I built a MS Money replacement

[sun sunny]

As another long-time MS Money user, I built Covely as a modern replacement for MS Money.

The core app is free, with just a few advanced features in the paid version. It includes recurring payment detection as well as the usual budgeting and tracking tools.

There’s a Mac App Store version and a Windows version too. Have a look here: https://covely.ourcrmonline.com/

I’d really value any feedback or feature requests from fellow MS Money users.

Cheers

[Stephen Google]

Well done! Can Covely import all accounts and Transactions from MS Money, provide a full set of financial reports Like Money and provide for export of data to Excel? Also can it download fund & share prices as provided by MSMoneyQuotes for Money?

[Harry Walden]

I have tried many Money replacements over the years, especially on the Mac since I migrated there a decade or more ago. Just looking at the screenshots, I am not immediately seeing why this is touted as a Money replacement. What features does it embody that makes it equivalent to Microsoft Money?

[Jack M]

I can download it on Windows 11 but MS Defender wont let me install it?  I'd liek to give it a try if it will import all my 15 years of old data.

Thanks

[sunny]

Thanks, Stephen, I reply again, because the previous one only replied to you, not to the group :)

I have imported my own many years of MS Money data into Covely.

At the moment, the import formats supported are CSV, OFX, and QIF. There are a number of reports available; some are new for MS Money. Not all MS Money reports are there, but if you found any reports useful but not available, please let me know.

For the stock price, it can sync from Yahoo Finance automatically.

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[Tom Roberts]

Sunny -  it would be useful to see a comparison of your app with Money.

A comparison could be simplified by using a table listing the Money menus, then sub-menus. 

For example,  in Money portfolio manager there are a range of columns which can be selected when building a table of investments.  There are over 80 investment variables to choose from when customizing an investment report, such as change in stock price, cost basis, market value, etc. This is a powerful feature of Money.  I expect you've used this feature, but just in case you haven't: To create a new Portfolio report, user right clicks on the column titles line, selects "Edit Current View", selects "Portfolio Columns", then chooses from "Available Columns", then clicks "Add" to "Displayed Columns".

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/CAC_5CPc%3Dc5qZd%2Bhk_VF2skiLsGUjm48kNKe%2B3_VN%2B6NkevKiVw%40mail.gmail.com.

[sunny]

Hey Tom, it is a good suggestion. It makes me aware that the gap is bigger than I thought. 

Please add any missing parts. I will use this as a guide to improve Covely.

[Andrew Mannall]

Looks good Sunny,

 I have tried importing and the categories are missing. Have may years of data, is there a way to copy information and categories in??. Currently exporting files from money and tehn importing into your porgramme.

[sunny]

Thanks, Harry.

Fair question.

I built it not to mimic the screen design, but to provide all the features (as many as I can in the first version) of MS Money, including account management, transaction automation rules, budgeting etc. There are also new features that are not available in MS Money, for example, global search is pretty handy.

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[sunny]

It is common for Windows Defender to block 3rd party installer. To bypass the block, clock on the "More info" on the popup warning, then click the "Run anyway" button that appears.

Let me know whether it works.

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[Andrew Mannall]

Used QIF and exported from Money program. Tried both Loose and Strict options from Money, nil change depending on setting. Ends up with Uncategorised

[Tom Roberts]

Hey Sunny

See attached. Note that I use the Business version of Money Sunset but I would say that it's functions are not a priority. 

If you have MONEY, you can drill down to the sum-menus to see how each option works. Users here might also give their own views on what they find useful, what doesn't work. But Money works so well that no-one has the desire to give up on it -- we'd rather deal with the work-arounds. Unless of course your can make something do the same as Money, or better. With AI, perhaps you can.

Good luck

Tom

[sunny]

Thanks for sending these menus, Tom. I was using the Sunset edition, which is pretty much the same.
When I was building Covely, I set priorities based on my own experience. I’m not a complex user, I only have around 10 accounts and a few stocks.
You made me realise that those “advanced” features in MS Money actually serve a group of advanced users.
I’ll add them to my roadmap, and as you said, with the help of AI, I believe it’s possible to close(or at least narrow) the gap.

