vokse vs the field
Where we win.
Row by row, dated.
Against the apps you’d shortlist and the spreadsheet you already keep. Every row is dated and checkable on their own sites.
Connect your bank or import your history. Every transaction categorised, every envelope up to date.
Next to YNAB, PocketSmith and Actual Budget.
Row by row against the apps you would shortlist. Every cell about them is dated and something you can check on their own site.
Price
- vokse
- $14.99/mo, one plan, free for the first 34 days
- YNAB
- $14.99 a month, or $109 a year
- PocketSmith
- From $14.95 a month ($9.99 billed yearly) to $39.95 a month
- Actual Budget
- Free and open source; the machine you run it on is yours to pay for
Budgeting method
- vokse
- Envelopes, zero-based
- YNAB
- Envelopes, zero-based
- PocketSmith
- Calendar forecast first, budgets on top
- Actual Budget
- Envelopes, zero-based
Bank connections
- vokse
- 9,976 banks in 2 countries, read-only
- YNAB
- The US and Canada, plus some European and UK banks
- PocketSmith
- Worldwide, read-only
- Actual Budget
- Optional, through a service you sign up for yourself
More than one currency
- vokse
- 41 currencies, each at its own day's rate
- YNAB
- One currency per budget
- PocketSmith
- Yes, converted daily
- Actual Budget
- One currency per file
Assistant
- vokse
- Built in: ask anything about your money, on the same audited tools as the app
- YNAB
- None built in
- PocketSmith
- None built in
- Actual Budget
- None built in
Claude and ChatGPT
- vokse
- Built in, read only or allowed to act, per household
- YNAB
- Nothing official
- PocketSmith
- Official, since April 2026
- Actual Budget
- Nothing official
Your own tools
- vokse
- Keys with the permissions you choose
- YNAB
- Public API
- PocketSmith
- Public API
- Actual Budget
- A code library, no hosted service
Bringing your data in
- vokse
- Files from your bank, or a whole YNAB budget
- YNAB
- Files from your bank
- PocketSmith
- Files from your bank
- Actual Budget
- Files from your bank, and YNAB migration
Sharing it
- vokse
- Owner, editor and viewer, every change recorded
- YNAB
- Share the subscription with up to six people
- PocketSmith
- Invite a collaborator
- Actual Budget
- Users on your own server
Forecasting
- vokse
- Next month, from six months of your history
- YNAB
- Targets, no projection
- PocketSmith
- Multi-year projections, day by day
- Actual Budget
- Scheduled items, no projection
Where your data lives
- vokse
- The European Union
- YNAB
- The United States
- PocketSmith
- Not stated on their security page
- Actual Budget
- Wherever you run it
Leaving
- vokse
- Everything in one file, deleted 30 days after you ask
- YNAB
- Export your plan as a file
- PocketSmith
- Export as a file
- Actual Budget
- The file is already yours
Running it yourself
- vokse
- No
- YNAB
- No
- PocketSmith
- No
- Actual Budget
- Yes, on your own machine
Competitor columns, prices included, read off their own sites on September 13, 2026; prices are in US dollars and can change, so check their pricing pages before you decide.
And against the spreadsheet you already have.
Less about features, more about the work: what each one asks of you in a normal week.
Getting transactions in
- vokse
- Your banks sync on their own, up to three times a day plus once on demand
- Your spreadsheet
- Download a file from each bank, paste it in, fix the columns
Categorising
- vokse
- Suggested from your own history · you confirm, it learns · rules for the rest
- Your spreadsheet
- By hand, row by row
Receipts and voice memos
- vokse
- Photograph a receipt or record a memo · a draft transaction appears for you to confirm
- Your spreadsheet
- Type it in, keep the paper somewhere
Upcoming bills
- vokse
- A calendar of what is due, recurring charges detected on their own
- Your spreadsheet
- A column you remember to update
Who changed what
- vokse
- Every change logged, with undo and redo
- Your spreadsheet
- Version history, if you go digging
Charts and reports
- vokse
- Net worth, cash flow, spending by category and more · exported as CSV, PDF or XLSX
- Your spreadsheet
- Pivot tables you build and rebuild
Flexibility
- vokse
- A fixed structure: accounts, envelopes, goals
- Your spreadsheet
- Any layout you can imagine, and every formula is yours to maintain
Bring your history with you.
Import CSV, OFX or JSON from any bank or tool, or migrate a whole YNAB budget with payees, categories and transfers intact. You review the prepared import before a single row lands.
Bring your spreadsheet.
Drop a CSV, OFX or JSON file. We map the columns, flag the duplicates and keep your history, and you review the prepared import before a single row lands.