Side by side
| Feature | UrBudget | Moneydance |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9 once, on all your own computers, with future updates | $65 once, including the next major version, with a discount on later ones. Or a subscription with bank downloads and updates included, $9 a month or $90 a year |
| Free trial | 30 days, with no account or card | No time limit, but capped at 100 transactions you type in; imported and downloaded ones are unlimited. 90-day money-back guarantee |
| Runs on | Windows 10 and 11, macOS 12 or later | Windows, macOS 12 or later and Linux, plus free iPhone, iPad and Android apps for entering transactions and checking balances |
| Where your budget lives | In a file on your computer. Works offline, with automatic backups | In an encrypted data file on your computer, with optional automatic backups |
| Between devices | Optional sync for $2 a month, encrypted with your passphrase before it leaves your computer | Included: end-to-end encrypted sync through your own Dropbox, iCloud Drive or a shared folder |
| Bank connections | None. Import statement files (CSV, OFX, QFX, QIF), checked row by row | OFX Direct Connect with banks that support it, at no charge. Moneydance+ (through Plaid) for US and Canadian banks, $4 a month or $40 a year on top of a license. File import (OFX, QFX, QIF, CSV) |
| Sharing | Your own computers; no shared budget for several people | One license per household, for any number of people and computers. Synced computers each keep a copy of the same file |
| Method | Envelopes (zero-based): you assign the money you have to categories, with targets, credit-card payment categories, rollover and Quick assign | Category budgets: a planned amount per category for each week, month or year, with an option to roll unspent money over. Budget bars show progress |
| Beyond budgeting | A loan planner, scheduled transactions, twelve reports and an optional AI assistant | Investments and security prices, loans, multiple currencies, reminders, check printing, online bill pay with some banks, and many graphs and reports |
| Getting your data out | CSV in YNAB's layout, or a full JSON backup | QIF, tab-delimited text or raw JSON, for the accounts and dates you choose |
What it costs over time
Moneydance's license is $65 once and covers the next major version too. If you add Moneydance+ for bank downloads, five years comes to $265 on the yearly add-on, or $450 on the yearly subscription that includes the program. Moneydance's sync is part of the app and runs through your own Dropbox or iCloud.
UrBudget is $9 once. With sync on for five years, it comes to $129.
Which one fits you
Moneydance, if you
- want one app for everything: investments, loans, several currencies and bills
- want transactions downloaded from your bank, through Direct Connect or Moneydance+ in the US and Canada
- use Linux, or want to enter transactions on your phone
- are bringing years of Quicken or Microsoft Money history; Moneydance has import guides for both
UrBudget, if you
- want envelope budgeting: every dollar gets a job, and you move money when plans change
- want a budget, not a full finance manager, for $9
- would rather not connect a budgeting app to your bank
- are leaving YNAB and want your whole budget to come over in one click
These are different kinds of software. If you track investments or more than one currency, Moneydance does far more. If what you want is a budget that tells you what each dollar is for before you spend it, that's what UrBudget is built for.
Moving from Moneydance to UrBudget
UrBudget can't open a Moneydance file, but Moneydance exports QIF files, and UrBudget imports QIF files for bank, credit-card and cash accounts, one account at a time.
- Export each account as QIF. In Moneydance, choose File > Export, pick QIF, select a single account rather than All Accounts, choose the date range, and save. Repeat for each bank, credit-card and cash account.
- Add the account in UrBudget. Use its balance from before the first transaction in the file. Investments, loans and other accounts you don't budget can be tracking accounts with today's balance; their history stays in Moneydance.
- Import the file. Choose Import file in the account's register and pick the QIF file and the date order it uses. Not sure which? Open the file in a text editor: each date is on a line starting with D. You see every row before it's saved.
- Set up your categories. UrBudget reads each transaction's date, payee, memo and amount; Moneydance's categories and split details don't come over. Make categories for what you spend on, add targets for bills that don't come every month, and assign the money in your accounts until Unassigned reaches zero.
- Import from your bank from now on. Download OFX or QFX files from your bank and import them. Overlapping files are safe: rows you've already imported are marked as duplicates.
Each import file can hold up to 10,000 transactions and 20 MB, so export a long history in a few date ranges. If a QIF file won't import, download OFX or QFX files from your bank for the same period instead.
Try UrBudget for a month
Free for 30 days, with no account and no card. Your Moneydance file stays as it is.
Moneydance, Quicken and Microsoft Money are trademarks of their owners. UrBudget isn't affiliated with Moneydance or The Infinite Kind.