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Envelope budgeting app.

UX runs in 7 of the 9 apps here — nobody on this shelf has fixed it.

9 apps · 2,622 reviews held · 906 negative · 2026-08-24 snapshot

62/100 opportunity

6 of 6 factors · not advice
Nobody's fixed it7 of 9 apps78
How far above typical11.9% vs 2.9% typical100
How angrystar2.9 · 108 reviews5
People in the market174,150 ratings41
Room to enterleader holds 48% of ratings52
Willingness to pay7 of 9 charge · $5.99 entry78

Mostly solved: ads. 5 of 6 apps run below the store’s typical rate on it — while 7 of 9 still carry ux complaints.

How this is scored

Weighted mean of the sub-scores, weights re-normalized over whatever is computable (nobody's fixed it 25 · how far above typical 20 · how angry 15 · people in the market 15 · room to enter 15 · willingness to pay 10). Fixed anchors map each count to 0–100: breadth and willingness-to-pay are straight shares; the gap’s heat tops out at 4times the store’s typical rate; anger scores star3 as 0 and star1.5 as 100; reach runs 104 to 107ratings on a log scale; room to enter is one minus the leader’s share of shelf ratings. A factor that cannot be counted is dropped and named — never imputed. The site’s one composite (#115, owner decision 2026-08-15); cited industry benchmarks are never blended in.

5 gaps.

01

UX — unfixed in 7 of 9 apps

extreme · 11.9% of this shelf’s 906 negative reviews, against 2.9% typical store-wide, at 2.93star average anger.

What they said · 108 reviews
UI changes are just ridiculous — 2nd time in a few years that they’ve made the DUMBEST changes to the UI. I use this app for how friendly the user interface was. You seriously need to fire whoever thought the most recent change was a good idea. The app is now ugly and just as boring as every other budgeting all out there. It’s time to start looking for a different system.YNAB · 2star · Aug 14, 2026
Constant Useless and Confusing Updates Recently — Have been a used for years. Recent updates bury my budgeting info multiple clicks deep so I can no longer see the useful info (how much money I am aiming for, nave, and need) without multiple clicks. Was all set to get an account for my child before college. Now I am looking to see when my current subscription expires so I can be sure it doesn’t auYNAB · 1star · Aug 14, 2026
Not Worth The Subscription ❌ — YNAB used to be the gold standard for budgeting, but it feels like every update makes the app worse. Instead of improving the core budgeting experience, the team keeps making changes that add more clicks, more friction, and more confusion. It feels like change for the sake of change, not because users asked for it. What many longtime users want is simple: go back toYNAB · 1star · Aug 14, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
11.9%
108 of 906
store-wide
2.9%
typical
breadth
78%
7 of 9 apps
02

Sync & data — unfixed in 5 of 9 apps

extreme · 8.9% of this shelf’s 906 negative reviews, against 2.2% typical store-wide, at 2.99star average anger.

What they said · 81 reviews
  • Sync fails between devices12 of 81
Better on computer — The computer/online version is great. The mobile app sucks at syncing data across different devices. Many times i have had to re-reconcile various transactions because of a failure to sync correctly from the mobile app. Watch out for duplicate transactions!EveryDollar: Budget Management · 1star · Aug 21, 2026
Needs Work — I’ve read the book and I’m totally on board with how YNAB frames finance. But this app is poorly structured and non-intuitive. I thought if I stayed with it, maybe something in it would click, but that’s not happening. It also, unlike the app I’ve chosen to use, doesn’t sync with all my banks. So I’m making Goodbudget work in YNAB framing.YNAB · 2star · Aug 12, 2026
Bad resyncing — My connections were down to more than two weeks and now that I am resyncing them duplicate transactions are coming in and messy my historical monthsBuddy: Budget Planner App · 2star · Jul 26, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
8.9%
81 of 906
store-wide
2.2%
typical
breadth
56%
5 of 9 apps
03

Login & auth — unfixed in 8 of 9 apps

elevated · 22.2% of this shelf’s 906 negative reviews, against 13.2% typical store-wide, at 3.43star average anger.

