Kemback vs Goodbudget

The verdict

Choose Goodbudget if you want a straightforward envelope app with plenty of help learning the method, apps on both iPhone and Android today, and, on Premium, bank sync for $80 a year. Its free tier works well if your budget fits in ten envelopes and one account.

Choose Kemback if Goodbudget’s free limits pinch, if you want each person in your household to have their own sign-in, or if you’d like a register you can reconcile to the cent. The trade-off today: Kemback doesn’t connect to banks yet, so you import a file from your bank until its Plus plan brings automatic sync.

Who Goodbudget is for

Goodbudget is envelope budgeting and little else, which is the point. You divide your income into envelopes, spend from them, and see at a glance what’s left for groceries or gas. Goodbudget backs the app with courses, a podcast, guides and videos on envelope budgeting, so it’s a gentle place to learn the method for the first time.

The free tier is free forever, with 10 regular and 10 annual envelopes, one account, two devices and one year of history. Premium, at $10 a month or $80 a year, lifts those limits to unlimited envelopes and accounts, five devices and seven years of history, and adds bank sync through Plaid in the US. It runs on the web, iPhone and Android.

Who Kemback is for

Kemback is for households that like envelopes but want more room and more structure around them. The Free plan has no cap on accounts or transactions, and the budget has two modes on the same data. In envelope mode every dollar of income is assigned to an envelope; in category mode you set a monthly plan per category and compare spending against it. You can switch at any time without losing anything.

Around the budget, Kemback keeps a full register with splits, transfers, cleared and reconciled status, and statement reconciliation. Bills and recurring transactions appear on a calendar, Kemback warns you when a bill or subscription goes up, and savings goals, net worth and spending reports round it out.

One login, or one each

This is the clearest difference between the two. Goodbudget shares a single household login across your devices, so everyone who uses the budget signs in as the household.

In Kemback each person has their own sign-in. Accounts can be shared with the household or kept private, so one partner’s personal card can stay theirs while the joint envelopes still add up. Roles decide who can do what: an owner manages the household, an editor changes things, a viewer looks, and an advisor (an accountant, say) gets view-only access. A tamper-evident activity log records who changed what. The Free plan covers a household of two; Plus is planned for up to six. The households page has the details.

Limits on the free plan

Goodbudget’s free tier is deliberately small. Ten regular envelopes is enough for a simple budget, but one account means a joint checking account and a credit card won’t both fit, and one year of history means older months fall away. Premium fixes all of that for $80 a year, and adds bank sync.

Kemback’s Free plan doesn’t limit accounts, transactions or envelopes, and it includes import, export, rules, bills and reports. What it lacks is automatic bank sync. That comes with Plus, planned at $79 a year or $7.99 a month; it isn’t on sale yet, and you can join the waitlist on the pricing page.

Moving from Goodbudget to Kemback

1. In Goodbudget, export your transactions as CSV.
2. Create a free Kemback account and add your accounts.
3. Import the CSV. The column mapper lets you tell Kemback which column holds the date, the payee and the amount.
4. Kemback skips duplicates when you import again, so you can add newer files from your bank on top without worrying about overlap.
5. Set up your envelopes, add a few rules for your regular payees, and give each dollar a job.

From then on, download an OFX, QFX, QIF or CSV file from your bank each week and import it; new transactions wait in the review inbox for a quick look.

Bottom line

Goodbudget is a simple, well-explained envelope app with mobile apps on both platforms and bank sync on Premium. Kemback is a free envelope budget without the free-tier caps, with separate sign-ins, private accounts and a full register, and it’s honest about the weekly import you’ll do until Plus arrives. If you’ve outgrown ten envelopes and one account, try Kemback for a month with real data.

Questions

Is Kemback a free Goodbudget alternative?

Yes. Kemback's Free plan has envelope budgeting with no time limit and no cap on accounts or transactions. Goodbudget's free tier is limited to 10 regular and 10 annual envelopes, one account, two devices and one year of history.

Does Kemback connect to my bank like Goodbudget Premium does?

Not yet. Today you import OFX, QFX, QIF or CSV files, and Kemback skips anything it has already seen. Automatic bank sync through Plaid is coming with the Plus plan, which isn't on sale yet.

Can my partner and I each have our own login?

In Kemback, yes: each person signs in separately, accounts can be shared or private, and roles decide who can change what. Goodbudget shares one household login across your devices.

Can I bring my Goodbudget transactions to Kemback?

Yes. Export your transactions from Goodbudget as CSV, then import the file into Kemback and use the column mapper to match its columns. If you import again, Kemback skips the transactions it already has.

Is there an Android app?

Goodbudget has apps for iPhone and Android. Kemback runs in any browser and has an iPhone app in beta; its Android app is in development.