[Tom Roberts]

Another feature you could consider is allowing a user to select from user interfaces. Personally, I like the Money interface a lot. To reduce learning and make it easier to work with, a user interface with the most of same menu and sub-menu options as Money would make a transition easier. 

[sunny]

Hey Tom, Thanks for the suggestion. I had a play, here is a draft in my local, what do you think?

It will be a configurable layout that needs to be opted in in the preference settings:

[Dharmendra Somayya]

I had problem downloading the installer on Windows 11. I don't mind giving it a try. Just like everyone here why we are still Money users is, it has so much useful functionality that I have yet to see a use case that it hasn't been addressed and I don't consider myself a power user at all. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/CAC_5CPfADBnp9ms5%2B_2YOBoRFpTtEMPmpeuYCKWgb6%2BQZCX-9A%40mail.gmail.com.

[sunny]

Hey Dharmendra, can I know what prevents you from downloading the Windows installer?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/55b33050-1a1a-464d-841a-f4cedc9c8c21%40gmail.com.

[danba...@gmail.com]

Sunny - this is very neat, and having worked at Microsoft on early versions of MSMoney, I look forward to seeing how it evolves!

 

One thing that I know you’re aware of and that’s covered on the web site is that folks are going to feel rather “cautious” about putting their financial data into an (at least for now) unknown application.

 

I’m curious if the project itself is on github or somewhere that we can see the source, in order to verify the “offlineness”/”safeness” of moving this direction. While this isn’t something that MSMoney ever provided, it had the benefit of coming from a well-known, reputable company. And of course, the fact that it’s not been modified in the last 20 years means that we’ve not had to worry in that time, either.

 

Sorry if this has already been addressed. I tried to look through the posts in the group, but didn’t find the answer.

 

Cheers,

Dan

 

 

From: microso...@googlegroups.com <microso...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of sunny
Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2026 1:29 PM
To: Dharmendra Somayya <dmsatb...@gmail.com>
Cc: microso...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: I built a MS Money replacement

 

Hey Dharmendra, can I know what prevents you from downloading the Windows installer?

 

On Sun, 17 May 2026 at 23:02, Dharmendra Somayya <dmsatb...@gmail.com> wrote:

I had problem downloading the installer on Windows 11. I don't mind giving it a try. Just like everyone here why we are still Money users is, it has so much useful functionality that I have yet to see a use case that it hasn't been addressed and I don't consider myself a power user at all. 

On 5/17/2026 5:46 AM, sunny wrote:

Hey Tom, Thanks for the suggestion. I had a play, here is a draft in my local, what do you think?

It will be a configurable layout that needs to be opted in in the preference settings:

 

On Fri, 15 May 2026 at 04:11, Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com> wrote:

Another feature you could consider is allowing a user to select from user interfaces. Personally, I like the Money interface a lot. To reduce learning and make it easier to work with, a user interface with the most of same menu and sub-menu options as Money would make a transition easier. 

 

On Thu, May 14, 2026 at 1:59 AM sunny <sun...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for sending these menus, Tom. I was using the Sunset edition, which is pretty much the same.
When I was building Covely, I set priorities based on my own experience. I’m not a complex user, I only have around 10 accounts and a few stocks.
You made me realise that those “advanced” features in MS Money actually serve a group of advanced users.
I’ll add them to my roadmap, and as you said, with the help of AI, I believe it’s possible to close(or at least narrow) the gap.

 

On Thu, 14 May 2026 at 15:18, Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Sunny

See attached. Note that I use the Business version of Money Sunset but I would say that it's functions are not a priority. 

If you have MONEY, you can drill down to the sum-menus to see how each option works. Users here might also give their own views on what they find useful, what doesn't work. But Money works so well that no-one has the desire to give up on it -- we'd rather deal with the work-arounds. Unless of course your can make something do the same as Money, or better. With AI, perhaps you can.

Good luck

Tom

 

On Mon, May 11, 2026 at 12:05 AM sunny <sun...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Tom, it is a good suggestion. It makes me aware that the gap is bigger than I thought. 

Please add any missing parts. I will use this as a guide to improve Covely.

