FinWise vs YNAB

YNAB teaches a specific method: give every dollar a job. FinWise is built around seeing all your accounts and your net worth in one place, with budgets that you can use as much or as little as you like.

At a glance.

	FinWise	YNAB
Price	$8.99 a month or $89.99 a year. R79.99 a month or R799.99 a year in South Africa.	$14.99 a month or $109 a year.
Free trial	14 days free. A payment method is needed to start.	34 days free.
Budgeting	Budgets per category, with rollover and your own start day. You can switch budgeting off.	The YNAB Method, where you decide what each dollar is for.
Sharing	Not yet. Each account belongs to one person, though you can add shared accounts to it.	One subscription can be shared by up to six people.
Bank connections	South African banks, plus US and Canadian banks. Manual accounts and CSV import everywhere else.	Available in selected countries. Check YNAB for yours.

FinWise wrote this comparison. YNAB details checked on 3 November 2026, from YNAB pricing. Prices and features change, so please confirm with them.

Which suits you?

FinWise, if

You want your whole financial picture, including net worth.
You want to budget without following a set method.
Your banks are in South Africa.
You keep money in several currencies.

YNAB, if

You want to learn and follow a structured budgeting method.
You want to share one subscription with your household.
You would like a longer free trial before deciding.

Moving from YNAB.

1
Export your data from YNAB
Download your transactions from YNAB as a CSV file.
2
Start your FinWise trial
Try FinWise free for 14 days. A payment method is needed to start.
3
Connect your accounts
Link your banks so new transactions sync, or add accounts manually.
4
Import your history
Upload your CSV file, then check how your categories have mapped across.