Checking and savings define your floor, your runway, and whether a purchase is actually safe.
The fastest way to actually get value out of Catalyst Cash.
Set up the handful of numbers that actually change your decisions, run one weekly check-in, and only open the deeper tools when the app tells you to. The output is a weekly decision packet: cash pressure, debt focus, safe-to-spend context, and the next moves that matter now.
Getting started
Set up the smallest honest version of your finances.
Don't wait for perfect data. You don't need a full migration, just the balances and obligations that shape this week.
Credit cards, loans, APRs, limits, and due dates drive payoff order, utilization pressure, and urgency.
Rent, subscriptions, minimum payments, and known upcoming charges help the app separate a calm week from a dangerous one.
Once cash, debt, and timing are loaded, run the audit. That first pass is usually enough to reveal the real bottleneck.
Weekly workflow
Use the app in this order each week.
The value comes from a repeatable rhythm, not from wandering through every tab.
Refresh what changed
Update the balances, due dates, and renewals that could change this week's decisions.
Read the top moves first
Start with the strongest actions, urgent warnings, and safe-to-spend read before opening every card.
Open the screen that resolves it
Ask AI for tradeoffs, Cashflow for timing, Rewards for card choice, Renewals for recurring waste, and the Pro ledger for cleanup.
Check history to validate
Audit history confirms the system is getting safer and cleaner over time, not just prettier to look at.
App map
Open the right screen for the right question.
The product gets simpler once each surface has a clear job.
| Screen | Its job | Open it when |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Tells you whether the week is under control, what's due next, and whether your position improved. | First thing, every time you open the app. |
| Audit | The decision engine. Grades the week and queues the clearest next moves. | When you get paid, before large purchases, or anytime you need direction. |
| Cashflow + Renewals | Stages bills, subscriptions, and the next 30 days so timing problems show up early. Tracked recurring items can seed missing budget lines. | When something new starts charging you, or the month looks tight. |
| Ask AI | Handles tradeoffs: what to pay first, whether you can afford the move, how a choice changes runway. Saved chats expire after 24 hours. | After the audit, when two options both look reasonable. |
| Portfolio + Ledger | Source of truth for banks, cards, loans, assets, balances, and the transaction detail behind the weekly picture, including whether balances are live, cached, or waiting on the next sync. | When a number looks off, or for Pro ledger search, filter, export, and cleanup. |
| Rewards | Ranks the best card for a merchant, checks nearby stores, and reviews missed rewards. | At the point of purchase, before you pay. |
| History | Proves progress. Shows whether liquidity, risk, and score are trending the right way. | After a few audits, to confirm the system is working. |
Plans
Free proves the system. Pro runs the full system.
Free is genuinely useful. Pro is where Catalyst becomes a faster, broader, and more complete operating tool.
Free
$0free tier
Enough to run one honest weekly check-in on your real money.
- 2 audits per week
- 5 Ask AI chats per day
- Catalyst AI
- 1 Plaid institution, counted per bank not per account, or fully manual use
- Last 4 audits
- Core budgeting, debt, dashboard, cashflow, and renewals tools
Pro
Catalyst Cash Pro
Monthly · Annual · Lifetime
Eligible fresh users can try Pro for 7 days with no card and no auto-renew. Paid plan prices and terms appear in the iOS paywall and Apple confirmation sheet.
- 30 audits per month
- 20 Ask AI chats per day
- Catalyst AI advanced planning
- Up to 8 Plaid institutions, counted per bank not per account, with quiet balance + ledger upkeep
- Full audit archive
- Full searchable ledger with export
Built for people who want broader account coverage, quieter upkeep, full ledger cleanup, deeper AI, and a real archive.
Financial logic
The signals behind the recommendations.
The audit treats your emergency floor as a hard safety boundary. If the floor is dishonest, the guidance will be too.
High-interest balances are expensive by default, so the system pushes them forward when that's the financially clean move.
Recurring charges matter because of timing, not just total cost. A small bill at the wrong moment can still wreck the week.
History should show whether your actions improved liquidity, reduced risk, and made the next month easier to run.
Privacy
What stays local, what goes over the network.
The short version: local-first by default, networked only when you use networked features. The security page has the full technical detail.
- Stored locally first Balances, debts, renewals, settings, and audit history are kept on your device as the primary record.
- AI on demand Audits and Ask AI send the card, merchant, and money context needed for a specific answer while leaving out private account identifiers and access details.
- Plaid is optional Connecting through Plaid keeps balances and transactions current. You can also stay fully manual.
- Backup and demo are both controlled Auto-Backup and encrypted export are built in. Demo mode temporarily swaps in sample finances, restores your real setup when you exit, and clears on a full relaunch.
Start with one honest weekly check-in.
Add the accounts that shape this week, run one audit with current numbers, and you'll know quickly whether Catalyst should stay Free or become your full Pro routine.