Okane Budgeting
Okane
Mobile envelope budgeting app whose backing store is a Google Sheet on the user's own Drive. Free tier with unlimited envelopes; $5/month Premium adds Plaid bank sync and on-device AI categorization.
Last updated: May 2, 2026
Best for
- Spreadsheet-friendly budgeters who want a phone app
- Couples who want a shared budget without paying twice
- Privacy-conscious users who want on-device categorization
- YNAB users priced out of $109/year
Not ideal for
- Users who want a full web/desktop app
- Users who want Quicken-style investment tracking
- Users who refuse to use Google Drive
Pricing
$5/month · $60/year
Free tier includes unlimited envelopes, manual entry, and Google Sheets sync. Premium ($5/month) adds Plaid bank sync, on-device AI categorization, and analytics.
Platforms
| Web | No |
|---|---|
| iOS | Yes |
| Android | Yes |
| Desktop | No |
Features
| Bank sync | Yes |
|---|---|
| Plaid support | Yes |
| Manual transactions | Yes |
| Envelope budgeting | Yes |
| Zero-based budgeting | Yes |
| Couples / shared budget | Yes |
| Google Sheets integration | Yes |
| CSV import | Unknown |
| CSV export | Yes |
| Recurring transactions | Unknown |
| Bill calendar | Unknown |
| Net worth tracking | Unknown |
Privacy
Budget data is stored in a Google Sheet on the user's Drive. Okane does not retain a server-side copy of the budget. AI categorization runs on-device. Bank credentials are handled by Plaid; Okane does not see them.
On-device AI is a meaningful privacy distinction vs. apps that send transactions to cloud LLMs.
Pros
- Genuine free tier without envelope cap
- Budget portability via Google Sheet
- Couples sharing at no extra cost
- On-device AI categorization (premium)
Cons
- No web or desktop app
- Smaller community than YNAB
- Bank sync only on Premium
Editorial summary
Strongest fit when Google Sheets ownership and a real free tier are dealbreakers.
Review status: research only.
Compared head-to-head
- Okane vs Actual Budget — Okane vs Actual Budget compared on data ownership, setup cost, bank sync, and platform. Both prioritize the user owning their data; the difference is whether you want to run a server.
- Okane vs Goodbudget — Okane vs Goodbudget: both have a real free envelope budgeting tier. Okane has unlimited envelopes and Google Sheets sync; Goodbudget caps the free tier at 20 envelopes.
- Okane vs Monarch Money — Okane vs Monarch Money compared on method, price, and data location. Different products: Okane is mobile envelope budgeting in your Google Sheet; Monarch is a household financial dashboard.
- Okane vs Tiller — Okane vs Tiller: both put your budget data in a Google Sheet you own. Okane is mobile-first envelope budgeting; Tiller is a spreadsheet automation pipeline.
- Okane vs YNAB — Okane vs YNAB compared on pricing, privacy, features, bank sync, and data ownership. Both use zero-based envelope budgeting; pricing and data philosophy differ sharply.
Featured in
Alternatives
- YNAB (You Need A Budget) — Subscription envelope-budgeting app built around the zero-based method. Web-first with iOS and Android companions. Mature ecosystem and large community; no permanent free tier.
- Goodbudget — Manual envelope-budgeting app with shared partner access. Free tier exists with envelope and account caps; the Plus tier raises the limits and adds bank import.
- Actual Budget — Open-source local-first envelope budgeting app. Free if you self-host on a server, Pi, or your own machine; the project also offers a paid hosted sync service.
- Tiller — Tiller pipes daily bank transactions into a Google Sheet or Excel workbook you control. Less an app than a spreadsheet automation layer with prebuilt budgeting templates.
Sources
- Okane homepage and pricing copy — Okane. Accessed May 2, 2026.
- Okane Privacy & Security page — Okane. Accessed May 2, 2026.
- Okane FAQ — data storage and Plaid — Okane. Accessed May 2, 2026.