Product Roadmap
See where we're going. We're building the most transparent and powerful budgeting tool, one feature at a time.
November 30th, 2025
Core Budgeting Platform
The foundation of Essential Budget. Our powerful, free web platform helps you plan and track income and expenses across accounts. Manually manage categories and schedule income and expenses. Visualize finances with our drag and drop planner (grid and calendar) and interactive charts, all at zero cost.
December 5th, 2025
Theming
Personalize your budgeting experience with custom themes. Choose from a variety of color schemes, or generate an entire color palette with AI.
January 28th, 2026
Icons
Create your own icons with our custom icon generator. Purchase credit packs to generate unique icons for your budgets.
January 28th, 2026
Shared Budgets
Collaborate with family, roommates, or other groups. Share budgets with up to 5 people, complete with granular Reader, Editor, and Owner permission roles.
January 28th, 2026
Public Budgets
Share your budgeting templates, success stories, or educational models with the world via a simple public link. Perfect for content creators and financial coaches.
May 1st, 2026
Bank Linking
Securely connect your bank accounts via Plaid. Our integrated AI will automatically categorize transactions, build your budget, and match bank transactions to scheduled budgeting events, keeping your budget in sync with your bank accounts and saving you time every month.
Receipt Scanning & Trends
Snap photos of your receipts to automatically track expenses. Price trends over time help you spot inflation and spending habits, and your scanned receipts power the receipt reports. Receipt scanning is a Premium feature: every account gets 10 free scans to try it, and Premium keeps it going with no fixed count.
Receipt-Based Budgeting
Build your budget from the receipts you already scan. One receipt is enough to start: Essential Budget proposes budget lines with the rhythm and the amount your own purchases show, fills in the past months your receipts cover, and keeps suggesting updates as prices move. You review and confirm every line. Start fresh or improve the budget you already have.
Smart Shopping List
Integrated shopping lists that sync with your budget and receipt scanning. Plan your shopping trips based on your remaining budget for an effortless grocery experience.