 

 

On Mon, 11 May 2026 at 14:35, Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com> wrote:

Sunny -  it would be useful to see a comparison of your app with Money.

A comparison could be simplified by using a table listing the Money menus, then sub-menus. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/CAC_5CPdY7UPn_21eP-ycVbQZFCpO9D59c%3DjopWta3F0%3DmPYGRw%40mail.gmail.com.

[sunny]

Hey Dan, that’s a great question.
Covely isn’t open source at the moment because it includes some paid components that I hope can cover ongoing costs like App Store membership and maintenance.
That said, I completely understand the concern, especially for a financial software from a developer no one knew

I plan to restructure the app into a monorepo, publish as much of the code as possible, and keep only the paid components private.
That would allow anyone curious enough to inspect the code and build the free version locally.
Would that address your concern?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/001d01dce644%24157c3b20%244074b160%24%40gmail.com.

[jaim...@gmail.com]

 

Hello, do you have a .zip file with the installer? The .msi is blocked by windows

 

thanks

 

 

 

From: microso...@googlegroups.com <microso...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of sunny
Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2026 3:47 AM
To: Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com>
Cc: Stephen Google <scuss...@gmail.com>; Microsoft Money <microso...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: I built a MS Money replacement

 

Hey Tom, Thanks for the suggestion. I had a play, here is a draft in my local, what do you think?

It will be a configurable layout that needs to be opted in in the preference settings:

 

On Fri, 15 May 2026 at 04:11, Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com> wrote:

Another feature you could consider is allowing a user to select from user interfaces. Personally, I like the Money interface a lot. To reduce learning and make it easier to work with, a user interface with the most of same menu and sub-menu options as Money would make a transition easier. 

 

On Thu, May 14, 2026 at 1:59 AM sunny <sun...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for sending these menus, Tom. I was using the Sunset edition, which is pretty much the same.
When I was building Covely, I set priorities based on my own experience. I’m not a complex user, I only have around 10 accounts and a few stocks.
You made me realise that those “advanced” features in MS Money actually serve a group of advanced users.
I’ll add them to my roadmap, and as you said, with the help of AI, I believe it’s possible to close(or at least narrow) the gap.

 

On Thu, 14 May 2026 at 15:18, Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Sunny

See attached. Note that I use the Business version of Money Sunset but I would say that it's functions are not a priority. 

If you have MONEY, you can drill down to the sum-menus to see how each option works. Users here might also give their own views on what they find useful, what doesn't work. But Money works so well that no-one has the desire to give up on it -- we'd rather deal with the work-arounds. Unless of course your can make something do the same as Money, or better. With AI, perhaps you can.

Good luck

Tom

 

On Mon, May 11, 2026 at 12:05 AM sunny <sun...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Tom, it is a good suggestion. It makes me aware that the gap is bigger than I thought. 

Please add any missing parts. I will use this as a guide to improve Covely.

 

 

On Mon, 11 May 2026 at 14:35, Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com> wrote:

Sunny -  it would be useful to see a comparison of your app with Money.

A comparison could be simplified by using a table listing the Money menus, then sub-menus. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/CAC_5CPfADBnp9ms5%2B_2YOBoRFpTtEMPmpeuYCKWgb6%2BQZCX-9A%40mail.gmail.com.

[Stephen Google]

I'm not moving from MS Money until there is an alternaive with the same or better functionality having an established user base and a one off purchse cost not an annual subscription.

[danba...@gmail.com]

I think that’d be pretty neat for sure and for the most part, yep, it would. Also - I know that “posting on github” and “open source” are often conflated, but (as you probably already know) they aren’t the same. You can make your entire source (even the paid components) available but still not license it for open source. At that point, posting is done for transparency and inspection. You could even let others contribute to your published-but-closed codebase, if you so chose.

 

Anyhow, like I mentioned, this is pretty sweet. I never thought someone would build a Money replacement, largely because getting the functionality right in the world before AI was a tough hill to climb, but looking at your roadmap I think you’re on a good track.

 

By the way - I was going to throw you a PRO purchase (since it’s so cheap) on the web site just as a way of saying “thanks for trying” but I don’t see any way to actually do that. Is that something that’s only done in the app itself?

