Keep Above
Keep Above vs YNAB
Keep Above and YNAB can both be used with no bank connection, but they ask for different things. YNAB's scheduled transactions arrive in the register unapproved and are approved automatically only when a matching import comes in, so otherwise you approve each one by hand, and imported transactions wait for your approval too. Keep Above projects from bills you entered once, and asks only for a balance update now and then.
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 YNAB fact below is taken from YNAB'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Spotted something out of date?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.
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Last verified 21 September 2026What are Keep Above and YNAB?
YNAB
An envelope-style budgeting app built on assigning every dollar a job. You record what you spend, either by entering it or by importing it, and the app shows what is left in each category. Its pricing page describes direct import as supporting select US, Canadian, UK and EU banks.
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.
| Keep Above | YNAB | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank connection | None, by design | Optional; direct import names select US, Canadian, UK and EU banks | pricing |
| Manual entry | The whole model | Yes, first-class | features |
| What you keep entering | Your balance, now and then | Each transaction, and approval of each scheduled one unless an import matches it | help centre |
| Imported transactions | No import | Wait for you to approve them | help centre |
| Recurring bills | Entered once, projected forward | Scheduled transactions enter unapproved; approved automatically only if an import matches | help centre |
| Future balance projection | Daily, up to 30 years ahead, free plan and Premium alike | Not documented | features |
| Money set aside for later bills | Reserved funds, projected with the balance | Targets | features |
| Spending history | None shown | Yes, categorised, with reports | features |
| Reconnecting a bank | Nothing to reconnect | An "Authorization Required" status; "Some banks require this more frequently than others" | help centre |
| Free tier | One budget, full projections | None; a 34-day trial | pricing |
| Price | Premium from about US$6.99/mo; local pricing set by the stores | US$109/yr or US$14.99/mo | pricing |
What is the real difference, once both are set up?
Both apps can be run without a bank feed, so the connection is not what separates them. What separates them is where the truth lives.
In YNAB the truth is the transaction list. The balance is what the transactions add up to, which is why the app asks you to enter or import each one and to approve scheduled transactions as they fall due. That record is also the point: it is what makes the category balances and the reports work.
In Keep Above the truth is the balance you type. There is no transaction list to keep, because the app keeps no spending record at all. Your day-to-day spending shows up on its own the next time you update the balance, and the bills and income you entered once are what the projection runs on.
Neither of those is a lighter or heavier version of the other. They are different jobs. One tells you where the money went, the other tells you what is still coming.
What does YNAB do that Keep Above does not?
- Keeps a full categorised record of what you spent, with reports across it.
- Assigns every dollar a job, and shows what is left in each category as you spend against it.
- Imports transactions directly in the countries its pricing page names.
- Publishes a large body of teaching material around its method.
- Reconciles against your real account, so the app's balance and the bank's can be brought into agreement.
Keep Above has none of these. It shows no spending history, has no category balances to spend against, and cannot reconcile against anything because it never sees your account.
What does Keep Above do that YNAB's pages do not document?
- Projects a daily balance forward, up to 30 years ahead, on the free plan and on Premium alike.
- Works out the balance you would need today to cover every bill that is coming, and shows how far your balance sits from it.
- Projects the money set aside for later bills alongside the balance rather than as a separate target to fill.
- Works the same in any country, because there is no connection to support.
Where YNAB's own pages state nothing about a future-balance projection, the table above leaves the cell blank rather than calling it absent.
Our comparison, not a review. Every YNAB fact here is taken from YNAB'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
Can YNAB be used without connecting a bank?
Yes. YNAB documents manual entry as a first-class way to use it, and its direct import is described as supporting select US, Canadian, UK and EU banks, so users elsewhere work that way by default. What it asks for is each transaction, and approval of each scheduled transaction unless a matching import comes in.
What does Keep Above ask for that YNAB does not?
Your balance. Keep Above never sees your bank, so the balance is the one number you keep current, and the accuracy of everything it projects rests on it. YNAB's balance comes from the transactions you have entered or imported and reconciled.
Does YNAB forecast a future balance?
YNAB's own documentation states no future-balance projection, which is a blank cell rather than a claim of absence. Keep Above projects a daily balance and the money set aside for later bills, up to 30 years ahead on the free plan and on Premium alike.
What does YNAB do that Keep Above does not?
It keeps a full record of what you spent, categorised, with reports across it. It assigns every dollar to a job and shows what is left in each category as you spend. It has a direct import in the countries it names, and a large body of teaching material. Keep Above shows no spending history at all and has no category balances.