Hello everyone. I just wanted to take this opportunity to let you all know Banktivity 9.5 is now available for macOS, iOS and iPadOS. Some of the major new features include:
- Automatically assign a category to investment income on import
- Import from Apple Credit Card (iPhone app only)
- Deleted transactions from imports aren’t resurrected anymore
- Reinvested dividends amount now appear gray and italics
- Plaid connections now available by default
For a full complete list of everything that changed check out our release notes and our previous blog post.
Monthly Subscriptions Now Available
I’m also excited to announce that we are now offering a monthly subscription plan! This option is perfect for customers who aren’t ready to commit to a full year of Banktivity but still want to enjoy all the app’s features. The free trial is also available for monthly subscribers.
As of now, our monthly subscription prices are as follows: Bronze – $6.99, Silver – $8.99, and Gold – $10.99 (USD). Yes, you’ll save more if you subscribe annually, but the monthly option gives you flexibility.
Along with this change, we’re also discontinuing the “subscribe once and use forever” model. If you’ve previously taken advantage of this offer, nothing will change for you, but it will no longer be available for new customers. The reasoning is straightforward: allowing users to subscribe for a month and then continue using the app in “basic mode” indefinitely doesn’t make sense. While some may argue that an annual subscription should unlock this, it’s difficult to apply the same logic to customers who subscribe on a monthly basis for years. Ultimately, we wanted to introduce less confusion, not more.
If you decide to stop subscribing, your data will remain on your device in read-only mode. You’ll still be able to export it. If you need full access for a short time to make adjustments, simply subscribe for a month to unlock all functionality again.
We transitioned to a subscription model several years ago, and I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to all our customers who continue to support us. Every day, our team is dedicated to making Banktivity better. In addition to our frequent releases, we’re also working behind the scenes to refactor our code and improve our development processes to avoid technical debt in the future – this is crucial if we are to not just survive, but thrive for another 20 years!
Thank you again for your continued support!
- Banktivity 9.5 and Monthly Subscriptions - October 18, 2024
- Coming soon: Banktivity 9.5 - July 19, 2024
- Continuing Investments in Direct Access - February 26, 2024
You’ve got a great product, but you’ve messed us around too many times with the pricing. I was recently forced to upgrade my subscription just so I could edit certain transactions in a new home loan account. Yes, the features available at each subscription level are laid out on your pricing page, but the whole model just feels dirty to me.
I want to give you my money but you’re not making it easy for me to understand what I’ll get in exchange, or if the goalposts will be moved again in the future, so I’m done. Good luck out there.
Thank you so much for your honest feedback and for being a Banktivity user. I’m truly sorry to hear that our pricing structure has left you feeling this way; that’s certainly not our intention. We work hard to create a fair balance between different subscription tiers, aiming to provide flexible options so users can choose the features they need.
I understand that changing tiers to access specific features can feel frustrating, especially if it impacts your budget or expectations. We do our best to clearly communicate the features in each plan, but I hear you on the importance of making this as straightforward as possible and keeping things consistent. If there’s ever any confusion, we’re here to help clarify, and we’d be happy to discuss your options to make sure Banktivity continues to be a tool that meets your needs.
Thank you again for sharing your perspective; it helps us improve. And if you decide to give Banktivity another shot, know we’re here to make it a positive experience for you.
your inability to support phone calls is a big handicap to those who are marginally computer literate.
Hi Banktivity & Ian, thanks for v9.5. Just a short note to ask when you think you will be doing a refresh on the look and feel of the application? It’s looking a bit outdated? and when you look at some of the other banking apps in the App Store they look very fresh and new!! Look forward to hearing from you thanks.
I agree the look and feel needs to be updated, and features that other apps are offering.
Hi… long time user here. The 9.5 update is great except for the red text for withdrawals. I am color blind red/green and the red text messes with my eyes and makes it hard to see amounts. I suggest an option to change font colors or at least turn the red off for withdrawals. I had to downgrade to 9.2.12 so I wouldn’t get a headache.
