Comparison
Thermal vs YNAB
YNAB made zero-based budgeting famous. Thermal speaks the same envelope language, then adds investment tracking with individual holdings, Monte Carlo retirement planning, and a bridge from daily spending to your retirement date.
Thermal
$14.99 – $29.99/mo
Budgeting + investments + retirement
YNAB
$14.99/mo
$109/yr with annual plan
| Feature | Thermal | YNAB |
|---|---|---|
| Zero-based envelope budgeting | ||
| Credit card payment envelopes | ||
| Simple monthly mode (non-envelope) | ||
| Transaction categorization | ||
| Custom categories | ||
| Budget goals / targets | ||
| AI auto-categorization | ||
| Transaction rules (auto-apply) | Limited | |
| Split transactions | ||
| Spending flows / Sankey | ||
| Treemap spending visualization | ||
| Receipt scanning | ||
| Recurring transaction detection | ||
| Portfolio tracking (holdings) | Balance only | |
| Multi-brokerage consolidation | ||
| Tax-lot tracking | ||
| Monte Carlo simulation | 10K runs | |
| Withdrawal strategies | 8 | |
| Roth conversion planning | ||
| Spending-to-retirement bridge | ||
| Net worth tracking (detailed) | Basic | |
| Real estate tracking | ||
| Household / couples support | Up to 6 |
Why switch from YNAB?
Keep the envelope method, lose the second app
Thermal's envelope mode speaks YNAB's language: a Ready-to-Assign pool you assign down to zero, envelopes that roll unspent money into next month, and credit card payment envelopes that keep card spending funded. The discipline you built in YNAB transfers as-is, and the same app shows what the dollars you free up do for your investments and retirement date.
Investment tracking that goes beyond a balance number
YNAB shows your investment account balances as tracking accounts, but it cannot display individual holdings, allocation breakdowns, performance, or cost basis. Thermal connects to your brokerages and shows every holding, tracks individual tax lots, and surfaces unrealized gains by holding period. If you have investments, YNAB is blind to what is inside them.
Monte Carlo retirement planning (YNAB has none)
YNAB is a budgeting tool. It has no retirement planning features -- not even a basic calculator. Thermal runs 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations across eight withdrawal strategies, models Social Security timing, Roth conversion ladders, and tax-aware drawdown sequencing. YNAB can help you save for retirement; Thermal can tell you if you will have enough.
Spending visualization that reveals patterns
YNAB offers spending reports by category and income versus expense charts. Thermal adds Sankey flow diagrams that trace money from income sources through spending categories, plus treemap visualizations that show proportional spending at a glance. These make invisible spending patterns obvious in ways traditional bar charts do not.
The Bridge connects your budget to your retirement
YNAB helps you budget every dollar today. Thermal's Bridge feature takes that further by showing exactly how today's spending decisions shift your projected retirement date and success probability. It connects daily budgeting to long-term financial planning in a way no other tool does.
Ready to go beyond budgeting?
Keep the budgeting discipline. Add investment tracking, retirement planning, and spending flow visualization. One platform for your complete financial picture.
Try Thermal Free for 14 Days14-day free trial · No credit card required
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I import my YNAB data into Thermal?
- Yes. YNAB supports CSV export of your transactions and budget data. Use Thermal's CSV import wizard to bring your transaction history over. Categories are mapped automatically, and you can adjust any that don't align.
- Is Thermal more expensive than YNAB?
- YNAB is $14.99 per month or $109 per year. Thermal's Standard plan is $14.99 per month or $120 per year. For roughly the same price, Thermal includes the same envelope budgeting plus investment tracking, Monte Carlo retirement planning, eight withdrawal strategies, spending flow visualizations, and receipt scanning.
- Does YNAB's zero-based budgeting method work in Thermal?
- Yes. Thermal has a full envelope mode: every deposit lands in a Ready-to-Assign pool, you assign dollars to envelopes until it reads zero, unspent money rolls into next month, and credit card payment envelopes keep card spending funded. The rules YNAB users expect all apply. Prefer lighter-touch budgeting? A simple monthly mode shares the same data model, and you can switch between modes without losing history.
- What does YNAB do better?
- YNAB's educational content, workshops, and community are exceptional for people learning to budget, and the envelope method it popularized has genuinely changed how millions of people think about money. Shared budgets support up to 6 people. If coaching and community around the method are what you need most, YNAB has a decade's head start. The method itself works in Thermal too: envelopes, Ready to Assign, and rollover included.
- Can I use both YNAB and Thermal?
- Yes. Some users keep YNAB for day-to-day envelope budgeting and use Thermal for investment tracking and retirement planning. Both connect to your bank accounts via Plaid. If you eventually want everything in one place, Thermal can replace the budgeting side too, envelopes included.