Tiller alternative
Looking for a Tiller alternative?
BudgetSheet imports bank transactions into a Google Sheet you own. You can pay monthly, starting at $6, or $59 a year. Tiller is annual only. The sheet is your personal finance database: BudgetSheet does not own it, control it, or gatekeep it.
Best Tiller alternatives in 2026
Tiller and BudgetSheet both fill a spreadsheet from your bank. They do not cost the same, and they do not bill the same way. Prices checked 30 October 2026. Confirm on the vendor site before you buy.
| Feature | BudgetSheet | Tiller |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan | Yes. Basic is $6/month. Pro is $8/month. Business is $20/month. | No. Annual only. No month-to-month plan on the published pricing page. |
| Lowest published price | $6/month or $59/year for Basic, up to 5 accounts. | Essentials $59/year for 1 institution. Core $99/year. Pro $149/year. |
| Free trial | 15 days, 1 bank, no credit card. | 30 days. A card is taken and charged when the trial ends. |
| Google Sheets | Yes. Google Sheets add-on. That is the product. | Yes. Google Sheets add-on, plus an Excel add-in. |
| Excel | No. Not an Excel product. | Yes. Excel is a first-class Tiller surface. |
| Who holds the transactions | Your Google Sheet. BudgetSheet does not keep a copy or gate the rows. | Your spreadsheet. Tiller also writes into a sheet you own. |
| Use the sheet with AI | Yes. Ordinary rows. Gemini, Claude, and other Sheets tools can analyze them. | Partly. A Tiller Google Sheet can also be read by those tools. Their template and console sit on top. |
| Automatic import | Yes. Autofetch once a day on paid plans. Choose the clock time, or an automatic overnight window. Plus a manual fetch and CSV import. | Yes. Daily automatic refreshes on Essentials, Core, and Pro. |
| Entry-plan account limit | Basic: up to 5 accounts. | Essentials: 1 connected institution and 1 spreadsheet. |
| Investments | Partly. Holdings and investment transactions on Pro and Business. Not on Basic. | Partly. Brokerage connections depend on the plan and the institution. |
| Templates | Yes. All included, free, even with no paid plan. Not installed by default. One click after setup. Setup creates only the core data sheets. | Yes. Foundation template and a template library are part of the product. |
| Custom columns | Yes. Found by heading name. Reorder the sheet and add as many custom columns as you need. | Partly. The Foundation template sets the layout. Extra columns are a sheet edit around that template. |
| Categorization | Auto-categorization rules by default. You can override them with your own match patterns or categories. | AutoCat, plus manual edits in the sheet. |
| Bank logins | No. Not stored. The connection is read-only through Plaid. | Tiller connects accounts through a bank aggregator. Confirm their security page. |
Why people switch
People leave Tiller for a lower starting price, a monthly bill, or a sheet that is just a sheet. These are the practical differences, not a claim that one product does every job.
You can pay monthly
Basic is $6 a month. Pro is $8 a month. Business is $20 a month. Annual billing exists too, at $59, $79, and $149. Tiller’s published plans are annual only, from Essentials at $59 a year for one institution up to Pro at $149. If you want to try a bank feed without paying for a year on day one, the monthly BudgetSheet plan is the difference.
Basic starts smaller than Tiller Core
Tiller’s middle plan, Core, is $99 a year. BudgetSheet Basic is $59 a year, or $6 a month, and it covers up to five accounts. Tiller Essentials is also $59 a year, so the annual sticker on the cheapest plan matches. Essentials is one institution and one spreadsheet. Basic is five accounts, and you can stop at the end of a month instead of a year.
The sheet is the database
Transactions, balances, and categories land in your Google Sheet. BudgetSheet does not own that file, does not control how you lay it out, and does not gatekeep the rows behind a BudgetSheet screen. It finds columns by heading name, so you can reorder the sheet and add as many custom columns as you need. Use formulas, pivot tables, or a dashboard you build. Gemini, Claude, and other tools that already connect to Google Sheets can analyze the same rows, because they are ordinary sheet data.
A blank sheet is allowed
Tiller’s Foundation template is a real head start, and plenty of people want it. BudgetSheet does not install a budget template during setup. Setup creates only the core data sheets. Every template is included and installs with one click after that, even with no paid plan. If your budget is already a workbook, the feed can land in that workbook. Add your own columns anywhere. BudgetSheet uses a column when it finds the heading name, and leaves the extra columns alone.
Where Tiller still wins
Tiller is the better product for some people. These are the places we would not pretend otherwise.
Excel
Tiller ships an Excel add-in as well as a Google Sheets add-on. BudgetSheet is Google Sheets only. If your workbook lives in Excel, or your household is split across both, Tiller covers that and we do not.
Templates and community
The Foundation template, the template gallery, and the Tiller community are further along than templates you install yourself. Ours are included and free, even with no paid plan, and setup does not add them. If you want a maintained budget system rather than a feed into a sheet you design, start with Tiller.
Cheapest annual plan, one bank
Essentials is $59 a year, the same annual number as BudgetSheet Basic, and it is limited to one institution. If that is all you need and you are happy paying yearly, Essentials is not a more expensive product. Our advantage on that tier is the monthly option and the higher account count, not a lower annual price.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Tiller free?
- No. Tiller does not publish a permanent free plan. New customers get a 30-day trial, and the published plans after that are annual: Essentials at $59, Core at $99, and Pro at $149. BudgetSheet’s trial is 15 days with one bank and no credit card, then a paid plan. There is no free-forever bank connection here either.
- How much does Tiller cost compared with BudgetSheet?
- Tiller is annual only. Essentials is $59 a year for one institution. Core is $99 a year. Pro is $149 a year. BudgetSheet Basic is $6 a month or $59 a year for up to five accounts. Pro is $8 a month or $79 a year. Business is $20 a month or $149 a year. The monthly Basic plan is the cheaper way to start. The $59 annual prices match, with different account limits.
- Does BudgetSheet work in Excel the way Tiller does?
- No. BudgetSheet is a Google Sheets add-on. Tiller supports Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. If Excel is a requirement, Tiller is the product that covers it. BudgetSheet is for people who already keep the budget in Google Sheets, and we do not ship an Excel add-in.
- Can I analyze BudgetSheet data with Gemini or Claude?
- Yes. The transactions live in your Google Sheet, and BudgetSheet does not keep a private copy that those tools would have to be granted separately. Any assistant that can read a Google Sheet you share with it, including Gemini and Claude, can query the rows. A Tiller Google Sheet can be read the same way. The difference is that we do not put a product console between you and the table.
- What is a good Tiller alternative if I only use Google Sheets?
- BudgetSheet is built for that case. It is a Sheets add-on, it bills monthly or yearly, and the sheet you already have is the database. SheetLink is another Sheets option and publishes a free tier with a short history window. BankSync also writes to Sheets and adds destinations such as Notion. Read those pages if Excel or a non-sheet destination is part of the decision.
Related
Install BudgetSheet and try a live import for 15 days. No credit card. The transactions land in your Google Sheet, and that file stays yours.
Install BudgetSheet Addon
