MonyaA Telegram expense tracker bot connected to a real budget app
Monya has a Telegram bot that records expenses and income from an ordinary message. Type "taxi 12 and coffee 4" in the chat and the bot saves two entries with amount, date, category and account, then shows what it recorded with an Undo button. Everything lands in the Monya app, where you get reports, budgets and the rest of your accounts.
Free version forever. Premium comes with a free trial.
How the bot works
- Open Monya and go to More → Settings → Telegram bot. The app gives you a personal link that works for one hour.
- Open the link in Telegram and tap Start. The bot confirms that your account is connected.
- Send a message the way you would write it to a friend: "groceries 35", "taxi 12 yesterday", "salary 3000".
- The bot replies with the list of entries it saved. If something is wrong, tap Undo and the whole batch is deleted.
The bot uses the same AI as the app, so one message can hold several entries, different dates and different accounts. It understands transfers between your own accounts too, for example "transfer 100 from card to cash". If the bot isn't sure about a category, it still saves the entry and asks you to check the category in the app.
What you can send
| You type in Telegram | What Monya records |
|---|---|
| taxi 12 and coffee 4 | Two expenses: Transport 12, Cafés and restaurants 4 |
| groceries 35 | One expense in Groceries, today's date |
| taxi 12 yesterday | Transport 12 with yesterday's date |
| salary 3000 | Income: Salary 3,000 |
| transfer 100 from card to cash | A transfer between two of your accounts |
| lunch 250 baht | Cafés and restaurants 250 THB |
Amounts go to your main currency unless you name another one or an account in another currency.
Why a bot helps the habit stick
For many people Telegram is open all day, on the phone and on the laptop. Writing "lunch 14" in a chat you use every day takes a few seconds, and you don't have to find and open a separate app at the checkout. Many people give up on expense tracking because of the small extra step each time. With the bot, that step is a short message.
You can also catch up in one go. In the evening, send "breakfast 8, metro 2.90, lunch 14, groceries 37" and the bot splits it into four entries.
What the bot doesn't do yet
For accounts outside Russia, the bot understands text messages only. If you send a voice note, it asks you to type instead. Your phone keyboard's dictation button works well here: you speak, the keyboard types, and the bot reads the text. Voice is available inside the Monya app itself.
The bot works in a private chat with you. It doesn't read group chats, so each family member connects their own account. The bot isn't available in Monya's hidden mode, because Telegram knows who you are.
What else you get in the app
The bot is a fast way in. The full picture is in the Monya app for Android, iPhone and the web:
- spending by category, month, tag and project;
- monthly budgets that warn you at 80% and when you go over;
- accounts in any currency, with totals in your main currency;
- screenshots of any banking app that add only the payments you haven't recorded;
- bank emails, forwarded automatically to your personal Monya address after a one-time setup;
- on Android, notifications from your banking apps that become entries;
- a family budget for up to 4 people on one Premium plan.
Other Telegram expense bots
There are a few other ways to track spending in Telegram, and they suit different people.
- Munimji is a free Telegram bot that accepts text, voice notes and receipt photos, categorizes spending and syncs it to Google Sheets. A good fit if you want your data in a spreadsheet.
- TeleExpense Tracker runs inside Telegram and stores everything in your own Google Sheet. It lists manual entry, receipt scanning, review of bank alerts, recurring entries and shared tracking with a partner.
- n8n templates let you build your own bot. One popular template takes text, receipt photos, PDFs and voice notes and logs them to Google Sheets. It costs $39 and needs your own OpenAI, Google Cloud and LlamaIndex keys plus an n8n instance.
Monya is a different shape: the bot is one of several ways to record into a full budget app with reports, budgets, multi-currency accounts and a family budget. If you only want a log in a spreadsheet, the bots above may be simpler.
FAQ
Is the Monya Telegram bot free?
Yes. The bot works on the free version, which includes AI within a small limit, shared by the bot, voice and text. Premium has a much bigger AI limit and comes with a free trial.
Can I send voice messages to the bot?
Not yet for accounts outside Russia: the bot reads text only. Use your keyboard's dictation, or record by voice in the Monya app.
What happens if the bot gets an entry wrong?
Tap Undo under the reply and the whole batch is deleted. You can also edit any entry in the app.
Can my partner and I use the same bot?
Yes, each of you connects your own Monya account in a private chat. Expenses you mark as family show up in the shared family budget.
How do I disconnect the bot?
Send /unlink in the chat, or turn the bot off in Monya's settings.
Does the bot see my bank account?
No. Monya never connects to your bank. The bot only sees the messages you send it, and card and phone numbers are removed before the text reaches the AI.