CentoA YNAB alternative without bank linking
YNAB is a well-loved budgeting method with a price to match, and it works best with your bank connected. If you would rather not link a bank, here is how Cento compares on budgeting, receipts, sharing, currencies and cost.
YNAB (You Need A Budget) is one of the best-known budgeting apps, and its method has helped a lot of people. It costs $14.99 a month or $109 a year, and it works best when your bank account feeds it transactions. Some people don’t want to give a budgeting app access to their bank, or live where their bank isn’t supported. Others want the habit of budgeting without the subscription price. This page compares YNAB with Cento for those people.
The short answer
- Choose YNAB if you want its zero-based method, its classes and community, a web app on your computer, and you are happy to connect your bank or import bank files.
- Choose Cento if you want no bank connection at all, receipts read item by item instead of bank lines, a free version with no time limit, or a household in more than one currency.
Bank linking: optional in YNAB, absent in Cento
YNAB can import transactions directly from selected banks in the US, Canada, the UK and the EU, through Plaid. You can also enter everything by hand, or import a bank’s file. Most of YNAB’s convenience comes from the direct import, though.
Cento never connects to a bank. Nothing is read from your account, and no bank login is stored anywhere. You add an expense by typing it, which takes a few seconds, or by scanning the receipt. That is more work than an automatic import. It also means you see every expense once, on the day you spend it.
Bank lines or receipt items
A bank import tells you that you spent 86 euros at the supermarket. It doesn’t tell you that 30 of it was cleaning products and 12 was snacks.
Cento’s AI reads a receipt line by line and puts each item in its own category, so one supermarket trip becomes groceries, household and treats, each in the right place. YNAB doesn’t read receipts: since April 2026 you can attach a photo to a transaction, but the app doesn’t read what is on it.
Budgeting methods
YNAB uses zero-based budgeting: you give every dollar a job before you spend it, and move money between categories when plans change. It is a strict and effective method, and it takes some learning.
Cento’s budget (part of Premium) works with pockets: you put money aside for rent, groceries, a holiday or a new laptop, with sub-pockets inside a pocket, and Cento shows how much is left in each as you spend. If you have used envelopes before, it will feel familiar. Spending on a trip or a one-off project can be kept out of the monthly totals, so a holiday doesn’t wreck your monthly picture.
Side by side
| YNAB | Cento | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 a month or $109 a year, after a 34-day trial | Free with no time limit; Premium (Personal or Family) for more |
| Bank connection | Optional, in the US, Canada, UK and EU | None |
| Receipts | Attach a photo; it isn’t read | AI reads every line and sorts each item |
| Method | Zero-based budgeting | Budget pockets and sub-pockets |
| Sharing | YNAB Together: up to 6 people on one subscription | One household, up to 5 people on the Family plan |
| Currencies | One currency per budget | Any currency; receipts from abroad converted |
| Platforms | iPhone, Android, web, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Android |
| Ads | None | None |
| Works offline | Yes | Yes, apart from receipt scanning |
Sharing a budget
Both apps let a couple or family share. YNAB Together puts up to 6 people on one subscription, each with their own login. Cento’s Family plan covers a household of up to 5 people, and each expense is marked as shared or as one person’s, so you can see the household total and each person’s own spending. Cento works across Android and iPhone in the same household.
Money in more than one currency
YNAB keeps one currency per budget and suggests a separate budget for each extra currency. In Cento you can spend in any currency, and a receipt from abroad is converted, which helps if you travel, live across a border or get paid in another currency.
What Cento doesn’t do
Cento has no web app, so everything happens on your phone or iPad. It doesn’t import from your bank, and there is no automatic reconciling of your account balance. If those matter most to you, YNAB is the better fit.
Which one should you use?
- You want a proven budgeting method with lots of guidance, and you are fine linking a bank: YNAB.
- You don’t want any bank connection, or your bank isn’t supported: Cento.
- You want to see what you buy, item by item, more than what you paid each shop: Cento.
- You want to start free and see if the habit sticks: Cento’s free version has no time limit.
Sources
Checked on 7 November 2026: YNAB’s pricing, features, YNAB Together terms, photos on transactions and multiple currencies guide. Cento’s features are described in the FAQ.