MonAi

What is MonAi?

MonAi is a personal budgeting app developed by independent developer Florian Vates, and it is compatible with both iPhone and Android phones.

It uses AI to analyze spoken language, natural-language text, and payment notifications in order to identify amounts, dates, categories, and descriptions, with the goal of reducing the costs associated with manual bookkeeping on a daily basis.

MonAi has no connection to the open-source MONAI project in the field of medical imaging. It is a proprietary personal finance tool that does not provide investment advice, bank account management, or corporate accounting services.

Main functions

Voice, text, and intelligent classification

• Voice-based billing: Simply say things like “Lunch costs 35 yuan, the taxi ride costs 22 yuan,” and the system will be able to separate various transactions and identify the amounts, dates, categories, and descriptions associated with them.
• Natural text input: There is no need to fill out the form field by field; one can enter short phrases such as “120 at the supermarket yesterday”, and the AI will automatically organize the relevant fields.
• Classification learning: After the user corrects the category, those corrections are used in subsequent requests to improve the accuracy of judgments; however, it is still necessary to verify the merchant name, refund amounts, and amounts in different currencies.
• Income and expenses: It is possible to record two types of transactions, and the current balance as well as the distribution of expenditures can be viewed through lists, categorical charts, and time ranges.
• AI Reports: Allow users to ask questions via chat about this month’s spending on meals, the largest categories of expenditure, or relevant trends; it is currently in beta testing on iOS, with the Android version not yet available officially.

Automated bookkeeping

• Apple Pay shortcuts: On an iPhone, tapping to make a payment at a physical terminal triggers a notification for recording the transaction, and the category is assigned automatically based on the merchant information; this functionality is not available for Apple Pay transactions conducted online.
• Triggered by text messages and emails: iOS users can use Apple Shortcuts to filter bank messages based on the sender or specific keywords, and then pass the relevant text to MonAi for analysis.
• Images and screenshots: iOS Shortcuts can convert photos of receipts or screenshots of purchase confirmations into transaction records; the results of such recognition require verification regarding the amount, taxes, and currency.
• Action Button and widgets: Allow quick initiation of voice input from the microphone widget on the home screen or from the action buttons on compatible devices.
• Android notification tracking: It reads the push notifications from banking or payment apps and extracts transaction details, without establishing a direct connection to the banks; repeated notifications can lead to duplicate entries in the accounts.

Budget, list, and data management

• Category-based budgeting: Set monthly limits for each category, and use progress bars, widgets, and alerts to see the amount of budget that has been used and how much remains.
• Periodic transactions: Create recurring income and expenses at daily, weekly, monthly, etc., intervals; corresponding records are automatically generated when the application is opened on the scheduled date.
• Tags: Use custom tags to mark bank cards, cash, accounts, individuals, or projects, thereby adding additional filtering criteria beyond the predefined categories.
• Multiple currency lists: Each list can have its own currency set; changing the currency only affects the way the amounts are displayed, it does not alter existing transactions. iOS provides a separate tool for currency conversion during travel.
• Shared list: Allow you to synchronize a specific ledger with your partner, roommate, or family members by invitation, while still maintaining a private list; synchronization is more reliable when using a MonAi Account.
• CSV import/export: It allows for the backup and migration of data; however, imports currently only accept the export format used by MonAi, and other spreadsheet formats require their fields to be converted first.

Input, output, and platform differences

Usage process

1. Install MonAi from the corresponding app store, select the currency, and create your first private list.
2. First, enter a few actual transactions via voice or text to verify that the amounts, dates, direction of income or expenditure, and automatic categories are correct.
3. Create category budgets, periodic transactions, and tags as needed, and decide whether to reset the beginning balance or enable rollover.
4. iPhone users can create shortcuts for Apple Pay, SMS, email, or photos within the settings; Android users need to grant permission to read specific notifications as instructed.
5. When cross-device use or a shared ledger is required, register for a MonAi Account and then invite members to join the respective list; do not share the account password.
6. Regularly check for duplicates, refunds, and currency errors in the automatic records, and use CSV exports to maintain separate backups.
7. Before the trial period ends, check the price for your region, the renewal date, and the plan on the subscription page; if you decide not to continue using it, cancel before the deadline set by the store.