We are looking into improving this now.
Hi there, I just updated Banktivity and agree the red text for withdrawals has to go. It is hard to see and makes using the software very frustrating. Please keep us informed as soon as it is changed back.
If you download 9.2.5 there is a preference to turn this off now.
Ian, the red should have been left in the budget envelope screen, though. There’s a big difference between seeing a long confusing list of red numbers in every credit card register, and seeing a red envelope alert in your budget. The envelope alert needs action to resolve whereas debits and credits in a register don’t. I hope you considered fixing the toggle for these separately. Thanks!
Please explain this sentence… “In addition to our frequent releases, we’re also working behind the scenes to refactor our code and improve our development processes to avoid technical debt in the future – this is crucial if we are to not just survive, but thrive for another 20 years!”
What does refactor our code mean?
What is technical debt?
IGG is a small company with an impressive record, but survival in your type of business is very difficult. It is of concern to me when you mention survival in a public message.
Hi, thanks for the follow-up questions. I’ll do my best to answer them.
Refactoring. Refactoring is the process of restructuring existing code to make it cleaner, more efficient, and easier to understand – all without changing what the code actually does. Imagine it like reorganizing a closet: everything in it stays the same, but you make it neater so it’s easier to find things and add new items in the future. By refactoring, developers can improve the code’s readability, reduce redundancy, and simplify complex parts. This helps ensure that future updates are easier to implement and reduces the chances of bugs popping up from hard-to-follow code.
Technical Debt. Technical debt can occur when software code becomes outdated as technology advances. Over the years, programming languages, frameworks, and development tools improve, offering new ways to make code faster, more secure, and easier to maintain. However, older parts of an application that were written with now-obsolete technologies can hold the software back, making it harder to add new features or take advantage of modern improvements.
In a way, this aging code becomes a form of “debt” because we eventually need to spend time updating or replacing it to keep the software performing well. By addressing technical debt, we ensure that the application can remain compatible with new devices, perform efficiently, and stay secure, allowing it to thrive long-term.
Regarding the mention of “survival” – no need for alarm! We’re not facing any immediate issues. My point was to emphasize the importance of continually delivering the best features and ensuring Banktivity stays compatible with new technologies. With a mature app like ours, a lot of effort goes into keeping pace with technological changes so that we’re always ready for updates, like a new Apple operating system. In other words, we’re not just aiming for where things are today, but where they’re headed.
Is there a reason with the new update a data file would no longer automatically open when the program is launched? It is incredibly frustrating and going through the “yes I have a Banktivity file” doesn’t work either as when I try to select my file it is greyed out/not available to select.
We’ve been investigating some people reporting this. What we have been finding is that iCloud seems to be offloading people’s documents and in order to open them again (and get them to automatically re-open), they need to be downloaded again. We have also found this seems to be happening when customer’s disk/hard drive space is limited. We didn’t make any specific changes to how we handle re-opening recently used Banktivity documents.
Yeah that’s not my issue. Hopefully you guys can find a fix and update the program. Something on the last update definitely changed, it immediately started after I installed that.
> Along with this change, we’re also discontinuing the “subscribe once and use forever” model.
I do not use connectivity features at all. Direct Access prevents me from using Banktivity as a check-and-balance against my online accounts, overrides my “hand crafted” transactions (actual vs posted date, payee name case sensitivity, category splits, and so on), does not work for Japanese financial institutions, and with the constant tweaks and breakages is just far more trouble than it is worth. Stock downloads do not include prices for US treasuries or TIPS. I manually update currency exchange with the actual TTB rate my multi-currency account applies rather than the generic midmarket rate. I keep Banktivity on my laptop only, neither need nor want to enter transactions on my phone, and demand control of my own data file, so do not use cloud syncing.
Put simply, I want an offline digital checkbook. Discontinuing the “subscribe once and use forever” model eliminates that option for me.
