YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Topic Author
guppyguy
Posts: 465
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 3:24 pm

YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by guppyguy »

I was pretty upset to see YNAB double it’s legacy pricing this morning from $45/yr to almost $90. I’ve contacted the owner, Jesse to express my dissatisfaction.

I’ve used YNAB since version 3.0. Has anybody else moved away recently or will you now with the price hike?

Simple spreadsheet anybody?
dukeblue219
Posts: 4074
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:40 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by dukeblue219 »

Whoa. I've been a very satisfied YNAB user since way back when as well. That will really make me reconsider. It's a really nice interface and I like they way it budgets in envelopes, but $15/mo (less annually) is crazy. That's more than Netflix - and YNAB doesn't really add that much value for me.
Mako
Posts: 499
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:34 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Mako »

I too am a long time satisfied customer that will have to reconsider. Mine doesn't renew until August so I have some time to figure out if there are better/cheaper options.
onourway
Posts: 3778
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:39 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by onourway »

I hadn't seen that, and will be renewing again in January. Honestly, this is to be expected by now for basically any tech service. The tried and true business model is that a service gains marketshare with a good product at an unsustainably low price. If and when they have successfully tied-in enough users, they raise prices by about double. So long as signals the transition from start-up phase to long-term stability phase, I think that's a good sign for any service you count on.

YNAB has and continues to help me save far more than $90/year - let alone the time investment I'd need to replicate even a fraction of its functionality, so I'll continue to pay. My bigger concern would be if they went out of business - there is no other software quite like it on the market - at least not anything I'd count on long-term.

Edit - I don't think comparisons to services like Netflix are quite fair. An app like YNAB doesn't have nearly their costs, but they also don't have any hope of scaling to the hundreds of millions of subscribers that make a video streaming app possible for under $15/month.
Hoosier CPA
Posts: 512
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:43 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Hoosier CPA »

Of all my subscriptions, it's probably the one I mind paying the least - it's a huge timesaver and organizer for our family. The company doesn't sell your data, is reliable, continues to get updated, etc.

I wasn't a legacy customer though so the increase wasn't that bad.
User avatar
winterfan
Posts: 826
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 10:06 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by winterfan »

I bought the downloadable software and liked it all right, but then a year later they moved to the subscription model. I'm OK with buying something once, but I really can't stand subscription services. I switched to doing my current budget with my own spreadsheet. It works fine. I wouldn't spend $90.
User avatar
8foot7
Posts: 4427
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:29 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by 8foot7 »

Still on YNAB 4.
I am of two minds of this: $90/year is $7.50 a month, and if you don't get $7.50/mo worth of value from YNAB, why are you using it at all? Seems like a low bar.

On the other hand, I am not a fan (although I understand the appeal) of so much software moving toward recurring subscriptions. You used to buy a release for $80, use it for 2-3 years, and then buy a new one for $80, use for 2-3 years. $90/year is basically like buying a release a year, so really the price is doubling or tripling over the last model. And they'll only want to increase from here.

On balance, I won't be subscribing, because YNAB 4 works for me as our finances are stable enough to be basically be in the maintenance mode==I'm not trying to pay down debt or save for a mortgage or anything. But if I were, I think $90/year would be my limit. At that point I can build a spreadsheet to adhere to the four rules and while I might not have Quick Fill and auto-import, that'd be ok.
Soon2BXProgrammer
Posts: 3289
Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:30 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Soon2BXProgrammer »

8foot7 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:47 am Still on YNAB 4.
I am of two minds of this: $90/year is $7.50 a month, and if you don't get $7.50/mo worth of value from YNAB, why are you using it at all? Seems like a low bar.

On the other hand, I am not a fan (although I understand the appeal) of so much software moving toward recurring subscriptions. You used to buy a release for $80, use it for 2-3 years, and then buy a new one for $80, use for 2-3 years. $90/year is basically like buying a release a year, so really the price is doubling or tripling over the last model. And they'll only want to increase from here.

