Offline, local, and in sync

Your budget lives on your device, not on a faraway server. That one design choice is why every screen opens instantly, why the app works with zero signal, and why logging a purchase in a basement grocery store is no different from logging one at home.

Local first

When you open Climb, nothing is fetched before the page can draw: the numbers come straight from a database on your phone or computer. The server's job is durability and keeping your devices in agreement, not serving your screen.

That means offline is not a special mode. Log transactions, move money between envelopes, edit categories: everything works without a connection. Your changes queue up on the device.

Syncing across devices

The moment you're back online, queued changes upload and anything new from your other devices downloads, usually within seconds. Log lunch on your phone and it's on your laptop before you're back at your desk.

Sign in on a new device and your whole budget downloads once; after that, the new device is just as local and offline-capable as the first.

What about my bank?

Climb never connects to your bank and never holds bank credentials. You log spending yourself (faster than it sounds, see Logging transactions fast) and check the totals against your statement when you reconcile. Your bank login stays where it belongs: with you.