YourDigits vs Goodbudget: Envelopes or Leak Detection?

Goodbudget and YourDigits are both manual-first budgeting apps that don't require bank login. That's roughly where the similarities end. They're built on completely different philosophies, and the right choice depends on what kind of help you actually need with your money.

The Philosophy Comparison

Goodbudget: Envelope Budgeting

Goodbudget is a digital version of the cash envelope system. You get paid, you divide your money into envelopes (rent, groceries, transport, fun money), and you spend from those envelopes. When an envelope is empty, you stop spending in that category or move money from another envelope.

It's a simple, proven system. People have been doing this with literal cash in literal envelopes for decades. Goodbudget just puts it on your phone. You decide how to allocate every dollar. You track what you spend. The app keeps the envelopes honest.

YourDigits: The Leak Ladder

YourDigits starts from a different question. Instead of "how should I allocate this money?" it asks "where is my money leaking, and what should I fix first?"

The Leak Ladder is a priority-ordered system of 9 financial leaks. Things like not having an emergency fund, missing your employer's retirement match, carrying high-interest debt, or not saving for goals. The app runs an 11-question audit, detects which leaks you have, ranks them by priority, and generates tasks for each pay cycle.

You don't decide what to focus on. The system tells you, based on what actually matters most right now.

What That Means In Practice

With Goodbudget, you're the decision-maker. You choose the envelopes, you set the amounts, you allocate your pay when it arrives. The app is the container. You're the organiser.

With YourDigits, you answer the audit and the system does the prioritising. Each pay cycle, it generates tasks with target amounts that adapt based on how you're going. You're still in control of your money, but the system is telling you where to point it.

Neither approach is wrong. They're solving different problems.

I have a friend who's been using the envelope method for years. She loves it. She has a system, she knows her categories, she just needs a clean tool to track the numbers. Goodbudget is perfect for someone like her. But when I built YourDigits, I was thinking about my cousin and myself. He kept downloading budgeting apps and quitting within a month. I kept tracking without acting on what I found. Neither of us knew what to fix first. That's why the Leak Ladder exists.

Quick Comparison

	YourDigits	Goodbudget
Philosophy	Leak Ladder (detect leaks, fix in priority order)	Envelope method (allocate dollars to categories)
How you start	11-question audit detects your leaks	You create envelopes and set amounts
Each pay cycle	System generates tasks based on your leaks	You fill your envelopes with income
Input method	Voice entry (5 seconds, on-device)	Manual typed entry
Bank login	Not required	Not required (free). US-only bank sync on premium.
Health score	Yes, 0-100 based on leaks plugged	No
Adaptive targets	Yes, adjusts based on your performance	No, you set envelope amounts manually
Free tier	Yes	Yes (10 envelopes, 1 account, 2 devices)
Pricing	$5.99/mo or $39.99/yr	$10/mo or $80/yr
Platforms	iOS	Web, iOS, Android
Sharing	No	Yes (2 devices free, 5 premium)
Debt tracking	Yes (built into Leak Ladder)	Yes

How You Enter Transactions

Both apps are manual-entry by default, which is actually one of the things they have in common. Neither app pushes you to hand over bank credentials just to get started.

Goodbudget uses standard form entry. You type the amount, pick the envelope, add a note if you want. Straightforward.

YourDigits uses voice. You say "forty dollars at Woolies, twelve at the chemist" and the system parses it into separate transactions, matches categories, and confirms with one tap. Speech recognition runs on your phone, so no audio leaves the device.

Goodbudget Plus (premium) does offer bank sync for US banks, if you want automatic imports alongside manual entry. YourDigits doesn't offer bank sync. I didn't want people sharing bank credentials, and the voice entry is fast enough that I didn't need it.

What Happens Each Pay Cycle

In Goodbudget: You open the app, enter your income, and fill your envelopes. Rent gets its amount, groceries gets its amount, savings gets its amount. If you overspent dining out last cycle, you decide whether to pull from another envelope or adjust. You're running the budget.

In YourDigits: The system generates your tasks automatically. If your audit detected a high-interest debt leak, there's a debt payment task with a target. If your emergency fund isn't built, there's a savings task. Targets adapt. If you hit them last cycle, they nudge up. If life happened, they ease down. No red numbers, no guilt about empty envelopes.

Who Goodbudget Is Best For

Goodbudget is a good fit if you:

• Already know and love the envelope method
• Want a simple, proven system without complexity
• Need to share a household budget across devices (2 free, 5 on premium)
• Want a genuine free tier that's actually usable long-term
• Prefer web access alongside mobile (Goodbudget has all three platforms)
• Don't need the app to tell you what to focus on. You already know your system.

If you love the envelope method and want simplicity, Goodbudget works well. It's been around for a while, it does the envelope thing cleanly, and the free tier is generous. Not every budgeting app needs to be clever. Sometimes you just need a reliable container for a system you already trust.

Who YourDigits Is Best For

YourDigits is a better fit if you:

• Have tried budgeting before and quit (the Leak Ladder is built for exactly this)
• Don't know what to focus on and want the system to tell you
• Prefer voice entry over typing every transaction
• Want a financial health score that tracks your progress over time (0-100)
• Need your budget aligned to your actual pay cycle (weekly, fortnightly, monthly, irregular)
• Want adaptive targets that adjust instead of making you feel behind
• Prefer a lower price point ($5.99/mo vs $10/mo)

YourDigits is newer and iOS-only for now. It doesn't have Goodbudget's multi-platform support or sharing features. But the approach is fundamentally different: instead of giving you empty envelopes to fill, it tells you which financial gaps to close and in what order. If you've ever stared at a list of budget categories and thought "I don't know where to start," that's what the Leak Ladder is for.

The Honest Trade-Offs

What Goodbudget does that YourDigits doesn't:

• Web app and Android (YourDigits is iOS only)
• Shared household budgets across multiple devices
• The envelope method, if that's specifically what you want
• A longer track record
• Bank sync on premium (US only)

What YourDigits does that Goodbudget doesn't:

• Automatic leak detection (9 financial leaks, priority-ordered)
• Financial Health Score (0-100)
• Voice-first transaction entry (on-device, 5 seconds)
• Pay-cycle alignment (budgets match when you get paid, not calendar months)
• Adaptive targets (system adjusts based on your recent performance)
• Priority-ordered tasks each pay cycle
• Lower premium pricing ($5.99/mo vs $10/mo, $39.99/yr vs $80/yr)

Not Sure Which Approach Fits?

The best way to find out is to see your leaks. Take the Know Your Digits quiz. It's free, takes about 3 minutes, and gives you a Health Score from 0 to 100 plus a prioritised list of what to fix first. No signup, no bank connection. Just answers and a score.

If the Leak Ladder makes sense for how you think about money, download YourDigits free on the App Store. If you already have a system and just need clean envelopes to track it, Goodbudget is a solid choice.