On balance, I won't be subscribing, because YNAB 4 works for me as our finances are stable enough to be basically be in the maintenance mode==I'm not trying to pay down debt or save for a mortgage or anything. But if I were, I think $90/year would be my limit. At that point I can build a spreadsheet to adhere to the four rules and while I might not have Quick Fill and auto-import, that'd be ok.
Part of the issue is the fees that account aggregators charge. That part of the software is effectively a pass through cost. I don't know what they get charged, I just know it isn't insignificant.
Earned 43 (and counting) credit hours of financial planning related education from a regionally accredited university, but I am not your advisor.
User avatar
8foot7
Posts: 4427
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:29 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by 8foot7 »

Soon2BXProgrammer wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:00 am
8foot7 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:47 am Still on YNAB 4.
I am of two minds of this: $90/year is $7.50 a month, and if you don't get $7.50/mo worth of value from YNAB, why are you using it at all? Seems like a low bar.

On the other hand, I am not a fan (although I understand the appeal) of so much software moving toward recurring subscriptions. You used to buy a release for $80, use it for 2-3 years, and then buy a new one for $80, use for 2-3 years. $90/year is basically like buying a release a year, so really the price is doubling or tripling over the last model. And they'll only want to increase from here.

On balance, I won't be subscribing, because YNAB 4 works for me as our finances are stable enough to be basically be in the maintenance mode==I'm not trying to pay down debt or save for a mortgage or anything. But if I were, I think $90/year would be my limit. At that point I can build a spreadsheet to adhere to the four rules and while I might not have Quick Fill and auto-import, that'd be ok.
Part of the issue is the fees that account aggregators charge. That part of the software is effectively a pass through cost. I don't know what they get charged, I just know it isn't insignificant.
Fair point.
I wonder then if a tiered approach might be something to consider - YNAB basic for the regular price, YNAB+ with auto import for whatever the aggregators charge plus a markup?
Not my business to run, though.
terran
Posts: 3049
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2015 9:50 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by terran »

Are you sure current subscribers aren't grandfathered in to the price they signed up at? I thought they'd done that in the past.

Edit: They make it very clear that the pricing change effects everyone. The 10% discount for legacy customers still applies. That's unfortunate. My subscription renews this month, so I guess I have a year to get used to the new pricing or find an alternative. I dragged my feet switching from YNAB 4, so my price isn't as good as some of you, so I don't have as big a price jump as some of you (since I've been paying more).
Soon2BXProgrammer wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:00 am Part of the issue is the fees that account aggregators charge. That part of the software is effectively a pass through cost. I don't know what they get charged, I just know it isn't insignificant.
If that's the case then they should make this an add-on service. I'm a happy manual only user, and I think that makes it a better product as in improves ones connection to the budget. And I don't trust the aggregators enough to give them my login credentials against my financial institutions' terms of service.
Last edited by terran on Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mako
Posts: 499
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:34 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Mako »

terran wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:12 am Are you sure current subscribers aren't grandfathered in to the price they signed up at? I thought they'd done that in the past.
Soon2BXProgrammer wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:00 am Part of the issue is the fees that account aggregators charge. That part of the software is effectively a pass through cost. I don't know what they get charged, I just know it isn't insignificant.
If that's the case then they should make this an add-on service. I'm a happy manual only user, and I think that makes it a better product as in improves ones connection to the budget. And I don't trust the aggregators enough to give them my login credentials against my financial institutions' terms of service.

The site said the next time you auto renew it will be at the new price. People who have been with them a long time do still get a 10% discount.

To me the aggregation is the best part of the service. I would likely be fine just using spreadsheets, but I hated typing in every transaction and that's a big reason I may stay on. I feel sufficiently connected to my budget.
Soon2BXProgrammer
Posts: 3289
Joined: Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:30 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Soon2BXProgrammer »

terran wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:12 am Are you sure current subscribers aren't grandfathered in to the price they signed up at? I thought they'd done that in the past.
Soon2BXProgrammer wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:00 am Part of the issue is the fees that account aggregators charge. That part of the software is effectively a pass through cost. I don't know what they get charged, I just know it isn't insignificant.
If that's the case then they should make this an add-on service. I'm a happy manual only user, and I think that makes it a better product as in improves ones connection to the budget. And I don't trust the aggregators enough to give them my login credentials against my financial institutions' terms of service.
I believe I've heard Jesse from YNAB being quoted on a podcast saying that they flipped from saying 'we want people to have to enter every transaction manually' to "we want it to be automatic to reduce the effort so that people can spend time on the parts that matter".. I could be incorrectly remembering.. So effectively its a business decision to force inclusion.

