Stoke Money vs Lunch Money
Lunch Money is a beloved indie personal-finance app: web-first, bootstrapped, with a real public API, first-class CSV import, native multi-currency, and the most flexible budget-rollover options around. It's $10/mo, or pay-what-you-want annually with a $60/yr minimum — the same as Stoke's annual price.
The annual prices are the same, so the choice comes down to what each app does. Lunch Money is built for tracking and budgeting: it detects recurring items and tells you whether they've arrived, but it doesn't project balances forward, and there's no what-if planning. Stoke is built for forecasting and doesn't have budgets.
Side by side
| Stoke Money | Lunch Money | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9/mo or $60/yr | $10/mo, or pay-what-you-want annually ($60/yr minimum) |
| Free option | YesManual entry, no bank sync | No30-day trial, no card required |
| Balance forecasting | YesDaily balance forecast for every account, up to a year ahead | NoNot built in — recurring items are tracked, not projected; third-party tools add projections via the public API |
| Recurring detection | YesDetected automatically from your transaction history | YesSuggests and tracks recurring items |
| Credit-card payment forecasting | YesStatement balance, minimum, or fixed — on the due date | No |
| What-if planning | YesPlans layered onto the forecast | No |
| Budgeting | No | YesRollover per category, to a shared pool, or off; custom budget periods |
| Bank sync | Plaid (US banks) | Plaid (US, Canada, and a dozen European countries); community tools add separate, non-Plaid bank integrations via the API |
| Multi-currency | YesAccounts in any currency; automatic conversion coming soon | YesConverts everything into your home currency; includes crypto |
| Investments | NoBalances only | NoBalance tracking; automatic sync for crypto |
| Household sharing | No | YesCollaborators on a budget |
| Mobile apps | NoResponsive web app | YesiOS and Android companion apps |
| Export / API | No | YesFull public developer API, CSV import and export |
Comparison last verified June 2026. Lunch Money's pricing and features change — check their site for current details. Spot an inaccuracy? Tell us at feedback@stoke.money and we'll fix it.
Where Lunch Money is better
- A real public API with an active developer ecosystem
- Native multi-currency — every currency converts into your home currency
- First-class CSV import for banks it can't sync
- Budget collaborators and the most flexible rollover model around
- Bootstrapped and profitable
Where Stoke is better
- Daily account balance forecasting, which Lunch Money doesn't offer built in
- Credit-card payments forecast by statement cycle
- What-if plans layered on the forecast
- Recurring streams, transfers, and CC cycles are detected and wired into the forecast automatically
Which should you pick?
Pick Lunch Money if you budget, want an API to build on, deal in multiple currencies, or bank outside the US.
Pick Stoke if forecasting matters more to you than budgeting. The annual price is the same.