Prices, trials, and packages

The price varies depending on the country, currency, platform, any promotions in effect, as well as whether it is a new or existing product. On the App Store in the United States, the current prices are 7.99 dollars per month and 71.99 dollars per year for individual subscriptions; 9.99 dollars per month and 95.99 dollars per year for family subscriptions. Meanwhile, several lower introductory prices and older subscription options are still listed.

Therefore, any unit price listed in the store catalog should not be considered a universal price worldwide. Before subscribing, it is necessary to refer to the plan names on the in-app planning page, the expiration date of the trial period, and the actual amount to be charged.

Renewal, cancellation, and refunds

• Monthly and annual subscriptions are automatically renewed; once canceled, the premium benefits remain valid until the end of the current payment period.
• The options for canceling in iOS and Android are managed by Apple and Google respectively; the store pages indicate that automatic renewal can be disabled at least 24 hours before the renewal date.
• Refunds are also reviewed by the store where the purchase was made; users must submit their requests through Apple’s refund process or Google Play’s order history.
• Subscriptions across iOS and Android are not migrated automatically; developers can manually transfer them using the RC IDs of both platforms, and the result must be confirmed by the support team.
• The timing for settling upgrades and downgrades is determined by the store and its terms; an upgrade may result in a settlement of the price difference, while a downgrade usually takes effect at the end of the current period.

Suitable for users and scenarios

• For those who do not want to fill out complex forms: use a single sentence or a short audio recording to quickly note down multiple daily expenses.
• iPhone users: Reduce the risk of forgetting things by using Apple Pay, text messages, emails, receipts, and shortcut commands for screenshots.
• Android users: Use the notifications from banking apps to generate transactions automatically, while avoiding handing over the entire bank account to third-party aggregation services.
• Partners, roommates, and family: share expenses related to rent, purchases, or travel plans, while keeping separate accounts for personal expenses.
• Users who live or travel in multiple currencies: The currencies are listed separately, and it should be understood that existing transactions are not automatically converted.
• For those who need a simple budget: set limits for different categories and track income and expenses over a certain period, but no bank reconciliation, tax handling, or complex investment analysis is required.

Privacy, data, and AI processing

• Automatic notification tracking, as well as shortcut commands for SMS and email, may expose users to highly sensitive content; therefore, the filtering criteria should be limited to senders from specific banks and transaction-related keywords.
• Members of the shared list can view the transaction data contained therein, while invitation links, account credentials, and export files should all be protected in accordance with financial information safeguards.
• The official website uses Meta Pixels to measure advertisements under agreed conditions; it may process information related to page visits, devices, and networks, but this does not mean that it reads data on transactions that take place within the application.
• The application is not intended for children under 13 years of age; family sharing of premium features does not automatically constitute consent for the processing of minors’ data.
• MonAi is a personal, non-commercial application; its terms require users to ensure that the data entered is accurate and lawful, and it cannot be used as the sole record for official accounts or tax purposes.

APIs, open source, and capability boundaries

Advantages and limitations

• Voice and natural language allow multiple transactions to be processed at once, and together with the platform’s automation features, this significantly reduces the time required for daily data entry.
• The three storage options – iCloud, local storage, and MonAi Account – provide users with different choices regarding privacy and synchronization.
• The functions of iOS and Android are not exactly the same; there are platform-specific limitations regarding AI Reports, Apple Pay, as well as the reading of text messages, emails, and notifications.
• Automatic classification, notification extraction, and OCR may result in errors regarding amounts, dates, categories, or duplicate records; therefore, reconciliation is necessary on a regular basis.
• Each list can have only one currency set for display; changing the currency does not adjust the historical amounts, which makes it unsuitable for generating reports with unified exchange rates automatically.
• The app does not offer direct bank connections or complex accounting functions; it is suitable for helping individuals develop good financial habits, but it cannot replace bank statements, invoices, or professional financial software.

Summary

The core value of MonAi lies in its ability to quickly convert voice input, text, and information related to mobile payments into structured records of income and expenses, thereby helping users understand their daily spending through budgets, shared lists, and simple questions.

Before making a choice, it is necessary to check the actual subscription cost in your area, any differences related to the platform’s automation features, the way financial data is stored, and the duration of the trial period as well as the options for renewing it; moreover, it is important to create an independent backup copy.