The best YNAB alternative for freelancers and gig workers
Gig income records · 1099 tools · mileage tracking · tax set-aside
Kronos is an iOS money app for gig workers and freelancers. KronosPay LLC is a financial technology company, not a bank or lender. This guide is built from the negative reviews people leave about YNAB — the exact phrasing they use when they start searching for a replacement. Quotes below are verbatim from public app-store and forum reviews.
Why people look for YNAB alternatives
YNAB's method is genuinely powerful — its pricing turns have been equally powerful, and the price-hike megathreads on r/ynab read like a switching queue:
- ““Price doubled for grandfathered in users, with a paltry 10% discount. This after touting 'lifetime' discounts.”” — r/ynab
- ““I thought I paid a 1-time licensing fee for life. Now almost 10 years later I'm shelling out $100/year.”” — r/ynab
- ““Learning curve is real — plan for 2-4 weeks to become comfortable.”” — review roundup
- ““I brought my YNAB subscription down to $0 by switching to Actual Budget. I haven't missed YNAB at all.”” — user quote via review roundup
Income records, mileage tracking, 1099 tools, and tax set-aside in one app.
Real alternatives to YNAB
- Kronos: Built for variable 1099 income, not adapted to it: income records per gig platform, receipts, 1099 organization, and tax set-aside — with a usable free tier.
- Actual Budget: Free open-source envelope budgeting — the closest free copy of YNAB's method, self-hosted or hosted.
- Monarch Money: Polished aggregation and collaboration; ~$100/yr and its own sync-complaint threads.
- Copilot Money: Beautiful iOS budgeting; explicitly not built for self-employed (no Schedule C or quarterly-tax support).
- Envelope method + spreadsheet: Zero-based budgeting by hand — free, and you already know the method.
Side by side
| What matters | YNAB | Kronos |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99/mo or $109/yr; repeated hikes incl. grandfathered users | Usable free tier; Pro and Black tiers |
| Variable income | Works via workarounds (budget last month's income, build buffer) | Purpose-built: multi-platform gig income records |
| Tax side | None (external spreadsheets) | 1099 organization, mileage/receipts, tax set-aside |
| Learning curve | 2–4 weeks for the method | Open the app, log the money move |
Who should stay with YNAB
Stay with YNAB if zero-based budgeting actually changed your financial life and $109/yr feels cheap for that — for committed method users, nothing else is YNAB.
Where Kronos fits
Kronos replaces the part of YNAB that gig workers strain against: knowing what you actually have. Income recorded per platform, set-aside for taxes handled as a setting, 1099s organized — budget from the real number instead of a buffer-month workaround.
Gig income records · 1099 tools · mileage tracking · tax set-aside
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free YNAB alternative?
Actual Budget is the free open-source heir to YNAB's method. Kronos's free tier covers income and money records for gig work with tax set-aside.
Why did YNAB get so expensive?
Repeated increases — the 2026 round hit grandfathered “lifetime discount” users too, which is what lit the r/ynab megathreads. Annual runs $109.
Does YNAB work for irregular income?
It can, with workarounds — budgeting last month's income and building a buffer first. That's discipline on top of a method, which is a lot when the income itself is the chaos.
What's the best budgeting app for self-employed people?
For 1099 work, one that starts from the money actually arriving: Kronos records per-platform income with receipts, mileage, 1099s, and set-aside. See our irregular-income roundup for the full comparison.
General educational information only; not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Competitor details and pricing change — verify on the official product page before deciding. No provider paid for inclusion.