Monarch Money is a US and Canada product. No European bank integrations. No non-USD currencies. No EU App Store listing. Budgero is the privacy-first alternative built for EUR, GBP, CHF, and the other 165 currencies — plus GDPR-compliant zero-knowledge encryption.
No card. Billed in EUR or GBP. VAT-compliant invoice included.
Monarch Money is a genuinely good product. It just isn't built for anyone outside North America, and the gap is wider than most people expect.
No European banks. Monarch's bank sync is powered by Plaid, MX, and Finicity — US-centric aggregators. No N26, no Revolut EU, no Monzo, no ING, no Santander, no BNP Paribas, no HSBC UK. You cannot connect a single European bank to Monarch.
No non-USD currencies. Monarch displays every transaction with a “$” symbol regardless of the underlying currency. A €1,000 grocery bill shows as “$1,000”. A £50 coffee shows as “$50”. There is no conversion, no multi-currency awareness, and no way to set EUR, GBP, or CHF as your home currency.
USD billing only. Monarch charges in USD through the US App Store. European users pay FX fees on every renewal. No VAT invoice is issued, which is a problem if you want to expense it as a freelancer.
iOS app not in European stores. The Monarch iOS app is listed in the US App Store. European users have to use the web app or maintain a US Apple ID.
Data stored under US law. Monarch's servers are in the US. Your financial data is subject to US data legislation, which for many European users is a meaningful privacy concern compared to an EU-hosted or zero-knowledge alternative.
The short version: Monarch is a US-first product that has not meaningfully invested in internationalisation. If you live in Europe, you are not the customer Monarch was built for.
Here are the common banks across major European countries. Monarch supports none of them. Budgero works the same way with all of them — CSV import or manual entry, every bank, every currency.
N26, DKB, Deutsche Bank — none connect to Monarch.
Monzo, Revolut, Starling — not available.
BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale — no integration.
ING, ABN AMRO, Bunq — unsupported.
Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank — not available.
UBS, Raiffeisen, PostFinance — no CHF support.
Every EU country, the UK, Switzerland, Norway. CSV imports from any bank, every currency, any account type.
Pay in EUR, GBP, or whichever currency you use. No USD FX fees. Proper VAT-compliant invoice on every payment.
Zero-knowledge encryption means we cannot see your data. Even a server breach yields encrypted blobs, not your financial history.
Monarch costs $99.99/year. Budgero Cloud is $60/year — save ~$40/year. Or self-host on your own EU server for free.
| Feature | Budgero | Monarch Money |
|---|---|---|
| Available in Europe | Every EU country + UK + CH | US and Canada only |
| Multi-currency support | 168 currenciesEUR, GBP, CHF, PLN, SEK + live FX | USD onlyForeign currency shown as $ |
| Billing currency | EUR, GBP, USD, etc.VAT invoices included | USD onlyFX fees on every charge |
| Annual price | $60/yearOr free with Self-Host | $99.99/year |
| GDPR-compliant by design | Zero-knowledge architecture | US-based data storage |
| Zero-knowledge encryption | We cannot decrypt your data | Bank-level, but not zero-knowledge |
| Works offline | PWA, full offline | Cloud-only |
| Bank sync for European banks | CSV / manualImport from any EU bank | No EU banks supported |
| Investment tracking | ManualTrack any asset manually | Automatic (US brokers)US brokers only |
| Self-host option | Docker on EU server | |
| Mobile app in EU App Store | PWA (works everywhere) | iOS: US store only |
Monarch is a solid app for US households. We are honest about that.
Monarch Money was built for the US market and relies on US bank-sync providers like Plaid to work. They have announced Canadian support, but no European expansion. You cannot download the iOS app in the UK, EU, or Switzerland App Stores, and even if you use the web app, there is no way to connect European banks, hold non-USD accounts, or be billed in EUR or GBP. Monarch is unusable for European households as of 2026.
Budgero. It is the budgeting app most European users switch to when they realise Monarch is not an option. Budgero supports 168 currencies natively (including EUR, GBP, CHF, PLN, SEK, and every other European currency), it is GDPR-compliant by design through zero-knowledge encryption, and it bills in your local currency with proper VAT invoices. You can use Budgero Cloud from anywhere, or self-host on your own EU server.
Yes, in the same budget. Pick a home currency (say, EUR). Hold any number of accounts in any supported currency. Every transaction is automatically converted at live exchange rates, and your net worth rolls up in your home currency. Cross-border households, expats, and freelancers with multi-currency income are the single biggest group of Budgero users.
No, and this is by design. Bank sync requires sharing your credentials with a third-party aggregator — which in Europe means Tink, GoCardless, or Plaid's limited European footprint. Budgero is manual-first: you enter transactions yourself or import CSVs from your bank. Every EU bank exports CSVs. This keeps your credentials under your control and is part of why Budgero can offer true end-to-end encryption.
Yes. Because Budgero uses zero-knowledge encryption, your financial data is encrypted on your device before it ever reaches our servers. We literally cannot decrypt it. That makes Budgero one of the most GDPR-compliant budgeting apps available — there is no sensitive personal data for us to expose, lose, or be compelled to hand over. If full EU data sovereignty matters to you, you can also self-host on your own infrastructure.
Budgero supports manual investment tracking — you can record any asset, any currency, at any value. For European users this is usually preferable anyway, since Monarch's automatic brokerage sync does not work with European brokers (Interactive Brokers, Trading 212, DEGIRO, etc.). Manual tracking also means your portfolio stays encrypted and private.
Via Stripe. We charge in EUR, GBP, or your local currency as appropriate, and every payment produces a VAT-compliant invoice downloadable from your account. For freelancers and small businesses across the EU, that means Budgero is properly deductible as a business expense. Monarch charges in USD with no local currency or VAT support.
Yes. Budgero Cloud is $7.99/month or $60/year, versus Monarch at $14.99/month or $99.99/year. That is roughly half the price, without the USD FX fees that European Monarch customers would incur. And if you prefer to not pay anything, Budgero Self-Host is free forever on your own Docker server.
Yes. Budgero imports CSV exports from Monarch (and from most other budgeting apps). Categories, transactions, and account balances come across. The import tool gives you a preview before confirming, so nothing is ever overwritten unexpectedly.
Yes. Budgero is a Progressive Web App with full offline support. Add transactions on a flight, review your budget on a train with no signal, or keep your financial data off the network entirely. Everything syncs automatically when you reconnect. Monarch is cloud-only.
Real Users, Real Budgets
People who switched from YNAB and other tools share their experience.
I used YNAB for years and love zero-based budgeting. Budgero nails the same methodology with a design I actually enjoy using. I keep coming back because I'm a budget geek. The SQL Explorer is a dream if you have a technical background.
I started with YNAB and then tried a bunch of different tools over the past year. Budgero is the closest to perfect for my use case while also matching what I want visually. Transaction entry is fast, the savings goals with sub-sections are exactly what I need, and the whole experience just feels right.
The app is really advanced in both functionality and UI. I was impressed by how polished the whole experience feels. This is a serious budgeting tool with a design that competes with anything on the market.
The latest update made a noticeable difference. Animations are smoother, everything feels faster. Nice to see a budgeting tool where the developer actually cares about performance.
Start your 14-day Budgero trial. Billed in EUR or GBP. Works with every European bank via CSV. Zero-knowledge encryption, GDPR by design, and about half the price of Monarch.
Also see: Full Budgero vs Monarch · YNAB alternative for Europe