Goodbudget vs SelfCapsule.
Envelope Budgeting, Local-First.
Goodbudget and SelfCapsule both let you budget with envelopes, and both work without linking a bank. The difference is where your budget lives. Goodbudget syncs your household budget through its own servers in the United States. SelfCapsule keeps it on your device, encrypted, with no account.
Quick verdict
Choose Goodbudget if you share a budget with a partner across iPhone, Android, and the web, or want automatic bank sync with a US bank on its Premium plan. Choose SelfCapsule if you want the budget kept on your own Mac, iPhone, or iPad with no account, and would rather pay $29 once than $80 a year. SelfCapsule has no sharing or sync, so two people cannot edit one live budget.
How Goodbudget and SelfCapsule Compare
Every Goodbudget entry comes from Goodbudget's own pages, read on 13 October 2026. Prices are in US dollars. See the sources.
| Dimension | Goodbudget | SelfCapsule |
|---|---|---|
| Where your data lives | ||
| Where your data lives | Goodbudget's servers. Its privacy policy says data is stored in the United States and names Amazon Web Services for storage. | On your device only. No account, no cloud sync, no server. |
| Account | ||
| Account | Yes. You register a Household and log in to it on each device. | No account. |
| Bank connection | ||
| Bank connection | Premium only: automatic bank sync through Plaid, US banks only. The free plan is manual entry. | None. You import statement files you download from your bank. |
| File import | ||
| File import | QFX, OFX, and CSV, on the website. | Mac: CSV, TSV, OFX, QFX, QIF. iPhone and iPad: CSV, OFX, QFX. |
| Sharing and sync | ||
| Sharing and sync | Syncs one household budget across everyone's phones. | No sync service and no shared budgets. |
| Price | ||
| Price | Free plan: 10 regular and 10 more envelopes, 1 account, 2 devices, 1 year of history. Premium: $10 a month or $80 a year. | Free tier. Pro is $29 once. |
| Platforms | ||
| Platforms | Web, iPhone, Android. | Mac (direct download), iPhone and iPad (App Store). Windows coming soon. |
| Budgeting method | ||
| Budgeting method | Envelope budgeting. | Mac: envelope, zero-based, 50/30/20, or category limits. iPhone and iPad: category budgets, with unspent money rolling over if you choose. |
| Export | ||
| Export | CSV export of transactions from the website. | Encrypted backup (AES-256-GCM, passphrase) on all platforms. Mac: report CSV export (Pro), no transaction export screen yet. iPhone and iPad: transaction CSV export. |
| App Store privacy label | ||
| App Store privacy label | Data Linked to You, including Financial Info. | Data Not Collected |
Which One Fits You
Where Goodbudget Is the Better Fit
- You budget with a partner and want both phones to update as either of you spends.
- You or your partner use Android.
- You bank in the US and want transactions to arrive automatically, on Premium.
- You want a free plan and can work within 20 envelopes and one account.
Where SelfCapsule Is the Better Fit
- You want your budget stored on your device, with no account and no copy on a company's servers.
- You want a Mac app as well as iPhone and iPad.
- You would rather pay once: $29 for Pro, against $80 a year for Goodbudget Premium.
- You want reports, on-device AI, and (on Pro) investment tracking next to your envelopes.
Budgeting
Local-First Budgets on Your Device.
Give income a job across categories and watch each target fill as spending comes in. Every number is calculated from the database on your device.
Budgets
Pick the method that fits how you think about money.
Goals
$6,400 of $10,000
$1,350 of $2,200
Import
Bring Your Statements. Skip the Bank Login.
Import CSV, OFX, or QFX files on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, plus TSV and QIF on Mac. Map CSV columns once and save the template. Your bank credentials never leave your bank.
Import transactions
Bring in a CSV from any bank. We map the columns for you.
Match your file to the ledger
Switching
Moving From Goodbudget to SelfCapsule
Goodbudget exports transactions as CSV and SelfCapsule imports CSV, so your history comes with you.
- 1
Export your transactions from Goodbudget.
On the Goodbudget website, click Export CSV above the Transactions list and save the file.
- 2
Install SelfCapsule and add your accounts.
Download the Mac app, or get the iPhone and iPad app from the App Store, then create the accounts you tracked in Goodbudget.
- 3
Import the CSV.
Map the columns once and save the mapping as a template, so the next file takes one step.
- 4
Recreate your envelopes.
Set up a category for each envelope. On Mac, choose Envelope as your budget method in Settings; on iPhone and iPad, turn on rollover for each category. From here, download statements from your bank as OFX, QFX, or CSV.
FAQ
Questions Worth a Direct Answer
Is SelfCapsule a Goodbudget alternative?
Yes, if you want envelope budgeting with your data kept on your device. SelfCapsule needs no account and has no server, so your budget stays on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad. Goodbudget stores your budget on its servers so a household can share it.
Does Goodbudget connect to my bank?
On the Premium plan, yes. Goodbudget's help center says it links accounts through Plaid, and its pricing lists automatic bank sync for US banks only. The free plan uses manual entry, and the website can import QFX, OFX, and CSV files. SelfCapsule never connects to a bank on any plan.
Where does Goodbudget store my data?
Goodbudget's privacy policy says your data is stored in the United States and lists Amazon Web Services for data storage. SelfCapsule stores your data on your device: encrypted with AES-256 on Mac, and protected by Apple's device encryption on iPhone and iPad.
How much does Goodbudget cost compared with SelfCapsule?
Goodbudget's free plan includes 10 regular envelopes, 10 more envelopes, one account, two devices, and one year of history. Premium is $10 a month or $80 a year. SelfCapsule has a free tier, and Pro is a one-time $29. Over three years that is $29 for SelfCapsule Pro against $240 for Goodbudget Premium billed yearly.
Can my partner and I share a budget in SelfCapsule?
Not as a live, shared budget. SelfCapsule runs no server, so two devices cannot sync one budget. If a shared household budget is the main reason you use Goodbudget, Goodbudget is designed around that.
Can I move my Goodbudget history into SelfCapsule?
Yes. Export your transactions as a CSV from the Goodbudget website, import the file into SelfCapsule, and map the columns once.
Sources, Checked October 2026
We read each Goodbudget page below on 13 October 2026. Goodbudget can change its prices and features at any time, so check its own pages before you decide. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Goodbudget
- Goodbudget: home page (platforms), accessed 13 October 2026
- Goodbudget: pricing and plans, accessed 13 October 2026
- Goodbudget: What You Get (envelopes, household sync), accessed 13 October 2026
- Goodbudget help: Manually Import Transaction Information, accessed 13 October 2026
- Goodbudget help: How to Link Your Accounts (Plaid), accessed 13 October 2026
- Goodbudget help: How to Download Your Transaction History, accessed 13 October 2026
- Goodbudget help: Getting Started on iPhone (Household login), accessed 13 October 2026
- Goodbudget: Privacy and Security Policy, accessed 13 October 2026
- Goodbudget on the App Store (privacy label), accessed 13 October 2026
SelfCapsule
Your finances. Contained.
A free tier covers core budgeting. Upgrade once if you want the full toolkit. Compare SelfCapsule with other apps.
Download SelfCapsule