If you're looking for a budget app without linking your bank account, Carlo works fully without a bank connection. You record what you spend yourself, quickly, and over time it becomes a diary of your spending. Connecting a bank is an option, never a requirement.
How to budget without a bank connection
There are three ways to record a purchase, and none of them needs your bank.
- Say it. Tell Carlo what you spent the way you'd say it out loud: "twelve fifty at Chipotle." Add a transaction by voice
- Type it. Tap +, then Enter manually. Or press and hold + to go straight there. Add a transaction by hand
- Add a photo. Keep the receipt, or a photo of the moment itself. A transaction can hold up to 13. Attach a photo to a transaction
Recording is quick, so it fits into the moment you pay rather than an evening of catching up later.
A diary of your spending
Your Journal is where every transaction lands, one card per day, along with the photos and notes you add. Photos you tag as a Memory belong in your Journal; receipts stay with the transaction as records.
Open a day in your Journal and you can write about it, right beneath its photos and what you spent.
Why recording it yourself can be the point
A manual budgeting app can sound like more work than one that imports everything for you. A list of imported transactions tells you where the money went. But when you know you'll record a purchase, you notice it while you're making it. The awareness comes first, and the record follows. Carlo's bet is that this moment is worth keeping, so it makes the recording quick instead of taking it away.
Knowing Isn’t the Same as Noticing
There are practical reasons too. Bank connections can break and need reconnecting. And some people simply don't want to give any app access to their bank. Used without a bank connection, Carlo has neither concern.
How Carlo compares to other budgeting apps
Budgeting without bank data
You don't need years of transaction history to start a budget. Carlo's Build my budget guided setup starts from what you earn.
- Coins with a daily allowance. Each coin shows what you can still spend today in that category, so you know where you stand before you spend.
- Monthly and annual categories. Plan for the spending that comes every month and the spending that comes once a year.
- Bills. For the things that repeat.
- A weekly look-back. A regular moment to see what you recorded.
Understand your daily allowance
Your record stays yours
Your amounts, payees, notes, journal and photos are encrypted on your device. Carlo never has the key to decrypt them.
Without a bank connection, the only spending in Carlo is what you choose to record.
Exactly what Carlo can and can't see
You can export your data any time: your transactions and journal as CSV spreadsheets, and your photos as a zip. Export your data
If you do want a bank connection
Bank Reminders are optional. They're read-only, you connect through Plaid or SimpleFIN, and Carlo never gets your banking password.
Carlo watches for money leaving your account and asks you what it was. A reminder is a question, not an entry: it never records anything on its own. Bank Reminders are available for banks in the United States.
So the habit stays yours: the bank helps catch what slipped through, and you decide what each one was.
Why Carlo Supports Both Plaid and SimpleFIN
Questions
Can I use Carlo without connecting a bank?
Yes, fully. Recording your spending, your budget and your bills all work without a bank connection.
Do I have to type every purchase?
No. You can say it, type it or add a photo. If you want a safety net, optional Bank Reminders can help you catch purchases you missed.
What does it cost?
$9 a month or $79 a year, after a 30-day free trial that needs no card. If $79 a year is out of reach, Community pricing is $29 a year. Your Carlo membership
Can I share it with a partner?
Yes, with CoCarlo shared spaces. CoCarlo
Can I get my data out?
Yes. You can export your transactions and journal as CSV spreadsheets, and your photos as a zip, any time.
