1. Export your data from YNAB
- On the web only: click the plan name at the top left → Export Plan.
- A ZIP file downloads — upload it here as it is (we take the Register file).
You get a ZIP / CSV file. Any active YNAB subscription or trial can export. In YNAB, export is part of the paid plan.
What to know about the YNAB export
- YNAB exports on the web only, as a ZIP with two files: Register (your transactions) and Plan (what you assigned to categories). We read the Register.
- Monthly assignments, targets, category notes and photos don’t come over — YNAB doesn’t export targets and photos, and assignments aren’t transactions.
- «Transfer : …» rows become one transfer, and «Starting Balance» becomes the account’s opening balance.
- Dates follow your YNAB date format (US by default); the import checks the whole file to tell 03/04 from 04/03.
2. Upload it to HonestExpenses
- Start free and open Import in the app.
- Drop the file in — we recognize the YNAB export by its columns, nothing to set up.
- Check the preview: accounts, categories, dates and amounts. Fix what you like, then import.
The whole import is one batch: you see it in the import history and can undo it in one go.
What comes over
- Every expense and income with its date, amount, account, category and note.
- Your accounts and categories: the missing ones are created, the ones you already have are matched.
- Transfers between your accounts: the two rows of the export become one transfer where they match.
- Opening balances, as balance adjustments — not as income.
- Importing the same file again doesn’t add the same records twice.
Amounts come in the currency of each record — we don’t convert currencies.
YNAB and HonestExpenses side by side
| YNAB | HonestExpenses | |
|---|---|---|
| Bank connection | Yes, in selected countries (US, Canada, UK, EU) | Never — nothing to connect |
| How you add spending | Manual entry and bank import | Voice, receipt photo, Telegram bot or a few taps; card payments on iPhone and Android automatically |
| Where it runs | iPhone, Android and the web | Web app — installable on phone and computer — and a Telegram bot; iPhone and Android apps coming soon |
| Exporting your data | CSV in a ZIP, on the web only | CSV with Lifetime, the AI plan and the free trial; on Free, a copy of your data under the GDPR |
| Pricing | Subscription only, after a free trial | Free plan; Lifetime 19 $ once; AI plan monthly or yearly |
YNAB: from its own website and help pages as of 27 October 2026. Plans change — check theirs before you decide.
Why people switch to HonestExpenses
Say it — it’s logged
“Coffee 3.85, taxi 24.70” — one sentence becomes separate transactions, each in its category.
A receipt photo becomes its lines
Snap the receipt: the total, or split by category if you like.
Right in Telegram
Send an amount or a voice note to the bot — it lands in the same account as the app.
No bank login
We never connect to your bank: nothing to break, nobody reads your account.
19 $ once, for good
Lifetime: every feature, no subscription. Free to start.
Browser, phone, Telegram
Nothing to install: it works in the browser and as an app on your phone, in five languages.
Questions
Does HonestExpenses have budgets like YNAB?
It has category budgets — a monthly limit for a category or for all spending, with what’s left per day — but not YNAB’s method of giving every euro a job. People who leave YNAB often want exactly that: simpler budgets and faster logging.
Is the import free?
Yes. Recognizing a YNAB export uses no AI actions and costs nothing.
Do I have to stop using YNAB?
No. Your data stays in YNAB. You can export again later — records you already imported aren’t added twice.
Does HonestExpenses connect to my bank?
No, never. You log spending yourself — by voice, a receipt photo, Telegram or a few taps.
Can I undo the import?
Yes. The import is one batch in the import history — undo it and every record it added goes away.
Will I see my whole history on the free plan?
Free shows the last 3 months and 2 accounts. Lifetime — 19 $ once — opens all of your history.