--- title: "SelfCapsule | Local-First Personal Finance App" description: "SelfCapsule is a local-first personal finance app. Track spending, budgets, and investments with AI-powered insights, entirely on your device. No cloud, no accounts." url: "https://selfcapsule.com/" image: "https://selfcapsule.com/og/default.png" --- # Your finances. Contained. ## A local-first personal finance app for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Track spending, budgets, investments, and get AI-powered insights. Everything runs on your device. No cloud, no accounts, no compromises. [Download for Mac](https://selfcapsule.com/download) [See pricing](https://selfcapsule.com/pricing) Encrypted & Local Zero Telemetry Mac, iPhone & iPad Ask about your spending Image: A SelfCapsule Finance spending summary showing 2,180 dollars spent this month across six categories, with dining highlighted at 342 dollars. Features ## Everything You Need. Nothing You Don't. Powerful tools for people who take their finances, and their privacy, seriously. ### Your financial snapshot, at a glance. Income, expenses, savings, and net worth in real time. Cash-flow charts show money in against money out so you always know where you stand. Beyond the desktop ## The same private ledger, at phone scale. SelfCapsule Finance is designed for a phone as much as a desktop. The same core views and the same local database, with nothing synced to a server. Available now on iPhone and iPad. [Download on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6764298551) Privacy by Design ## Your data. Contained. SelfCapsule keeps your data on the device you own, in an encrypted local database. No cloud account holds it, and no one else can read it. On-device by default Your records live in an encrypted database on your device (AES-256 on Mac, Apple's device encryption on iPhone and iPad), not on a server you have to trust. No account, no login There is nothing to sign up for and no identity to hand over. You just open the app and start. Yours to take Export everything to CSV or JSON whenever you want. No lock-in, no gatekeeping your own information. Locked to you Guarded by Face ID, Touch ID, or your system password, so only you can open it. The app goes online for four things, and none of them carry your financial data: activating a licence key bought on this site, then re-checking it with our payment provider, Polar, each time the app opens; buying Pro through the App Store on iPhone and iPad; looking for a new version when you click Check for Updates on Mac; and downloading the local AI model on Mac. AI on iPhone and iPad uses Apple's on-device model, so there is nothing for the app to download. The free tier needs none of them. [Get Started. It's Free](https://selfcapsule.com/download) AI Insights Local Spending Pattern Your food & dining expenses increased 23% this month compared to last month. Savings Opportunity Reducing subscription costs by $50/mo could save you $600 this year. Positive Trend Your transport spending has decreased for 3 consecutive months. Great job! AI-Powered ## Intelligent. Local. Private. SelfCapsule integrates with Ollama, an open-source local AI that runs entirely on your device. Smart insights without the privacy trade-off. ### Spending Patterns Understand where your money goes with detailed category breakdowns. ### Trend Analysis Track spending over time and spot opportunities to save. ### Smart Suggestions Personalized tips to optimize your budget and reach goals faster. One SelfCapsule ## A family of private apps. Finance leads the way. SelfCapsule keeps what matters on your own device. Finance is here today. Health and Memory carry the same promise to your body and your story. One brand, one principle: your data, contained. [Finance](https://selfcapsule.com/download): Available now Your finances. Contained. Track spending, budgets, and investments in an encrypted file that never leaves your device. Download Finance [Health](https://selfcapsule.com/health): TestFlight beta Your health. Contained. Your wellness metrics and history, kept private on the devices you already own. Explore Health [Memory](https://selfcapsule.com/memory): In development Your memories. Contained. A private home for the moments worth keeping. In development. Follow along Blog ## From the Blog [Best YNAB Alternatives That Don't Require a Bank Login (2026)](https://selfcapsule.com/blog/best-ynab-alternatives-privacy-2026): April 8, 2026 YNAB costs $109 a year and is built around linked bank accounts. These private budgeting apps let you manage money without handing over a bank login. Read more [What a Bank-Linked Budgeting App Actually Sees About You](https://selfcapsule.com/blog/what-bank-linked-budgeting-apps-actually-see): April 21, 2026 When you connect your bank to a budgeting app, the data pulled in is much broader than the transactions on your dashboard. Here is what the aggregator actually receives, who else gets it, and how long it lives there. Read more [I Tracked My Spending for 90 Days Completely Offline. Here's What Changed](https://selfcapsule.com/blog/tracking-spending-offline-90-days): April 6, 2026 What happens when you ditch cloud finance apps and track every dollar on a desktop app with no internet? A 90-day experiment in private, intentional budgeting. Read more [All posts](https://selfcapsule.com/blog) FAQ ## Frequently Asked Questions **Where is my data stored?