I stopped upgrading from Banktivity 7 because there have been no relevant “unconnected” features since. Now I’m stuck with 7 because I refuse to pay a hundred bucks a year for a static program. Fortunately, 7 continues to work well on Sequoia.
> While some may argue that an annual subscription should unlock this, it’s difficult to apply the same logic to customers who subscribe on a monthly basis for years.
I’ve been a professional developer on Apple platforms for twenty-seven years. I call BS. It ought to be straightforward to determine whether a subscriber has paid one annual fee or twelve monthly fees and if so allow continued use of the software without connectivity. If that’s not the case, you have your refactoring and technical debt work cut out for you.
Also get off my lawn!
I appreciate your thoughtful reply. What do you think should happen if a customer subscribes to gold one month, silver for 1 month and then bronze for 10 months? Should they get unlocked features of gold, silver or bronze or some combination? What if it is split even: 4 months gold, 4 months silver, 4 months bronze?
We really hope you’ll consider supporting Banktivity and moving to v9 (the most current version at the time of this writing).
> it’s difficult to apply the same logic
First, my apologies. I originally read this as “it’s difficult to implement in code” while now I believe you meant “it’s difficult to settle on a fair and equitable solution”.
> What do you think should happen if a customer subscribes to gold one month, silver for 1 month and then bronze for 10 months? Should they get unlocked features of gold, silver or bronze or some combination? What if it is split even: 4 months gold, 4 months silver, 4 months bronze?
I humbly suggest considering the concept of “credits”. Once a user reaches twelve credits for a level (whether subscribing for one year or twelve consecutive or non-consecutive months), the unconnected features for that level would be unlocked forever.
In your first example, the user would have one gold credit, one silver credit, and ten bronze credits, so no features would be unlocked forever. If the user continues to pay at the bronze level for two more months, the bronze features would be unlocked forever. If the user later paid at the silver level for eleven more months the silver features would be unlocked forever. Likewise, pay at the gold level for eleven more months the gold features would be unlocked forever. Skip paying the two months of bronze and eleven months of silver and just pay eleven more months of gold (or, more cheaply, one year of gold), still get the gold features forever.
Just like in the old “subscription that doesn’t suck”, if a user simply pays for one year at the gold level, the user could continue using all the unconnected features forever. The user would always be able to manually create and edit transactions, create any kind of new accounts, export, and generally have a useful offline digital experience. As a user, this is what I would do (and in fact have been doing with version 7) and it feels fair—I’m getting the features for which I paid, but not getting charged for connectivity I do not use.
While the old system also included upgrades forever, I’d even be okay if minor updates (9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.5) were included but I had to resubscribe for twelve more credits to get a major upgrade (7.0, 8.0, 9.0). I’d do so as long as there were relevant, compelling new features between major versions. Again that feel fairs to me—I’d pay for significant new code.
A variation on the credits methodology suggested above is to count credits at or above the level. So in both your examples the user would have twelve credits at or above the bronze level and would get bronze features forever. I think this is somewhat more difficult to understand and market, but is fairer to users. Once a new user is settled, is it common to switch levels?
An alternative to credits would be to just track how much cash a user has spent. Once a user has spent sixty dollars, unlock bronze forever; eighty, silver; one hundred, gold. As you continue to raise prices, the targets for forever features also go up. Users would still always be able to get forever features by simply subscribing for one year.
As it is now, there is simply no longer a way a user can pay once and use forever.
I am exactly the same type of user as Christopher. I just want a basic manual ledger. I thought I’d found that in Banktivity when I purchased 6 and then 7, which I’ve been using happily on Mojave ever since you switched to subscriptions. Recently I finally went kicking and screaming into the current state of macOS and am forced to confront this subscription issue again.
Here is my proposal for users like Christopher and I… Offer a on-time purchase option/price again for the BASIC version of the latest software, with no online/connected features. That gives unlimited use of that version (and sub-version updates) for as long as it’ll keep running on the OS. You know, the way we all used to purchase software before it became an extortion racquet. Sorry to say, but you’ve become the “Intuit” I left all those years ago.