What they said · 201 reviews
Works well until it doesn’t! — Im glad I downloaded the free version, its great, but it crashed after four weeks and I can’t login anymore. It has been three days so far, I found another expense tracker. Again, its great if it works! Again, it’s the best app, if it’s working! Maybe stick to the free version until you can trust it enough! Nevertheless, I’ve deleted and downloaded the app multiple tEveryDollar: Budget Management · 3star · Aug 21, 2026
Ehhh it’s alright — it has potential but unfortunately it would not connect with our bank correctly and our balance never matched what was actually in our bank account. Might be a bank connection issue or the app I am not sure. But it was very frustrating going into the app all the time and trying to fix everything. Ynab would label something as “inflow” when it was actually “spending” so this mesYNAB · 2star · Aug 14, 2026
Constant Useless and Confusing Updates Recently — Have been a used for years. Recent updates bury my budgeting info multiple clicks deep so I can no longer see the useful info (how much money I am aiming for, nave, and need) without multiple clicks. Was all set to get an account for my child before college. Now I am looking to see when my current subscription expires so I can be sure it doesn’t auYNAB · 1star · Aug 14, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
22.2%
201 of 906
store-wide
13.2%
typical
breadth
89%
8 of 9 apps
04

Billing — unfixed in 8 of 9 apps

elevated · 42.7% of this shelf’s 906 negative reviews, against 32.1% typical store-wide, at 3.39star average anger.

What they said · 387 reviews
  • Price judged too high for the value41 of 387
  • Trial converted without clear consent10 of 387
Zero customer support — I’ve experienced many of the issues in this review - duplicate transactions, banks disconnecting, transactions not being cleared when deleted or categorized. I was willing to keep trying but I have created multiple support tickets and literally no one gets back to you. I like the UI but I am in the process of transitioning to another app. Edit: after nearly 2 weeks, stillEveryDollar: Budget Management · 2star · Aug 22, 2026
Always something wrong — Now it’s unusable. Says to update but just goes back and forth between the App Store and the App. Honestly this app sucks. It takes forever for the purchases to populate. This is supposed to help us budget not cause a bunch of issues. Uninstalling and unsubscribing.EveryDollar: Budget Management · 1star · Aug 22, 2026
The app badge is screwed uo 👎🏻 — This app is mostly good. But the app badge is really screwed up. It shows that there are transactions to log when there are none or else the number is wrong. If there are any, after I log them, a couple minutes later the badge shows that there 3 new transactions, but there are always none. It does this consistently. If it shows a number of transactions to log at oEveryDollar: Budget Management · 2star · Aug 15, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
42.7%
387 of 906
store-wide
32.1%
typical
breadth
89%
8 of 9 apps
05

Support — unfixed in 7 of 9 apps

elevated · 11.5% of this shelf’s 906 negative reviews, against 9.2% typical store-wide, at 2.98star average anger.

What they said · 104 reviews
Zero customer support — I’ve experienced many of the issues in this review - duplicate transactions, banks disconnecting, transactions not being cleared when deleted or categorized. I was willing to keep trying but I have created multiple support tickets and literally no one gets back to you. I like the UI but I am in the process of transitioning to another app. Edit: after nearly 2 weeks, stillEveryDollar: Budget Management · 2star · Aug 22, 2026
Not Worth The Subscription ❌ — YNAB used to be the gold standard for budgeting, but it feels like every update makes the app worse. Instead of improving the core budgeting experience, the team keeps making changes that add more clicks, more friction, and more confusion. It feels like change for the sake of change, not because users asked for it. What many longtime users want is simple: go back toYNAB · 1star · Aug 14, 2026
Farewell — After three years, I am switching to Copilot Money. On the one hand, YNAB did wonders for my finances. I have truly learned how to manage my credit cards and not carry a balance. Our savings and investments are up. Our bad debt is almost gone. But, it hasn’t been easy. A primary issue is manual and imported transactions not matching up. The interface is not user-friendly. I have wastedYNAB · 3star · Aug 4, 2026
How it compares
this shelf
11.5%
104 of 906
store-wide
9.2%
typical
breadth
78%
7 of 9 apps

Is there a market for a new envelope budgeting app?

9 apps compete on this shelf, holding 2,622 App Store reviews — and the widest unfixed complaint, ux, runs in 7 of 9 of them at 11.9% of negative reviews against 2.9% typical. Those are counts, not a verdict — the page shows what is unfixed, not whether to build.

