BudgetSheet vs Tiller
Both products pull bank transactions into a spreadsheet you own. BudgetSheet is Google Sheets only and bills monthly or yearly. Tiller is Google Sheets and Excel, and the published plans are annual only. Prices below were checked on 30 October 2026.
Our take
Pick BudgetSheet if the budget already lives in Google Sheets, you want a monthly bill, and you want the sheet itself to be the database. Basic is $6 a month or $59 a year for up to five accounts. Pick Tiller if you need Excel, you want their Foundation template, or you are fine paying annually. Tiller Essentials is $59 a year for one institution. Core is $99 a year. Pro is $149 a year. There is no Tiller monthly plan. The $59 annual stickers match on the cheapest tier, and they are not the same limit: Essentials is one institution, Basic is five accounts. Tiller also writes into a spreadsheet you own, so “who holds the file” is not a unique BudgetSheet claim. What we refuse to do is put a product layer between you and those rows.
Side by side
| Feature | BudgetSheet | Tiller |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly billing | Yes. From $6/month. | No. Annual plans only. |
| Cheapest plan | Basic: $6/month or $59/year, up to 5 accounts. | Essentials: $59/year, 1 institution, 1 spreadsheet. |
| Household-scale plan | Pro $8/month or $79/year, 30 accounts. Business $20/month or $149/year, 100 accounts. | Core $99/year, unlimited institutions. Pro $149/year. |
| Trial | 15 days, 1 bank, no credit card. | 30 days. Card on file, charged when the trial ends. |
| Google Sheets | Yes. This is the whole product. | Yes. |
| Excel | No. | Yes. |
| Automatic import | Autofetch once a day on every paid plan, at a time you choose, plus a manual fetch and CSV import. Bank logins are not stored. | Daily automatic refresh on Essentials, Core, and Pro. |
| Where transactions live | Your Google Sheet. We do not keep a copy. | Your spreadsheet. Tiller’s console and template sit alongside it. |
| AI tools such as Gemini or Claude | They read the sheet directly. No export, no extra BudgetSheet AI plan. | A Tiller Google Sheet can be read the same way. The Foundation template is still their structure. |
| Required budget method | None. Formulas, layouts, and custom columns are yours. | None required, but the Foundation template is the default path. |
| Templates | All included, free, even with no paid plan. Not installed by default. One click after setup. Setup creates only the core data sheets. | Foundation template is the default path, plus a template library. |
| Custom columns | Found by heading name. Reorder the sheet and add as many custom columns as you need. | The Foundation template sets the layout. Extra columns sit around that template. |
| Investments | Holdings and investment transactions on Pro and Business only. | Brokerages are in their institution list. Confirm the plan. |
| Categorization | Auto-categorization rules by default. You can override them with your own match patterns or categories. | AutoCat, included on the published tiers. |
Which one to pick
Pick BudgetSheet if
- You only use Google Sheets.
- You want to pay $6 this month instead of $59 or $99 for a year.
- You want up to five accounts on the cheapest plan.
- You want Gemini, Claude, or your own formulas on a sheet we do not gatekeep.
- You want to reorder columns and add as many custom columns as you need.
- You want every template included for free, and none of them installed until you click.
- You want categories filled in by default, with your own overrides.
Pick Tiller if
- You need Excel, or you use Excel and Google Sheets together.
- You want the Foundation template and the Tiller community to run the budget.
- One institution is enough and you prefer a single annual bill at $59.
- AutoCat and the daily email are part of the habit you want.
Frequently asked questions
- Is BudgetSheet cheaper than Tiller?
- Basic at $6 a month is the cheaper way to start, because Tiller has no monthly plan. Basic at $59 a year costs the same as Tiller Essentials at $59 a year, and Basic allows five accounts instead of one institution. Against Core at $99 a year, Basic and Pro ($79 a year) both cost less. Compare the limit, not only the sticker. Essentials is a real plan, not a footnote.
- Does Tiller offer a monthly subscription?
- No. Tiller’s pricing page lists annual plans only: Essentials, Core, and Pro. BudgetSheet lists a monthly and an annual price on Basic, Pro, and Business. If a monthly cancel option is the requirement, Tiller does not currently meet it. A monthly BudgetSheet plan can end after a month.
- Do both products keep my data in my spreadsheet?
- Yes. Tiller and BudgetSheet both write transactions into a spreadsheet you own. BudgetSheet does not keep a copy of the transactions in our database, and we do not make you view them in a BudgetSheet app. Tiller also has a console and a template around the sheet. Owning the file is true of both. Gatekeeping the rows is what we are declining to do.
- Can I use Claude or Gemini on either spreadsheet?
- If the file is a Google Sheet you can share, those tools can read it. That includes a BudgetSheet sheet and a Tiller Google Sheet. It does not include a Tiller Excel file unless the AI tool can read that file. BudgetSheet’s claim is narrower than “only we work with AI.” The claim is that the sheet is an ordinary database, and we do not stand between the assistant and the cells.
- Which one should I try first?
- Try BudgetSheet if you already have a Google Sheet and you want a 15-day trial with no card. Try Tiller if Excel matters or you want their template from day one. Running both trials against the same bank is reasonable. Do not connect both feeds to the same tab without a plan for duplicate rows.
Related
Try BudgetSheet for 15 days. No credit card. Your Google Sheet stays the database, and you can cancel a monthly plan without waiting out a year.
Install BudgetSheet Addon
