Tavala vs Wallet by BudgetBakers
Wallet by BudgetBakers and Tavala both hold money in many currencies. Wallet is sync-led: bank sync in many countries with Premium, from an EU company that keeps data in the EU or the US, with a lifetime purchase on offer. Tavala starts with no account and no bank, works offline, keeps the exchange rate on each entry and lets you change your main currency at any time. Choose Wallet for a bank feed outside North America; choose Tavala to track by hand, offline, or to keep your history when your main currency changes.
What Tavala is
Tavala is a private, offline-first personal finance app for budgets and expenses in any currency, on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and the web. It starts with no account and no bank: you type what you paid in one line, in any of 155 currencies and 96 cryptocurrencies, and every entry keeps the exchange rate of its day. Budgets show what is left, bills feed a safe-to-spend figure, and debts get a snowball or avalanche plan. It is free to start; Tavala Plus is $39.99 a year on the web for every device, every currency and spaces shared with up to six people. A read-only bank connection is an optional add-on for banks in the United States and Canada.
What Wallet by BudgetBakers is
Wallet is a money tracker from BudgetBakers, a company in Prague, Czech Republic, on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web. It is built around accounts, each in one currency, with exchange rates updated overnight, budgets and goals, and spending that arrives from bank sync, Google Pay, Apple Pay or SMS. A free tier covers manual tracking; Premium adds bank sync with, in its words, over 15,000 banking institutions worldwide under a PSD2 licence, Group Sharing and export. Wallet says it started on Android and that some features differ between iOS, Android and the web. Its data is stored on servers in the EU or the US.
Bank sync, or by hand
Wallet's strength is its bank feed. Premium connects to banks as a licensed provider under PSD2 (its legal pages name Salt Edge and Yodlee), and its site speaks of over 15,000 institutions worldwide (its App Store listing says 4,000); it does not list the countries. Tavala's bank connection is an optional add-on to Tavala Plus, for banks in the United States and Canada, read-only through Plaid, at $3.99 a month per bank. If you bank in Europe and want transactions to arrive on their own, Wallet is built for that and Tavala is not. Everywhere else Tavala is used by hand, with a capture bar that reads one typed line: amount, currency, date and category.
Your main currency
In Wallet the main currency is fixed. Its help center says there is no option to change the base currency while keeping your data, and the only way is to delete your data and start fresh. In Tavala the owner of a space changes the main currency in Settings at any time. Totals, budgets and reports switch to the new currency, and past entries are re-valued at the exchange rate of each entry's own date, so moving from London to Lisbon does not mean starting your history again. Wallets keep their own currency and balance either way.
Exchange rates
Both apps convert automatically. Wallet updates its rates overnight and lets you set your own rate or turn the updates off, except on the web. Tavala uses daily reference rates and stores the rate on each entry, so last month's spending does not move when the rate does, and you can type your own rate on any entry, for example to match a card statement; it changes that entry only.
In both apps an account, or a wallet, holds one currency. On Tavala's free plan a space holds 2 currencies, counted from its wallets, and Tavala Plus holds every currency. Wallet does not state the limits of its free tier.
Offline and accounts
Wallet has an offline mode, and its help center says data used in that mode is not backed up on its servers; syncing needs every device online. Every screen in Tavala works offline, and with an account the changes wait on the device and upload when you are back online. Tavala can also be used with no account at all, as a guest, with nothing sent anywhere. Wallet's pages show signing in to sync across devices and do not say whether it can be used fully without an account.
Sharing
Wallet's Group Sharing is a Premium feature: the owner shares chosen accounts, and each member gets a permission per account (Admin, Track and read, Read only or No access) without paying for Premium. An owner has one group, and Group Sharing is not available in the web app. Tavala shares a whole space with up to six people as part of the owner's Plus; the people who join never pay, and it works on every device, the browser included. Tavala has no read-only role and its entries do not show who added them, so Wallet's per-account permissions are finer.
AI and receipts
Wallet categorizes transactions with AI, has receipt scanning (OCR) in its help center, and offers an MCP link so outside assistants such as Claude or ChatGPT can answer questions about your finances. Tavala has no receipt scanner and no AI categorizing. Its assistant, Ask Tavala, is a different thing: it is off until you turn it on, it works out the figures on your device, and the AI model never receives an amount from your ledger.
Price and export
Wallet has no price on its website: its help center says to tap Get Wallet Premium in the app to see the current prices, for Monthly, Yearly and Lifetime plans with the same features. On 24 October 2026 the US App Store listed Premium purchases at $5.99, $14.99 and $29.99 without saying which period each covers, a 3-year Premium at $49.99 and Lifetime Premium at $29.99, so we cannot give a yearly price for it.
