A budgeting app that feels at home on your Mac
Tavala on a Mac is a native app, not a web page in a frame: a sidebar beside your ledger, the Mac menu bar with a shortcut for every tab, Touch ID or your Mac password as the device check, and the same widget the iPhone has. It works with no connection and no account, and with an account it keeps your Mac in step with your phone.
The Mac App Store listing is not public yet. Tavala runs in your browser today, with the same ledger.
What native means here
People still say software for the money app on their computer, and on a Mac they expect it to behave like one. The Tavala menu holds Settings (Command-comma). File holds New Transaction (Command-N) and Find in Activity (Command-F). View holds Home, Budgets, Money, Plan, Reports and Recurring (Command-1 to Command-6) and Hide Amounts (Shift-Command-H). Command-J opens Ask Tavala for the tab in front.
The layout follows the window. At 840 points and wider you get a sidebar with the space switcher at the top, Add transaction, the four tabs, Reports and Recurring under More, and the sync status at its foot. Narrow the window and it becomes a rail, then the phone layout. Up and Down walk the rows of Activity, Return opens the highlighted entry, and Escape closes the details pane.
The Mac's own checks and widget
Touch ID or your Mac password is the device check: for the app lock, before connecting a bank, and optionally before exporting your data or deleting your account. The Today's spending widget is in the Mac's widget gallery and shows what you spent today and this month, never a balance. Connecting a bank opens Plaid in a sign-in window outside the app.
One ledger across your Mac and your phone
With Tavala Plus every device you sign in on syncs: Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and the browser. On the free plan one device syncs at a time, and you can move syncing to another device three times in 30 days. Nothing is a separate edition: there are no Mac-only features and nothing is missing on the Mac. It needs macOS 13.5 or later.
| What | Tavala |
|---|---|
| Requirement | macOS 13.5 or later |
| Layout | Sidebar, rail or phoneFollows the window width |
| Keyboard | Menu bar and shortcutsCommand-N, Command-F, Command-1 to 6, Command-J |
| Device check | Touch ID or your Mac password |
| Widget | Today's spendingSmall or medium, in the widget gallery |
| Offline | Every screen |
Mac budgeting apps compared
The apps people weigh for a Mac, by whether they run natively on it and where they work.
| What | Tavala | Copilot | Quicken Classic | Moneydance | YNAB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, webA native Mac app; the web at app.tavala.io | iPhone, iPad, Mac, webA native Mac app; no Android | Mac and WindowsNative desktop apps | Mac, Windows, LinuxFree phone and tablet companions | iPhone, iPad, Android, webApple Watch; its app list shows no desktop app |
| Currencies | Every currency in one space155 currencies and 96 cryptocurrencies; 2 per space on the free plan | USD only"does not convert foreign currency transactions" | Not verified for Mac | Real multi-currencyRates downloaded or entered by hand | One per planIts advice for several: a separate plan for each |
| Bank connections | Optional add-onBanks in the United States and Canada, through Plaid, $3.99 a month per bank | Included, at the coreUS-based accounts only, through Plaid and Finicity | Included"not designed to function outside the U.S. and Canada" | OptionalThrough Plaid in the US and Canada; OFX Direct Connect | IncludedSelect banks in the US, Canada and 18 European countries, UK included |
| Price | Free; Plus $39.99 a yearor $6.99 a month on the web | $95 a year$13 a month in the App Store; 1-month trial | From $6.99 a monthDeluxe, billed yearly; a first-year promotion | $49.99 onceBank sync add-on $40 a year | $109 a yearor $14.99 a month; 34-day trial |
Questions about Tavala for Mac
- Does Apple have a built-in budget app?
- No. Apple does not make a budgeting app. The Wallet app shows Apple Card spending by week, month or year and by category, for Apple Card holders in the United States. A budget across your other accounts, cash and currencies needs an app such as Tavala.
- Is the Mac app the same as the iPad app?
- It is the same app and the same account at a different size, built for the Mac: the menu bar, keyboard shortcuts and Touch ID are the Mac's own. There are no extra features on one device and none missing on another.
- Does Tavala work on Windows?
- Not as a Windows app. On a Windows PC, Tavala runs in the browser at app.tavala.io with nothing to install, offline after the first visit.
Go further
- Tavala for iPhoneThe same ledger, with Face ID and the Home Screen widget.
- Offline-firstEvery screen works with no connection.
- DownloadEvery device Tavala runs on, and its store.
- Tavala on iPad and MacTavala on iPad and Mac is the same app with a side rail or sidebar, a menu bar and shortcuts. See where things sit and what differs from the iPhone.
- Keyboard shortcuts on iPad, Mac and the webEvery Tavala keyboard shortcut for a hardware keyboard on iPad, Mac, Android tablets and desktop browsers, plus the Mac menu bar and keys inside lists.
- Add the home screen widgetThe Today's spending widget shows what you spent today and this month, and one tap opens Add transaction. It is available on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
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.