Why a budget app without bank sync?
Most budget apps ask you to connect your bank accounts on day one. Behind the convenience lies a complex chain: your credentials pass through a third-party aggregator (Plaid, Yodlee, MX), your transactions are stored on external servers, and your spending habits become data that can be analyzed, sold, or breached.
Plan & Multiply takes the opposite approach. No bank connection, no aggregators, no access to your accounts. You log your expenses yourself, and your data stays on your device. This is a deliberate choice, not a limitation.
The problem with bank aggregators
Aggregators like Plaid (used by YNAB, Mint, Copilot) or MX (used by many banking apps) work by collecting your financial data and centralizing it. This creates several issues:
- Security risk: your bank credentials pass through a middleman. If the aggregator is breached, all your data is exposed. Plaid settled a $58M class-action lawsuit over this in 2022.
- Privacy concerns: your transactions (purchases, salary, habits) are analyzable by third parties. Some aggregators monetize anonymized spending data.
- Reliability: if the aggregator goes down or loses access to your bank (which happens regularly), your budget app stops working.
- Data ownership: even with GDPR or CCPA protections, consent is often buried in terms of service. You don't always know what's shared or with whom.
Manual tracking: a feature, not a bug
"But isn't it less convenient to enter everything manually?" That's the first reaction. But behavioral research tells a different story:
- Spending awareness: logging each purchase manually forces you to think about it. Studies show that manual trackers spend 15-20% less than those who automate.
- 30 seconds per transaction: open the app, pick the envelope, enter the amount. It's fast and becomes a habit within days.
- No miscategorization: aggregators frequently misclassify transactions (a restaurant tagged as "transport", a transfer labeled "shopping"). Manual entry means correct categorization from the start.
How Plan & Multiply works without bank access
The workflow is simple and intuitive:
- Create your budget envelopes: groceries, rent, entertainment, savings — as many categories as you need.
- Set your monthly amounts: assign a budget to each envelope.
- Log expenses as you go: after each purchase, open the app and record the amount in the right envelope.
- Track your progress: the dashboard and Serenity Score show you where you stand in real time.
Everything works offline. No Wi-Fi or mobile data needed to manage your budget. The only feature that requires connectivity is couple sharing via QR code.
Plan & Multiply vs bank-synced budget apps
| Criteria | Bank-synced apps | Plan & Multiply |
|---|---|---|
| Bank access required | Yes (via aggregator) | None |
| Data stored on | Third-party servers | Your device |
| Works offline | No | Yes |
| Categorization | Automatic (often wrong) | Manual (accurate) |
| Spending awareness | Passive | Active (manual logging) |
| Privacy | Data shared with aggregators | 100% local data |
Who is this app for?
Plan & Multiply is for anyone who wants to manage their budget without compromising their privacy:
- People who distrust bank aggregators after security incidents or data breaches
- Couples who want to share a budget without sharing bank accounts
- Privacy-conscious users who care about GDPR, CCPA, and data ownership
- Anyone who wants a simple, fast budgeting tool without complex sign-up flows
- People who want to take control of their spending, not delegate it to an algorithm
