Private budget app
Your spending is nobody’s business model.
Bottomline keeps your financial data on your device and, if you turn on sync, in your personal iCloud account. The developer never holds it on a server, and the privacy policy says it is never sold.
A budget is one of the most personal documents you own
Your spending reveals your habits, your struggles, your health, your relationships — pattern by pattern. Many finance apps treat that data as an asset: stored on company servers, analyzed, sometimes monetized. And honest budgeting requires honesty, which is hard when you’re wondering who else can read the entries.
Data custody that stays with you
Bottomline takes the simplest possible position: your data lives on your iPhone, and in your own iCloud account if you enable sync. There is no company database of your transactions to breach, sell, or subpoena, because none exists. You never share bank credentials, and you can export your data from settings whenever you want.
Where your data lives — and where it doesn’t
On-device by default
Your entries are stored on your iPhone. The privacy policy says financial data stays on-device and, if enabled, in your personal iCloud account — not on a server the developer runs.
Sync through your iCloud, optionally
If you want your budget on another Apple device, sync goes through your own iCloud account. Even then, the data sits in storage you control, under your Apple ID, not in a third-party cloud.
No bank credentials, ever
Privacy isn’t just where data is stored — it’s what you never hand over. Bottomline has no bank-linking step, so your banking login never passes through anyone’s hands, including the developer’s.
Never sold, plainly stated
The privacy policy says Bottomline does not sell personal data or financial information. There are no advertisers to feed, because the business is a paid app, not your data.
Export anytime
Real privacy includes the right to leave. You can export your data from settings, so your financial history is yours to take with you, not a hostage.
Honest budgeting needs a private place
Goals, slip-ups, and real numbers — the things worth tracking are the things you only write down somewhere you trust.
Frequently asked questions
Can the developer see my budget or transactions?
No. Bottomline is made by a solo indie developer, and there is no developer-run server holding your financial data. It lives on your device and, if sync is on, in your personal iCloud account — places the developer has no access to.
Is my data sold or shared with advertisers?
The privacy policy says personal data and financial information are never sold. Bottomline is a paid app distributed through the App Store; its income comes from subscriptions managed through your Apple ID, not from monetizing what you log.
Doesn’t using iCloud sync mean my data leaves my phone?
It moves into your own iCloud account — storage tied to your Apple ID, not a database run by the app’s developer. And sync is optional: leave it off and your data stays entirely on the device.
Why does privacy matter for a budgeting app specifically?
Because budgets only work when they’re honest. People round numbers, skip embarrassing purchases, or quit entirely when they sense the data might be seen. Knowing your entries stay in your custody removes the reason to flinch.
How does Bottomline avoid needing my bank login?
By design: it’s a manual app. You enter spending yourself instead of connecting accounts, so there are no credentials to hand over and no aggregator in the middle. The workflow side of that choice has its own trade-offs, covered on the bank-linking page.
Related Bottomline pages
- Budgeting app without bank linkingThe workflow side of the same idea: what day-to-day budgeting looks like when no accounts are connected.
- iCloud budget appHow optional iCloud sync keeps data in your own Apple account rather than a third-party server.
- Best budgeting app for iPhoneWhere data custody fits among the criteria for choosing a budgeting app.
- SupportQuestions about data export, sync, and privacy in practice.
Budget like no one is watching — because no one is.
Download Bottomline and keep your financial life where it belongs: on your device and in your own iCloud account.