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Manish Talreja
Manish Talreja

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Why are most expense-tracking apps so dependent on your financial data being online?

I've been trying different expense trackers recently, and one thing that keeps bothering me is how much financial information some of them want access to.

Bank accounts, SMS transactions, UPI payments, spending patterns, income, investments, etc.

I understand why automatic tracking is convenient, but I'm curious:

Would you prefer an expense tracker that works completely offline, even if that means giving up some automation?

For me, the ideal expense tracker would have:

No mandatory account/sign-up

No financial data stored on a company's servers

Works without internet

Multiple bank/cash/UPI accounts

Expense + income tracking

Budgets and savings goals

Loans/EMIs

Net worth tracking

Ability to track money I've lent/borrowed

Optional transaction automation that happens locally on the phone

I've actually been working on an app called Klera around this idea.

It's an offline-first personal finance app for Android in Flutter, and the main idea is that your financial data stays on your device rather than being uploaded to a cloud account.

If anyone wants to take a look:
https://kleraapp.com/

I'm more interested in feedback than promotion at this stage.

What matters more to you in an expense tracker?

Privacy

Automatic transaction detection

Simplicity

Detailed financial reports

Budgeting/investment tracking

Cloud Sync

And if you already use an app, what's the one thing you wish it did better?

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