Now in early access

Budget based on
reality, not
resolutions.

Small daily habits reveal your real spending. After 30 days, you'll know exactly what a budget should look like — built from how you actually live.

See how it works →
Today, Apr 6
Monthly
Annual
Bills
MONTHLY BUDGET
$412 spent $1,068 left
Groceries $271 left
$54 spent
$9/day left
Eating Out $71 left
$304 spent
$4/day left
Fun $130 left
$70 spent
$7/day left
30
days of honest tracking before your first budget
0
bank connections required. ever.
5s
tap or voice to log a transaction
10%
donated to charitable causes
How it works

The budgeting app that starts with honesty.

📋
Track first, budget second
Spend 30 days logging honestly. After 30 days, you'll know exactly what a budget should look like — built from how you actually live.
🎙️
Log with your voice
Say "coffee, $4.50" and Francis fills in the rest. Fast, frictionless, no typing required.
📊
Know before you spend
Before you go out to eat, open Francis. You'll see exactly how much is left in that category — instantly. No math, no digging. Just the number you need, right when you need it.
🔒
Privacy that means something
No ads. No data selling. No Plaid. No bank connection. Ever.
🙏
Giving as a first-class feature
Named after St. Francis of Assisi. Charitable giving has its own category, its own tracking, its own reflection. And 10% of Francis profits go to charitable causes.
⚡
Friction is the feature
Manual logging creates a pause between spending and recording. That pause is where awareness lives. No auto-sync. No passive watching. Just you and your numbers.

"The best budget isn't the one you planned — it's the one built from how you actually live."

The Francis philosophy

The research

Why manual tracking actually works

Most finance apps treat logging as a necessary evil — something to automate away. Francis treats it as the point. There's a well-documented mechanism in behavioral psychology called self-monitoring: actively recording your own behavior changes the behavior itself.

When you have to log a purchase, something small happens: you think about it. That brief pause between impulse and record is where different decisions become possible. Automated sync eliminates that pause entirely. Francis puts it back.

29
financial self-control studies in a 2021 meta-analysis found statistically significant effects on real spending behavior
2
steps: log the expense → see the impact — associated with reduced discretionary spending (2023 Journal of Consumer Interests)
1
brief moment of conscious attention is the key mediating variable — not the data itself
Read the full research breakdown →
vs. the other guys

Why Francis is different

YNAB Francis
Philosophy Budget first, track second Track first, budget second
built from reality
Onboarding 20+ screens, paywall upfront
high friction		 Optional tour, then log
low friction
Bank connection Required
mandatory		 Not a feature
not applicable
Transaction entry Manual keyboard or bank import Tap-to-log or voice. Say what you spent, done.
voice-first
Privacy Ad-supported, data shared
ad-supported		 No ads. No data sharing.
ad-free
Pricing $109/year $5/month or $50/year
~54% cheaper
Team ~200 employees 1 founder + Claude Code
Philosophy
YNAB
Budget first, track second
Francis
Track first, budget second built from reality
Onboarding
YNAB
20+ screens, paywall upfront high friction
Francis
Optional tour, then log low friction
Bank connection
YNAB
Required mandatory
Francis
Not a feature not applicable
Transaction entry
YNAB
Manual keyboard or bank import
Francis
Tap-to-log or voice. Say what you spent, done. voice-first
Privacy
YNAB
Ad-supported, data shared ad-supported
Francis
No ads. No data sharing. ad-free
Pricing
YNAB
$109/year
Francis
$5/month or $50/year ~54% cheaper
Team
YNAB
~200 employees
Francis
1 founder + Claude Code
Pricing

Simple, honest pricing.

$50
per year
or $5/month · 30-day free trial

No credit card required during trial. Cancel anytime.

You'll surprise yourself.

30 days. No budget targets. Just your real numbers.

Available on Android · iOS coming soon