I use a different piece of software that has two pricing tiers.. to have account aggregation its an additional $25/month, and thats basically the only extra feature. I spoke with the development team, and they basically said the aggregation software is expense because of the same exact reason we don't like subscriptions, they can only buy a subscription to it...
Earned 43 (and counting) credit hours of financial planning related education from a regionally accredited university, but I am not your advisor.
muffins14
Posts: 5529
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 4:14 am
Location: New York

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by muffins14 »

That sounds really rough. I use a free app called daily budget. You set a monthly income number and manually enter your purchases. At the end of the month you can see a spending summary of spending by category. Works for me, and free is nice
Crom laughs at your Four Winds
wfrobinette
Posts: 1879
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:14 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by wfrobinette »

winterfan wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:39 am I bought the downloadable software and liked it all right, but then a year later they moved to the subscription model. I'm OK with buying something once, but I really can't stand subscription services. I switched to doing my current budget with my own spreadsheet. It works fine. I wouldn't spend $90.
Isn't your time of manual input worth more than $90?
inverter
Posts: 1021
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 1:40 pm
Location: New York, NY

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by inverter »

Hoosier CPA wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:39 am Of all my subscriptions, it's probably the one I mind paying the least - it's a huge timesaver and organizer for our family. The company doesn't sell your data, is reliable, continues to get updated, etc.

I wasn't a legacy customer though so the increase wasn't that bad.
+1! Totally agree. Happy to pay them for software that is continually improving!
muffins14
Posts: 5529
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 4:14 am
Location: New York

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by muffins14 »

wfrobinette wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:30 am
winterfan wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:39 am I bought the downloadable software and liked it all right, but then a year later they moved to the subscription model. I'm OK with buying something once, but I really can't stand subscription services. I switched to doing my current budget with my own spreadsheet. It works fine. I wouldn't spend $90.
Isn't your time of manual input worth more than $90?
For me, no. It takes about 10 seconds to add a purchase i to my app
Crom laughs at your Four Winds
Topic Author
guppyguy
Posts: 465
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 3:24 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by guppyguy »

I agree with all of the comments above that their is a business rational to subscription software services AND that YNAB is very valuable to our family. But we have 3 subscriptions (parents plus a 20+16 year old) so the increase in cost is substantial. They need some kind of family subscription price. Also, a 10% legacy discount is pretty insignificant when the base amount rises 100%.

As a larger comment, do we really need all of these subscription services???? Even YNAB. Have we complicated our lives so much that our tolerance for even the slightest inconvenience drives us into the arms of a million companies more than happy to drain dollar and cents from one’s earnings just so we can avoid any and all hassle??
123
Posts: 10415
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 3:55 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by 123 »

Doesn't YNAB realize that its legacy subscribers are on a budget?
The closest helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
User avatar
SmileyFace
Posts: 9184
Joined: Wed Feb 19, 2014 9:11 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by SmileyFace »

123 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:14 am Doesn't YNAB realize that its legacy subscribers are on a budget?
LOL.
I switched to JNAS (Just Need A Spreadsheet).
For others - mint may be a fine alternative.
User avatar
8foot7
Posts: 4427
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:29 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by 8foot7 »

