How it works

A clear budget without handing over your bank login.

Escape The Paper turns transaction data you choose into a private, flexible budget on your Mac. There is no account to create and no automatic bank connection running in the background.

1. Bring in the transactions you choose

Export a CSV file from your bank and import it into your budget, or add transactions manually. You decide when data comes in; Escape The Paper does not ask for online-banking credentials.

Read the CSV import guide.

2. Organise spending around real life

Create categories that match how you think about money. Add tags, review suggested matches, and teach the app when it should suggest more, suggest less, or always assign a match.

Learn how tags and suggestions work.

3. Set targets and see patterns

Give a category an optional weekly spending goal, or create a target for a future amount and date. Income and savings categories stay separate from spending so Home and Weekly Overview totals remain meaningful.

Understand categories, goals, and targets.

Escape The Paper category overview comparing spending periods, favourites, and frequent payees
Category reports connect summary totals to the transactions behind them.

4. Keep separate budgets when you need them

Create multiple independent budget files for personal, household, flatting, hobby, or other uses. Optional business tracking can flag relevant transactions inside a budget, show a period-based profit and loss, and export the current report to CSV.

Read the business tracking guide.

The local-first tradeoff

Your budget files stay under your control, but that also means you are responsible for backups and for importing new bank transactions. There is no developer-operated cloud account silently holding a copy.

Learn how to back up your budget files.

Mac-native and private

Get Escape The Paper for US $14.99.

One-time purchase. Local App Store pricing may vary. Requires macOS 15.6 or later.

View on the Mac App Store