# BudgetArk — Budget, Debt & Investing

> Private, open-source personal finance tracker for debt, budgets, and investments. (iPhone/iPad app by RICKEY AUSTIN CORNETT.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/budgetark/id6760246006 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [RICKEY AUSTIN CORNETT](https://appshunter.io/developer/1883445918)
- Category: Finance, Utilities
- Price: Free
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 3 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 16.4 · 52 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-03-12
- Data updated: 2026-09-02
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/budgetark/id6760246006/reviews.md

## What is BudgetArk?

BudgetArk is a free, private, open-source personal finance app built for people who want control without subscriptions, ads, or account signups.

Track your money in one place:  
- Debt tracking with progress insights  
- Budget planning by category  
- Investment projection tools  
- Flexible currency and locale formatting  
- Couples-friendly debt ownership and payoff planning
  
Privacy first:  
- No sign-up required  
- No cloud account required  
- Data stored locally on your device  
- Export and import your data whenever you want
  
Debt tools that help you take action:  
- Avalanche and Snowball payoff strategies  
- Separate debt types for smarter Snowball ordering  
- Owner tags (Mine, Partner, Joint)  
- Bulk debt type review tools
  
Budgeting made practical:  
- Fast entry flow with month selection  
- Categories including Grocery, Restaurant, Tech, Giving, Retirement, and Investing  
- One-time helper to split older Food entries into Grocery or Restaurant
  
Built with the community:  
BudgetArk is open source, and your feedback helps shape what comes next.  
You can suggest feature ideas and improvements through the project repository and support channels.

Whether you’re paying down debt, building better habits, or planning long-term wealth, BudgetArk keeps your financial data private and your workflow simple.

Issues: let me know at https://github.com/RickeyNet/BudgetArk/issues

Feature requests: Suggest ideas at https://github.com/RickeyNet/BudgetArk/discussions

## Key features

- Debt tracking with progress insights
- Budget planning by category
- Investment projection tools
- Couples-friendly debt planning
- Avalanche and Snowball payoff strategies
- Local data storage
- Open-source with community feedback

## Recent user reviews (1 of 1)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/budgetark/id6760246006/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Great app and it is easy to use!

*2026-05-08*

I’ve started using the app for my daily life. From budgeting to debt management, BudgetArk is very user friendly and convenient. Most importantly, you don’t have to purchase anything and it’s made for what it was intended for without the hassle of ads. I highly recommend BudgetArk!

## Frequently asked questions about BudgetArk

### What is BudgetArk?

BudgetArk is a free, private, and open-source personal finance app designed for users who want control over their money without subscriptions or ads. It allows for tracking debt, planning budgets, and projecting investments.

### Is BudgetArk free to use?

Yes, BudgetArk is completely free to use. It does not require any subscriptions, account sign-ups, or in-app purchases.

### How does BudgetArk protect my privacy?

BudgetArk prioritizes privacy by not requiring any sign-up or cloud account. All your financial data is stored locally on your device, and you can export and import it whenever you wish.

### What debt payoff strategies does BudgetArk support?

BudgetArk supports both the Avalanche and Snowball debt payoff strategies. It also allows you to separate debt types and use owner tags (Mine, Partner, Joint) for smarter planning.

### Can BudgetArk be used by couples?

Yes, BudgetArk is couples-friendly and includes features for shared debt ownership and payoff planning, allowing for joint management of finances.

### How often is BudgetArk updated?

BudgetArk was last updated on May 4, 2026, with version 1.4.14. As an open-source project, updates are driven by community feedback and development.

### What devices does BudgetArk support?

BudgetArk is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices, running on iOS.

### Does BudgetArk have ads?

No, BudgetArk is ad-free. The app is built with a privacy-first approach and does not display any advertisements to users.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.10.0 — 2026-08-31

A fresh coat of paint and a smarter budget.

• Bills that settle themselves - set a bill up once with your best estimate. When the real charge arrives, from your bank or typed in, file it against the bill and the actual replaces the estimate for that month. No double counting, no editing the plan.

• Credit cards that track themselves - link a card on the Debts tab to the bank account behind it and its balance updates after every sync.

• Spending pace - category limits now show where you should be by today, so you know you're ahead before the month is over.

• Quick-start budgets - new installs can seed a full first budget (single, couple, debt-heavy, or zero-based) from take-home pay.

• Budget quality of life - real dates on manual entries, "Save + another", suggestion chips that remember your entries, inline category creation, a one-screen Limits editor, and a tracking strip on the Bridge.

• Split an expense across the people in your household.

• Safer data - a deep pass over storage and sync: background syncs and restores can no longer be undone by an open screen, deleted budget limits now stay deleted on your partner's device, and errors are shown instead of swallowed.

As always: free, no subscription, and your data stays encrypted on your device.

### 1.9.0 — 2026-08-07

BudgetArk 1.9.0 is our biggest update yet. Connect your bank, credit card, or brokerage using accounts you own (no BudgetArk server, ever) and approve imported transactions in a new Review Inbox while balances keep your net worth current automatically. Also new: encrypted receipt photos, business expense reports, W-2/1099 income tracking, a live safe-to-spend Cash Flow card, search across everything, private entries, App Lock, automatic encrypted backups, a credit card keep-alive watch, new Charts tools (purchase planner, what-if spending, take-home pay, currency exchange, debt-free countdown), seven new themes, and a rebuilt onboarding. Plus fixes for timezone date slips, partner sync, and speed throughout.

