Initial Setup
Using the Setup Checklist is the best way to get started. Clicking on each item in the checklist navigates you to the relevant page. The checklist guides you through categories, budget basics, and optional steps such as connecting accounts or inviting household members. Connecting bank accounts via Plaid requires an active Premium subscription. On the Free tier you can track your finances with manual accounts and transactions; on the web app you can also use CSV import from the Transactions page.
Free vs Premium Plans
BudgetBadger has both a Free and Premium plan. The Free plan is available permanently with no subscription required, and includes manual transaction tracking, budgeting, reports, and other core features. The Premium plan is available with a paid subscription or a 14-day free trial, and includes everything in the Free plan plus Plaid bank account sync, AI-powered transaction categorization, Ask AI chat assistance, and household sharing. You can sign up for a Premium free trial or subscription on the Settings page.
Which Accounts To Connect
You should connect day-to-day transaction accounts, typically checking accounts, savings accounts, and credit cards. You may also connect other accounts, like brokerage and loan accounts, for net worth tracking on the Dashboard page and to maintain a comprehensive view of your finances on the Accounts page, however these are not used in the budgeting reports and analyses.
How To Connect Accounts
On the Accounts page, click the Add Account button (or + icon in the mobile app) and then the Connect Account button in the screen that appears. You will be guided through a secure connection process using Plaid, which allows you to securely link your bank accounts. Our platform is read-only, so there is no risk of money movement or account modification. You may sync up to 20 accounts and add an unlimited number of manual accounts.
Missing Institutions
We currently only connect institutions that are supported by Plaid. If you are unable to find your bank or you are on the Free plan and prefer to add your accounts manually, you can add manual asset and liability accounts on the Accounts page (Add Account > Add Manual Account) and then manually add transactions associated with those accounts on the Transactions page (Add button). Balances on manual accounts are only updated when you edit them in the app, since they do not sync from a bank. You can also reach out through our Contact page if you want us to research adding your institution.
Syncing Transactions
After connecting your account, transactions will automatically sync for the last 12 months. The first sync may take a few minutes depending on how much history is available. After the first sync, transactions will sync automatically every 6 hours or so. The system only syncs posted transactions (not pending) and relies on a third-party service (Plaid), so there may be a slight delay seeing new transactions appearing in your account. Reach out to us on our Contact page if you need help.
Inviting Household Members
Premium plan subscribers can invite up to 3 others to join and share family finances. This feature is available on the Settings page. Each invited member creates their own login and can connect their own accounts. If a household member leaves, their accounts and transaction data are removed, but the household owner and other members' data is maintained.
Ask AI (Chat Assistant)
Ask AI is a chat assistant built into BudgetBadger, which can be found in the Profile menu on desktop and in the hamburger menu on mobile. You can use it to ask questions about your own synced data and to learn how to use app features.
What Ask AI can do:
- Summarize your spending, budgets, P&L, and net worth over a time range.
- Help you find patterns like recurring charges or unusual activity.
- Answer “How do I…?” questions about BudgetBadger features.
What Ask AI cannot do:
- Provide investment, tax, legal, or insurance advice.
- Recommend specific stocks, funds or other financial products.
- Predict future returns or market movements.