So, the way I see it, the two options are 1) you release a one-time payment option for the current version, but with no online/connected features, and get a fair chunk of money from users like me once every few years, or 2) stick to the subscription racquet and lose me, and many users like me, as customers forever.
I sincerely hope you consider option 1.
Thanks
I, too, am still on version 7 and I use Banktivity offline as a basic manual ledger. I’d be happy to pay an annual fee (say, $29, whatever) for just the basic model. However, your subscription that doesn’t suck is too complicated to use.
Please, create a basic model and a simple annual subscription. I will upgrade as soon as that happens!
As Tom, Paul, Mario, and Brian have written, I too feel the subscription price is reasonable when used as an online product—I understand cloud servers, bank connections, and quote APIs all cost money. However, for those of us like Zak and me who explicitly want an offline product, the recurring fee does not make sense.
I upgrade my hardware and software every five to seven years, which is inline with Apple’s own lifecycle and support policies. I most recently upgraded at the beginning of the pandemic with a MacBook Air (2020 Intel), iPhone 11, and Banktivity 7—they still run the latest macOS Sequoia 15 and iOS 18.
While iBank and Banktivity have been great products, I argue the offline features are worth the $30 – $50 a year we paid in the pre-subscription days. I can live with $100 every few years to get the latest version as in the Banktivity 8 – 9 model. However, as of Banktivity 9.5, paying $500 – $700 to use an unconnected product over the lifespan of my hardware is infeasible.
I think I’m most upset Ian gave everyone three months warning before switching to a subscription model, but gave no warning whatsoever when eliminating the “subscribe once and use forever” model, giving those of us who upgrade infrequently no chance to be grandfathered in.
I think your pricing is more than reasonable. I have been using Banktivity for years and I was shocked to even hear about the yearly price forever idea. I think changing that is perfectly reasonable, specifically because you are allowing export even without paying.
The price is also extremely reasonable and in light of the modern way that we use apps (direct bank access, cloud sync, free updates, etc.) subscription pricing is what makes sense. I will happily continue paying for and using my Silver tier subscription for the foreseeable future.
Well, I might be in the minority here, but the subscription cost is trivial compared to the amount of money Banktivity saves me in time & stress.
The only thing is that I don’t think the updates are as often as expected, but technical debt and refactoring is a LOT of work resulting in little visible change to the end-user. I should know, I’m currently doing it for my app!
I would like to see the chart colours updated to pop a bit more – it’s all a bit too faded. Some rounded rectangles & shadows wouldn’t go astray either 😉
I concur , the cost of the sub is trivial compared to the benefit it provides to manage my finances and do my taxes.
Like you , i feel enhancements since 9.0 have been modest in relation to my expectations but we are definitely in a better place than pre-sub. I hope we see a V10 with new features in 2025.
Hi, I subscribed in Feb 2024 and now it suddenly seems your “subscribe once, use forever” is removed. I’m upset about this change since I’ve been a long time buyer and supporter of Banktivity since many version before. If I terminate instead of renewing my sub, does it mean I lose all functions permanently?
You should be “grandfathered” in.
Can specifically explain how your version of “grandfathered” works.
I to do not use connectivity features at all.
Going forward what functions will work and what will not?
I’m confused and disappointed, I loved the “subscription model that doesn’t suck”
If you purchased a subscription and paid for at least a year before October 2024, you can still make changes to your data even if you stop paying your subscription.
If you subscribed for the first time after the October 2024 cutoff date, then you won’t be able to edit your data after you subscription lapses. You can still export your data, but not make any changes. If you need to add, edit, or delete your data, or use a connected service, you can resubscribe for a month (or a year).
