An expense tracker you can use in two seconds, even offline
Type what you paid the way you would say it, coffee 4.80 or taxi 1200 MKD, and it is logged before the phone is back in your pocket. Tavala reads the amount, the currency, the date and the category from the line, works with no signal and no account, and keeps each entry in the currency you paid.
Type what you paid today, like coffee 4.80 or lunch 12.50 eur.
A working Home screen: type a line such as coffee 4.80 into the capture field and press Enter; the row posts at the top and What's Left drops by the amount. Foreign amounts convert at example rates.
One line, read as you type
The chips above the field show what will be saved after every keystroke: the amount and its currency, Expense, Income or Refund, the category and the date. Word order does not matter, and nothing is saved until you press the arrow or Return.
Six languages, mixed in one line
English, German, Spanish, French, Macedonian in Cyrillic or Latin letters, and Hindi in Devanagari or romanised, whatever language the phone is set to. Dictation works too: twelve fifty lunch yesterday is 12.50, dated yesterday.
Amounts the way you write them
3,80 and 3.80, 1.299,50 and 1,299.50, 1.5k, 2 lakh and 1 crore are all read correctly. A count before a price gives way to the price: 2 coffees 7.60 is 7.60.
Sums in the bar
lunch 12+8 saves 20.00, and 3x 4,20 beer saves 12.60. The whole sum is worked out exactly and rounded once, at the end, to the currency's own decimals.
Rough is fine
~45 lunch or about 30 taxi saves an estimate, tagged so you can correct it later. After a few quiet days, about 150 last 3 days logs one rough figure for the gap instead of a blank week.
The card at the top runs a smaller copy of the capture grammar, so it posts amounts, currencies, dates and categories; sums and catch-up phrases such as these work in the app.
The fastest tracker is the one you use at the till
Most people who stop tracking expenses stop in the second week, and the reason is rarely discipline. Logging was slow: a form, a category list, a keypad, a date picker. Tavala's answer is one line. You type coffee 4.80, the chips above the field show $4.80, Expense, Food & Dining and today, and Return saves it. Nothing is saved until you press it, so a half-typed line never becomes an entry.
When a line can be read two ways (a symbol several currencies share, a transfer, a day that has not come yet, two amounts), the bar marks the chip with a question mark and does not save from the bar. It asks rather than guesses, because a wrong entry costs more than a second tap.
Dates, categories and wallets from the words
yesterday, a weekday name (the most recent one that has passed) and 3 days ago set the date; a future date is never guessed. A + on the amount, or a word such as salary, got paid or gehalt, makes it income; refund or money back makes it a refund under an expense category, and tax refund makes it income.
The category comes from your own category names first, then from built-in words and shops in the six languages (lidl, rewe and tinex are groceries; tanken and бензин are transport), then from a note you taught it once, then from a small typo such as coffe. A word that names one of your wallets picks it: 20 coffee cash, 45 groceries from current account.
Currencies are read as a symbol, a code or a word: €12.50, 250mkd, 12 euros, 20 quid, 200 रुपये. A code that is also an ordinary word (pen, all, cup) is read only in capitals, so 12 pen stays a pen.
Where the entries go next
Every entry lands at once in What's Left, the month's budgets, reports and the Money tab, offline or not. Reports export as CSV with one row per entry, or as a one-page PDF; the CSV keeps the amount in its own currency beside its value in your main currency, and an Estimated column for rough amounts.
On an iPhone, an iPad or a Mac, the Today's spending widget shows what you spent today and this month, and a tap opens Add transaction, even while the app lock is on. On Android and the web, the round + in the bottom bar does the same.
Seven lines and what each one saves
Read by the app's capture bar, in a space whose main currency is the euro. The denar rate is the help center's example rate.
| You type | Amount | Type | Date and category |
|---|---|---|---|
| coffee 4.80 | €4.80 | Expense | Today, Food & Dining |
| taxi 1200 MKD | 1,200 MKD≈ €19.51 charged to the wallet | Expense | Today, Transport |
| +3200 salary | €3,200.00 | Income | Today |
| refund 89 laptop | €89.00 | Refund | Today, Shopping |
| 20 lunch 2 days ago | €20.00 | Expense | Two days ago, Food & Dining |
| 3x 4,20 beer | €12.60 | Expense | Today |
| ~45 dinner | €45.00Tagged Estimated | Expense | Today, Food & Dining |
Logging an expense in other apps
How each app expects you to get an expense in, and whether it works without a connection.
| What | Tavala | YNAB | Monarch | Goodbudget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adding an expense by hand | One typed lineAmount, currency, date and category, in six languages | Manual entry or file importCSV, QFX, OFX, QIF on the web; not on phones | Bank feed firstCSV import on the web only | Manual entry firstQFX, OFX and CSV import (CSV "for advanced users") |
| Works offline | Every screenChanges sync when you are back online | Advertised"even offline!" on its features page | Not stated | Not documented"available wherever you have internet access" |
| Currencies | Every currency in one space155 currencies and 96 cryptocurrencies; 2 per space on the free plan | One per planIts advice for several: a separate plan for each | No conversionShows every amount as $; USD or CAD accounts advised | OneIts own comparison table: multiple currencies "N" |
| Price | Free; Plus $39.99 a yearor $6.99 a month on the web | $109 a yearor $14.99 a month; 34-day trial | $99.99 a yearor $14.99 a month (Core); Plus $199.99 a year | $80 a yearor $10 a month on the web (Premium) |
Questions about the expense tracker
- Do I need to connect a bank to track expenses?
- No. Tavala is built to be used by hand: one line per purchase, in any currency, offline. A bank connection is an optional add-on for banks in the United States and Canada.
- Can I export my expenses?
- Yes. Reports export as CSV or PDF (the current month on the free plan, any period with Tavala Plus), and Settings exports everything as a JSON file on every plan.
- Does Tavala scan receipts?
- No. There is no receipt scanner. The capture bar is built so that typing the amount is faster than photographing the receipt.
- Can I add expenses by voice?
- Yes, through your keyboard's dictation. The bar reads number words in the six languages: twelve fifty lunch yesterday saves 12.50 for lunch, dated yesterday.
- Does it learn my categories?
- If you save a note with a category you picked, the same note gets that category next time, on that device. Your own category names always come first.
Go further
- No bank linkingWhy typing is the main way in, not the fallback.
- Multi-currencyEach entry keeps the rate of the day you paid.
- Budgets and billsWhat each entry leaves for the rest of the month.
- Tracking cash spendingRough amounts, catching up, and counting the cash.
- Everything the capture bar understandsEvery format the capture bar reads in six languages - amounts, sums, currencies, dates, categories, wallets, income, refunds, transfers, estimates and trips.
- Add an expense in one lineTap +, type a line such as "coffee 4.80" in one of six languages and tap the arrow. Tavala reads the amount, currency, category, wallet and date.
Also in Tavala
- Ask Tavala AI AgentQuestions answered from your ledger, and changes you confirm.
- 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.