SmileyFace wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:21 am
123 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:14 am Doesn't YNAB realize that its legacy subscribers are on a budget?
LOL.
I switched to JNAS (Just Need A Spreadsheet).
For others - mint may be a fine alternative.
LOL. YNABBIDHTBTO(You Need A Budget, But It Doesn't Have To Be That One)
rolls right off the tongue
User avatar
winterfan
Posts: 826
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 10:06 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by winterfan »

wfrobinette wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:30 am
winterfan wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:39 am I bought the downloadable software and liked it all right, but then a year later they moved to the subscription model. I'm OK with buying something once, but I really can't stand subscription services. I switched to doing my current budget with my own spreadsheet. It works fine. I wouldn't spend $90.
Isn't your time of manual input worth more than $90?
Not to me. I can buy my kid a really nice pair of winter boots (or whatever) instead. We don't have that many transactions go through our account anyway.
Retired1809
Posts: 509
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 3:11 pm
Location: North Carolina, USA

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Retired1809 »

Out of curiosity, I googled YNAB and see what it is.

Looks like a waste of good money. And it appears that soon, it will be a waste of even more good money.

There's nothing new about budgeting and spending plans. I would suggest eliminating the expense of YNAB would be first on my list of saving money. Simple.
User avatar
Nate79
Posts: 9373
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:24 pm
Location: Delaware

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Nate79 »

I will continue paying my $0 to Mint. This much per year for YNAB or any other similar service I think is absurd.
User avatar
White Coat Investor
Posts: 17413
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:11 pm
Location: Greatest Snow On Earth

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by White Coat Investor »

If less than half of people leave, YNAB comes out ahead. Seems like a business risk worth taking to me.
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy | 4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course
Lastrun
Posts: 1512
Joined: Wed May 03, 2017 6:46 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Lastrun »

White Coat Investor wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:01 pm If less than half of people leave, YNAB comes out ahead. Seems like a business risk worth taking to me.
Right, and arguably you save on customer service with fewer customers, less new install problems, etc. etc.
User avatar
slow n steady
Posts: 388
Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2011 1:54 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by slow n steady »

Hoosier CPA wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:39 am Of all my subscriptions, it's probably the one I mind paying the least - it's a huge timesaver and organizer for our family. The company doesn't sell your data, is reliable, continues to get updated, etc.

I wasn't a legacy customer though so the increase wasn't that bad.
I really don't like subscriptions, yet I have no problem paying YNAB. I have gotten rid of Amazon Prime, Netflix, and will be getting rid of Disney Plus. Still keeping YNAB.

I went without YNAB for almost a year and I have no doubt I spent thousands more than I would have otherwise. I don't like to admit it because I think of myself as a super rational spender, but the numbers didn't lie.
jumbopapa
Posts: 176
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 7:56 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by jumbopapa »

My subscription just renewed last month... I guess I'll use it for the next year, but I will be re-evaluating after that. I know I can reproduce the same results with a spreadsheet or other service, but YNAB makes it all very easy. There will be some switching costs and my wife has an easier time using a webapp than a spreadsheet.
sam1838
Posts: 68
Joined: Fri Nov 08, 2019 10:28 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by sam1838 »

guppyguy wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:04 am As a larger comment, do we really need all of these subscription services????
I'm very pro subscription. Subscriptions typically allow smart organized people to come out ahead. All of those free trials, get so many months for 50% off, etc, are subsidized by people mindlessly paying for things they rarely use. Ironically, YNAB is instrumental to me starting and stopping subscriptions, I have all future renewals scheduled and I can cancel before they renew without issue. You can't game it with YNAB, but that's because it's too valuable to cancel, which is fair.

I can subscribe to Apple TV+ for one month, watch everything of interest, and cancel. Total cost is $5. This is only possible because of all the silly people paying every month whether they use it or not.
Morris89
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:36 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Morris89 »

I think the issue for most of use grandfathered users is we were promised a locked in price of $45/year or $50/year and suddenly they are saying we were only promised a 10% discount. I've used YNAB since 2011 and was an early adopter of the SAAS version. I'm definitely going to look at alternatives before my renewal in February. The product is good, probably worth the $90 or $100/year but going back on a promise makes me not want to renew at any price.
Jags4186
Posts: 8198
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Jags4186 »

