Vaulted vs YNAB — Do You Need a $14/mo Budget App to Track Net Worth?
Published March 19, 2026
YNAB (You Need A Budget) is one of the most beloved personal finance apps on the market. It has a passionate user base, a proven methodology (zero-based budgeting), and genuinely changes people's relationship with money. At $14.99/month, it's also one of the most expensive.
But YNAB is a budgeting app, not a net worth tracker. If what you actually want is to see your net worth trend over time — assets minus liabilities, month by month — you might be paying for a lot of functionality you don't need.
What YNAB is actually for
YNAB's philosophy is zero-based budgeting: every dollar gets a job. You assign your income to categories, track spending against those categories, and adjust as the month progresses. It's active, hands-on financial management.
YNAB does show account balances and has a net worth report, but that's secondary to its core purpose. The app is optimized for people who want to change their spending behavior, not just observe their wealth growing.
The YNAB cost question
YNAB fans will tell you that the app “pays for itself” by helping you cut spending. That's true for many people. If YNAB's budgeting methodology genuinely changes your financial behavior, $14.99/month is cheap.
But if you're already good at budgeting and just want to answer “is my net worth going up?” month over month, you're paying $180/year for a feature that a simpler (free) tool handles just as well.
Vaulted vs YNAB — what each does
| Feature | Vaulted | YNAB |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $14.99/month |
| No account required | ✅ | ❌ |
| No bank login required | ✅ | Optional (but encouraged) |
| Data stays on device | ✅ | ❌ (cloud sync) |
| Open source | ✅ | ❌ |
| Net worth tracking | ✅ (primary focus) | ✅ (secondary feature) |
| Monthly snapshots & trends | ✅ | ✅ |
| Asset type breakdown | ✅ | Limited |
| Multi-currency support | ✅ | Limited |
| Zero-based budgeting | ❌ | ✅ (core feature) |
| Transaction categorization | ❌ | ✅ |
| Works offline | ✅ | Limited |
| Data export | ✅ (JSON) | ✅ (CSV) |
The honest answer: they're for different goals
YNAB is for people who want to actively manage their budget, reduce debt, and change their spending behavior. It's hands-on financial coaching software. If that's what you need, it's worth the price.
Vaulted is for people who want to watch their net worth grow. You already know how to manage your money — you just want a clean, private place to see the big picture. Enter your balances once a month, check the trend, move on.
If you're using YNAB mainly for the net worth report and finding the $14.99/month hard to justify, Vaulted is worth trying.
What manual entry actually costs you
Vaulted doesn't auto-sync with your bank. You enter balances manually. For net worth tracking — where you need a monthly snapshot, not a real-time feed — this means:
- Log in to each financial account (you do this anyway)
- Note the current balance
- Enter it in Vaulted
- Take a snapshot
Total time: 2-5 minutes per month. That's the cost of keeping your financial data private and not paying a subscription fee.
Try it
Try Vaulted free at vaultedworth.com — no account, no credit card, no bank login required. Or read the source code on GitHub.