Your money, finally clear. Private budgeting with European bank sync — self-hosted or in the Cloud.
I'm Mark. I build Balance in the evenings, once my actual job is done. It's a slow way to build software — but it also means nobody's rushing me into decisions I'd regret later.
This isn't a shop. You're not pre-ordering anything; you're helping me finish something that already works. Self-hosting is free, and it stays free. Balance Cloud is for everyone who'd rather not wrestle a server into shape at nine in the evening.
The app is real: it runs in beta, the code is public, and there's a live demo. Go poke at it first. If it's not for you, that's genuinely fine. And if it is — this is the moment where backing it actually makes a difference.
Here's the honest version. Balance Cloud is zero-knowledge: your device encrypts your budget before anything leaves it, the server stores only the sealed result, and the key never leaves your device — so the server holds your data but genuinely can't read it. There's one exception I'd rather name than bury: bank sync. For a moment the worker sees your transactions in the clear — it fetches them, encrypts them right away, and keeps only the sealed version. Balance never stores your bank tokens or transactions in readable form, and never sells or mines any of it. And if even that single moment sits wrong with you, self-host and bring your own bank key — then nothing touches the server at all.
Automatic bank sync across 2.700+ banks in 30 European countries (via Enable Banking) is already built, but it goes public around ~250 paying members. Self-hosters can use their own free Enable Banking registration in restricted mode today.
This is sponsorship of open-source work, not a pre-order — you're not buying Balance Cloud here, you're helping me get it built.
These perks are thank-you gestures, not deliverables. No delivery date and no guarantees — you're not ordering a product.
If Balance Cloud launches, founders keep a lasting founder rate as a thank-you — a gesture, not a contract. For context, Balance Cloud will be €7,99/month or €69/year when it's ready (that €69 is per year; the Supporter tier is a single one-time contribution). If it never launches, you've still backed live open-source software — Balance is AGPL-3.0 and free to self-host, and it stays that way.
The tiers are a floor, not a ceiling — there's a field at checkout to give more if you'd like. It won't buy you extra perks; it just helps more.
Founding checkout opens with the Cloud. For now, join the waitlist and Balance will let you know the moment it’s live.
Payment runs through Mollie (iDEAL and SEPA).
What would you have guessed a private budgeting app with automatic European bank sync should cost per year? It's a benchmark, nothing more — the Cloud price is already fixed, and your answer changes nothing about the contribution you just made. Skip it if you'd rather.
No. You're sponsoring open-source software that already exists and runs. You're not reserving a product or locking in a price, and I owe you no delivery. The perks are thank-you gestures.
Then you've still funded live open-source software — Balance is AGPL-3.0 and free to self-host, and that doesn't change. I'll be straight about the bar I set myself: if fewer than 10 people back this in 8 weeks, I read that as a no and stop, rather than drag it out.
Yes, with one caveat I don't hide. Your budget is encrypted on your device before it reaches the server, which stores only sealed data it can't read. The single exception is bank sync: for a moment the worker sees your transactions in the clear, encrypts them right away, and keeps only sealed data — never your bank tokens or transactions in readable form. If that one moment bothers you, self-host and bring your own bank key.
Balance — personal finance, clearly. Self-hosted or Cloud, private by design.
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