Privacy-first personal finance, without the compromises
"Privacy-first" gets said a lot. Here's what it should actually mean — a simple checklist you can hold any money app to — and how Misto's is built to pass every part of it: local-first storage, zero-knowledge backups, read-only access, and data that's never sold.
What makes a finance app truly private — a checklist
Four questions cut through the marketing. Ask them of any budgeting app — the honest answers tell you everything.
Where does your data live?
On a company's servers → on your own device
Local-first — your ledger lives on your device by default, not on our servers.
Can the company read it?
Plaintext they can open → zero-knowledge, only you hold the key
Zero-knowledge — backups are encrypted with a key only you hold. Not even we can read them.
How does it make money?
Selling your data & ads → honest subscriptions
Free core + optional Premium/Grove Patron. Your data is never sold, at any tier.
What can it touch?
Full write access to accounts → read-only, or nothing at all
Read-only by design — even with bank sync, Misto can never move your money.
Privacy you don't have to configure
With most "private" tools you're handed a pile of settings and told to protect yourself. Misto's is private by default — the safe choice is the one you already have, with no server to run, no keys to manage by hand, and no privacy dashboard to babysit. You just use it.
Go deeper on each piece
Frequently asked
What makes a personal finance app 'privacy-first'?
Four things, really: your data lives on your device (not a company server), it's encrypted so only you can read it (zero-knowledge), the app makes money from honest subscriptions rather than selling your data, and it has read-only access at most. An app that can't answer all four isn't truly privacy-first.
Is my data stored in the cloud with Misto's?
No — Misto's is local-first, so your ledger lives on your own device by default. If you turn on backup, it's encrypted before it leaves, with a key only you hold, so the cloud copy is unreadable to anyone but you.
Can Misto's employees see my transactions?
No. Because backups are zero-knowledge (encrypted with your key, which we never see) and your ledger stays on your device, there's nothing readable for us — or anyone else — to look at.
Does choosing a private app mean fewer features?
Not with Misto's. The free-forever core is a complete budgeting app — envelope budgeting, goals, the Tax Vault, statement imports, AI insights, and every export. Privacy is the foundation, not a trade-off.
How is 'privacy-first' different from just being 'secure'?
Security (strong encryption) is necessary but not sufficient. Privacy-first also means you own where the data lives, the company genuinely can't read it, and it's never monetized. A secure app can still read and sell your data; a privacy-first one is built so it can't.
Personal finance that's private from the ground up
Create your free account and keep your money to yourself — local-first, zero-knowledge, and never for sale. The core app is free forever.