Introduction
I built Monlio for myself.
Not as a “startup idea.” Not because I wanted another finance app in the App Store. I built it because every money app I tried felt poorly designed and overcomplicated — and none of them gave me one calm place for the way I actually live with money.
Multi-currency accounts. Income and expenses. Stocks. Crypto. Subscriptions. An iPhone and an iPad that needed to stay in sync. I wanted that picture without handing over bank credentials or drowning in dashboards.
So I made Monlio — a manual money and wealth tracker for iPhone and iPad. It’s live on the App Store now. And I think other people want the same simple, non-bloated combo.
Here’s why a manual multi-currency tracker was the right call for me — and what Monlio actually does.
The problem wasn’t “tracking money”
I already knew how to track money. Spreadsheets exist. Plenty of apps exist.
The problem was friction.
Some tools wanted bank connections before they were useful. Some felt like enterprise software wearing a personal-finance costume. Some were great at one thing (budgets, crypto, subscriptions) and awkward at everything else. And almost none of them felt calm — the kind of UI that gets out of the way so you can see your net worth and move on with your day.
I didn’t need another system that tried to run my finances for me.
I needed a clear picture I controlled.
That’s the whole product thesis behind Monlio: clarity without complexity.
Why manual (on purpose)
Monlio does not connect to your bank.
That’s not a missing feature. It’s the point.
When you enter transactions yourself, you keep control. No bank credentials. No surprise imports. No “we’ll categorize this for you” black box. Offline-first storage on your device means your data stays useful even when you’re offline — and optional iCloud sync (Pro) is there when you want the same picture on iPhone and iPad.
Privacy and control aren’t marketing words here. They’re the product shape:
You log income, expenses, transfers, exchanges, and subscriptions
You choose categories
You decide which accounts show on the dashboard
You can hide balances with one tap when someone is looking over your shoulder
If you want an autopilot that scrapes your bank, Monlio isn’t that app. If you want a calm money tracker without bank linking, it might be.
What “one place” actually means
My money doesn’t live in one currency or one account type. Yours probably doesn’t either.
Monlio is built around that mess — on purpose:
Multi-currency accounts
Card, cash, savings, crypto, stocks — each account can have its own currency. Totals roll up in your default currency with exchange rates from Frankfurter (ECB data). Live crypto prices come from CoinGecko; stocks from Yahoo Finance.
A dashboard that feels like a product, not a spreadsheet
Net worth up top. Hide-balances toggle. Swipeable account cards sorted by recent usage. Five recent transactions. Enough to know where you stand without opening five apps.
Subscriptions that don’t sneak past you
Name, price, account, category, billing cycle. Due charges get added when you open the app. Stop a subscription anytime — past charges stay in history.
Transactions you can log in seconds
Income, expense, transfer, exchange, subscription — with a built-in amount calculator so you’re not bouncing to another app to add things up.
Reports that answer “where did it go?”
Income vs expenses, category breakdowns, trends, and period-over-period comparison when you need the fuller picture (advanced reports are part of Pro).
Built for Apple
Light and dark mode. iPad layout. Face ID / Touch ID / passcode lock. Sign in with Apple (or Google) when you want sync. Offline-first SQLite on device.
That’s the combo I couldn’t find in one minimal app: multi-currency + assets + subscriptions + sync — without the bloat.
Free vs Pro (no hidden tiers)
Monlio starts free. No ads.
Free includes up to 2 accounts, up to 3 tracked subscriptions, multi-currency tracking, manual logging, dashboard and basic reports, offline-first storage, and app lock.
Monlio Pro unlocks unlimited accounts and subscriptions, advanced reports, and optional iCloud sync across Apple devices — at $1.99/month, $14.99/year, or $24.99 lifetime (via the App Store; prices can vary by region).
Upgrade when your finances outgrow the free limits. Don’t upgrade if they don’t. Simple.
Who this is for
Monlio is for people who:
Hold money in more than one currency
Want crypto and stocks in the same net-worth picture as everyday accounts
Prefer typing a few transactions over linking a bank
Care about offline access and optional sync — not forced cloud
Want a calm UI on iPhone and iPad
If that sounds like you, try it on monlio.app or grab it on the App Store.
What I learned building it
I’m usually on the other side of this — designing and shipping products for clients, writing about AI workflows, Relume, Framer, and design systems on this blog. Building Monlio reminded me how much restraint matters.
The hard part wasn’t adding features. It was saying no to features that would make the app “more powerful” and less usable. Manual entry. No bank linking. A small free tier that still works. A Pro plan that unlocks growth without inventing upsell theater.
Design taste shows up in what you leave out.
If you want more of how I think about product and tooling, I keep notes on Learn and a living tools list on Resources.
Try Monlio
Monlio is live: a calm, offline-first manual multi-currency tracker for iPhone and iPad — accounts, subscriptions, crypto, stocks, and optional iCloud sync when you need it.
👉 Product site: monlio.app
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Thanks for reading — and if you try Monlio, I’d love to hear whether the “manual by design” approach feels right for you too. 🙏
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