Side projects Catchbudget
Past project · 2014 - 2016
Catchbudget
A free app to keep track of household spending, with no ads and no bank details.
- Role
- Co-founder, marketing
- Type
- Personal finance app
- Origin
- A Catchventure product
01The problem
No expense-tracking app convinced us
We wanted a simple way to log our monthly spending and income, and every app fell short somewhere.
- They asked for access to your bank account
- They filled the screen with ads
- They were too complicated for everyday use
02What I did and how
Simple, free and everywhere
We built it to solve a problem of our own, in our spare time. So the priority was that it was easy to use and that people could trust it: no ads and no bank details.
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No ads, no bank details
You log expenses by hand in a few seconds and the data belongs only to you. That was how we earned trust against apps that asked for access to your bank.
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Three synced platforms
Android app, web app and Chrome extension, with the data synced across all three so you could log an expense wherever you were.
- Android
- Chrome
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For the whole family
Several users could share the same budget, to keep the household accounts between two or more people.
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Built to travel
In more than seven languages from the start, to use it in Spain, in Belgium or anywhere else.
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Press with no budget
We had no budget for ads, so we got the word out through app round-ups in Spain and an article in the Belgian press.
What I learned
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If your product is free, what you are selling is trust.
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With no marketing budget, press and word of mouth are your channel.
03Results
A product launched on three platforms
We launched the app on three platforms and in more than seven languages without spending on advertising, and three media outlets wrote about it.
- Launch 3 synced platforms Android, web and Chrome
- Growth 7+ languages
- Brand 3 media wrote about the app In Spain and Belgium
04Media coverage
Media coverage
With no ad budget, the app became known through app round-ups and the Belgian press.
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Het Belang van Limburg covers the launch of Catchbudget in Belgium
Read article ↗ -
Catchbudget among 11 apps to keep your spending under control this summer
Read article ↗ -
I include Catchbudget among the 11 best free apps for getting back into routine
Read article ↗
05The website
What catchbudget.com looked like
I have restored the app website as it was, with its features, the reviews and the press section.
See the 2015 website →I like finding the fastest way to test whether an idea works, without burning budget. If you want a second pair of eyes on yours, drop me a line.
Get in touch →No strings attached · I reply myself