Let's get you set up

Bridge Budget runs on your own server with Docker, the same way Actual does. If you already run Actual, it's a one-line change and your budget opens exactly as it is.

1
Install Bridge Budget

Open the docker-compose.yml you use for Actual and change one line, the image. Keep everything else, especially the data folder.

image: actualbudget/actual-server:latest

becomes

image: daalves/bridge-budget:latest

Then restart it:

docker compose pull && docker compose up -d
Changed your mind? Put the Actual image back and run the same command. Your budget is a normal Actual budget the whole time, so nothing is lost either way.

You'll need Docker. It works on Linux, Mac, Windows and a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 with a 64-bit system.

mkdir -p ~/bridge-budget/data && cd ~/bridge-budget curl -O https://bridgebank.app/budget/docker-compose.yml docker compose up -d

Then open http://<your server>:5006, set a server password and create your budget.

Coming from YNAB? Choose Import my budget, then YNAB. To get the token: open YNAB's Developer settings, click New Token, type your YNAB password, click Generate and copy the token shown at the top (YNAB shows it only once). Paste it in Bridge Budget. Your accounts, transactions, categories, monthly budgets, targets and scheduled transactions come across in about a minute. The token is used once from your browser and never saved; your YNAB account isn't changed.
2
Start your trial, or enter your key

Open the budget. A banner at the top offers a free 7-day trial: type your email and it starts straight away. There's no account to create; we email you the trial key so you have it.

Bought a licence? Paste the key from your email into the same banner (or the Trial button in the budget header). If you bought during the trial with the same email, your trial key upgrades by itself.

One licence covers one Bridge Budget server, and every computer and phone that uses it.
3
Bring your bank in (optional)

Bridge Budget reads and writes normal Actual budgets, so Bridge Bank works with it as it is. Already syncing? Nothing to change. New to it? Follow the Bridge Bank setup and point it at your Bridge Budget address.

4
Connect your own assistant (optional)

Bridge Budget has no AI of its own. If you already use Claude or ChatGPT:

No setup: the Ask your assistant box on the budget opens the assistant you use, with this month's numbers already filled in.

Let the assistant do the work (categorise, write rules, set targets, move money): give it your server's private assistant link.

1
A public https address for your server. Claude and ChatGPT connect from the internet, so an address that only works at home won't do. If you already open Bridge Budget from outside over https, you have one. If not, two free ways: Cloudflare Tunnel if you have a domain, or Tailscale Funnel if you don't.
2
Make the link. Open Bridge Budget at that public address, go to Settings, Connect your assistant, and choose Make my assistant link. It serves the budget you have open.
3
Paste it into your assistant. Claude: Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector, paste the link and choose No sign-in. ChatGPT: Settings, Apps and connectors, add a connector by URL and paste the link.
4
Switch it on and allow it, on every device. In a new chat, turn Bridge Budget on (Claude: the + button, then Connectors; ChatGPT: the + menu). The first time it looks something up, the assistant asks for permission: choose Always allow. The phone apps ask again on their own, so open a chat on your phone once and allow it there too, or the assistant won't see your budget.
The link goes straight from your assistant to your server; nothing passes through us, and the assistant only sees what it looks up to answer you. The long secret in the link is the key, so keep it private. Settings can make a new link at any time, and the old one stops working at once. If a sign-in page protects your address (Cloudflare Access, for example), let paths starting with /mcp/ through.
5
Keep it up to date

Updates are included. To update:

docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

Before a new version runs for the first time, Bridge Budget saves a copy of your budgets in data/backups (the last five are kept). If an update ever misbehaves, go back to the previous version by naming it in the image line, for example daalves/bridge-budget:2026.10.05, and let me know.

Need a hand?

Email [email protected]. It comes straight to me.