Hi Ian – I’m still very confused about how this works for existing subscribers. You write that for users that purchased an annual subscription before October 2024, “you can still make changes to your data even if you stop paying” but “you won’t be able to edit your data”. I have no idea what that means, I’m afraid.
I’d appreciate it if you could clarify a little bit how the grandfathering works. For someone who purchased an annual subscription that is now expired, Banktivity 9 continues to work fully (with features from the appropriate subscription tier), minus connected features & tech support. Will that continue to be the case for Banktivity 9.5.x? If so, what about for future releases? If I later resubscribe and that subscription lapses, would Banktivity go read-only or continue to work read-write offline as it did before resubscribing?
Sorry, about that! That comment of mine was very poorly written. I think I must have accidentally deleted some of it. I edited it to be more clear. In short, if you subscribed and paid for at least one year prior to October 2024, then you are “grandfathered” to keep editing your data, even if you subscription lapses. For subscribers after the late October 2024 cutoff date, you’ll need to have an active subscription to add/edit/delete data. You will be able to export your data, regardless of subscription state.
I concur with some of the others….while I don’t love having another subscription in my life, this is a subscription that I cannot live without. We are talking about skipping one or two stops at Starbucks a month to cover the cost of a service that is essential to a lot of us. Banktivity keeps getting better and better over time. I have really been impressed with the progress the team has made with the iPad version (which is included in the cost of the subscription). I consider myself to be pretty sophisticated user and I can almost completely function on the iPad version now. Although managing a lot of new transactions isn’t quite as efficient on the iPad as it is on a Mac. However, I pretty much have a replica of my reporting and budgets on my iPad now. I am using my Mac less and less to stay on top of my finances but it’s always there for the monthly deep dives. Having access to multiple platforms is wonderful.
I was running Parallels just to use Quicken and made a break to iBank 4. There have been some frustrations but the Banktivity team has really pushed things forward the past couple of major updates. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to seeing where it goes next.
Having used Banktivity ever since it first appeared as iBank and having paid for every update through to Banktivity 7 I think it could be said that I am a supporter of the product. That said, I am not now nor have I ever been a fan of subscription software.
I agree with everything @Christopher has said. I do not use nor do I want any connected services. My requirements are no more than manual account and transaction creation and reporting. I need no more than I have in Banktivity 7 and would be perfectly content with paying for a Bronze ‘licence’ to use forever. I am not against supporting the software and would happily pay for major upgrades, as I always have, with point upgrades included in the licence.
As it stands with the removal of pay for a year and use disconnected forever I see little point in finishing the 30 day trial, which is a real shame. Bar a couple of minor issues I thought I was going to be able to stay with the software I have been using for years. Alas not.
Time to move on and find an alternative.
I fully support the Banktivity subscription model. What is the alternative? You would have to pay an upgrade fee, probably more than the cost of the subscription? And Banktivity has to pay for all those online services that connect our accounts.
As a fellow software developer, I understand that subscription models provide a reliable income that can support future development as opposed to feast and famine of upgrade cycles.
The alternative is a licence based model, as they used to have. I am more than happy to pay for software and have been upgrading all the way to v7.
The owner/developer may well have to pay for all those online services that connect our accounts but customers that neither use nor want them should not have to.
I am a current user of 5 due to the age of my computer. I never upgraded before 5 since I never got notified about upgrades or changes
I know quicken went to a subscription model on windows. So that stopped for me. Quicken on the mac became a joke so i stopped and switched to banktivity. I just use it as a basic ledger and am not thrilled by the subscription model since i am looking to update my computer. Do not get me wrong updates are USUALLY good but I am sure that everyone here has been bit by bad updates ir feature changes where singing was lost and not always gained.
I agree with others who are in favor of the subscription model. This is where software has gone and continues to go. I think it should be simpler and have a single tier for features. Monarch $99.99, YNAB $109. However, with this comes the expectation of providing new features (not just fixing them) and clearer transparency of what is coming.
Now to receive a higher level of support or voice support this is something I would not mind having as an add-on pricing.
