Here’s a myth people believe: “If I pay for an app, my data is safe.”

Nope.

The actual situation

YNAB costs $109/year. Monarch Money is $99.99/year. Rocket Money charges $96/year.

These aren’t free apps. And yet, they still sell your data.

Here’s why: data monetization is a separate business from subscriptions. Your subscription covers server costs and salaries. Your data pays for investor returns, acquisition deals, and partnerships. These are two different revenue streams, and companies maximize both.

What they’re selling

Your transaction data goes to:

  • Credit card processors (Visa, Mastercard) who want merchant insights
  • Data brokers who build consumer profiles for advertisers
  • Financial institutions looking for loan and credit card customers
  • AI companies desperate for training data
  • Hedge funds paying for aggregate spending patterns to predict markets

Your $100/year subscription is pocket change compared to what your data is worth.

A few examples

Mint moved to Credit Karma in 2020 and started pushing “relevant” financial products. The acquisition was worth billions partly because of the user data.

YNAB’s privacy policy says they share data with “service providers” and can use anonymized data for “business purposes.” They also work with “advertising partners.” Paying $109 doesn’t change these terms.

Monarch Money charges almost $100/year and markets itself as premium. But their privacy policy still allows data sharing with “third-party partners.” The high price tag buys a better interface, not privacy.

Even Intuit’s tax filing product makes most of its money from selling data to Credit Karma’s network, not from TurboTax fees.

How it works

Your budgeting app doesn’t usually sell data directly to advertisers. Here’s the chain:

  1. Your app collects transaction data
  2. That data gets combined with public records, purchase history, and demographic info
  3. Data brokers aggregate information from hundreds of sources
  4. The enriched profiles get sold to companies you’ve never heard of

Once your data enters this ecosystem, it gets sold and resold forever. Your subscription doesn’t buy you exclusion.

Reading the fine print

Look at what these policies actually say:

  • “We may share your data with advertising partners” - in paid apps too
  • “Anonymized data” sold to third parties for “business purposes”
  • “Service providers” that are actually data analytics companies
  • Opt-outs that stop relevant ads but not data collection

The subscription fee doesn’t make this language disappear. It just lets companies offer a nicer interface while still mining your data.

The actual solution

If even paid apps sell your data, what’s the fix?

Local-first, file-based apps. Your data stays on your devices. If you sync, it’s through iCloud you pay for and control. The company never sees your information because there are no servers to receive it. And if you’re wondering whether the “free” alternatives you’re considering have their own issues, the hidden costs of free budgeting apps are worth understanding too.

File-based budgeting solves this differently than traditional apps. Instead of trusting a company with your data, your financial information stays in files you own.

Privacy-first alternatives like Basalt are built around this principle from day one.

Basalt stores your financial data as text files on your Mac or iPhone. No company servers, no data broker ecosystem, no “anonymized” datasets.

The short version

“If it’s free, you’re the product” is too simple. The real issue isn’t free vs. paid. It’s whether a company can see your data at all.

Financial data on someone else’s servers will be monetized somehow. The subscription is one revenue stream. Your data is another.

Paying $100/year doesn’t protect you. It just means you’re paying for the privilege of being mined.

Your financial life is yours. Keep it that way.



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