Never understood why anyone would pay for YNAB when free services like Mint and Personal Capital are available. And if you don’t want to use Mint or Personal Capital, it seems to me easy enough to create your own spreadsheets.
dukeblue219
Posts: 4074
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:40 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by dukeblue219 »

Jags4186 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:38 pm Never understood why anyone would pay for YNAB when free services like Mint and Personal Capital are available. And if you don’t want to use Mint or Personal Capital, it seems to me easy enough to create your own spreadsheets.
Because I don't want a kludged-together set of spreadsheets. I want an app that "just works" because I am busy enough with work and kids as it is. But seeing as how it's basically a fixed set of features for me I'm not likely to spend $90/year on it... That's more than Office costs!
dukeblue219
Posts: 4074
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:40 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by dukeblue219 »

muffins14 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:45 am
wfrobinette wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:30 am
winterfan wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:39 am I bought the downloadable software and liked it all right, but then a year later they moved to the subscription model. I'm OK with buying something once, but I really can't stand subscription services. I switched to doing my current budget with my own spreadsheet. It works fine. I wouldn't spend $90.
Isn't your time of manual input worth more than $90?
For me, no. It takes about 10 seconds to add a purchase i to my app
So far this year we have 1,353 transactions in YNAB. At ten seconds each that's four hours of data entry, and I doubt ten seconds is accurate, even if I've saved all the receipts which I rarely do.

Manual entry isn't any fun either, but this sudden 100% increase is awful.
randomguy
Posts: 11295
Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:00 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by randomguy »

Lastrun wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:11 pm
White Coat Investor wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:01 pm If less than half of people leave, YNAB comes out ahead. Seems like a business risk worth taking to me.
Right, and arguably you save on customer service with fewer customers, less new install problems, etc. etc.
Why not raise it to 200 and half 1/4 the customers?:) They are making a bet they don't lose over half their customers AND that new customer acquisition doesn't slow to a trickle. 90 bucks seems excessive for the value of this type of software but the market will speak about what is considered acceptable.
User avatar
cflannagan
Posts: 1208
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:44 am
Location: Working Remotely

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by cflannagan »

muffins14 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:45 am For me, no. It takes about 10 seconds to add a purchase i to my app
Can't imagine doing that for every single transaction for us, a family of 4. Going to get extremely tedious, fast.

I heart automatic transaction downloading.
dukeblue219 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:55 pm
So far this year we have 1,353 transactions in YNAB. At ten seconds each that's four hours of data entry, and I doubt ten seconds is accurate, even if I've saved all the receipts which I rarely do.

Manual entry isn't any fun either, but this sudden 100% increase is awful.
Looked at mine. Roughly 1,038. And yeah, no, it's not going to take 10 seconds each. Will be more for some transactions. As mentioned, entering every single transaction will get old and tedious very fast.
dukeblue219 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:52 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:38 pm Never understood why anyone would pay for YNAB when free services like Mint and Personal Capital are available. And if you don’t want to use Mint or Personal Capital, it seems to me easy enough to create your own spreadsheets.
Because I don't want a kludged-together set of spreadsheets. I want an app that "just works" because I am busy enough with work and kids as it is. But seeing as how it's basically a fixed set of features for me I'm not likely to spend $90/year on it... That's more than Office costs!
+1. This is coming from someone who used to budget the spreadsheet way. YNAB is a huge timesaver.

Also clearly Jags4186 doesn't seem to understand why YNAB isn't the same as Mint & Personal Capital. Mint & PC is not at all remotely anything even close to an envelope-based budgeting system (yes, I've used both Mint & PC) - so that was a very weird comparison to make.
Last edited by cflannagan on Mon Nov 01, 2021 3:56 pm, edited 5 times in total.
BH_RedRan
Posts: 240
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2019 4:27 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by BH_RedRan »

Should be renamed "YNNABB". You now need a bigger budget.

Another vote for just using a simple, one-page, spreadsheet. Easy, quick, and good enough.

