Lagerland Apps

Guide · Problem and solution

"I want to track bills
without linking my bank account."

Rocket Money, Truebill, Copilot, and Monarch all ask for read-only access to your bank through an aggregator like Plaid. If you don't want to give a third-party app your banking credentials, there is another way to do it.

Why is bank aggregation the problem?

Automated bill trackers need to see your transactions to work. They ask for read-only API access via Plaid, Yodlee, or similar aggregators. In exchange, you get auto-discovery of subscriptions, bill negotiation, and cashflow insights, all based on the aggregator's view of your finances.

For privacy-conscious people, that trade has real costs:

You're handing over banking credentials
Even with OAuth-style flows, the aggregator holds a token with access to every transaction you make. That covers every transaction, not only bills.
Your data sits on a third-party server
The aggregator caches your transaction history. Any breach at Plaid, Yodlee, or the bill-tracker itself exposes it.
Monetization incentives are mixed
Many bill-negotiation apps take a cut of the savings, so they profit from keeping you engaged, which is not always in your interest.
Your bank may not allow it
Some banks, especially outside the US, don't integrate with aggregators at all. If your bank isn't supported, automated trackers don't work for you.

The answer

AllPaid: a manual-first, private, offline bill tracker

AllPaid is our app, a bill tracker for iPhone. You add bills yourself (AllPaid suggests the category and repeat for familiar names), see the month's bills and totals in the monthly summary, and mark a bill paid with a single tap. It has no bank connection and no account, and your bills stay on your iPhone unless you turn on iCloud Sync (Pro), which uses your own private iCloud.

Isn't manual entry tedious?

Only at the start, and most households can enter every recurring bill in one sitting. After that:

Suggestions fill in the details
Type "Netflix" and AllPaid suggests the category and how often it repeats. The amount is optional, so a bill can be as simple as a name and a due date.
Mark paid is one tap
Do it in the app or straight from the reminder, and undo it if you tapped too fast.
Most bills don't change
Your rent, utilities, and subscriptions are the same every month. Once entered, they recur automatically, so you only add new ones.
The month and the widgets keep it in view
The monthly summary shows the month's bills with due, paid, and remaining totals, and the Monthly Calendar and Coming Up widgets put what's due on your Home Screen, so you rarely need to open the app.

What do you give up with manual bill tracking?

Manual entry means you lose:

  • Automatic subscription discovery (no auto-scan for forgotten recurring charges)
  • Bill negotiation features
  • Cross-account cashflow forecasting
  • The feeling that "the app knows everything about my money"

If you need those features, AllPaid isn't the right choice; an aggregator-based app is, with the privacy trade that comes with it. AllPaid is for people who would rather spend one sitting on setup and keep their bank credentials to themselves.

Questions

FAQ

Is there a bill tracker for iPhone that doesn't connect to my bank?
Yes. AllPaid is a privacy-first bill tracker that works entirely from manual entry, with no bank connection, Plaid, or account aggregation. You add bills yourself and mark them paid, and your bills stay on your iPhone unless you turn on iCloud Sync (Pro), which uses your own private iCloud.
Why do Rocket Money and Truebill require bank access?
Those apps discover recurring subscriptions automatically and offer bill negotiation, which needs read access to your transactions through an aggregator like Plaid. If you don't want to give bank credentials to a third party, the alternative is manual entry, and AllPaid is designed around it.
Is manual bill entry actually sustainable?
Yes, once you do the initial setup. Most recurring bills don't change much from month to month. When you type a familiar name such as Netflix or Spotify, AllPaid suggests the category and how often it repeats, and marking a bill paid is a single tap in the app or on the reminder.
Does AllPaid have widgets and Siri?
Yes. AllPaid has ten widgets, all free, including Next Bill, Coming Up, and a Monthly Calendar for the Home Screen and a Lock Screen version of Next Bill. Ask Siri "What bills are due in AllPaid" and it reads out the bills due in the next seven days.

Try it

Try AllPaid

A manual-first, private bill tracker with no account. It's free for up to 3 bills, with an optional Pro upgrade for unlimited bills, Spending Analytics, and iCloud Sync.

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