Tavala is free to start, and Tavala Plus is $39.99 a year or $6.99 a month on the web. Tavala has no lifetime plan. Export in Wallet is Premium, as CSV or Excel on Android and the web (PDF too on Android), not on iPhone, and it covers transactions, not budgets or goals. Tavala exports everything as a JSON file on every plan and every device, and reports as CSV or PDF (the current month on the free plan, any period on Plus).
| What | Tavala | Wallet by BudgetBakers |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free; Plus $39.99 a yearor $6.99 a month on the web | Premium; prices only in the storesNo pricing page; US App Store $5.99 to $49.99, lifetime $29.99 |
| Free plan | Free forever1 synced device, 2 currencies per space, 2 private spaces | Free tierFor manual tracking; its limits are not stated |
| Currencies | Every currency in one space155 currencies and 96 cryptocurrencies; 2 per space on the free plan | Full multi-currencyOne currency per account; the base currency cannot change |
| Exchange rates | Automatic, kept on each entryDaily reference rates, or your own rate per entry | Updated overnightOwn rate per currency; auto-update off in the apps only |
| Works offline | Every screenChanges sync when you are back online | An offline modeNot backed up while offline; sync needs a connection |
| Bank connections | Optional add-onBanks in the United States and Canada, through Plaid, $3.99 a month per bank | Premium"over 15,000 banking institutions"; no countries listed |
| Sharing | Up to 6 people per spacePart of Plus; people you invite never pay | Group Sharing, PremiumOne group per owner; roles per account; not on the web |
| Where your data lives | On your deviceWith an account, synced through Ireland (EU) | EU or US servers"in the EU or USA", for example AWS; Prague company |
| AI | Off until you turn it onThe model never sees an amount | AI categorizing, an MCP linkConnects Claude and ChatGPT through MCP or a REST API |
| Export and import | CSV, PDF and full JSON exportNo import from other apps yet | PremiumCSV or XLS on web and Android; not on iPhone |
Choose Tavala if
- You may change your main currency later, after a move, and want to keep your history.
- You want to start with no account and no bank, and every screen to work offline.
- You want a whole space shared with up to six people, in the browser as well as the apps.
- You want to export everything on any device, iPhone included, on the free plan.
Choose Wallet by BudgetBakers if
- You want multi-currency tracking with bank sync in many countries, from an EU company.
- You want to share chosen accounts with family who do not pay, with permissions per account.
- You want receipts scanned and transactions categorized by AI.
- You want a one-time lifetime purchase rather than a subscription.
Switching from Wallet
Tavala imports nothing from Wallet. Wallet's export is a Premium feature, as CSV or Excel from the Android app or the web app (not from an iPhone), and it covers transactions, not budgets or goals. Keep that file as your archive and start Tavala from today: pick your main currency, add each Wallet account as a wallet with today's balance in its own currency, re-create your regular bills as recurring rules and set the budgets you still use.
Debts are the exception: Tavala imports a list of debts, a lender's schedule or past loan payments from a CSV file, with a preview before anything is saved. Because Tavala is free to start, you can run both apps side by side for a month before you decide.
Tavala publishes this page and is one of the apps on it. Facts about Wallet by BudgetBakers are from its own pages, checked on 25 October 2026. Corrections are welcome at the address on the about page.
- Wallet by BudgetBakers help: everything about premium
- Wallet by BudgetBakers help: change the main currency
- Wallet by BudgetBakers help: multiple currencies exchange rates
- Wallet by BudgetBakers help: everything about group sharing
- Wallet by BudgetBakers help: how to export transactions from Wallet
- Wallet by BudgetBakers help: import your transactions or files
- Wallet by BudgetBakers help: backup measures and data loss
- Wallet by BudgetBakers help: Wallet web app
- Wallet by BudgetBakers: bank sync
- Wallet by BudgetBakers: privacy
- Wallet by BudgetBakers on the App Store
Questions
- Can I change my main currency in Tavala?
- Yes. The owner of a space changes it in Settings at any time. Past entries are re-valued at the rate of each entry's own date, and every wallet keeps its own currency and balance.
- Does Tavala have bank sync like Wallet?
- Only for banks in the United States and Canada, as an optional add-on to Tavala Plus, read-only through Plaid, at $3.99 a month per bank. Everywhere else Tavala is used by hand, in any currency.
- Does Tavala scan receipts?
- No. Tavala has no receipt scanner and no AI categorizing. Entries are typed in one line, or arrive from a connected bank in the United States or Canada.
- Does Tavala have a lifetime plan?
- No. Tavala Plus is $39.99 a year or $6.99 a month on the web, and the free plan has no end date. Wallet sells a Lifetime Premium.
- Where does Tavala keep my data?
- On your device. With an account it is also stored in the European Union (Ireland) so your devices can sync. Without an account nothing about your money leaves the device.
Go further
- Multi-currencyEvery currency in one budget, each entry at its day's rate.
- For expatsA budget that moves countries with you.
- Tavala vs Lunch MoneyAnother multi-currency app, web-first.
- Choose or change your main currencyYour main currency is the one Tavala adds everything up in. Change it in Settings if you own the space; past entries are re-valued at their own dates.
- Use your own exchange rate for one entryIn the full form, tap the pencil on the conversion card and type the rate you actually got. It applies to that one entry and changes nothing else.
- What each member of a space can doA space has one owner and its members. Everyone can add and edit entries; only the owner renames the space, invites, removes people and changes the currency.
Start with what you spent today.
There is no account to create and no card to enter. Pick your currency, add what you paid, and Home shows what is left.