Keep Above
Keep Above vs Actual Budget
Actual Budget is free, open-source software you host yourself or pay a third party to host, with envelope budgeting, schedules that either add themselves or wait for your approval, reconciliation at whatever cadence you choose, and a Balance Forecast report its own docs mark experimental. Keep Above is a hosted app on your phone that projects from bills entered once.
Written and maintained by Manandai Ltd, the company that makes Keep Above. This is our comparison, not an independent review, and no winner is named on this page. How we compare.
Every Actual Budget fact below is taken from Actual Budget's own published pages, linked beside it. Features and prices change. Check each provider before deciding.
Spotted something out of date? Email support@keepabove.com and we correct or remove it within five business days.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Actual Budget. Product names are trademarks of their owners.
Last verified 21 September 2026What each one is
Actual Budget
Free and open-source budgeting software, envelope-based, that you run yourself: on your own machine, your own server or a paid third-party host. Bank sync is optional and uses credentials you supply. Its documentation marks the Balance Forecast report experimental. Documentation.
Keep Above
A forward-looking budgeting app with no bank connection and no spending record. You enter each bill and your income once and keep your balance current, and it works out the balance you would need to cover everything coming and projects that and your reserved funds ahead day by day, up to 30 years.
| Keep Above | Actual Budget | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | A hosted app on iOS and Android | Software you host yourself, or a paid third-party host | docs |
| Bank connection | None, by design | Optional, using credentials you supply yourself | docs |
| Manual entry | The whole model | Yes, the primary mode | docs |
| Recurring bills | Entered once, projected forward | Schedules, which either add themselves or wait for approval | docs |
| Future balance projection | Daily, up to 30 years ahead | A Balance Forecast report, marked experimental; nothing documented past 12 months | docs |
| Money set aside for later bills | Reserved funds, worked out from the bills you entered | Envelope budgeting, with goal templates marked experimental | docs |
| Keeping it current | A balance update, now and then | Categorising, and reconciling at a cadence you choose | docs |
| Spending history | None shown | Yes, with reports | docs |
| Mobile | Native iOS and Android apps | Its official mobile app is deprecated | docs |
| Price | Free with one budget; Premium from about US$6.99/mo | Free and open source; third-party hosting from about US$1.50/mo | docs |
Does Actual Budget forecast your balance?
Worth saying openly, because it is the sort of thing a comparison page usually quietly fixes. An earlier version of our table said Actual Budget documented no future-balance projection. That was wrong: its documentation describes a Balance Forecast report by name, marked experimental, projecting from posted history, scheduled transactions or budget plans.
The honest distinction is not whether it forecasts but how far. Actual's documentation states nothing past 12 months. Keep Above projects 30 years. If a multi-year horizon is what you are after, that is the difference; if a year is enough, it is not much of one.
What does self-hosting Actual Budget involve?
Everything else on this page is secondary to one question: do you want to run software. Actual Budget is free and open source, which means no subscription, your data on hardware you control, and the ability to change the thing if you can write code. It also means you are the one who installs it, updates it and backs it up, or you pay a host to.
Keep Above is the opposite trade. You do not control where it runs and you pay for Premium, and in exchange nothing is yours to maintain. Its official mobile apps are also current, where Actual's own documentation marks its official mobile app deprecated, which matters if the phone is where you would actually use it.
Do scheduled transactions post themselves?
Actual's schedules can either add themselves or wait for you to approve each one, which is a genuine choice the app gives you and Keep Above does not.
Keep Above has no approval step at all, because a projected occurrence is not a record of anything. Nothing is posted, so nothing needs confirming. That is fewer steps and less record. Which of those matters depends on whether you wanted the record.
What Actual Budget does that Keep Above does not
- Is free and open source, with no subscription at any point.
- Keeps your data on hardware you control, if you host it yourself.
- Keeps a full transaction record, with reports across it.
- Lets you choose whether each schedule posts itself or waits for approval.
- Reconciles against your real account balance.
- Can be modified, extended or audited, being open source.
What Keep Above does that Actual Budget's pages do not document
- Projects 30 years ahead rather than the 12 months Actual's documentation describes.
- Runs as a current, supported app on iOS and Android.
- Works out the set-aside amount from the bill and its date, with nothing marked experimental.
- Needs nothing installed, updated, hosted or backed up by you.
Where Actual Budget's own pages state nothing on a point, the table above leaves the cell blank rather than calling it absent.
Our comparison, not a review. Every Actual Budget fact here is taken from Actual Budget's own published pages on 21 September 2026 and linked beside it. Projections described here are conditional on the figures a person enters and on nothing changing. This page takes no account of your circumstances. Nothing here is financial advice.
Keep Above
Enter each bill and your income once, and keep your balance current now and then. Keep Above works out the balance you would need to cover everything coming, and projects your balance and your sinking funds — which it calls reserved funds — forward. No bank connection.
Common questions
Does Actual Budget forecast a future balance?
Yes. Its documentation describes a Balance Forecast report, marked experimental, projecting from posted history, scheduled transactions or budget plans, and states nothing past 12 months. An earlier version of our table said it had none, which was wrong.
Is Actual Budget free?
Yes, it is free and open source. Hosting it yourself costs nothing beyond the machine; paid third-party hosting starts at about US$1.50 a month. Keep Above is free with one budget, with Premium from about US$6.99 a month.
Can I use Actual Budget on my phone?
Its documentation marks the official mobile app deprecated, and it is usable in a mobile browser against your hosted instance. Keep Above is a native app on iOS and Android.
Which one asks less of me day to day?
They ask for different things rather than more or less. Actual asks for transactions, categorisation and reconciliation at a cadence you choose, plus hosting. Keep Above asks for a balance update and keeps no record to reconcile.