Of course, I'm not one to add every receipt. Enough accuracy can be had by scanning cc and bank statements to know where the budget stands. I mostly use the spreadsheet for general planning, not so much for looking back in excruciating detail.
User avatar
AustenNut
Posts: 148
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:19 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by AustenNut »

We had YNAB 3 and were close enough to the release of YNAB 4 that we got it for free. When the model changed to subscription, we stayed with YNAB 4. Although it has helped us to reach more financial milestones, it would be nice if there was a one-time purchase option with no aggregation, and then a subscription model for those who want that functionality. But neither Jesse nor anyone else at YNAB asked my opinion. And my partner loves the reports with the totals on our net worth and assets...I think that's been a key with respect to his keeping financially focused as well. So long as YNAB 4 continues to work, we'll keep using it.
User avatar
Bogle7
Posts: 1984
Joined: Fri May 11, 2018 9:33 am
Location: In the Witness Protection Program

Alternative to YNAB

Post by Bogle7 »

I like/use Moneyspire.
https://www.moneyspire.com/purchase/
Am not a power user.
Old fart who does three index stock funds, baby.
MrBeaver
Posts: 491
Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:45 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by MrBeaver »

Mvelopes provides a similar service, and actually predates YNAB:
https://www.mvelopes.com/

Their basic plan with importer is $6/month.

The interface isn’t as nice as YNAB, for sure. Though it took a big step up 1-2 years ago when they FINALLY dumped Flash. I use them because I paid for a ‘lifetime’ account around 15-20 years ago. Seemed steep at $400 back then, but now that’s less than $2.50 per month and I’m still milking it.
User avatar
cflannagan
Posts: 1208
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:44 am
Location: Working Remotely

Re: Alternative to YNAB

Post by cflannagan »

Bogle7 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 3:56 pm I like/use Moneyspire.
https://www.moneyspire.com/purchase/
Am not a power user.
Might check out - is it an envelope-based budgeting system?

Someone on Reddit also suggesting checking out Buckets. which to my understanding is using an envelope-based budgeting system. $49 lifetime (but as the dev explained, one is locked in to that "major version", the dev might release v2, which will have a separate lifetime cost, and so on)
Jags4186
Posts: 8198
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Jags4186 »

dukeblue219 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:52 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:38 pm Never understood why anyone would pay for YNAB when free services like Mint and Personal Capital are available. And if you don’t want to use Mint or Personal Capital, it seems to me easy enough to create your own spreadsheets.
Because I don't want a kludged-together set of spreadsheets. I want an app that "just works" because I am busy enough with work and kids as it is. But seeing as how it's basically a fixed set of features for me I'm not likely to spend $90/year on it... That's more than Office costs!
Yea I mean…I haven’t looked at YNAB for a while but when I did check it out based on numerous recommendations I didn’t see what advantage it offered. Perhaps if you are someone living paycheck to paycheck it makes sense…but if you already have your financial house in order I failed to see what it brought to the table a simple, single spreadsheet…or even mental accounting didn’t.
User avatar
cflannagan
Posts: 1208
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:44 am
Location: Working Remotely

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by cflannagan »

Jags4186 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:22 pm Yea I mean…I haven’t looked at YNAB for a while but when I did check it out based on numerous recommendations I didn’t see what advantage it offered. Perhaps if you are someone living paycheck to paycheck it makes sense…but if you already have your financial house in order I failed to see what it brought to the table a simple, single spreadsheet…or even mental accounting didn’t.
Both "living paycheck to paycheck", FIRE types, and everything in between (ie myself, having assets at 20x of my annual expenses) uses YNAB. Pre-YNAB, I had only a "rough" estimate of what my annual expenses were. Post-YNAB, I had my annual expenses down to the penny, and now have much higher degree of confidence in my FIRE number. And that's not the primary reason why I'm using YNAB either.

