Last updated: March 4, 2026
When you first sign up, Budge enters a 7-day calibration period. During this time, the app passively observes your natural routine - how often you leave home, how long you stay out, and your general patterns. This establishes your personal baseline. No fees are ever charged during calibration. Just go about your normal life and let Budge learn your rhythm.
During your first week, Budge quietly runs in the background collecting data to understand your habits. You will see your Vitality Score start to populate after the first day or two. At the end of the 7 days, Budge sets your personal baseline and active tracking begins. You will receive a notification when calibration is complete and your baseline is ready.
During onboarding, you will see a map where you can drag a pin to your home. Place it on or near your house or apartment building. Budge uses a radius around this pin (approximately 100 meters) to determine whether you are at home or away. You can update your home location at any time from your profile settings if you move or if the pin is not in quite the right spot.
No. Budge works entirely in the background using iOS location services. Once you grant “Always” location permission during onboarding, the app detects your home and away status automatically. You never need to open the app for tracking to work - though you can open it anytime to check your score, streak, or weekly insights.
Budge uses your device’s GPS to check whether you are within your home radius (the zone you set during onboarding). When you leave that radius and stay away for at least 30 minutes, it counts as an outing. Budge records how long you were out, how many distinct places you stopped at (you need to spend at least 5 minutes somewhere for it to count as a stop), and what time you first left home. These metrics power your Vitality Score.
Any time you physically leave your home radius for at least 30 minutes counts as getting out. It does not matter where you go - a walk around the block, a trip to the grocery store, going to work, meeting a friend for coffee, or a long hike all count equally. The point is simply to get out of the house.
Yes - Budge uses GPS in the background to calculate your daily activity metrics. Specifically, we measure: how long you were away from home, how many distinct places you stopped at (5+ minutes at a location), and what time you first went out. These three inputs power your Vitality Score. We don’t display where you went (not to you, not to anyone), and raw GPS events are automatically deleted after 90 days. Your location data is never sold or shared. See our Privacy Policy for full details.
Your Vitality Score (0–100) has three parts, each backed by peer-reviewed research:
It doesn’t matter where you go - just that you got out, explored a bit, and ideally got out early.
If you stay home significantly more than your personal baseline, Budge sends a push notification asking how you are doing. You have 24 hours to respond. When you open the check-in, you choose from five options:
Any of the first four reasons means no fee, no questions asked. Only “honestly… nothing” can result in a charge - and even then, your first miss each week is free. If you don’t respond within 24 hours, the check-in expires and the fee is applied automatically.
Check-in prompt flow
Budge relies on your device’s built-in GPS, which is generally accurate to within a few meters outdoors. In some situations (dense urban areas, indoors, poor signal), accuracy may vary slightly. The home radius is designed to be generous enough to account for normal GPS drift, so brief fluctuations will not cause false triggers.
Budge is free to download and free during your 7-day calibration period. After calibration, small fees are only charged when you stay home without a valid reason and your inactivity significantly exceeds your personal baseline. Many users are never charged at all - the fees exist as a motivational nudge, not as a revenue model.
The current fee schedule per week is:
You will never be charged more than $6 in a single week, regardless of how many days you stay home. The fee schedule is always disclosed during onboarding before you enter any payment information.
The weekly cap is $6. This is the absolute maximum you can be charged in any 7-day period. Even if you stay home every day of the week without a valid reason, the most you will pay is $6. This cap exists to keep fees small and motivational rather than punitive.
When you receive a check-in prompt, you can select any of four valid reasons to skip the fee entirely:
Any of these counts as a valid reason - no fee, no questions asked. Budge is designed to encourage getting out when you are able, not to penalize you for taking care of yourself. Your streak is also preserved when you select a valid reason.
Selecting a valid reason
Every week, your first unjustified miss is automatically free - no charge, no questions asked. Everyone has days where they just do not feel like going out, and that is perfectly fine. The free pass resets at the start of each week. Fees only kick in starting with the second unjustified miss in the same week.
You can update your payment method from the Profile screen in the app. Budge uses Stripe for secure payment processing - we never see or store your full card number. You can switch between cards or update your details at any time.
Yes. Every charge has an Undo button in the Insights tab. You have 48 hours after your response window closes to tap Undo and get an instant, automatic refund to your card - no questions asked, no human review. You can undo individual charges or select multiple at once. After the 48-hour window closes, the charge is final.
Undo flow in the Insights tab
Use the Undo button in the app within the 48-hour window - it is the fastest way to reverse any charge you disagree with. If the window has already closed and you believe the charge was genuinely made in error (for example, a technical glitch), contact us at hello@budgeme.com and we will review it. Please do not dispute charges through your bank - chargebacks cost $15 in processing fees regardless of outcome, which is far more than the original charge. The in-app Undo button is instant, free, and exists specifically so you never need to go through your bank.
