Other apps help you stick to a budget. Workbench helps you figure out what it should be.

Your budget is built from your real spending and what you want later: a house, college, retirement. Then it tracks how you're doing against it.

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  • Your data stays on your device
  • macOS & Windows
Why Workbench

Your budget and your retirement are one decision. Most apps treat them as two.

Budgeting apps track what you spent. Retirement planners project where you're headed. Most apps are built around one, with the other bolted on or missing, so you copy numbers between them and guess at the rest.

Say dining out creeps up to $200 a month over budget, and it sticks.

That's less saved every month and more to fund later, so you retire at 64½ instead of 62. Your budgeting app shows the overspending, but not what it costs you.

Now say you start saving for a $6,000 trip five years from now: $100 a month.

If that $100 comes out of your retirement saving, you retire about 3 months later. You'd only find that out by re-entering the trip in your retirement planner.

Or you trim $100 a month from today's spending and keep your retirement date. You can only weigh that choice with both sides in view.

Workbench Budgeting is built for both, because they're one decision. Change one side and watch the other move, then pick the tradeoff instead of guessing at it.

Illustrative math: $100,000 saved at 32, $5,180/month spending now and in retirement, 5% yearly return after inflation, 4% withdrawal rate. Workbench runs it on your own numbers.

Illustrative math: $100,000 saved at 32, $5,180/month spending now and in retirement, 5% yearly return after inflation, 4% withdrawal rate. Workbench runs it on your own numbers.

How it works

From your real transactions to a budget amount you trust.

Guided setup

A series of questions that will pre-populate your forecasts

  • Completely private. The data never leaves your machine.
  • Takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Clean up what really happened

Transactions have a lot of noise. Removing that noise makes it easier to understand your situation.

All Accounts, Transactions, and Balances in One Place

  • Balances are checked against your statements, so nothing goes missing.

Categorize Transactions

Split transactions

  • You and three friends go out to dinner for $150. You pay and they each Venmo you $50.
  • Split the charge — $100 for the group share, $50 for yours.
  • Mark the $100 share and two Venmo payments as transfers — only the true expense is left: your $50 portion.

Spread out big purchases and income spikes over time

  • Spread out a bonus to all 12 months
  • Spread out a home renovation over several years

Project it forward

Because knowing where you're going will inform you what you should budget today.

Fine-tuned Forecasting

  • Forecast a raise, a child, a home purchase, etc.
  • Forecast as high-level or fine-tuned as you like

Test the tradeoffs

Side by side comparison of different scenarios because life can go in many different directions.

Scenario Planning

  • Compare buying a house vs. renting one.
  • Compare how a car purchase effects when you'll be able to retire.

Set a working number

Not a rule you're locked into — a starting point

In the example above, $5,180 a month, with $100 of it set aside for the trip, keeps you retiring at 62. Workbench works out yours the same way.

Your monthly budget $0

Track, then adjust

When life shifts, feed it back into the forecast.

Budget vs. Actual Insights

  • Compare those plans versus your actual spending.

And all of it runs locally. Your finances and data never leave your machine.

Outcomes

Know you're on track, not just under budget.

Your forecast shows where today's spending leads, so "on track" means something.

Spend without the guilt.

See which splurges matter and which don't. When the dinner out fits the plan, enjoy it.

Reduce the effort it takes to be disciplined.

No more second guessing monthly expenses and creating custom spreadsheets.

A budget you understand is a budget you'll keep.

See it in action

One minute in the real app.

Workbench Budgeting
How it compares

Plan from your real spending, privately.

Workbench YNAB Monarch Copilot ProjectionLab
Tracking what happened
Tracks your real transactions
Checks your balances against your statements
Splits shared bills and Venmo paybacks
Spreads big purchases across months
Budget vs. actual
Subscription tracking
Planning what's next
Sets your budget from your long-term plan
Forecasts out to retirement
Compares scenarios side by side
Tax modeling
Practical
Your data stays private to you *
Mobile app

* Through ProjectionLab's private Docker container.

Based on each product's public website and documentation as of September 2026. Features change often. YNAB, Monarch, Copilot, and ProjectionLab are trademarks of their respective owners.

Pricing

One subscription for the whole app. Bank syncing included.

Advisor-grade tools for a fraction of the cost.

Sample profile

free

Take the whole app for a spin with a realistic example household: forecasts, scenarios, budget vs. actual. No account or card needed.

$8.99 / month

first week free

The whole app with your own numbers, automatic bank account syncing included.

Cancel any time. If you stop, your data stays on your computer and opens again when you resubscribe.

Get started

Find out what your budget should be

Explore the Sample profile free, no account needed. When you're ready for your own numbers, start your free week.

macOS (Apple Silicon) macOS (Intel) Windows
One person. Ten years.

Workbench started as a spreadsheet built on a Mint export, because nothing else did what I needed. Ten years and a few hundred iterations later, it's an app. I'm building the next chapter in public at @GardenStudio__.

Follow the build in public →