Just because others see value in YNAB, doesn't mean you have to see the value in YNAB too.
Last edited by cflannagan on Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jags4186
Posts: 8198
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Jags4186 »

cflannagan wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:28 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:22 pm Yea I mean…I haven’t looked at YNAB for a while but when I did check it out based on numerous recommendations I didn’t see what advantage it offered. Perhaps if you are someone living paycheck to paycheck it makes sense…but if you already have your financial house in order I failed to see what it brought to the table a simple, single spreadsheet…or even mental accounting didn’t.
Both "living paycheck to paycheck", FIRE types, and everything in between (ie myself, having assets at 20x of my annual expenses) uses YNAB. Pre-YNAB, I had only a "rough" estimate of what my annual expenses were. Post-YNAB, I had my annual expenses down to the penny, and now have much higher degree of confidence in my FIRE number.

Just because others see value in YNAB, doesn't mean you have to see the value in YNAB too.
Obviously others see value in it. I don’t see the value in it—not $45 and certainly not $90. I just would suggest people who do see value in it try to figure out what that value is, and if it can be achieved for free and minimal hassle. In my case, it was.
muffins14
Posts: 5529
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2016 4:14 am
Location: New York

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by muffins14 »

dukeblue219 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:55 pm
muffins14 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:45 am
wfrobinette wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 9:30 am
winterfan wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 8:39 am I bought the downloadable software and liked it all right, but then a year later they moved to the subscription model. I'm OK with buying something once, but I really can't stand subscription services. I switched to doing my current budget with my own spreadsheet. It works fine. I wouldn't spend $90.
Isn't your time of manual input worth more than $90?
For me, no. It takes about 10 seconds to add a purchase i to my app
So far this year we have 1,353 transactions in YNAB. At ten seconds each that's four hours of data entry, and I doubt ten seconds is accurate, even if I've saved all the receipts which I rarely do.

Manual entry isn't any fun either, but this sudden 100% increase is awful.
How many seconds of TV did you watch, and how many seconds were you waiting for pasta water to boil etc? The time comes from somewhere, yes, but I’m sure we all waste a minute or so per day that could be utilized in some other way

Edited to add: I see the manual entry as a feature, because spending requires me to record it in the app, so it forces you to acknowledge the spending if you have the habit to record it, and in turn that should encourage less spending
Last edited by muffins14 on Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Crom laughs at your Four Winds
User avatar
cflannagan
Posts: 1208
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:44 am
Location: Working Remotely

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by cflannagan »

Jags4186 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:33 pm
Obviously others see value in it. I don’t see the value in it—not $45 and certainly not $90. I just would suggest people who do see value in it try to figure out what that value is, and if it can be achieved for free and minimal hassle. In my case, it was.
Cool. I'm sure others got tons and tons of value out of something worth $45 or $90. I know I did.

My time is far, far too valuable to be wasted on entering transactions manually in a spreadsheet that has extremely limited reporting capabilities and nearly zero in terms of good visualizations of the overall financial picture. Over 1,000 transactions a year for a family of 4.

I would never make any assumptions about what kind of value a software program (or a web-based app) would offer to others and most certainly not make backhanded comments about it here. Ie: "Ohhh yeah, whoever uses YNAB must be living paycheck-to-paycheck". I learned of YNAB on a Financial Independence forum.
Jags4186
Posts: 8198
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by Jags4186 »

cflannagan wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:43 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:33 pm
Obviously others see value in it. I don’t see the value in it—not $45 and certainly not $90. I just would suggest people who do see value in it try to figure out what that value is, and if it can be achieved for free and minimal hassle. In my case, it was.
Cool. I'm sure others got tons and tons of value out of something worth $45 or $90. I know I did.

My time is far, far too valuable to be wasted on entering transactions manually in a spreadsheet that has extremely limited reporting capabilities and nearly zero in terms of good visualizations of the overall financial picture. Over 1,000 transactions a year for a family of 4.

