A budget app that doesn’t need your bank login
Bow is an envelope budget for iPhone that works fully without linking a bank. There’s no Bow account to create, and your budget stays on your iPhone and in your own iCloud. Log spending in seconds with Siri, receipts or a few taps, and connect a bank later only if you want to.
Why some people skip bank linking
Most budget apps are built around connecting your accounts, which usually means a company stores your bank connection and your transactions on its servers. Some people would rather not hand that over. Others bank somewhere the aggregators don’t support well, or simply find that typing in a purchase is what keeps them aware of their spending.
Envelope budgeting doesn’t need your bank. It needs to know how much money you have and what you spend, and you can tell it both.
Six ways to log spending without a bank connection
- Tap + and type it. Amount, payee, envelope. Bow fills in the account and envelope you usually use with that payee, so most purchases take a few taps.
- Ask Siri. Say “Log an expense in Bow.” Siri saves it right away, with Undo, even while Bow is locked.
- Scan a receipt or describe it. On an iPhone with Apple Intelligence, scan a receipt, pick a photo, speak or type a few words, and Bow fills in the transaction for you to check. It’s read on your iPhone.
- Share it to Bow. Share a receipt, screenshot or order email from any app. It waits in Spending until you add it.
- Forward your bank’s notifications. A Shortcuts automation can send your bank app’s purchase alerts to Bow, so the details arrive without connecting the bank itself.
- Let bills enter themselves. Rent, paychecks and subscriptions can be scheduled once and entered on their dates.
Where your budget lives
No account, no Bow server. Bow doesn’t ask you to sign up. Your budget is stored on your iPhone and, when you use iCloud, in your private iCloud storage so it appears on your other iPhones. The developer can’t read it.
No ads, analytics or tracking. Bow doesn’t include analytics or tracking tools and doesn’t sell your information.
Apple Intelligence runs on your iPhone. A receipt you scan is read on your iPhone, and what you say is turned into text on your iPhone, never recorded.
Locked when you want. Face ID lock keeps the budget private on a shared iPhone, and Hide Amounts shows dots instead of numbers when someone’s looking.
If you do want bank sync later
Bow connects through SimpleFIN Bridge, a separate read-only service ($15 a year, paid to SimpleFIN). You sign in to your bank through SimpleFIN, not in Bow, so Bow never receives your bank password. The connection is saved only in that iPhone’s Keychain, never in iCloud or backups. Turn it off anytime and keep budgeting by hand.
Questions
Do I need to link a bank to use Bow?
No. Every feature of the budget works without it. Bank sync is an optional extra for people who want transactions to arrive on their own.
How do I keep my balances right without bank sync?
About once a week, open an account and tap Verify Balance. Compare it with your bank app’s balance, mark what’s posted, and Bow helps you find anything missing or doubled.
Does anything leave my iPhone?
Your budget stays on your iPhone and in your own private iCloud, which the developer can’t read. Bow has no ads, analytics or tracking.
Can I add bank sync later?
Yes, anytime, in Settings › SimpleFIN Bank Sync. It’s read-only, you sign in to your bank through SimpleFIN rather than Bow, and the connection is saved only on that iPhone.
Is entering transactions by hand worth it?
Many people prefer it: logging a purchase as you make it is how you notice where the money goes. With Siri, receipt scanning and remembered payees, it takes seconds.
The details are in Bow’s Privacy Policy. Comparing apps? See how Bow compares with YNAB, Monarch, Copilot and others.