One number for irregular income
Freeboard is a cash dashboard for freelancers in Europe paid by clients and platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr and Stripe, often in more than one currency. Its central number is what you can spend today without going below zero in the next twelve months, counting only the income you can rely on.
It is my own product: I designed it and built it end to end with AI tools. It is in early access, with a waitlist, so there are no usage figures here: this case shows the decisions and what is live.
The problem
When money arrives on different days, in dollars and euros, from Upwork, Fiverr, Stripe and direct clients, a bank balance doesn’t say how much is safe to spend. Budget apps assume a salary, and a quiet month or a tax advance shows up only when it lands.
My role
I designed and built the whole product with AI tools, mostly Claude Code: competitive and search research, product and interface design, PHP and JavaScript code, tests, deploy, the browser extension, the AI connector and the bilingual site with its SEO.
Where it stands
Early access with a waitlist. The live demo, the Chrome extension and the site in English and Italian are public. There are no users or revenue to report yet, so nothing on this page is an outcome metric.
From the first question to a public demo
Competitors and real questions
YNAB, PocketSmith and Lunch Money compared, and the questions freelancers type into search.
One number first
What you can spend today without going below zero in the next twelve months.
Certainty, lines, consent
Income weighted by certainty, the month drawn as lines, AI that asks before it changes anything.
AI-assisted, end to end
PHP and JavaScript written with Claude Code, golden and smoke tests, deploy.
Early access
Live demo, Chrome extension and a site in English and Italian with guides.
One number before coffee
The overview opens on a single figure: what you can spend today. Under it, in view rather than in a help page, is how it is calculated: the lowest point of the next twelve months counting certain income only, minus the goals you have locked and the emergency fund.
I built it on the low point, not on the month-end balance, because freelance money rarely runs out at the end of this month. It runs out in a quiet December with a tax advance due, and the number has to know that in October.
Income weighted by certainty
Every income item is certain, half or uncertain. Certain income counts in full, half-certain counts for half, and uncertain income counts for nothing until it arrives. A retainer and a maybe-project stop looking like the same money.
The Cash Flow runs twelve months ahead from today. This month shows what has already arrived next to what is still to come, so a dip like December’s is visible in October.
Payouts recognised, currencies converted
Stripe, Upwork and Fiverr payouts are recognised among the bank transactions, and the work you bill is kept apart from passive income. Several currencies end up in one total in euros, converted at the European Central Bank reference rate.
Banks read only, data yours
Bank connections are read only, through Enable Banking, an authorised PSD2 provider, with consent you can revoke at any time. Everything can be exported to a JSON file, or deleted from Settings with the bank consents revoked.
The month as lines of water
The overview draws the month as lines: each income item flows into the accounts and each expense flows out, and the style of a line says how certain it is: solid, veiled for half, dotted for uncertain. Pick a line to see its timetable month by month.
It started as a metro map. Water read better, because money pools in the accounts and drains out of them, so the lines became streams. On a phone the same lines turn into a numbered list in the same order, so nothing has to be learned twice.
AI that asks before it changes anything
Freeboard has an MCP connector with OAuth, so Claude and ChatGPT read the same numbers you see and can answer questions about your month or a trip. When the assistant wants to change something, it proposes the change and you confirm it; the last change can always be undone.
Nothing is read until you add Freeboard in Claude or ChatGPT and approve it. The connector tells the assistant to ask before any change and to treat bank and client text as data, never as instructions.
Can I afford two weeks in Bali in December, about €1,800?
Freeboard · overview, cash flow
With Bali the lowest point would drop to €12,306 at the end of December. You keep €11,456 as an emergency fund and €1,200 for the visa, so the trip would dip about €350 into those reserves, and what you can spend today would go from €1,450 to 0.
Shall I add Bali as a one-off December expense? You can undo it.
Yes, add it
In the browser, where the money goes out
The extension brings the dashboard to the pages where you spend and sell. It talks only to your own dashboard and saves nothing without your confirmation. It is published on the Chrome Web Store and works on Edge and Brave; Safari is coming soon.
Every morning
Cash, what you can spend and new transactions to assign, one click away.
On Booking.com and Airbnb
The price of your dates, split by night across the months and checked against the stays budget.
At checkout
What you can spend next to the cart total; the amount comes from the page, the item from your own history.
Amazon orders
Recent orders recorded from the order page; returns and refunds become incoming refunds.
On eBay, Vinted and Subito
A listing goes into Sales with its title, price, description and photos.
Shortcuts
Alt+Shift+F opens the summary, Alt+Shift+S records an expense; or right-click a selected amount.
A design critique, applied
After a critique of the app I rewrote its copy against a short set of rules: labels of one to three words, at most one help sentence in view, longer explanations behind an info button, the certainty marks instead of words. Trust notes are shortened, never cut: “certain only” and “estimate” stay next to the figure they qualify.
Overview, under “In 12 months”
Beforeend of October 2027 · with expected income
After◐ end of October 2027 · expected
Overview, where the number comes from
BeforeWith certain income only you stay above zero over the next 12 months, but not enough for what you keep aside: €8,674 missing.
AfterAbove zero for 12 months, but €8,674 short of what you keep aside.
Transactions, header
BeforeUpdated just now · Fineco, Revolut: last read failed, the balances are the previous ones
AfterUpdated just now · Fineco, Revolut: read failed ⓘ
What is live today
Live demo
The real app with example data and no sign-up. Change a number and watch the months ahead move.
Open the live demoChrome extension
Published on the Chrome Web Store, in English and Italian. Safari coming soon.
See it on the storeSite in English and Italian
Guides, honest comparisons with YNAB, PocketSmith and Lunch Money, and a free safe-to-spend calculator, with a sitemap and structured data.
Visit freeboard.money
In early access, with a waitlist: no user numbers yet, so the proof is the product itself.