How to Switch from YNAB to Spense (and Bring Your Data With You)

YNAB costs $109 a year as of September 14, 2026, more than double the $50 it launched its subscription at. The method still works. The price is what sends people looking. If you have decided to leave, the thing holding you back is usually the years of categories and history you do not want to lose. This guide shows you how to take them with you.

Total time is about fifteen minutes: a two-minute export on a computer, a few taps on your phone, and a background import that finishes while you make coffee. Nothing here requires a bank login unless you want one.

Not sure you should switch at all? If you love the daily YNAB ritual, use its community every week, and the price does not bother you, stay. This guide is for people who already know they are leaving.

What Carries Over (and What Doesn't)

YNAB's export is a snapshot of your transactions and categories, not a full backup. Here is exactly what Spense can rebuild from it.

Comes with you

Category groups and categories (they become Spense categories and subcategories)
Transaction history: account, date, payee, memo, outflow, inflow, and cleared status
Your account list, mapped one by one to a bank connection or a manual account
Budgets for last month, this month, and next month, set up from your imported categories

Stays behind

Targets and goal dates (recreate the ones that matter as Spense savings goals)
Scheduled and repeating transactions
Notes on categories, and flags on transactions
Age of Money (Spense measures on-track months and streaks instead)

Spense also does not import account balances from the file. Bank-connected accounts pull their live balance through Plaid. For manual accounts, set the starting balance once after the import finishes.

The Switch, Step by Step

Export your plan from YNAB (web app only)

Sign in to YNAB in a desktop browser. Click your plan name in the top-left corner and choose the export option in the menu. YNAB downloads a zip file containing two CSVs: one ending in "Plan.csv" and one ending in "Register.csv". The mobile apps cannot export, so this step needs a computer.

Import the Register file into Spense

Install Spense, open Profile, then Data Management, then Import from YNAB. Choose the file whose name ends in "Register.csv". Spense reads the headers, confirms it is a YNAB transactions export, and lists every account it found.

Map each YNAB account

For every account YNAB knew about, pick Connect Bank (Spense links it through Plaid and keeps it synced) or Create Manual Account (Spense creates an account of the matching type with no bank login). You can mix the two. Once every account is mapped, the import runs in the background and you get a confirmation when it finishes.

Pick your mode

Classic Mode is the closest thing to YNAB: bank sync plus approving each transaction yourself. Auto Mode categorizes and budgets from your real spending so you check in weekly instead of daily. Manual Mode never touches a bank. You can switch later.

Cancel YNAB

Cancel from your YNAB account settings on the web, or from the App Store or Google Play if you subscribed there. Do it after the import finishes and you have opened Spense a few times, so you are never without a budget.

Upload the file ending in Register.csv, not Plan.csv. The Register file is your transaction history with categories attached, which is what the importer expects. If YNAB gave you a .tsv instead of a .csv, your plan uses a comma as the decimal separator; switch the plan currency format to a dot temporarily, export again, then switch it back.

The import runs in the background and tells you when it is done. Categories show up first, then transactions, then budgets for last month, this month, and next month.

YNAB's Four Rules, Translated

You are not giving up the method. The Spense Method is envelope budgeting with the same bones, tuned so it survives a busy month. Here is how the vocabulary maps.

In YNAB	In Spense	What changes
Rule 1: Give every dollar a job	Every dollar has a job	Identical idea. Your Ready to Assign balance works the same way in Classic Mode.
Rule 2: Embrace your true expenses	Envelopes plus savings goals	Build the irregular bills into monthly envelopes, and use goals for the big one-off targets.
Rule 3: Roll with the punches	Adjust without guilt	Move money between envelopes whenever life changes. Overspending shows up as a fix, not a failure.
Rule 4: Age your money	Glance, don’t manage	Spense replaces Age of Money with on-track months and streaks, which reward the same habit without the daily upkeep.

What the Switch Saves

YNAB

$109/yr

Spense

$24.99/yr

You keep

$84.01/yr

Prices checked September 14, 2026. Spense is $2.99/month or $24.99/year, with a 14-day free trial and no card. See pricing.

Spense is not a clone of YNAB, and the full head-to-head is in our Spense vs YNAB comparison. The short version: YNAB is web plus mobile and expects daily upkeep; Spense is phone-first, has an Auto Mode for the weeks you cannot keep up, and costs about a quarter as much. Still weighing other apps? Start with the Monarch and EveryDollar comparisons, the two most common YNAB exits. If you are on Android, our Android roundup covers every option side by side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I import my YNAB data into Spense?

Yes. Spense reads the Register CSV from a YNAB plan export and imports your category groups, categories, accounts, and transaction history. Open Profile, then Data Management, then Import from YNAB.

Which file from the YNAB export do I upload?

The one whose name ends in "Register.csv". It holds your transactions and the category each one was assigned to, which is everything Spense needs to rebuild your structure. Leave the Plan.csv file alone.

Do I have to connect my bank to import?

No. For every YNAB account you can choose Create Manual Account instead of Connect Bank. Manual accounts import your history and work without a bank login. Connecting a bank uses Plaid and needs an active trial or Pro plan.

Can I export YNAB from my phone?

No. Plan export is only available in the YNAB web app, so you need a desktop browser for the first step. After that, everything happens on your phone.

What happens to my YNAB targets and goals?

They do not transfer, because the export does not contain them. Recreate the ones that matter as Spense savings goals, which track progress and pace toward a date the same way.

How much do I save by switching?

YNAB is $109 a year as of September 14, 2026. Spense is $24.99/year, so the difference is $84.01 a year, or a little over $7 a month.