The short version

Treeline is a local-first app. Your financial data lives on your computer in a DuckDB database. We don't collect it, we don't store it, and we don't have access to it.

Data storage

All your financial data — transactions, accounts, balances, tags, budgets — is stored locally on your device in a DuckDB database file. Treeline does not operate any cloud servers that store your financial data.

If you use bank sync (via SimpleFIN or Lunch Flow), your credentials for those services are stored locally on your device. Treeline never sees or stores your bank login credentials.

Data collection

Treeline does not collect telemetry, analytics, or usage data. There are no tracking pixels, no crash reporters, and no phone-home behavior. The app works entirely offline after installation.

MCP extension (Claude Desktop)

Treeline includes an MCP server that lets AI assistants like Claude query your local financial database. Here's how that works:

The MCP server runs locally on your device — it reads from the same local DuckDB file the desktop app uses.
When you ask Claude a question about your finances, the MCP server executes the query locally and returns the results to Claude.
Claude (the LLM provider) sees the query results you ask about, but not your full database. This is subject to your LLM provider's privacy policy.
Treeline does not send your financial data to any server. The MCP server never makes outbound network requests with your data.

Third-party services

If you choose to connect a bank sync provider (SimpleFIN or Lunch Flow), your transaction data flows directly from that provider to your local database. Treeline does not act as an intermediary. Each provider has their own privacy policy that governs their handling of your banking data.

Data retention

Since all data is stored locally on your device, you have full control over retention. You can delete your database file at any time to remove all financial data. Treeline does not retain any copy of your data.

The treeline.money website

The treeline.money website uses Vercel Analytics to collect anonymous, aggregated page view data. No cookies are used for tracking, and no personally identifiable information is collected. The desktop app and CLI do not use any analytics.

Open source

Treeline is open source under the MIT license. You can audit every line of code to verify these claims.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Open an issue on GitHub or reach out on Discord.