Answers about how BorderBudget works — pricing, features, and your data.
What is BorderBudget?
A travel app that overlays a map with crowdsourced, real-world data: airport and border wait times, medical procedure costs, work-friendly spot ratings (WiFi/noise/outlets), rental listings, and saved neighborhoods — plus trip budgeting and visa-compliance tracking, including a Schengen 90/180 counter.
Does BorderBudget work offline?
Yes, for your own data — trips, expenses, and documents are stored locally on your device and sync to the cloud automatically once you're back online, so you can keep logging expenses without a connection.
Which platforms is it available on?
BorderBudget is available on iPhone and iPad through the App Store and on Android through Google Play.
Is BorderBudget free?
Yes. New accounts get a full-access trial, and after that you keep a permanent free tier — your current trip's budget, the current month's expenses, and all crowdsourced map data (work spots, wait times, medical costs, contributing your own reports) stay free forever. A premium subscription unlocks your full trip/expense/border-crossing history, PDF exports, and a couple of additional map tools (saving new Goldmine neighborhoods, and expanded-area walkability search).
What's this early-adopter pricing I've heard about?
The first 1,000 BorderBudget users get discounted annual premium pricing, applied automatically at signup — no promo code needed.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Subscriptions are managed through your Google Play or App Store account settings, the same as any other app subscription — BorderBudget doesn't have a separate in-app cancellation flow, since Google/Apple handle billing directly.
How does multi-currency expense tracking work?
Log an expense in whatever currency you actually spent it in, and BorderBudget converts it automatically so your trip budget and totals stay readable in your home currency — no manual conversion needed.
Can I see my spending broken down by category or country?
Yes — the budget screen groups your spend by category (food, transport, lodging, work, medical, and more) and by country/day, alongside a budget-vs-actual progress view for your current trip.
How does the Schengen 90/180 tracker work?
It calculates the rolling 90-days-out-of-any-180-day-window limit automatically based on the trips and country entries you log, so you don't have to count entry/exit stamps by hand.
How does the Airport Gauntlet timer work?
When you're actually in an airport line, you start a timer for either Security or Passport Control — the two are tracked as separate figures per airport. The "Security" number is measured curb-to-gate (any bag-check line blended with the actual screening line), so it reflects a realistic total time to budget for, not just an idealized security-only estimate. Once you clear the checkpoint, your time contributes to that airport's crowdsourced average for other travelers.
How do I report a land border crossing wait time?
Border wait times are reported manually, in tiers (roughly 15/45/90+ minutes), directly from the map — useful even in the low-connectivity conditions common at land borders, since it doesn't rely on continuous GPS tracking.
What are Work Spot ratings?
Community-submitted WiFi speed, ambient noise level, and outlet-availability ratings for cafes and coworking spots, graded so you can tell at a glance whether a spot is actually good for a work session — not just guessed from reviews about the coffee.
Where do the medical cost estimates come from?
Real costs reported by other travelers for specific procedures at specific facilities — not list prices. No receipt photos are required to submit one, to keep the reporting process private.
What are Goldmines?
Neighborhoods you've personally discovered and want to remember for future trips. Saving a new Goldmine is a premium feature; any Goldmines you've already saved stay fully visible and usable either way.
Does BorderBudget track my location constantly?
No. Foreground location is used to show your position on the map and detect city presence for trip tracking. Background location only runs while you've explicitly started the Airport Gauntlet timer, or for the Schengen day-counter's country-change detection — it's not continuous tracking for advertising or any other purpose. Full details are in our Privacy Policy.
How do I delete my account and data?
Settings → Delete Account & Data. This is permanent — your cloud data is erased within 30 days.
How do I report a bug or send feedback?
Settings → Send Feedback, from inside the app — it goes directly to our team. You can also email developer@borderbudget.com.