Our story
The Plutus story
Why Plutus exists, who it is for, how it is licensed, and answers to the questions people ask most.
Why I built Plutus
About a month and a half ago, I looked at my phone and realised I already had at least five different budget apps installed. I had downloaded one after another, hoping the next would finally cover everything I needed. None did.
None of them understood how money works in Israel: the banks, the credit-card billing cycles, the savings and pension products, the way a month really starts on payday. And Israel isn’t the only country with its own financial quirks. Almost every app is built for a generic user, and anyone whose financial life is a little different has to adapt to the app instead of the app adapting to them.
So I stopped searching and decided to build it myself, openly, under my company, Project Aurora. The goal was a free app that runs completely on the user’s phone and can use AI on your own budget without exposing a single number to anyone.
Before features, we thought about trust. Money data is some of the most private information a person has. So our first decision was architectural: everything is stored on the device, and there is no backend. We didn’t build servers, accounts or APIs that could hold your information.
Then Google released Gemma 4, an open AI model small enough to run on a phone. Could we give people an AI that runs offline on their own device? The answer was yes, within the limits of the phone’s memory, so Plutus supports two sizes, Gemma 4 E2B and E4B. The AI doesn’t only see the message you type; it can look at the data you have built up over weeks, months or years, and talk about your real financial stability rather than generic advice.
While researching, I noticed that many budget apps people love put their best features behind a paywall. Today, AI helps build software like this very fast; Plutus was partly built with AI and took about one month. Much of what budget apps charge for is standard calculation and organisation, so we decided Plutus would not charge for it.
We didn’t find any budget app in the iOS or Android stores offering a fully local AI with fully local data, so we built it. Our beta testers called it an amazing decision. They no longer need to understand charts or be “finance people”. They just ask, and the AI answers from their own numbers.
Who it’s for
Anyone who wants to understand where their money goes.
- People in Israel, the first market it was designed for
- People anywhere who have outgrown generic apps, especially across several currencies
- Privacy-conscious people who won’t hand financial data to a company
- People who aren’t “numbers people” and want answers in normal words
- Households and people with several roles, such as personal, freelance and travel
- People tired of paying for a budgeting app
- Builders who want a ready foundation for their own money app
Not a fit if you want automatic bank syncing. If your phone can’t run the AI model, the rest of the app still works.
Open source
Open, and built to be extended with AI.
The code is public on GitHub, so anyone can verify the privacy claims. It is source-available under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0: anyone can view, use, modify and share it for non-commercial purposes, keeping the license and credit to Alexander Aluf. Commercial use by others requires written permission.
The repository includes instructions written for AI coding assistants: how the design, local storage and on-device AI work, and why each part exists. Explain your idea to an AI agent and it already has the full context, so contributing doesn’t require being a hardcore developer.
Plutus is free. We’ve committed that it will never be put behind a paywall, and the license prevents others from selling it.
Is Plutus really free?
Yes. No subscription, no ads, no in-app purchases, and we’ve committed that it will stay that way.
Do I need an account?
No. Open the app and start.
Where is my data stored?
Only on your phone.
Can the creators see my financial data?
No. We have no servers and no way to receive it.
Does Plutus connect to my bank?
No. You add your transactions yourself, which is also why nothing is shared.
Does the AI send my questions to the internet?
No. It runs entirely on your phone, even in airplane mode.
Do I need internet?
Not to use the app. You need it only to download exchange rates and, if you want the AI, to download the model once.
What phone do I need for the AI?
A recent, fairly powerful phone with enough memory and free storage. The app checks your phone and tells you whether it can run the AI. The rest of Plutus works on all supported phones.
Can the AI change my data?
Only if you review and approve each change.
What if I lose or change my phone?
Export a backup (ZIP) and import it on the new phone. Without a backup, data lives only on the old phone.
What languages are supported?
English, Hebrew (right-to-left) and Russian.
Can I use it outside Israel?
Yes. It supports many currencies and flexible settings. It was just designed to understand the Israeli system first.
Is it open source?
The code is public on GitHub under the PolyForm Noncommercial License. You can read, use and modify it for non-commercial purposes.
Can I build my own version?
Yes, for non-commercial purposes. The project comes with guides written for AI assistants to help you.
Can the AI give financial advice?
No. It is an assistant that explains your own numbers. Please consult a professional for decisions that matter.