Updated 2026-09-18
Monarch Money alternative for Canada
OwnFi is a free budgeting app that does what Monarch cannot promise in Canada: it never connects to your bank, so nothing can disconnect. You import the PDF or CSV statement your bank already sends you, and OwnFi builds budgets, bills, net worth and a safe-to-spend number from it on the phone.
Monarch's Canadian reviews are dominated by BMO, CIBC, Questrade and Rogers Bank connections that fail or need re-linking. A statement import takes a minute a month and has no connection to lose.
How it compares
| OwnFi | Monarch | YNAB | Copilot | Rocket Money | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank login required | No. Import the PDF or CSV your bank sends | Yes | Optional; file import for many banks | Yes | Yes |
| Works in Canada | Yes: RBC, TD, Scotiabank, CIBC, BMO formats | Listed; Canadian connections are the top complaint in its Canadian reviews | Listed; direct import missing for many Canadian banks | Not on the Canadian App Store | Not on the Canadian App Store |
| Price | Free, no tier | US$99.99/yr | US$109/yr | US$95/yr | Free tier plus paid Premium |
| Imports past statements | Yes, any month you have a file for | CSV import | CSV/OFX/QFX file import | CSV import | No file import |
| Financial data leaves the device | Never | Yes (cloud account and aggregator) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Android app | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Competitor facts were checked against their public store listings and pricing pages on 18 September 2026; prices are in US dollars and change. Tell us if something is out of date.
How it works
- Download the statement you already get
Your bank's app or website has a PDF or CSV for every month. Save it to your phone, or share it straight to OwnFi from the bank's app.
- Import it on the phone
OwnFi reads it locally: 27 named bank formats plus a parser that learns any CSV once you confirm the columns. Password-protected PDFs open with the password your bank sent, which is never stored.
- Get the number
Transactions are categorised, bills and subscriptions detected, and the Dashboard shows what you can safely spend today with upcoming bills already reserved.
Questions
Will my Questrade holdings still show up?
Yes. Export positions from Questrade as CSV or OFX and import them; OwnFi splits a multi-account file into the accounts you already have.
How often do I need to import?
Once per statement, usually monthly. Between statements you can add purchases by voice, receipt, screenshot, or on Android from bank notifications.
Can two people share a budget?
Family Sync sends an encrypted package to another phone over your own Wi-Fi or by file. There is no shared cloud account to keep in sync.
What does it cost?
Nothing. No subscription, no tier, no in-app purchases.
Does anything leave the phone?
Only three optional calls exist: exchange rates, public ticker prices, and a model download you start. Financial data is never sent.
About OwnFi
OwnFi is a free budgeting app that imports your bank statements instead of logging into your bank. Nothing leaves your phone. Free on iPhone and Android, with a sample-data mode so you can look before importing anything. See everything it does or read the privacy proof.