Privacy policy
Last updated: November 3, 2026
Budgetgoat is a free, simple budgeting app for households. This policy explains what we collect when you use it, why, who helps us run it, and the choices you have.
In short: we collect what you type in and a small amount of usage data. We never ask for your bank login, we don't sell your data, and you can delete your account at any time in Settings.
1. Who we are
Budgetgoat is run by Nick Hollins in the United States ("we", "us"). We are responsible for the personal information described here. Questions go to nick@budgetgoat.com.
2. What we collect
What you give us
- Your account: your name, email address, and password. Your password is stored hashed, never as plain text.
- Your budget: the income, bills, debts, budget categories, and transactions you enter. You type these in yourself; we don't connect to your bank or import anything from it.
- Your household: which household you belong to and your role in it.
- Messages to us: anything you send when you email us.
What's collected automatically
- Sign-in sessions: your IP address and browser, stored with each session to keep your account secure.
- Usage and errors: pages you visit, the site that referred you, your device and browser type, your approximate location (city and country), and error reports when something breaks. We work out your approximate location from your IP address, then discard the IP address; it isn't stored with usage data.
- Product events: actions such as signing up, finishing a setup step, or adding a bill. These are linked to an internal ID, and never include amounts, names, or what a bill is for.
We don't record your screen or sessions, track your clicks, or collect sensitive information such as your race, health, or government ID numbers. We don't collect information about you from other companies.
3. How we use it
- To run Budgetgoat: create your account, sign you in, save your budget, and show it to your household.
- To send account emails, such as verifying your email address and resetting your password.
- To send occasional product news, if we start doing so. Every one will have an unsubscribe link, and account emails won't be affected.
- To understand how Budgetgoat is used, find and fix problems, and improve it.
- To keep Budgetgoat secure and prevent abuse.
- To meet legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.
We don't use your information for advertising, and we don't make automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects.
4. Who we share it with
We share personal information only with the companies that help us run Budgetgoat. They process it on our behalf, under contracts that limit what they can do with it:
| Provider | What they do | What they handle |
|---|---|---|
| Convex | Database and backend | Your account, budget, and sessions |
| Cloudflare | Hosting, security, email routing, and encrypted backups | Every request to the site, including your IP address, and emails you send us |
| Our email inbox (Gmail) | Emails you send us | |
| PostHog | Usage analytics and error reports | The usage, error, and product event data in section 2 |
| Resend | Sending email | Your email address and the email's content |
We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect people's safety or our legal rights, or as part of a merger or sale of the business, in which case this policy would still apply to your information.
We don't sell your personal information or share it for targeted advertising.
5. Your household
A household's budget is shared. Everyone in your household can see its income, bills, debts, categories, and transactions, along with each member's name.
6. Cookies and local storage
- Staying signed in: your session is kept in your browser's local storage. Budgetgoat can't work without it.
- Analytics: PostHog sets a cookie with a random visitor ID, so visits can be counted without knowing who you are until you sign in.
- Your theme: whether you chose light or dark mode.
We don't use advertising cookies or third-party trackers. We don't respond to "Do Not Track" browser signals, because there's no tracking across other sites for them to stop.
7. How long we keep it
- Your account and budget: until you delete your account.
- Sign-in sessions: they end after 7 days without use, and after 30 days at most.
- Account emails we've sent: deleted after 7 days.
- Backups: encrypted daily backups are deleted after 30 days.
When you delete your account, it's deleted right away: your login, sessions, income, and household membership, along with your analytics data in PostHog. If you were the only member of your household, its whole budget is deleted too. If others remain, the bills, debts, and transactions you added stay with the household for them, labeled "Former member". Copies in backups are gone within 30 days.
8. Your rights
You can:
- Delete your account at any time in Settings.
- See or correct your information in the app, or ask us for help.
- Get a copy of your information by emailing us.
- Opt out of product news with the unsubscribe link in any of those emails.
Depending on where you live, including California, Texas, and the other US states with privacy laws, you may also have the right to know what personal information we've collected and how it's used, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your rights. To make a request, email nick@budgetgoat.com from the address on your account. We may ask you to confirm your identity first, and we'll respond within 45 days. An authorized agent may make a request for you with your signed permission.
If we decline your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision. We'll respond to an appeal in writing within 45 days and explain our reasons. If you're not satisfied, you can contact your state's attorney general.
For California residents, here are the categories of personal information we collected in the past 12 months. We collected it from you and your device, for the purposes in section 3, and disclosed it only to the providers in section 4. We haven't sold or shared any of it.
| Category | What it includes | Collected |
|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | Name, email address, IP address, internal ID | Yes |
| Customer records | Name, email address, and the financial details you enter | Yes |
| Internet activity | Pages visited, referrer, device and browser | Yes |
| Approximate location | City and country | Yes |
| Sensitive information | Account log-in (your email and password) | Yes, only to sign you in |
| Commercial, biometric, audio or visual, employment, education, or precise location data | No |
9. Children
Budgetgoat is for people 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone younger. If you believe a child has created an account, email us and we'll delete it.
10. Where your data is stored
We're based in the United States, and our providers store and process data in the United States. If you use Budgetgoat from elsewhere, your information is transferred there.
11. Security
We protect your information with encryption in transit, hashed passwords, encrypted backups, and access limited to what each provider needs. No system is perfectly secure, so if you think your account has been compromised, change your password and email us.
12. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we'll tell you by email or in the app before it takes effect.
13. Contact us
Email nick@budgetgoat.com with any question about this policy or your data.