# Real Budget review

> Simple envelope budgeting on web, iOS and Android, free for manual use with paid sharing and bank sync.
Source: https://budgetingapps.org/apps/real-budget (researched 2026-10-14). Research-based review, not hands-on testing.

## Summary

RealBudget is an envelope budgeting app from Limitless Innovative Technologies LLC, first released on the App Store in December 2022. You create envelopes, fund them for a budget period and log spending by hand, free on the web and one mobile device. Paid tiers add sharing and multi-device access ($3 a month) and automatic bank import in the US and Canada ($10 a month). It is deliberately simple: no reports, debt tools or recurring bills were documented.

**Best for:** People who want a plain, free envelope budget with manual entry and pay-period budgets, and who may add sharing with a partner later

## Key facts

- Website: https://realbudget.app/
- Price: Free; Share $3/mo; Sync $10/mo (includes Share); No yearly price shown
- Rating: 3.2/5
- Free plan: yes
- Free trial: 30-day free trial for first-time subscribers (App Store); site labels the paid tiers Free Trial
- Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
- Budgeting method: Envelope, Couples & families
- Founded: 2022
- Bank sync: Sync tier ($10/mo), US and Canada only; Plaid connection, read-only access per vendor
- Mobile apps: iOS and Android apps plus a web app; free on one mobile device and the web
- Import: Automatic bank import on the Sync tier; no file import documented
- Multiple budgets: Unlimited budgets on the free plan per the vendor site
- Team: Limitless Innovative Technologies LLC (developer of record on both stores); the developer replies to App Store reviews
- Privacy: Policy says no sale of personal data, opt-in analytics, Plaid handles bank logins, deletion on request within 30 days, encryption in transit; no at-rest or audit statement found

## Features

- Envelope budgeting: yes
- Automatic bank sync: yes
- Manual transaction entry: yes
- Goal tracking: yes
- Debt payoff tools: not confirmed
- Investment tracking: not confirmed
- Bill reminders: not confirmed
- Reports & charts: not confirmed
- Multi-currency: not confirmed
- Shared / household budgets: yes
- Separate logins for shared budgets: not confirmed

## Pros

- Free plan has unlimited envelopes and budgets with manual transaction entry, on the web and one mobile device
- Budget periods can be monthly, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, quarterly, yearly and more, with carry-over of leftover funds, which suits paycheck-based budgeting
- Savings envelopes for longer-term goals, and transfers between envelopes
- Income Tracking Mode (App Store notes, Dec 2025) tracks income per period to guide allocation, with recurring income and optional hold amounts
- Sharing and multi-device access cost $3 a month, well below the $10 bank-sync tier; bank sync is optional
- Active updates: 3.8.4 on 22 July 2026 and several releases since December 2025, per the App Store version history
- Strong store ratings: 4.9 from 138 on the App Store and 4.7 from about 500 on Google Play, with the developer replying to reviews
- Privacy policy says it does not sell personal data, bank logins go to Plaid and not to it, analytics and crash reports are opt-in, and you can request a copy or deletion of your data
- Runs on web, iOS and Android; CSV export of budget data

## Cons

- Free use covers one mobile device; sharing and multiple devices need a paid tier
- Bank sync costs $10 a month and is available only in the US and Canada
- No reports beyond CSV export, no debt payoff or credit card handling, and no reconciliation documented
- Recurring transactions or bills are not documented; the only recurring item found is recurring income in Income Tracking Mode
- A reviewer-reported gap: no transaction splitting; another says notes are hidden in the transaction list
- No annual price is shown, so the cheapest paid use is $36 a year for Share at the monthly rate
- Encryption is stated in transit only; I found no at-rest statement or independent security audit
- The vendor's own site markets it as a lighter alternative to a specific app, and I found little independent coverage outside store reviews

## Our review

### Short version

RealBudget is an envelope budgeting app from Limitless Innovative Technologies LLC. You create envelopes, give each one money for a budget period, and record spending against them. The free plan covers that on the web and on one phone or tablet. A $3 a month Share tier adds invited members and use across several devices, and a $10 a month Sync tier adds automatic bank import in the US and Canada. It is a plain, narrow app on purpose, and it does that job with good store ratings.

**Research-based, not hands-on.** Written on 2026-09-30 from the vendor's home page, privacy policy and guide pages, the App Store listing and its version history, the Google Play listing, and a store-data summary site. I did not sign up, start a trial or connect a bank, and the web app itself shows no public content, so I did not see the screens beyond the vendor's own images.

