Fullgrove

Moving from YNAB to Fullgrove

Updated

To move your data out of YNAB, export your plan in the YNAB web app, which downloads your transaction history as a CSV file. Share that file to Fullgrove on your iPhone, look over the preview of accounts and rows, and confirm. From then on the ledger is kept on your iPhone, and there is no bank login.

Accounts in folders with totals

Export your data from YNAB

The export is in the web version of YNAB. YNAB's help page says it is not available in the mobile apps at this time. Sign in to YNAB in a browser, click the name of your plan at the top of the left sidebar, and choose Export Plan. Two files download: one holds the plan with its category groups and categories, and the other holds the transaction history. They are CSV files, and YNAB uses tab-separated files for currencies that write decimals with a comma.

To export part of the history, open one account or All Accounts, tick the transactions you want, and use the export option under More. YNAB's help page on exporting plan data has the current steps (checked 2026-10-02).

Bring the file into Fullgrove

Send the transaction file to your iPhone, for example through iCloud Drive or AirDrop. In the Files app, share it to Fullgrove, or pick Fullgrove in the share sheet wherever the file is. Fullgrove reads the YNAB export as it is, so there is nothing to rearrange in a spreadsheet first.

A preview shows the accounts and the rows it found before anything is added to your ledger. You can map YNAB's categories and accounts to the ones you want in Fullgrove, and then confirm.

What comes across and what does not

  • Comes across: each transaction's date, account, payee, category, memo and flag, with its outflow or inflow amount. A transfer between two of your accounts stays a transfer.
  • Stays behind: the plan. Assigned amounts, targets and scheduled transactions are not rebuilt, and YNAB's help page notes that the export leaves out targets and category notes. Bank connections stay behind too, because Fullgrove has none.

Fullgrove is a ledger with budgets and net worth, which is a different method from YNAB's zero-based plan. Set your budgets again in Fullgrove after the move.

Check the result

Keep YNAB until you have checked three things. The number of rows in the preview should match the number of transactions you exported. The oldest and the newest row should have the dates you expect. One or two months of spending in a category should add up to the same total in both apps. When something differs, the usual cause is an account or a date range that was left out of the export.

Leaving Fullgrove again

Your data can leave the same way it arrived. Fullgrove exports the rows as CSV and everything as JSON. The archive format is open.

Move from YNAB to Fullgrove

  1. In the YNAB web app, click the plan name at the top of the left sidebar and choose Export Plan.
  2. Send the transaction file to your iPhone.
  3. In the Files app, share the file to Fullgrove.
  4. Look over the preview of accounts and rows, and map categories and accounts.
  5. Confirm, then compare the row count and one month's totals with YNAB.

Questions

How do I export my data from YNAB?
In the YNAB web app, click the plan name at the top of the left sidebar and choose Export Plan. YNAB downloads the plan and the transaction history as two files.
Can I export YNAB data from the iPhone app?
YNAB's help page says exporting is available in the web version only at this time. Use a browser, then send the file to your iPhone.
Is there a YNAB alternative without bank login?
Fullgrove keeps the ledger on your iPhone and has no bank login. It reads a YNAB export as it is, so your history comes with you.
Do my YNAB targets and scheduled transactions come across?
No. The transactions come across with their categories, payees, memos and flags. Budgets are set again in Fullgrove.

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