### 1.4.14 — 2026-05-04

- The Bridge - a new home tab for net worth at a glance, tracked accounts (savings, retirement, brokerage, HSA), and an auto-saving daily history graph so you can
   see your trajectory over time.
- Spreadsheet backup - full CSV/XLSX round-trip import and export. Move your data into Excel or Google Sheets, edit it there, and bring it back without losing
  rows.
- Layout Density - pick Compact, Comfortable, or Spacious in Profile > Appearance to retune padding and font sizes across the whole app.
- Guided Walk-through - a first-launch spotlight tour highlights the key elements on every tab, with a step counter and Skip-all option. Replay any time from
  Profile, or tap "How to use BudgetArk" for a per-tab reference.
- Stronger partner sync - pairing codes are now 8 alphanumeric characters with a fingerprint-verification step, and incoming diffs are fully validated before
  anything is written locally.
- Backup reminder - a one-time banner on Profile nudges you to take a fresh export after each app upgrade, then clears as soon as you do.
- Debt class split - Add Debt now separates Car from House. The list groups credit/personal first, car next, mortgage last; car and house promote to the front
  only after the Hull milestone is complete and credit is paid off.
- Debt payoff celebration -confetti, payoff stats, and a quick shortcut to Payment History when a balance hits zero.
- Monthly insights - Budget screen surfaces the biggest spending trend before you open the full review, plus a category-by-category comparison against your
  trailing 3-month average.

### 1.1.0 — 2026-03-27

- Added peer-to-peer sync for couples — share budgets, debts, and savings goals directly between phones over WiFi with no server or account required.
- One-time device pairing with a 6-digit code and PBKDF2 key exchange. All sync traffic is AES-256 encrypted with HMAC integrity verification.
- Sync Now button for on-demand data exchange — both devices see the same debts, payments, budget entries, savings goals, and milestone progress.
- Optional auto-sync when both phones are on your home WiFi network. Set your home network once and syncing happens automatically in the foreground.
- Added in-app feedback — report bugs or suggest features directly from Profile. Your message is sent via your email app with device info auto-attached.
- Added a link to GitHub Issues for public bug tracking and feature requests.
- Added updated at timestamps to all record types for accurate conflict resolution using last-write-wins per record.
- Existing data is automatically migrated to include timestamps on first launch — no action needed.
- Squashed some bugs and improved overall stability.

### 1.0.6 — 2026-03-14

## v1.0.6 - Security & Encryption (2026-03-12)

- Added AES-256 encryption for all on-device data with HMAC-SHA256 integrity verification — your financial data is now encrypted at rest.
- Encryption keys are stored in the platform secure vault (iOS Keychain / Android Keystore) and cleared from memory when the app is backgrounded.
- Existing data from previous versions is automatically migrated to the encrypted format on first launch — no action needed.
- Added privacy mode toggle in Profile settings to mask sensitive balances on screen.
- Added version guard to prevent downgrade attacks via OTA updates.
- Upgraded to cryptographically strong UUID generation for all identifiers.
- Improved data import validation with stricter schema checks and encrypted storage support.

## v1.0.5 - Build Your Ark Planning Hub (2026-03-10)

- Added Build Your Ark, a unified planning hub that combines Hull (payoff), Deck (emergency coverage), and Supplies (savings goals) in one modal.
- Added side-by-side Avalanche vs Snowball what-if comparisons with extra-payment scenarios, payoff speed, total-interest impact, and strategy recommendations.
- Payoff strategy preference now persists across app restarts instead of resetting to Custom each launch.
- Added savings goals with on-device persistence, quick contribution chips, progress bars, and inline create/delete management.
- Added Deck tracking (formerly runway) with monthly essentials input, coverage status (Deck at risk -> Storm-ready deck), and progress guidance.
- Added Ark phase progress framing (Keel, Hull, Deck, Supplies, Sail) to tie payoff, safety cushion, and goals into one guided journey.
- Added compact Debt Tracker summary chips for Deck and active Supplies goal to keep key planning context visible without screen clutter.
- Improved Debt Milestones readability with a full-screen modal, larger typography, and safe-area-aware spacing on Android and iOS.
- Added recurring budget entries so fixed monthly items can automatically appear in future months while one-off imports remain month-specific.
- Improved theme contrast across dark themes and The Ark, including milestone action buttons and theme selector card readability.

## v1.0.4 - Debt Milestones and UX Polish (2026-03-09)

- Added a new Debt Milestones planner with progress tracking, current-step focus, and completion management.
- Added editable milestone targets with quick adjust chips (+100, +250, +500, -100).
- Completed milestones now collapse into concise cards with congratulatory messages; future steps are collapsed by default and expandable on tap.
- Improved debt and budget modal button visibility on Android devices with bottom navigation bars to avoid keyboard overlap.
- Updated budget category options by adding Fitness and removing Food from add/edit selection bubbles.
- Improved theme selector readability by forcing black theme-name text in onboarding and profile theme pickers.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-02.*