Migration guide
Switching from YNAB to Budgey
About 20 minutes, most of it automated. Here's the exact path from YNAB to a working Budgey budget.
Part 1 — Get your data out of YNAB
- 1
In YNAB on the web, open your budget and go to any account register (or All Accounts).
- 2
Click the export icon (or File → Export budget data) and download the CSV of your register.
- 3
Optionally note your category names and monthly targets — you will recreate these as Budgey categories with per-period amounts.
Part 2 — Set up Budgey
- 4
Create your free Budgey account
Sign up at budgeyapp.com or in the iOS/Android app. Onboarding takes about two minutes — BaoBot suggests a starter set of categories, and you can rename them to match the ones you had before.
- 5
Set your pay period
Tell Budgey how you get paid — weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Your budget periods will follow your actual paychecks, which is probably an upgrade over the calendar months your old app forced.
- 6
Upload your export to BaoBot
Open BaoBot and upload your CSV, Excel, or PDF file (file uploads are part of Budgey Unlimited). It reads each transaction's description, amount, and date, matches categories by name, and imports the lot — and any import can be undone with one message.
- 7
Connect your banks (optional, recommended)
With Budgey Unlimited, connect as many banks or cards as you use via Plaid. From then on, new transactions land in your Review Inbox with AI-suggested categories — you approve each one, and your budget stays current without typing.
Switching from YNAB: your questions
Is Budgey cheaper than YNAB?+
Yes. Budgey Unlimited is $10/month or $100/year, versus YNAB at $14.99/month or $109/year. Budgey also has a free-forever plan, while YNAB only offers a 34-day trial.
Does Budgey use zero-based budgeting like YNAB?+
No. Budgey uses pay-period budgeting: you set category amounts for each pay period (weekly, biweekly, or monthly) and Budgey tracks what you have left. You can run it as strictly or as loosely as you like — there is no required method.
Do category balances roll over like YNAB envelopes?+
Yes, if you want them to. Budgey Unlimited's "Carry balances over" setting rolls each category's leftover into the next period, YNAB-style — including overspending, which carries forward as a negative balance. Leave it off and every period starts fresh instead; there is also a carryover-only mode where categories are pure running balances you fund with deposits.
Can I import my YNAB data into Budgey?+
Yes. Export your register from YNAB as CSV, then upload it to BaoBot in Budgey — it imports your transactions and matches them to your categories. See the guide at budgeyapp.com/switch/from-ynab.
Does YNAB have an AI assistant like BaoBot?+
No. YNAB does not have a conversational AI assistant. Budgey includes BaoBot, which answers questions about your spending in plain English, adds transactions for you, and flags overspending — and Budgey also has an MCP server so Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI agent can manage your budget.
Switching from something else?
Bring your budget home
Start free and import when you're ready — BaoBot does the heavy lifting.
No credit card required · Free plan forever · One budget on every device