Arrel: Budget & Money

Personal finance apps have traded user privacy for free services for so long that Arrel's opposite approach feels almost radical. This iOS and iPad application inverts the typical business model: instead of harvesting spending data to fuel advertising or resale, it keeps everything offline and on your device, with no analytics tracking, no ads, and no third-party SDKs lurking in the background.

The app targets people who want to manage their money without wondering if their financial details are being profited from elsewhere. You can use Arrel entirely without creating an account, though free sync across devices becomes available once you choose to sign in. The core product respects your autonomy at every level.

Beyond privacy, Arrel handles the actual work of personal finance competently. It tracks multiple account types—cash, bank, savings, and credit cards—each in their own currency, which matters for anyone managing money across borders. The budgeting approach is particularly thoughtful, distinguishing between committed expenses and available money, so recurring bills like rent next week don't artificially inflate your spending budget for the month.

Investment tracking extends beyond simple logging. You can build portfolios across stocks, ETFs, and crypto, and Arrel automatically calculates holdings and cost basis as you record buys and sells. Premium subscribers access live pricing for these assets; everyone else can input values manually. The app also calculates net worth, visualizes income versus expenses, and breaks down spending by category to surface spending patterns.

The feature set feels complete without becoming overwhelming. Home Screen widgets and a read-only Apple Watch app keep essentials accessible. You can import bank statements from CSV and export all your data whenever you want, avoiding the lock-in that many finance apps rely on. Recent updates added Apple Intelligence features on supported devices for querying finances and categorizing imported transactions, processed entirely on-device.

The business model is straightforward: the base app is free, and a premium subscription unlocks unlimited accounts, portfolios, budgets, trackers, analytics history, multi-currency exchange rates, shared trackers, PDF reports, and cash-flow forecasting. Sync and CSV export remain free regardless of subscription.

Arrel succeeds because it solves a real problem—managing personal finances privately—without over-engineering the solution. It's a tool that trusts users rather than exploiting them.