Why people look for a budget app without a subscription
The most common reason is price. The leading subscription budget apps cost about $100 a year, and the bill keeps coming. Over five years that adds up to roughly $500 for a tool many people mainly use to categorize spending and check their budgets.
The second reason is bank linking. Popular cloud budgeting apps import transactions through third-party connections to your bank. Some people would rather not grant that access, and some live in countries where their bank isn't supported anyway.
The third is ownership. With a subscription, your budget lives on someone else's servers and stays available only while you keep paying.
What Money Map is
Money Map is an offline budgeting app delivered as a single HTML file. You open it from your own computer in Chrome or Edge on Windows, with no install, no account, no server and no bank login. It costs $29 once (the first 50 buyers pay $19 with code FOUNDER), and you have a 14-day refund window.
Money Map vs typical subscription budget apps
| Money Map | Typical subscription budget apps | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29 one-time | About $100/yr, every year |
| Account required | No | Yes |
| Where your data lives | Your computer only | The vendor's cloud |
| Bank login | Never. You import statement files. | Usually, through an aggregator |
| File import | CSV and XLSX, column mapping, saved templates, duplicates skipped | Varies |
| Envelope-style rollover | Yes, or monthly reset | Often |
| Month-end forecast | Yes, on the home screen | Varies |
| Phone app / multi-device sync | No | Yes |
| Install | None. It's one HTML file. | Web or mobile app |
"About $100/yr" reflects typical annual list prices for leading subscription budget apps as of October 2026.
What you get with Money Map
Import statements from any bank
Download a CSV or XLSX statement from your bank and import it. You map the columns once (date, description, and either a single amount column or separate debit and credit columns) and save the mapping as a template for that bank. Re-importing an overlapping period is safe, because duplicates are skipped.
Rules that categorize for you
Create rules that match on vendor text, and new transactions are sorted into categories on every import.
Envelope rollover or monthly reset
Set a budget for each category and compare it with actual spending. Choose envelope rollover if you want leftover money to carry into next month, or monthly reset if you prefer a fresh start each month.
A month-end forecast
See where the month is heading, based on what you've spent, upcoming fixed costs and expected variable spending.
Recurring expenses and encrypted backups
Track rent, subscriptions and other repeating costs. Export a backup whenever you like, optionally encrypted with a passphrase (AES-GCM), and keep it wherever you choose.
Try it before you buy
The demo runs in your browser with sample data. No signup, no email.
$19 for the first 50 buyers with code FOUNDER, then $29 one-time. 14-day refund window.
What you give up
- No automatic bank sync. You download a statement from your bank and import it. With saved templates and rule-based categorization this takes a few minutes, but it is a manual step.
- No phone app and no multi-device sync. Money Map lives on one computer. You can move it with a backup file, but there's no live sync.
- No coaching programs or big user community. Money Map is built by one developer, Sam Bolchen.
- Windows only, as tested. It's tested in Chrome and Edge on Windows. Mac and Safari aren't tested.
Switching from a subscription app
- Open the demo and check that the workflow suits you.
- Recreate your main categories and monthly targets in Money Map. Choose envelope rollover if you're used to leftover money carrying forward.
- Download recent statements from your bank as CSV or XLSX and import them. Save the column mapping as a template for each bank.
- Add categorization rules for your regular vendors, such as groceries, fuel and subscriptions.
- Add recurring expenses so the month-end forecast knows what's coming.
- Keep your current subscription until its renewal date while you compare. If Money Map doesn't work out within 14 days, ask for a refund.
The five-year math
| Year 1 | 5 years | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical subscription budget app | About $100 | About $500 |
| Money Map | $29 ($19 founder) | $29 ($19 founder) |
The subscription estimate assumes a list price of about $100 per year that doesn't change, and excludes taxes and promotions.