Side by side
| Feature | UrBudget | Copilot Money |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9 once, on all your own computers, with future updates | $13 a month, or $95 a year |
| Free trial | 30 days, with no account or card | One month for new users. You can look around the app before connecting an account |
| Runs on | Windows 10 and 11, macOS 12 or later | iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web. No Android or Windows app |
| Where your budget lives | In a file on your computer. Works offline, with automatic backups | In your Copilot account, on Copilot's servers (it runs on Google Cloud) |
| Between devices | Optional sync for $2 a month, encrypted with your passphrase before it leaves your computer | Included |
| Bank connections | None. Import statement files (CSV, OFX, QFX, QIF) from banks in any country, checked row by row | Built in, for more than 10,000 US institutions, mostly through Plaid, plus direct links to Apple, Capital One, Public and Coinbase. US accounts only |
| Sharing | Your own computers; no shared budget for several people | No separate logins: you share your own sign-in through a magic link, and the other device gets full control of the account |
| Method | Envelopes: you budget money you already have, and every category carries its balance into the next month | Spending budgets per category, with optional rollovers. The budget isn't tied to your income, and budgeting can be turned off to just track spending |
| Getting your data out | CSV in YNAB's layout, or a full JSON backup | CSV of your transactions: all of them from the iPhone app, or a filtered set on the web, Mac and iPad |
Tracking first, or budgeting first
Copilot is built to need as little of your time as possible. Transactions arrive from your banks, its AI categorizes them and learns your habits over time, and the app shows spending, subscriptions, investments and net worth. Its budget is a spending limit per category. Copilot's own help says it isn't built as a zero-based budgeting tool and doesn't automatically tie your budget to your income; you set the total yourself.
UrBudget asks for a few minutes a week instead. You import your bank's statement files, assign the money that's in your accounts to categories, and move money between categories when plans change. In exchange, you always know what each dollar is for before you spend it, and your budget never depends on a bank connection.
What it costs over time
Over five years, Copilot comes to $475 on the yearly plan, or $780 paid monthly. UrBudget comes to $9, or $129 if you also keep sync on the whole time.
Which one fits you
Copilot, if you
- use an iPhone, iPad or Mac and bank in the US
- want transactions to arrive and sort themselves, with little upkeep
- want investments and net worth next to your spending
- want spending limits per category rather than assigning every dollar
UrBudget, if you
- use Windows, or bank outside the US
- want envelope budgeting, where every dollar has a job before you spend it
- would rather not connect your bank accounts to an app
- want to pay once: $9 instead of $95 a year
If you want an automatic tracker on your iPhone, Copilot is built for exactly that, and UrBudget doesn't connect to banks or run on phones. If you want to plan your money before you spend it, at your computer, UrBudget is built for that.
Moving from Copilot to UrBudget
Copilot exports your transactions as a CSV file with the date, name, amount, category, account and notes of each one. Budgets don't come with it. UrBudget imports bank statement files into one account at a time.
- Export your transactions. On iPhone, go to Settings, then Account, then Export your transactions; that file has every account in it. On the web, Mac or iPad, you can export just the transactions you've filtered in the Transactions tab. Either way you need one file per account for UrBudget, so filter to one account, or split the full file by its account column in a spreadsheet.
- Add the account in UrBudget. The opening balance is the starting point before any transactions you add. To start fresh, use today's balance and import only newer transactions. To bring the history, use the balance from just before the file's first transaction.
- Import the file and check the signs. In the account's register, choose Import file. UrBudget reads the date, the payee from the Name column, the amount and the notes. It reads a negative amount as money out, so look at a few purchases in the preview before you save. If they show as money in, tick Purchases are positive (UrBudget 1.0.3 and later) and preview again, or use your bank's OFX or QFX file for that account instead.
- Give your money a job. Categories don't come over, so create yours and assign what's in your accounts until nothing is left unassigned. From then on, download statement files from your bank and import them the same way.
New to envelope budgeting? Getting started covers it in five steps.
Try it for a month
Free for 30 days, with no account and no card. Your Copilot account stays as it is.
Copilot Money is a trademark of its owner. UrBudget isn't affiliated with Copilot Money.