Ask about your money in your own words
Ask Tavala is an assistant inside the app. Ask it a question the way you would say it out loud and it answers from your own entries; ask it to log, move or set something and it shows you a preview first. The words are written by an AI model. The figures never are.
Pick what to ask. The ledger is an example.
The Ask Tavala sheet. Asked how much was spent on groceries last month, it answers that 381.86 dollars went on groceries in September across 14 entries, with Show the rows. Asked what safe to spend means, it explains the term and shows today's figure, 612.40 dollars. Asked to log 4.80 coffee and 18 taxi today, it shows both expenses ticked as a preview with Confirm and Not now.
The figures come from your ledger
Every amount in an answer is worked out on your device, by the same arithmetic as Home, Budgets and Reports. The model sees a placeholder where each amount goes and writes the sentence around it, so it cannot invent a figure. When an answer is built from entries, Show the rows opens them.
It does things, after you confirm
Log three expenses in one sentence, move money between your own wallets, record a loan payment, set a budget, add a bill, file entries under a category, start a trip, add a wallet or answer a bank suggestion. Each one is a preview first: untick what you do not want, tap Confirm, and Undo takes it back for five minutes. It never deletes anything.
Ask the way you would say it
Open Ask Tavala from any tab and type what you want to know: what you spent on groceries last month, what is left until payday, when the car loan is paid off. Each tab suggests three questions to start from, and a follow-up can build on the answer before it.
It asks when it is not sure
When two wallets could fit, it asks which one, with the choices as buttons, before anything is saved. Some things it declines in plain words, such as sending money to another person, which Tavala cannot do anyway.
What it sends, and what it never does
Your question and the names it needs (wallets, categories, trips and rules in the space you are in) go through Tavala's servers to OpenAI, and for a hard question to Anthropic, which write the answer. Amounts and notes from your ledger stay on your device, nothing from your other spaces is sent, and neither provider trains on it.
Your switch and your log
Ask Tavala stays off until you agree to what it sends. Settings › Device › Ask Tavala turns it off on every device at once and lists one line per question for 90 days: the time, the tool, the space, how many rows it read and who answered. Never the words.
Ask Tavala needs a free account and a connection; without an account the app offers one first. A free account gets one question a day. Tavala Plus answers up to 150 questions a month. If you hide amounts, its answers hide them too.
Off until you turn it on
Ask Tavala is the one part of Tavala that uses an AI model, and it is off until you agree to what it sends. Before your first question, Tavala shows what is sent, where it goes and what is never included. Settings turns it off on every device at once. If you never want AI in your budget, you never meet it.
What travels, and what stays on your device
Sent: your question exactly as you typed it, with the earlier questions and answers in the same sheet; the names the answer needs from the space you are in (wallets, categories, trips and projects, recurring rules); and the shape of the answer, meaning where each figure goes, dates and counts.
Never sent: the amounts from your entries, the notes on your entries, anything from your other spaces, bank sign-in details or card numbers. The model sees a placeholder where each amount goes, and your device fills in the real figure when the answer appears. That is why it cannot invent a number: it never had one. An amount you type into the question itself is sent as you typed it.
The request goes to Tavala's servers in Ireland, which pass it to OpenAI, or for a hard question on Tavala Plus to Anthropic. Neither trains on it; under their business terms they may keep a request for up to 30 days to check for misuse, then delete it.
What Tavala keeps
On the server: that you turned it on, and one line per question in the activity log (the time, the tool, the space, how many rows it read and who answered), deleted after 90 days. Never the words or an amount. On the device: your last three questions, offered again as suggestions, removed when you sign out.
