New to Lode? This guide walks you through the basics: setting up your first account, adding transactions, organizing categories, setting budgets, and checking your statistics.

Step 1. Set up your accounts

When you first open Lode, you choose your language and currency, and Lode creates a starter account for you automatically. You can rename it or add more — cards, cash, wallets — any time in Settings → Accounts. When you add a new account, you can set its starting balance right there.

Lode shows your total balance across all accounts at a glance.

Step 2. Add your first transaction

Tap + in the top right corner from any screen.

Enter the amount, pick a category and account — that's it. Lode will automatically set the date and type (expense or income).

Tip: if you have a Premium subscription, try the AI chat — just type coffee 4 or salary 3000 and the transaction is created instantly.

Step 3. Set up categories

Lode comes with a ready-to-use set of categories: food, transport, salary, and more. You can rename them, change icons and colors, or create your own.

Go to Settings → Categories.

Step 4. Create a budget (optional)

Open the Budget tab and tap +. Choose a category and a monthly limit — Lode will track how much you've spent and how much is left.

Step 5. Explore your statistics

The Statistics tab gives you a full picture: spending by category, monthly trends, daily costs. Widgets can be reordered and hidden to match what matters to you.

Your data is safe

Lode stores everything in your personal iCloud — your data is never shared with third parties and is only accessible to you. Sync across devices happens automatically.

Questions? Reach out — we're happy to help.