### How it budgets

You make envelopes for categories such as groceries, gas or savings, assign money to each, and watch what is left as you add transactions. Budget periods are flexible: monthly, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, quarterly, yearly and more, with a choice to carry leftover funds forward. That makes it a good fit for people who budget by paycheck. Savings envelopes hold money for longer goals, and you can transfer between envelopes.

In December 2025 the App Store notes added an Income Tracking Mode, which tracks income for each period and uses it to guide how much you allocate, with recurring income, bank sync and optional hold amounts. That is the only recurring item I found. I saw no recurring bills, no reports besides CSV export, no debt or credit card handling and no reconciliation workflow. Those are blanks in my notes, not confirmed absences, and a few of them may simply be undocumented.

### Cost

- **Free:** unlimited envelopes and budgets, manual entry, web plus one mobile device.

- **Share:** $3 a month. Real-time sharing, invited members and multiple devices.

- **Sync:** $10 a month, includes Share. Automatic bank import and spending estimates from past transactions during setup.

- A 30-day trial is offered to first-time subscribers on the App Store. The site shows no yearly price, so $36 a year for Share is just the monthly rate times twelve.

- One App Store reviewer says the developer offers the premium tier free to people who cannot afford it. I could not find that on the vendor's pages, so treat it as a reported claim.

### Getting data in and out

- **In:** bank import on the Sync tier, US and Canada only. I found no file import.

- **Out:** CSV export of budget data, listed in the App Store description.

### Privacy and security

The policy says it does not sell personal data, that bank credentials go to Plaid and never reach RealBudget, and that analytics and crash reports are opt-in. You can request a copy or deletion of your data, with deletion completed within 30 days, and Plaid-derived data goes when you delete your account. Bank access is described as read-only on the home page. It says data is encrypted in transit, and Google Play's data safety section says the same; I found no statement about encryption at rest and no independent audit, so I did not count either. The policy says budget data is stored in Firebase's Firestore.

### Recent activity

The App Store shows version 3.8.4 from 22 July 2026, with a run of releases before it: onboarding changes in April and May, a text-only envelope list brought back in May, performance fixes in May and June, and a feedback option plus a way to hide bank accounts in July. The first release was on 30 December 2022. That is steady, small-team maintenance, but the changes are mostly polish, and I found no public roadmap.

### What people say

The App Store lists 4.9 from 138 ratings and Google Play lists 4.7 from about 500 reviews with 10K+ downloads. Reviewers praise simplicity, free use, the visual envelope idea, easy sharing with a spouse, and a responsive developer. Reported complaints are small: notes are hard to see in the transaction list, the sharing options were hard to find for one reviewer, there is no transaction splitting, and it is glitchy at times. Store reviews are public, but I could not check who wrote them. I found no independent articles or forum threads about it, so outside coverage is still thin.

### What is distinct

Not much, and the vendor says so with a page pitching RealBudget as a lighter alternative to a well-known budgeting app. Within that, the choices that do stand out are flexible pay-period budgets with carry-over, a cheap Share tier separate from bank sync, and income tracking that guides allocation.

### Not confirmed

Recurring bills, reports, debt and credit card handling, reconciliation, multi-currency, offline use, file import and the web app's own features.

### Who it suits

- People who want a free, simple envelope budget and are happy to type transactions in.

- Couples who want to share one budget for a low monthly price without paying for bank sync.

- People paid biweekly or semi-monthly who want budget periods that match.

### Who might look elsewhere

- Anyone who wants reports, debt tracking, recurring bills or reconciliation.

- Anyone who wants bank sync outside the US and Canada, or a lower price for bank sync.

- Anyone who wants an independent security audit or a detailed public changelog and roadmap.

### Notes

Ratings are set separately against a shared rubric.

## Sources

- [Vendor home page and current pricing](https://realbudget.app/) (retrieved 2026-10-14)
- [Vendor privacy policy](https://realbudget.app/privacy) (retrieved 2026-10-14)
- [Vendor positioning page: simpler alternative](https://realbudget.app/ynab-alternative) (retrieved 2026-10-14)
- [App Store listing, features, pricing and ratings](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/realbudget-envelope-budgeting/id1643604343) (retrieved 2026-10-14)
- [Google Play listing, features, pricing, ratings and update date](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.litapplications.realbudget) (retrieved 2026-10-14)
- [App Store release history summary](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/realbudget-envelope-budgeting/id1643604343) (retrieved 2026-10-14)