 

Cheers,

Dan

[danba...@gmail.com]

To be fair to Sunny, this app is a one-off purchase ($9.90) with no subscription fee.

 

I’m curious why having an established user base is important to you, given that even Money doesn’t really have one of those anymore. Sure, we’re here in an antiquated Google Group discussing it, but a few hundred users does not an “established user base” make. 😊

 

The reason I ask is that if the app works (and contains the bits of Money functionality that you use), I don’t really see the difference between Money and Covely at that point, even if Sunny stops developing it. Just like Money isn’t getting any updates and continues to “sort of/mostly work,” and install of Covely would be the same.

 

Or perhaps I’m missing something in that line of thinking?

 

Cheers,

Dan

 

From: microso...@googlegroups.com <microso...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Stephen Google
Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2026 10:32 PM
To: Microsoft Money <microso...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: I built a MS Money replacement

 

I'm not moving from MS Money until there is an alternaive with the same or better functionality having an established user base and a one off purchse cost not an annual subscription.

On Monday, 18 May 2026 at 05:09:38 UTC+1 JB wrote:

 

Hello, do you have a .zip file with the installer? The .msi is blocked by windows

 

thanks

 

 

 

From: microso...@googlegroups.com <microso...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of sunny
Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2026 3:47 AM
To: Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com>
Cc: Stephen Google <scuss...@gmail.com>; Microsoft Money <microso...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: I built a MS Money replacement

 

Hey Tom, Thanks for the suggestion. I had a play, here is a draft in my local, what do you think?

It will be a configurable layout that needs to be opted in in the preference settings:

 

On Fri, 15 May 2026 at 04:11, Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com> wrote:

Another feature you could consider is allowing a user to select from user interfaces. Personally, I like the Money interface a lot. To reduce learning and make it easier to work with, a user interface with the most of same menu and sub-menu options as Money would make a transition easier. 

 

On Thu, May 14, 2026 at 1:59 AM sunny <sun...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for sending these menus, Tom. I was using the Sunset edition, which is pretty much the same.
When I was building Covely, I set priorities based on my own experience. I’m not a complex user, I only have around 10 accounts and a few stocks.
You made me realise that those “advanced” features in MS Money actually serve a group of advanced users.
I’ll add them to my roadmap, and as you said, with the help of AI, I believe it’s possible to close(or at least narrow) the gap.

 

On Thu, 14 May 2026 at 15:18, Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Sunny

See attached. Note that I use the Business version of Money Sunset but I would say that it's functions are not a priority. 

If you have MONEY, you can drill down to the sum-menus to see how each option works. Users here might also give their own views on what they find useful, what doesn't work. But Money works so well that no-one has the desire to give up on it -- we'd rather deal with the work-arounds. Unless of course your can make something do the same as Money, or better. With AI, perhaps you can.

Good luck

Tom

 

On Mon, May 11, 2026 at 12:05 AM sunny <sun...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Tom, it is a good suggestion. It makes me aware that the gap is bigger than I thought. 

Please add any missing parts. I will use this as a guide to improve Covely.

 

 

On Mon, 11 May 2026 at 14:35, Tom Roberts <tomandre...@gmail.com> wrote:

Sunny -  it would be useful to see a comparison of your app with Money.

A comparison could be simplified by using a table listing the Money menus, then sub-menus. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/7784d883-ee73-4c9f-8942-980d4888ca41n%40googlegroups.com.

[Rahul Oza]

I agree, would be great to have a future proof alternative. I am ok if it is not 100% MS Money but have features like open banking and AI integration.

I also agree for code to be in gitHub as that would inspire confidence even if not necessarily open sourced. 

great work Sunny, happy to adopt (and subscribe) once the product matures a bit more in terms of functionality.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/001a01dce6d8%2427cb46b0%247761d410%24%40gmail.com.

[Rahul Oza]

btw I downloaded v1.3.4 and changed base currency to GBP however it still shows values in dollars? still working on demo data set.

[Dharmendra Somayya]

I get this message when I try to download in Windows 11

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/002201dce67c%241d762f10%2458628d30%24%40gmail.com.