One question, end to end
What each party sees when you ask about September's groceries.
| Who | Sees | Does not see |
|---|---|---|
| Your device | Everything, as always | - |
| Tavala's servers (Ireland) | The question, the category name Groceries, the shape of the answer | Your amounts and notes |
| The AI model | The question, the name Groceries, a placeholder for the total and the count of 14 entries | $381.86, or any other amount |
| You | "You spent $381.86 on groceries in September, over 14 entries." | - |
AI assistants in other budgeting apps
Whether each app's AI is on by default, and what data it works from.
| What | Tavala | Monarch | Copilot | YNAB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI | Off until you turn it onThe model never sees an amount | AI assistantAuto-categorization cannot be turned off | Categorizing and an assistantMoney Assistant, in beta | Categorizing and insightsAllowed by its privacy policy (April 2026) |
| Bank connections | Optional add-onBanks in the United States and Canada, through Plaid, $3.99 a month per bank | Included, at the coreUS and Canada only, 13,000+ institutions | Included, at the coreUS-based accounts only, through Plaid and Finicity | IncludedSelect banks in the US, Canada and 18 European countries, UK included |
| Where your data lives | On your deviceWith an account, synced through Ireland (EU) | Not statedAvailable in the US and Canada only | Google CloudEncrypted at rest and in transit | United States"operated from the United States" |
| Price | Free; Plus $39.99 a yearor $6.99 a month on the web | $99.99 a yearor $14.99 a month (Core); Plus $199.99 a year | $95 a year$13 a month in the App Store; 1-month trial | $109 a yearor $14.99 a month; 34-day trial |
Questions about the Ask Tavala AI Agent
- Does the AI see my balances and amounts?
- No. Amounts are worked out on your device and the model sees a placeholder in their place; the figure is filled in on your device when the answer appears. Notes on your entries are kept back the same way. What you type into the question itself is sent as you typed it.
- Which AI models does Ask Tavala use?
- Models from OpenAI write the answers, and a model from Anthropic takes over when a Tavala Plus question needs it. Both are reached through Tavala's own servers, under terms that keep them from training on what you send.
- Can it change my data without asking?
- No. Every change is shown as a preview with Confirm and Not now, and nothing is saved until you tap Confirm. After that, Undo takes it back for five minutes. It cannot delete entries.
- Does it work offline?
- No. Ask Tavala needs a connection, and says so instead of sending anything. The rest of Tavala keeps working offline as always.
- Is it financial advice?
- No. Ask Tavala explains your own numbers and the terms Tavala uses, and it can be wrong, as anything written by an AI model can. Check an answer before you act on it, and talk to a professional about decisions that matter.
- Can I use Tavala without any AI?
- Yes. Ask Tavala is off until you turn it on, and nothing else in Tavala uses an AI model. Quick capture, categories and forecasts are worked out on your device.
- How many questions can I ask?
- A free account gets one question a day. Tavala Plus answers up to 150 a month, whichever model answers each one; the count starts again on the first of the month.
Go further
- Private by designEvery service Tavala uses, and what each receives.
- Privacy policyThe full text on Ask Tavala, which is optional.
- Budgets and billsSafe to spend, the figure Ask Tavala reads you.
- What Ask Tavala sends and keepsYour question and the names it needs go to OpenAI, or Anthropic for a hard question. Amounts and notes stay on your device, and nothing trains a model.
- Ask Tavala a questionTap the speech bubbles at the top of any tab and type what you want to know. Tavala answers from your own entries, with every figure worked out on your device.
- Turn Ask Tavala on or off and see its logSettings › Device › Ask Tavala has the switch that turns it off on every device, this month's questions, and one line per question for 90 days.
Also in Tavala
- Multi-currencyThe rate from the day you paid, kept on every entry.
- Offline-first and privateEvery screen works with no connection and no account.
- Shared spacesOne ledger for up to six people, each on their own phone.
- Budgets, bills and forecastWhat is left, and what is safe to spend before pay day.
- Debt payoffSnowball or avalanche, and the month you are debt-free.
- Bank sync (US and Canada)Read-only import from US and Canadian banks, through Plaid.
- Trips and projectsA trip or a project kept apart from everyday spending.
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.