Actual Budget UK bank sync: your options (2026)

Actual Budget is a well-loved open source budgeting app that you host yourself, and it is popular with people who like to own their data. Its automatic bank sync for the UK and Europe has been the difficult part. The source it used stopped taking new accounts in July 2025, and another route is experimental, so most UK users import files by hand. If you want Monzo or another UK bank to update on its own, there are two sensible paths: carry on importing, or add a tool that syncs through open banking.

Does Actual Budget sync with UK banks?

Not reliably for new accounts. Actual Budget's UK and European bank sync depended on a provider that stopped taking new accounts in July 2025, and the other route is experimental. Accounts connected earlier may carry on working, and importing a file from your bank always works, including for Monzo, Starling, Barclays and the rest.

What can I do instead of automatic sync?

You have three choices. You can import a file from your bank each week, which is dependable and takes a few minutes. You can use an experimental sync route and accept that it may change. Or you can let a tool that supports open banking collect the transactions, then export them for Actual Budget.

How does Era work with Monzo and other UK banks?

Era connects UK banks through open banking, the regulated, bank-approved route, so Monzo, Starling, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and others update on their own. You then ask Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini about the numbers, and the assistants share a memory. Era also holds a document library, shared spaces for a household, and a financial health view in figures.

It connects accounts across the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and 40+ countries in all.

What are my options for getting UK transactions into Actual Budget?

You have three realistic routes, and each suits a different kind of user. The first is the dependable one, the second is for people comfortable with change, and the third adds a layer that does the collecting for you. The list sets out what each asks of you.

• Import a file from your bank. Download a CSV or OFX file from your bank's app or website each week and import it into Actual Budget. It works with every UK bank, it is private, and it takes a few minutes. The cost is that the data is only as fresh as your last import.
• Use an experimental sync route. Some users connect through a route that the project treats as experimental. It can work, and it can also change or stop, so treat it as a convenience and not as something to rely on.
• Collect through open banking, then export. A tool that reads your accounts through open banking gathers the transactions automatically, and you export them for Actual Budget. It adds a step, and it keeps the data up to date without your weekly download.

Why has UK bank sync been hard for open source budgeting?

Open banking access in the UK is regulated, and a provider must be authorised to connect to banks on your behalf. A self-hosted app has no such authorisation of its own, so it depends on a third-party provider, and that dependence is what made the sync fragile when the provider changed its terms.

That is not a criticism of Actual Budget, which does what it says and leaves you in control of your own data, which is exactly why so many people choose it. It is also the reason that a tool built on a regulated open banking connection, such as Era, sits comfortably beside a self-hosted budget, because the part that needs authorisation is already handled for you.

What does Era add to an Actual Budget setup?

Era adds the connection and the conversation. It connects your UK banks through open banking, so Monzo, Starling, Barclays and the rest update on their own, and it lets Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini answer questions about the numbers. The assistants share a memory, so what you tell one of them, the others know.

It also holds a document library that reads statements, payslips and tax forms, shared spaces for a household, and a financial health view in figures, with the measures behind them and the analysis that explains what is moving them. You can keep Actual Budget as the place where your budget lives and use Era to ask questions of the same accounts.

How do I try Era without disturbing my Actual Budget file?

Create a free Era account and add two manual accounts, which does not touch your Actual Budget file or your banks. Upload an export of last month's transactions to the document library, connect an assistant, and ask it to summarise your spending. You will see whether the conversation is something you want.

If you like it, connect your banks through open banking, approving access in each bank's own app. The access is read-only, and you can withdraw it at your bank whenever you like. Nothing about the connection changes how you use Actual Budget, and you can stop at any point.

What does a weekly routine look like with both?

A simple routine takes about ten minutes a week and is easy to keep. Once a week, ask your assistant to summarise what came in and went out since last time, and to flag anything unusual. Then update your Actual Budget categories from the summary, or import the file if you prefer to keep the transactions in Actual Budget itself.

Once a month, ask the assistant how the month compared with the last three, which categories moved, and whether your goals are on track. Because the memory is shared, you only describe your goals once, and every assistant you use knows them. The routine keeps the control of a self-hosted budget and adds a conversation about it. It also gives you a second pair of eyes: the assistant notices a payment that has doubled or a subscription that appeared without you choosing it, and tells you before the month closes.

Which should I use for a household budget?

The answer depends on how many people need to look at the numbers. Actual Budget handles a household budget well if one person keeps it, because it is a single file under your control. It is less suited to two people who each want to see their own accounts and share only some of them.

Era's shared spaces cover that case. Each person chooses which balances to show, everyone sees the same figures for whatever has been shared, and you can mark a bill as paid, split a cost and undo it. Your assistants can answer questions about the space, such as who owes whom this month.

Should I switch from Actual Budget?

If you love hosting your own budget and are happy importing files, stay with Actual Budget. If automatic UK sync is what you miss, you can run Era beside it on the free plan with two manual accounts, or connect your banks and let your assistant do the budgeting.

The other options are covered in YNAB alternatives and Emma app alternatives, and the pricing page shows what each Era plan includes.