Goodbudget is the digital version of the classic cash envelope system: you divide your income into virtual envelopes, spend from them, and stop when an envelope hits zero. It has a real free plan and a $80/year Premium tier. Here's what each actually gets you, and who should skip both.
What the free plan includes
As of this writing, Goodbudget's free plan gives you 20 envelopes (10 regular monthly envelopes plus 10 annual or goal envelopes), 1 bank account, sync across 2 devices, and 1 year of transaction history. No credit card required, and it doesn't expire.
The catch: every transaction is entered by hand. Goodbudget's free tier has no bank syncing, so if you buy coffee, you open the app and type it in. Some people love this — manual entry forces you to feel every purchase. Others abandon the app within three weeks because life gets busy.
What Premium adds for $80/year
Goodbudget Premium costs $10/month or $80/year as of this writing. It adds automatic bank sync (US banks only, added in 2024), unlimited envelopes, unlimited accounts, 5 devices, 7 years of history, and email support. Details at goodbudget.com (https://goodbudget.com).
That $80/year matters for comparison: YNAB runs $109/year and Monarch Money $99.99/year as of this writing, so Goodbudget Premium is one of the cheaper paid budgeting apps. But it's still $400 over five years for what is, at its core, a set of labeled buckets.
Where Goodbudget falls short
Three honest limitations. First, 10 regular envelopes on the free plan is tight — most households need 15 to 20 monthly categories, so you end up creating vague catch-all envelopes that defeat the purpose. Second, there's no investment tracking or net-worth view. Third, reporting is basic: you can see spending by envelope, but there's no 12-month trend dashboard or savings-rate math without exporting your data anyway.
Goodbudget vs. a one-time spreadsheet
If envelope-style budgeting appeals to you but the subscription doesn't, a spreadsheet does the same job for a one-time price. Our 2026 Budget Dashboard ($8.99, yours forever) handles unlimited categories, calculates your savings rate automatically, and shows 12-month totals — the reporting Goodbudget locks behind Premium or doesn't offer at all. And for the annual-envelope side of things (car insurance, Christmas, vet bills), the Sinking Funds Tracker ($4.99) replaces Goodbudget's goal envelopes with simple monthly-savings math.
One Goodbudget Premium year costs $80. The spreadsheet approach costs under $15 once — and code LAUNCH20 takes another 20% off through August 15, 2026.
Verdict
Use Goodbudget free if you want envelope budgeting on your phone, you're disciplined about manual entry, and 10 monthly envelopes is enough. Pay for Premium only if bank sync is the feature keeping you budgeting. If you'd rather pay once and own your budget — with more categories and better reporting — a spreadsheet wins on price by year one.