This is the third time (at least) that I’ve tried to leave this comment, and somehow it never seems to appear when I return to the website a few days later. I’ll. leave it at that before I say something else I may regret.
Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s what I’ve been trying to say.
Add me as another user who is disappointed at the loss of the so-called “subscribe once” model. Christopher, Zak, Mark Foster, and others have summed up my feelings much more eloquently than I could have done, so I won’t repeat what’s already been said.
Thank you, Ian, for at least telling us that the “subscribe once” model is discontinued. Although, if I hadn’t come across this blog post, I would have found out too late and then I would be very disappointed.
I was about to subscribe to the Bronze plan. That level meets my needs for personal finance software. I don’t download stock prices, I don’t use multiple currencies, and I prefer to enter my own transactions rather than download them.
But now I have to rethink things (again). Personal finance software that switches to a read-only mode if/when I stop subscribing is a bridge too far for me. I don’t think I can support software that disables features I paid for.
A few comments on the thread and then my Banktivity development priorities for 2025.
– I have no particular problems with a subscription model so long as the Banktivity team are delivering regular, significant incremental improvements in functionality. I’m personally ‘in the cost of a cup of coffee per week camp’!
– There must be a focus on functional improvements that deliver value to the widest population of users. Not just ‘super-users’ or those based in the USA.
– Some comments in this thread attract no response from the Banktivity team while others get exhaustive responses. It feels selective – either respond to none or all!!
So my hopes for functional improvements in 2025:
– Extend the range of reports supported by iOS. The team made a good start in 2024 but support for further report types seems to have dried up e.g., transaction report.
– The reporting in Banktivity is too restrictive. Can an ‘ad hoc’ reporting engine be introduced? For example: select account(s); select categories; select time period; select report layout e.g. totals, sub-totals. The last is particularly important to me as I frequently find a standard report that does 80% of what I need but doesn’t give me the specifics I require.
– Keep an eye on and regularly improve application performance. Although I have a modern iPad, for example, I’m now frequently waiting seconds with a blank screen for reports to appear.
Will be interested to understand other people’s priorities. Looking forward to a fantastic year of new Banktivity function in 2025!
Im a bit late to the party but I think Banktivity is the best finance software around.
I know a lot disagree but I like the debits in red.. Furthermore I would like to see credits in blue and balances in green with negative balance also in red. . All with the option to switch them off if desired. We all have differing needs. Why are account titles in brown and the iPad and still white on the iMac?
Another thing I would like to see the option of having more than one calendar. Our money goes in and out of one account and all the bills go out of that account.Al daily groceries and spending from another account I only have that account in calendar and I can watch my cashflow for weeks ahead. I would also like to watch investment accounts in the same way but I would need a separate calendar for that.
Also I concur that the whole outlay of the app looks old fashioned. It needs an uplift and complete redesign to give it a 2025 feel. Other apps do have the wow factor as stated but to me without the simple functionality… which is what I need.
And PLEASE alter the reinvest option. I banged on about this for years. Often you have say £10 dividend and each new share is £3. That leaves a spare £1. At the moment you can only use the reinvest option if all the dividend in reinvested. I want to see an option where some get infested and the uninvested portion goes to cash.. I asked for this years ago and it was even sent the development team..before Covid !!!! Still waiting…
Anyway wishing all Banktivity people a Happy 2025..
I like the familiar look-and-feel of Banktivity and don’t see any need to modernise the user interface. New core functionality that benefits the whole user user base should be the priority. Might also cause some longtime users of back level versions to upgrade!!
I agree with much of your post Peter particularly the idea of improvements to reporting function.
I did ask for the user interface to be modernised but not at the expense of functionality. I perhaps didn’t make that clear in my post. I am sure some of it could be modernised without implementing a hideous learning curve.
The interface is drab – even MS money 30 years ago had “oomph”. I will never forgive Microsoft for getting rid but Banktivity is clearly its natural successor