 a month, encrypted with your passphrase before it leaves your computer | Built in, three ways: an encrypted shared folder (Dropbox, iCloud and others), a relay both devices must be connected to at the same time, or your local network. You merge incoming changes yourself, with Tools > Merge Budgets |
| Bank connections | None. Import statement files (CSV, OFX, QFX, QIF), checked row by row | Import OFX, QFX or CSV files, record a private bank macro, or connect through SimpleFIN Bridge, a separate service at $15 a year |
| Sharing | Your own computers; no shared budget for several people | Share a budget with someone else's computer through the same sharing tools |
| Method | Envelopes with targets, credit-card payment categories, rollover and Quick assign | A form of envelope budgeting: income is "rain" you pour into buckets each month. Buckets can refill monthly or save toward an amount by a date, and debt accounts get a payment bucket |
| Coming from YNAB | Paste a token and import: targets, notes and schedules come over, checked month by month. YNAB's export file works too; YNAB 4 files don't | Imports YNAB 4 budgets and the current YNAB's export file |
| Language | English, with any currency, number and date format | Translated into many languages by volunteers |
| Getting your data out | CSV in YNAB's layout, or a full JSON backup | CSV export of transactions. The budget file is a SQLite database that other tools can read |
What it costs over time
Both are one-time purchases, so the difference stays put: $9 against $64. UrBudget's license includes future updates. Buckets' license covers its current 0.x versions and version 1; Buckets says a version 2, if one ever comes, would likely have a small upgrade fee.
Sync is where UrBudget can cost more. Kept on for five years, its $2 a month brings UrBudget to $129. Buckets has no monthly fee, and its sharing tools come with the app, but you merge changes from other devices by hand.
Which one fits you
Buckets, if you
- use Linux, or want to glance at balances on your phone
- share one budget with a partner who uses their own computer
- want a trial with no time limit
- want transactions to come in through SimpleFIN Bridge or a recorded bank macro
- still have a YNAB 4 budget to bring over
- would rather use the app in a language other than English
UrBudget, if you
- want to pay $9 instead of $64, with 14 days to ask for a refund
- use two computers and want sync to keep them the same, with nothing to merge by hand
- are leaving the current YNAB and want a one-click import, checked month by month, that you can repeat while you decide
- want targets, credit-card payment categories, Quick assign, a loan planner and twelve reports
If you're on Linux, budget with someone on another computer, or want the app in your own language, Buckets is the better choice. UrBudget is for people on Windows or a Mac who want YNAB-style tools for $9.
Moving from Buckets to UrBudget
UrBudget can't open a Buckets file, and Buckets has no export that carries a whole budget. Setting up your accounts and envelopes takes a few minutes by hand. Past transactions can come over as CSV, one account at a time, if you want them.
- Keep a copy from Buckets. Nothing you do in UrBudget changes your Buckets file. Export your transactions as CSV from Buckets anyway, so you have them in a form any spreadsheet can open.
- Add your accounts. In UrBudget, add each account from Buckets' Accounts tab with today's balance. Accounts you kept off budget in Buckets, like a mortgage, can be tracking accounts: they count toward net worth without being budgeted.
- Turn buckets into categories. Make a category for each bucket and assign it what the bucket holds today, until Unassigned reaches zero. A bucket that saves toward an amount by a date becomes a category with a target. For a credit card you're paying down, the card's payment category does the job of Buckets' debt payment bucket.
- Import from your bank from now on. Download statement files from your bank, as OFX or QFX if it offers them, and choose Import file in each account's register. You see every row before it's saved, and rows you've already imported are marked as duplicates.
Bringing past transactions
If you want older transactions in UrBudget's reports, import them account by account. UrBudget needs a header row with Date, Payee (or Name, Merchant or Description) and Amount. Money out should be negative; if the file has it the other way round, tick Purchases are positive when you import (UrBudget 1.0.3 and later, which also reads currency symbols). Rename any column Buckets names differently, keep one account per file, and save it as CSV. Start that account at its balance from before the first transaction you import, not today's.
Try UrBudget for a month
Free for 30 days, with no account and no card. Your Buckets file stays as it is.
Buckets is a trademark of its owner. UrBudget isn't affiliated with Buckets or SimpleFIN.