Compared
Cifrova against YNAB
YNAB is the reference for zero-based budgeting: give every euro a job, and it has taught a generation to do it. It is built for the United States first; European bank feeds go through a partner and Portuguese banks are thin.
| YNAB | Cifrova | |
|---|---|---|
| Method | Zero-based, strict and excellent at it | Yours: zero-based is one of four methods the advisor can follow, or none |
| Bank feeds in Portugal | Through a partner, patchy coverage, often file import | Millennium, CGD, Santander, Novo Banco, BPI, Bankinter, Revolut and more, consent at the bank |
| Categorising | Rules and by hand | Rules, history, then Claude once per new merchant |
| Net worth | Accounts only; no property or live prices | Property, mortgage, PPR, ETFs, crypto, gold, priced daily |
| Forecast | The plan itself | A 90-day balance line from planned payments and drift |
| Couples | One budget, shared login | Two members, personal cards apart |
| Price | 14,99 $ a month or 109 $ a year | 7,90 € a month, 69 € a year, founders 49 € a year for life |
Where YNAB wins
- The method, the teaching, the community: nobody explains envelopes better.
- Years of polish on the mobile apps.
- If you want the discipline of assigning every euro by hand, that is the product.
Where Cifrova wins
- Portuguese and European banks, read every morning.
- Less to do by hand: the app files, you answer on Sunday.
- Net worth with the real things in it; the forecast; the advisor with a method.
- Half the price.
Verdict. YNAB if you want to do the budgeting; Cifrova if you want it done and read.