You have 48 hours after your 24-hour response window closes. In practice, this means you have about 72 hours (3 full days) from when you first receive the check-in notification. After that, the charge is final. We chose 48 hours because it gives you two full days to reconsider while keeping the accountability commitment meaningful.
You will not be charged. Budge detects when the app is uninstalled and automatically pauses your account. No prompts will be sent and no fees will be charged while your account is paused. If you reinstall later, you can unpause from Profile > Settings and tracking will resume.
You will not be charged. Budge only charges when it has GPS data confirming you stayed home. If location tracking stops for any reason (permissions revoked, Background App Refresh disabled, phone restarted without reopening the app), the system sees zero location data and skips the charge. We never assume you stayed home without evidence.
Low Power Mode may reduce GPS accuracy and tracking frequency. For best results, we recommend keeping Low Power Mode off, but if it causes missed data, the same protection applies: no GPS data means no charge. Airplane mode does not affect GPS hardware directly, so tracking can continue. If you are offline, your location events are queued locally and uploaded when you reconnect.
Just reinstall Budge and sign in. Your account, streak, and payment method are all synced to the cloud. Tracking will resume as soon as you open the app. You will not be charged for any days between switching phones since the system will not have GPS data during that time.
We collect only what is necessary to run Budge: your email address (or your name, email, and profile photo if you sign in with Google or Apple), your self-selected home location, GPS location events (used to calculate time out, location variety, and departure time), check-in responses, streak data, and a Stripe payment reference. Raw GPS events are automatically deleted after 90 days - only daily summaries are kept. We do not collect contacts, photos, browsing history, or any data beyond what the app needs to function. See our Privacy Policy for the full list.
No. Your location data is never shared with other users. If social features are enabled, other users may see your display name, username, and streak - but never your home location, GPS data, fee history, or check-in responses. You can also set your profile to private at any time to hide all information from other users.
You can delete your account and all associated data from the Profile screen in the app. Once you confirm deletion, all your personal data - including location events, check-in responses, payment references, and profile information - is permanently removed from our database within 30 days. You can also request data deletion by emailing privacy@budgeme.com.
Yes. All data is encrypted both in transit (via HTTPS/TLS) and at rest on our servers. Authentication tokens are stored in your device’s secure keychain (iOS Keychain), not in plain storage. Payment processing is handled by Stripe, which is PCI DSS Level 1 certified.
The leaderboard has two views: a global leaderboard showing all Budge users ranked by Vitality Score and streak, and a friends-only leaderboard showing just the people you follow. It is designed to be encouraging, not competitive - you can see who is on a hot streak and cheer them on. If you prefer not to appear on the global leaderboard, set your profile to private and you will only be visible to your friends.
If your profile is public, friends who follow you can see your display name, username, current streak, and Vitality Score. They cannot see your home location, specific outings, check-in responses, fee history, or any GPS data. You are always in control of what is visible - switch to a private profile at any time to hide everything.
You can invite friends during onboarding or at any time from the Social tab. Budge generates a personalized invite link that you can share via text message, email, or any messaging app. When a friend signs up through your link, you will both be automatically connected in the app.
Yes. Budge includes both home screen and lock screen widgets so you can see your streak at a glance without opening the app. All widgets show your current streak count and whether you have left home today.
Widgets update automatically every 15 minutes with your latest streak and home/away status.
Home screen: Long-press your home screen, tap the “+” button in the top-left corner, search for “Budge,” and add the small widget. Drag it wherever you like.
Lock screen: Long-press your lock screen, tap “Customize,” then tap the widget area below the clock. Search for “Budge” and choose from inline, rectangular, or circular.
You can pause your account from the Profile screen. When paused, Budge stops tracking your location and no fees are assessed. Your streak will be frozen at its current value and will not reset. You can unpause at any time to resume tracking. Pausing is a good option if you are traveling, recovering from an illness, or just need a break.
You can cancel and delete your account at any time from the Profile screen in the app. Once you confirm, location tracking stops immediately, no further fees are charged, and all your data is permanently deleted within 30 days. There are no cancellation fees and no lock-in period. If you ever want to come back, you can sign up again with a fresh calibration.
Your streak tracks how many consecutive days you have gotten out of the house. If you miss a day without a valid reason, your streak resets to zero. Valid reasons (illness, severe weather, rest day) do not break your streak. If you pause your account, your streak is frozen and picks up where you left off when you unpause. Streaks are a fun motivational tool - losing one is not the end of the world, and building it back up can feel great.
If you signed up with email and password, you can update both from the Profile screen in the app. If you signed in with Google or Apple, your email is managed by that provider - update it through your Google or Apple account settings instead.
For any questions, issues, or feedback, reach out to us at hello@budgeme.com. We aim to respond within 24 hours.