** On your device. Always. SelfCapsule for Mac encrypts its database with AES-256. On iPhone and iPad, Apple's built-in device encryption protects the database. Your transactions are never sent to an external server, and you own your data completely. **Do I need an internet connection?** No. Budgeting, import, and reports run on your device with no connection. The app goes online only to activate or re-check a licence key, to buy Pro through the App Store on iPhone and iPad, to check for updates when you ask on Mac, and to download the local AI model on Mac. None of these send your financial data. **Can I import my bank statements?** Yes. CSV import with flexible column mapping. Save templates per institution for quick repeated imports. **How does the AI feature work?** The AI runs on your device. On Mac, SelfCapsule uses Ollama, an open-source local AI runtime. On iPhone and iPad it uses Apple's on-device model, which needs iOS 26 and a device that supports Apple Intelligence; on other devices the AI assistant is unavailable and categorization uses your own rules. In every case your transactions stay on your device. **Can I track investments?** Yes. Add investment or crypto accounts, then track positions with cost basis, current prices, and unrealized P&L. Portfolio allocation charts included. **How do I back up my data?** In Settings, choose Export Backup and set a passphrase. The app writes a backup file encrypted with AES-256-GCM, which you can restore later with the same passphrase. ## Ready to Contain Your Finances? SelfCapsule is free, private, and runs entirely on your device. No sign-up. No cloud. Just you and your data. [Download for Free](https://selfcapsule.com/download) [View Pricing](https://selfcapsule.com/pricing) Free & Private 100% Private No Sign-Up ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://selfcapsule.com/#organization", "name": "SelfCapsule", "legalName": "SELF CAPSULE PTY LTD", "url": "https://selfcapsule.com", "logo": "https://selfcapsule.com/favicon.svg", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/SelfCapsule", "https://www.linkedin.com/company/selfcapsule", "https://apps.apple.com/app/id6764298551", "https://www.reddit.com/user/SelfCapsule" ], "hasPart": { "@id": "https://selfcapsule.com/finance#app" } }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://selfcapsule.com/#website", "name": "SelfCapsule", "url": "https://selfcapsule.com", "description": "A local-first personal finance app. Track spending, budgets, and investments with AI-powered insights, entirely on your device." }, { "@type": "SoftwareApplication", "@id": "https://selfcapsule.com/finance#app", "name": "SelfCapsule Finance", "url": "https://selfcapsule.com/", "applicationCategory": "FinanceApplication", "operatingSystem": "macOS, iOS, iPadOS", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://selfcapsule.com/#organization" }, "description": "A local-first personal finance app that lives entirely on your device. 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Your transactions are never sent to an external server, and you own your data completely." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do I need an internet connection?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "No. Budgeting, import, and reports run on your device with no connection. The app goes online only to activate or re-check a licence key, to buy Pro through the App Store on iPhone and iPad, to check for updates when you ask on Mac, and to download the local AI model on Mac. None of these send your financial data." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Can I import my bank statements?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes. CSV import with flexible column mapping. Save templates per institution for quick repeated imports." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How does the AI feature work?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The AI runs on your device. On Mac, SelfCapsule uses Ollama, an open-source local AI runtime. On iPhone and iPad it uses Apple's on-device model, which needs iOS 26 and a device that supports Apple Intelligence; on other devices the AI assistant is unavailable and categorization uses your own rules. In every case your transactions stay on your device." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Can I track investments?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes. Add investment or crypto accounts, then track positions with cost basis, current prices, and unrealized P&L. Portfolio allocation charts included." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How do I back up my data?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "In Settings, choose Export Backup and set a passphrase. The app writes a backup file encrypted with AES-256-GCM, which you can restore later with the same passphrase." } } ] } ] } ```