I would never make any assumptions about what kind of value a software program (or a web-based app) would offer to others and most certainly not make backhanded comments about it here. Ie: "Ohhh yeah, whoever uses YNAB must be living paycheck-to-paycheck". I learned of YNAB on a Financial Independence forum.
I didn’t say those who use it must be living paycheck-to-paycheck, I said,
Perhaps if you are someone living paycheck to paycheck it makes sense… but if you already have your financial house in order I failed to see what it brought to the table
So, again, maybe there are some features I don’t use or aren’t aware of, but if you want to pay someone $90/yr to record all your transactions be aware there are free options out there that do the same thing.
Last edited by Jags4186 on Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
cflannagan
Posts: 1208
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:44 am
Location: Working Remotely

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by cflannagan »

Jags4186 wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 4:49 pm quote] Perhaps if you are someone living paycheck to paycheck it makes sense… but if you already have your financial house in order I failed to see what it brought to the table
Well, that's still making an assumption. I can see myself using YNAB post-FIRE, or at least something similar (Buckets, MVelopes).

When one is drawing down on his assets (deaccumulating), wouldn't it be a good idea to keep tabs on where the money's going? Have access to good reports on overall financial picture of that, something that most spreadsheets won't be able to do unless one spends significant amount of time refining the spreadsheet over time, or make a copy of somebody else's spreadsheet template. And even then, spreadsheets still are pretty inflexible in general.

To borrow your words, I didn't get my "financial house in order" until I discovered YNAB.

Spreadsheets, Mint, Personal Capital, etc failed majorly on that front for me. So different strokes for each of us I guess.
Last edited by cflannagan on Mon Nov 01, 2021 5:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
White Coat Investor
Posts: 17413
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:11 pm
Location: Greatest Snow On Earth

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by White Coat Investor »

randomguy wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 3:38 pm
Lastrun wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:11 pm
White Coat Investor wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:01 pm If less than half of people leave, YNAB comes out ahead. Seems like a business risk worth taking to me.
Right, and arguably you save on customer service with fewer customers, less new install problems, etc. etc.
Why not raise it to 200 and half 1/4 the customers?:) They are making a bet they don't lose over half their customers AND that new customer acquisition doesn't slow to a trickle. 90 bucks seems excessive for the value of this type of software but the market will speak about what is considered acceptable.
In my experience Bogleheads (including me) overestimate how sensitive the average consumer is to prices, especially on the low end. You're right they're making a bet. Sounds like you wouldn't make it if you were Jesse. I probably would. I'll be surprised if it doesn't pay off. People are sticky.
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy | 4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course
mhalley
Posts: 10432
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:02 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by mhalley »

I switched from YNAB to Simplifi by quicken a couple of years ago because it kept having problems staying linked to some of my accounts. I actually like it better, but it doesn’t have quite as many features as YNAB, but it’s still less than $40 a year. Give the 30 days free access a try.

https://www.quicken.com/simplifi/
User avatar
DarkNyte
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 10:15 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by DarkNyte »

Bought YNAB 4 a couple of months before the subscription service started. I didn't need any of the new features so I never upgraded. Seven years later I can still do everything I need for budgeting with YNAB 4. One time purchase, best money I ever spent. Too bad you can't buy YNAB 4 any longer. I honestly think manually entering the transactions allows you to better understand where your money is going.
dukeblue219
Posts: 4074
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:40 am

Re: YNAB doubles it’s prices for legacy subscribers

Post by dukeblue219 »

DarkNyte wrote: Mon Nov 01, 2021 5:32 pmI honestly think manually entering the transactions allows you to better understand where your money is going.
I get where you're coming from, and a single person or retired couple can probably pull that off. I think for the bulk of working people with families it's a lot to ask that they record transactions manually in real time.

If I'm getting gas, stopping at the grocery store, picking up the kids from soccer, ordering household items on Amazon (which breaks it up into multiple orders), and then two bills auto paid on a given day there's zero chance I'm going to spend the evening remembering what all I bought and typing it into excel.

Being able to review two weeks of transactions that were downloaded and auto-categorized is worth money. I can view reports at the end of month and see where I was short or what needs to be adjusted next month. I just don't think it's worth $90 a year considering the exact same features were $45 this year and the last few years, and those features are basically the same as what used to be standalone software. I have no idea what I'm actually paying more for.

Mint can do some of it but not with the envelope budgeting that I rely on. Certainly YNAB isn't the only budgeting tool in the world, but it's the only one that does exactly what it does.
Post Reply