EnvelopeBudget

The story

EnvelopeBudget started life in 2009 as Inzolo, a side project I built to teach a friend web development and to scratch my own itch: I had been broke a lot, and the cash envelope system was the only budgeting method that ever stuck. It was also my first real Django app, written before Django hit 1.0.

I later picked up the EnvelopeBudget.com domain and rewrote the product to fix Inzolo's architecture. Over the years it survived patent cease-and-desist letters, the death of OFX direct connect, and long stretches of neglect while my day job took priority.

Then I rebuilt it from the ground up. Seventeen years in, it is still indie: no ads, no investors, no upsell tiers. One price, every feature.

Highlights

Bank sync that reconciles

Plaid and SimpleFIN imports compare the bank to the ledger, account for pending items, and show a receipt-style breakdown of any difference.

Debt Center

Cards and loans become a snowball or avalanche plan with a debt-free date, payoff order, and what-if sliders.

Shared budgets

Family & Team gives everyone their own login with viewer or editor access per budget, synced in real time across devices.

Amazon order matching

A Chrome extension matches each Amazon charge to its order and adds the item names, with one-click undo.

Native mobile apps

iPhone, iPad, and Android apps with offline entry, Face ID, and a guided Budget Bootcamp for the first week.

AI-ready

An official MCP server and REST API with OAuth, so you can ask Claude or ChatGPT what is left in groceries.

Easy switching

Imports from YNAB and Actual Budget bring accounts, envelopes, full history, splits, and transfers.