Reign vs YNAB

YNAB is a budgeting method with software attached. Its method asks you to give every dollar a job before you spend it, and everything in the product serves that discipline. It is proactive by design: the plan comes first, reality reconciles against it.

Reign starts from the other end. The receipt in your hand is the most honest record of what you actually spent, so Reign reads it, records every line item and its price, and builds your picture from evidence. Planning comes after seeing, as spending targets on the categories you care about, not as a full allocation of every euro.

Neither premise is wrong. They fit different people, and the table below is built to help you tell which one you are.

• You want a complete, proactive method, and you will keep up the allocation ritual. YNAB's method comes with its own guides and free live sessions.
• You want automatic bank import. YNAB supports selected banks in the US, Canada, the UK and the EU; coverage depends on your bank and account type. Check its current supported connections before subscribing.
• Your whole household budgets together. Up to six people share one YNAB subscription, each with their own login and shared plans.

• You would rather not connect a bank account. Reign never requires one; tracking starts from receipts, Quick log, and imported files.
• You want to know what you bought, not only where you paid. A synced transaction is one line; a read receipt is every item and its price. Cash counts the same as card.
• You pay in euros. In Europe, Reign's web price is in euros; YNAB's is set in US dollars only, so your bank may add a conversion fee.
• You want category targets without allocating every euro. Reign's targets need no monthly allocation. Saved expenses count toward the targets they belong to.