Developer Builds Free Telegram-Based Budget Tracker to Replace Subscription Apps

A developer frustrated with paid budgeting apps built a personal finance tool called 'Ek Ek Paisa ka Hisab' that runs entirely through Telegram at zero monthly cost. Users log expenses by sending plain-language messages to a Telegram bot, which parses the text using Python and stores transactions in a Supabase Postgres database. The system generates a self-contained HTML dashboard file that works offline without any login or server connection. A custom parser handles Indian currency notations such as 'k' for thousands and 'l' for lakhs, and classifies entries as income or expenses using keyword matching. The bot supports multiple users, keeping each person's financial data fully isolated by scoping all queries to the sender's unique chat ID.