Banktivity is a polished Mac and iOS budgeting app. If you live inside Apple, it does the job. The problem is what it does not do. No UK pension integration, no ISA awareness, no forward projection over 10 or 30 years. Thousands of UK users are moving to Delphina for the part Banktivity was never built to handle.
Banktivity was built for US accounts. UK workplace pensions, SIPPs and SSAS structures are second-class citizens. You can enter them manually, but the app will not project retirement income from them the way it does for a US 401k.
Cash ISA, Stocks and Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA. Banktivity treats them like any other account. You will not see your remaining £20,000 allowance, the £4,000 LISA bonus, or the date it expires on 5 April.
Banktivity is a great historical record. What it does not do is project your wealth forward over 10, 20 or 30 years. You cannot answer the question that actually matters. Will my money last? On track or not?
Banktivity is native to macOS, iPhone and iPad. If you work on a Windows PC or use a work-issued laptop you cannot open your finances in a browser. This is fine for an Apple household. It is a hard wall for anyone who is not.
UK Direct Access runs through Salt Edge. When the aggregator or your bank changes something upstream, your transactions stop syncing. The fix usually means deleting the connection and starting again. Not what you want on a Sunday night.
Banktivity used to be a one-time purchase. Now the app goes read-only if you cancel. Silver at $99.99 a year is a lot to keep paying for an app that still does not know what an ISA is.
| Feature | Banktivity | Delphina |
|---|---|---|
| macOS, iPhone and iPad apps | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web app (any device) | ✗ | ✓ |
| UK bank connectivity via Open Banking | ✓ | ✓ |
| UK pension projection and retirement income forecast | ✗ | ✓ |
| ISA allowance tracking (£20,000, LISA bonus) | ✗ | ✓ |
| 30 year forward wealth projection | ✗ | ✓ |
| FIRE number and Coast FIRE calculation | ✗ | ✓ |
| What-if scenario modelling (job change, house move, child) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Envelope budgeting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Local data storage (Mac only) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Annual Cost | $59.99-$99.99/year (Silver/Gold) | Free tier available |
Banktivity is excellent at recording what has happened. Detailed reports, strong budgeting, multi-device sync. It does not project your wealth forward. You cannot see whether your current trajectory will deliver the retirement you want.
Delphina takes your full UK picture, pensions, ISAs, mortgages, property, and projects your wealth forward over 10, 20 and 30 years. It answers the question Banktivity cannot. On track or not. What changes today would have the biggest impact.
Built in the US for US accounts. UK pensions and ISAs can be entered manually as accounts, but the app has no native understanding of pension contribution limits, ISA allowances, the Lifetime ISA bonus or HMRC reporting.
Built in the UK for UK users. Knows your £20,000 ISA allowance, the £4,000 Lifetime ISA bonus, workplace pension contribution matching, and how each of them changes the trajectory of your wealth over time.
Native apps for macOS, iPhone and iPad only. Local data storage with end-to-end encrypted iCloud sync. No web app, no Windows, no Android. Excellent if everyone in your household is on Apple. A hard wall if anyone is not.
Web app on any device with a browser. Open it on your work laptop, your partner's Android, your iPad, your Mac. Same view, same data, same projections. No platform lock-in.
UK Direct Access runs through Salt Edge, a third party aggregator. When the bank or Salt Edge changes something, your sync stops until you delete the connection and re-add it. Common complaint from long-term UK users.
Built on UK Open Banking providers with a UK engineering team. When a bank changes something, fixes can be deployed fast. No aggregator black box, no manual reconnection rituals.
Connect your UK accounts, pensions, ISAs and mortgages. See your wealth projected over 10, 20 and 30 years. One specific thing to do this month based on your actual situation.
PocketSmith is another forecasting focused tool. See how it compares with Delphina on UK pension support and forward looking clarity.
YNAB is the gold standard for zero-based budgeting. Compare it with Delphina on long-term planning and UK specific financial awareness.
Banktivity is a US-built Apple-only app that can connect to some UK banks through the Salt Edge aggregator. It does not natively understand UK pensions, ISAs, Lifetime ISAs or HMRC rules. UK users typically use it as a budgeting tool and need separate software for retirement planning.
Delphina is built in the UK for UK users. It understands your workplace pension, your £20,000 ISA allowance, your Lifetime ISA bonus and your mortgage. It projects your wealth forward 10, 20 and 30 years so you can see whether you are on track. Banktivity records what has happened. Delphina shows you what will happen.
Some users do. Banktivity for detailed envelope budgeting on the Mac. Delphina for the forward looking view across pensions, ISAs and mortgages. They are not integrated, so you would enter transactions twice. Most users who try Delphina for a month stop opening Banktivity.
Delphina runs in your browser on any device, including Mac. You can save it as a desktop shortcut, install it as a PWA, and use it offline for previously loaded views. It is not a native Mac app, but the experience is fast and you are not locked to one platform.
No. Delphina is not an FCA-regulated financial advice service. It gives you tools, projections and one specific action each month based on your situation. For regulated financial advice you would need to speak with a financial adviser.