Side by side
| Feature | UrBudget | Monarch Money |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9 once, on all your own computers, with future updates | Core: $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year. Plus, which adds retirement forecasting, business income and deeper investment analysis: $199.99 a year |
| Free trial | 30 days, with no account or card | 7 days; a payment method is required |
| Runs on | Windows 10 and 11, macOS 12 or later | The web, iPhone, iPad and Android, in the US and Canada |
| Where your budget lives | In a file on your computer. Works offline, with automatic backups | In your Monarch account, on Monarch's servers |
| 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), checked row by row | Built in, through Plaid, Finicity and MX; you can switch provider per bank. CSV import on the web |
| Sharing | Your own computers; no shared budget for several people | Invite people in your household at no extra cost. Each has their own login and sees every account |
| Method | Envelopes: you budget money you already have, and every category carries its balance into the next month | Cash-flow budgeting: planned income minus planned spending and savings. Flex budgeting (one number for variable spending) by default, or a budget per category, with optional rollovers |
| Getting your data out | CSV in YNAB's layout, or a full JSON backup | CSV of transactions, for one account or all of them, and balance history, even after your subscription ends |
Tracking first, or budgeting first
Monarch's budget is built on cash flow: it starts from the income you expect this month and subtracts what you plan to spend and save. Its help center says you can follow an envelope or zero-based style on top of that, as long as income equals expenses plus savings. Most of the app is about seeing everything in one place: every account synced, your net worth, investments and custom reports.
UrBudget is built the other way round. You assign the money that's already in your accounts to categories, spend from them, and move money between them when plans change. Whatever a category doesn't spend stays in it next month. There's no feed from your bank; you import the statement files your bank gives you, a few minutes a week.
What it costs over time
Over five years, Monarch Core comes to $499.95 on the yearly plan, or $899.40 paid monthly, and Plus to $999.95. UrBudget comes to $9, or $129 if you also keep sync on the whole time.
Which one fits you
Monarch, if you
- want every account, including investments and loans, updated automatically
- care most about net worth, cash flow and investment tracking
- share money with a partner and want separate logins to one household
- check your money on your phone
UrBudget, if you
- want envelope budgeting: only money you have, and a balance in every category
- would rather not connect your bank accounts to a budgeting app
- want your budget in a file you keep, that works offline
- want to pay once: $9 instead of $99.99 a year
If what you want is a dashboard of everything you own and owe, kept up to date without effort, Monarch does more than UrBudget will. If you want a budget that tells you what each dollar is for before you spend it, that's what UrBudget is built around.
Moving from Monarch to UrBudget
Monarch exports your transactions as CSV files, and you can download them even after your trial or subscription ends. Budgets don't come with them. UrBudget imports one account at a time, so download each account on its own.
- Download each account's transactions. In Monarch on the web, go to Accounts, choose an account, select Edit, then Download transactions. Monarch recommends 5,000 transactions or fewer per download, so split a long history by date. (Settings > Data downloads every account in one file, which is fine as a record but needs splitting before UrBudget can import it.)
- 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. In the account's register, choose Import file. UrBudget reads the date, the payee (a column named Payee, Name, Merchant or Description), the amount and any notes. Monarch's CSV format shows money out as negative amounts, which is how UrBudget reads them; check a few rows in the preview before you save. Categories don't come over, so you choose them in UrBudget.
- Give your money a job. Create your categories, then assign what's in your accounts until nothing is left unassigned. From then on, download statement files from your bank (OFX or QFX if it offers them) 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 Monarch account stays as it is.
Monarch Money is a trademark of its owner. UrBudget isn't affiliated with Monarch Money.