[sunny]

Thanks, Dan. I'm not actually familiar with all the subtle differences between the open-source options vs the host in Github, so I'll do some research and pick the best one.
The main motivation for creating Covely was that I needed it myself. Having users who also use it is a bonus, since I can get feedback to keep improving it.
I really appreciate your gesture of purchasing the app. You'll need to do it via the app after downloading and running it.

[Tom Roberts]

Sunny - I've been busy with some personal issues and not able to reply sooner.

It looks good for the HOME drop down menu. As you progress on the other drop downs, I'll be interested to test the Investing drop down. 

My interest is also on the detail and format of the investment and other reports to see what they can present. The reports can be easily customized and saved under a Favorite name.  The app by Grier updates stock data, such as Last, change, open, high, low, 52 week high, 52 week low, PE, market cap and volume. 

 

[sunny]

Hey Tom, I have added the first attempt of the "Classic" menu to the app. It can be enabled in the preferences => appearance section. The first version of the menu is trimmed to match the existing Covely features.

At the moment, the "investment" feature is pretty basic. It is in my plan (roadmap 1.4, currently finishing 1.3), and I will include your suggestions.   

 

[sunny]

Hey Guys, 

I’ve released an open code repository for Covely Core, covering about 90% of the codebase. The exclusions are the license model, encryption, and paid components.

The repo will be auto-sync for every new version.

If anyone wants to take a look, here is the link.

Cheers

On Mon, 18 May 2026 at 07:28, <danba...@gmail.com> wrote:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/001d01dce644%24157c3b20%244074b160%24%40gmail.com.

[Tom Roberts]

Hi Sunny

Re your roadmap numbering (1.3, 1.4), is this related to the functionality of MS Money itself? There are so many useful functions in Money that I'd encourage you, if you are not already doing so, to try to make your app have the same functions as Money. As Money was prepared by domain experts, it already has a proven design and workflow.   

Another idea -- will it be possible to use Covely offline as well? I think you may have already answered a question about the user file location options, but I don't recall what they are. Would you like to enable users to be able to store their data on their local laptop? 

Thanks

Tom   

[Jeff Feit]

I'm curious as to what your motivation is to build a replacement. It seems like a lot of work just to get it to have all the existing functions. I'd assume that once that was done you'd add new features, but is the work to get it to just be equivalent to what we have now worth it for the extra features?

Have you "cracked" the mny file so it's a direct import? If so, what might be neat is an add-on application that can share the mny file with MS Money. That way you could open it in your app for new features (maybe better searches and find/replace, bulk re-catagorization, etc.) but be able to continue using MS Money for the core functions. If it requires a clean break from MS Money, you will have a hard time getting people to switch until all the functionality is there and proven out.

[Cal Learner]

It is perhaps inspired by MS Money, but my impression that it is not more similar to Money than it is to Quicken. Not compatible.

He said elsewhere that it is "vibe coded" by AI.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/bb875ada-7683-46d8-a851-b21931941c82n%40googlegroups.com.

[sunny]

My motivation for building Covely is that I personally needed it, and I wanted something that can keep improving over time, rather than depend on a product that has already reached its sunset. Every software has a lifecycle and needs maintenance, and with MS Money, there are things I like to do but can't achieve with the original product. (i.e., no Mac version, Global search, custom tags, etc.).

When I say "replacement for MS Money", I mean it more in the sense of building something that can achieve a similar level of functions. I understood that MS Money is a very rich product (more and more), and many have a strong attachment to it (I will count myself in). So the "replacement" is probably a wrong choice of words.

On the compatibility point, the idea of an add-on approach is interesting. My focus now is to complete the feature roadmaps, and will consider the data migration tools later. For existing MS Money users, the export to QIF is the easiest way to try out other Apps like Covely.

Another thing is that Covely is built with the help of AI, but it is not the kind of low-quality “vibe-coded” output people sometimes imply. My goal is to build something robust and genuinely useful, not a quick AI prototype.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/microsoft-money/CAPFZcAm_ynpU7HU%3DbZSbX7xj3N-yidaw4ap2-CPhKXiFZ7Th5Q%40mail.gmail.com.