What do users complain about most in envelope budgeting app?

1. UX — in 7 of 9 apps, 11.9% of negative reviews; 2. Sync & data — in 5 of 9 apps, 8.9% of negative reviews; 3. Login & auth — in 8 of 9 apps, 22.2% of negative reviews; 4. Billing — in 8 of 9 apps, 42.7% of negative reviews; 5. Support — in 7 of 9 apps, 11.5% of negative reviews.

How many envelope budgeting app reviews did App Imp count?

2,622 US App Store reviews across 9 apps, 906 of them negative — counted on the 2026-08-24 snapshot, never estimated.

Searched on the App Store.

Apple’s own suggestions for envelope budgeting app terms, in their order.

envelope budgetenvelope budgetingcash envelope budget plannerenvelope budget free

Searched, but no app on this shelf says it in its name.

Who’s in it

All 9 apps counted on this shelf · 2026-08-24.

App
EveryDollar: Budget Management84,0251%6%25%44%
YNAB61,29219%5%25%36%
Goodbudget Budget Planner13,40621%10%11%35%
Buddy: Budget Planner App9,4089%23%24%44%
Budget Bestie3,0975%13%66%
Qube Money: Envelope Budgeting1,6059%3%46%71%
Envy: Envelope Budget Planner7968%8%17%
Envelope: Budgeting & Banking38455%36%
RealBudget: Envelope Budgeting137

Each cell: that app’s share of its own negative reviews. Bold from 1.15 times the store’s typical rate for that complaint, and only where an app holds 20+ negative reviews. Click a column to sort.

What they charge, and what it costs them

Prices from Apple’s public pages; the share counts payment-mechanics language only.

AppMoney complaints
Qube Money: Envelope Budgetingfree8.6% of 35
Buddy: Budget Planner App$4.99–$49.99 · 7 tiers6.6% of 180
YNAB$14.99–$109 · 2 tiers6% of 266
Budget Bestie$4.99–$69.99 · 6 tiers5.7% of 87
Goodbudget Budget Planner$5.99–$79.99 · 8 tiers4.5% of 156
EveryDollar: Budget Management$7.99–$129.99 · 7 tiers2.6% of 156
Envy: Envelope Budget Planner$6.99–$6.99 · 1 tiers0% of 12
RealBudget: Envelope Budgeting$1.99–$9.99 · 9 tiers0% of 3

What each one owns, where each is exposed

YNAB

61,061 ratings · 48% negative

Owns. Deepest methodology; largest loyal base

Exposed. UI redesign backlash, $109 max price, popup ads in paid tier, AI chatbot replacing real support

EveryDollar: Budget Management

83,942 ratings · 37% negative

Owns. Widest reach; Ramsey brand trust

Exposed. $129.99 max price; paywall revealed only after full account setup

Budget Bestie

3,066 ratings · 61% negative

Owns. Social-media-driven discovery

Exposed. $69.99 max price; forces full envelope setup before showing paywall

BuyBye - Budget Planner

1,691 ratings · 93% negative

Owns. Novelty concept (hourly wage framing)

Exposed. 93% negative share; all core features paywalled at first launch

Goodbudget Budget Planner

13,372 ratings · 37% negative

Owns. Longstanding free tier; couples sync

Exposed. Sync data failure wipes years of envelopes; income feature removed without replacement

Buddy: Budget Planner App

9,351 ratings · 41% negative

Owns. Multi-device sync, broad feature set

Exposed. Transaction dates shift silently; $49.99 tier repriced leaving existing subscribers stranded

Browse the apps behind these counts

Every app we count, with the complaint it runs furthest above the store’s typical rate.

Open the app library
How this is counted

Every number is arithmetic over the reviews we hold, re-counted weekly — nothing modelled, nothing scored. Themes come from a frozen pattern classifier rather than a model reading reviews, so the same review always lands in the same bucket. A shelf rate is pooled across every app here; the store rate is the same count across 12,122 apps. A complaint is only called a gap when at least half the shelf carries it and at least 20 reviews are behind it — a problem concentrated in one app is that app’s bug.