If you’ve seen viral budget posts on Reddit or Twitter where someone’s income visually flows from left to right through a colorful diagram of categories like rivers branching into tributaries — that’s a Sankey diagram. They’re unreasonably satisfying to look at and genuinely useful for understanding where your money actually goes.
Monarch Money is the only major budgeting app with a built-in Sankey. YNAB doesn’t have one. Rocket Money doesn’t have one. Quicken doesn’t have one. Mint never had one. The closest competitors (Copilot Money, Empower) have basic spending charts but nothing comparable to Monarch’s automatically-generated Sankey diagram.
Here’s how it works, why it matters, and how to read it.
What is a Sankey diagram?
A Sankey diagram (named after Irish engineer Matthew Sankey, who first used them to visualize steam engine efficiency in 1898) is a flow visualization. The width of each “stream” is proportional to the amount flowing through it. Bigger streams = more money. Smaller streams = less money.
In Monarch’s implementation, the diagram flows left-to-right:
- Far left: Your income sources (Paycheck, Freelance Income, Interest, Dividends, etc.)
- Middle: The branching point where income splits into broad categories (Housing, Food, Transportation, Savings, etc.)
- Right: The specific subcategories (Mortgage, Groceries, Restaurants, Gas, etc.)
You can read the diagram in three useful ways:
- Top-to-bottom — see what your largest expense categories are at a glance
- Left-to-right — trace where each dollar of income ended up
- Total width — bigger total flow = a higher-spending month overall
What makes it so satisfying is that the math has to balance. If $8,000 came in, exactly $8,000 has to flow out somewhere — to expenses, to transfers, or to savings. The diagram makes that visceral in a way that bar charts and pie charts can’t.
Why Monarch’s Sankey is the differentiator
Per Monarch’s own marketing, “Monarch’s Sankey Diagram makes it incredibly easy to track your spending patterns.” But it’s more than that — it’s the feature that converts more Mint refugees to paying Monarch users than any other.
Three reasons:
1. It’s automatically generated from your real data
Sankey diagrams have existed forever. The web is full of “DIY Sankey budget” tools (SankeyMatic, BudgetFlow, etc.) where you manually enter your income and expenses to generate a static image. The problem: you have to enter all the data yourself. By the time you’ve categorized 200 transactions manually, you’ve lost interest.
Monarch’s Sankey is automatically generated from your transactions. Connect your accounts, let Monarch’s auto-categorization run, and the Sankey is just there. No data entry. It updates as new transactions come in.
2. It’s interactive and filterable
Click any segment of the diagram and Monarch shows you the underlying transactions. Hover over a category and the dollar amount + percentage appears. Switch the time window from Month to Quarter to Year and the diagram redraws.
You can also filter by:
- Time period (this month, last month, year-to-date, custom range)
- Account (just one card, or all accounts)
- Account ownership (yours, partner’s, joint — via Shared Views)
- Category groups (zoom in on just Food, or just Housing)
3. It’s shareable
Per Monarch’s blog: “One of the exciting parts of the Sankey diagram is its ability to be shared with others, whether you’re discussing your finances with a family member, or seeking advice from a financial planner. For privacy, you also have the option to share the diagram with all dollar amounts hidden.”
You can:
- Export the Sankey as an image to share with your CPA
- Share with your spouse for a “money date” conversation
- Post a redacted version to Reddit’s r/personalfinance for advice (without exposing actual numbers)
This is genuinely useful. Many financial planners now ask new clients to bring a Monarch Sankey to the first meeting — it tells them more in 30 seconds than 3 hours of Q&A would.
How to access the Sankey diagram in Monarch
Per Monarch’s documentation: “Reports, including the Sankey diagram, are currently available on web only.”
To find it:
- Sign in at app.monarchmoney.com (web — there’s no equivalent on iOS or Android yet)
- Click Cash Flow in the left navigation
- Look for the view toggle near the top of the page
- Switch to Breakdown (or Sankey depending on UI version) view
The Sankey loads with your current month’s data by default. Adjust the time window and filters to see different views.
If you don’t see the Sankey option, double-check that:
- You’re on web (not the mobile app)
- You’re signed in to a paid Monarch account or active trial
- Your account has at least 30 days of categorized transaction data (Sankey needs data to render)
How to actually USE the Sankey for budget decisions
The diagram is beautiful but the real value is in the conversations and decisions it triggers. Common patterns we see Monarch users use it for:
1. The “is this category bigger than I thought” check
Most people underestimate one or two specific categories. Common surprises:
- Restaurants/Eating Out — most people guess 30-50% lower than reality
- Subscriptions — adds up to a stream much wider than expected
- Amazon — the all-purpose merchant; can dwarf groceries on the diagram
- Gas/Transportation — varies seasonally; the year-view is often eye-opening
Pull up the Sankey, look for the streams you didn’t expect to be that wide. That’s your action list.
2. The “savings rate” check
The thinnest stream on most Sankeys is “Savings” or “Goals” — the money flowing toward future-you. If your Savings stream is barely visible relative to expenses, that’s the chart telling you to redirect cash flow.
For households trying to hit a 15-20% savings rate, the visual is the most motivating budget tool we’ve found. Skinny savings streams demand action; fat savings streams feel like progress.
3. The “couples conversation” diagram
For couples doing weekly money dates, the Sankey filtered to “joint household” gives you a single picture both partners can look at together. Disagreements about “what are we even spending on” disappear when you can both point at the same diagram.
Per Monarch’s documentation: “The Sankey diagram can be used to get a clear picture of joint account finances, or even filter for individual accounts so that each person has their own saved Sankey diagram.”
4. The “year-end review” big picture
Switch the time window to “Last Year” or “Year to Date” and you see how every dollar got allocated across 12 months. This is the most useful view for setting next year’s budget — historic actuals are infinitely more reliable than projected estimates.
5. The “what changed” comparison
Compare this month’s Sankey to last month’s (or this year vs last year). Categories that visibly grew or shrank are the ones to dig into. The visual delta is more striking than reading two columns of numbers.
Reading common Sankey patterns
A few visual patterns you’ll see, and what they typically mean:
Wide income, thin savings stream: Lifestyle inflation. You’re spending most of what you make. Common pattern for users in their first year of higher earnings — they haven’t reset spending to match.
One dominant expense stream (housing, usually): House-poor. Mortgage/rent + housing costs eating most of income. Common in HCOL cities; less alarming if everything else is balanced.
Many thin expense streams of similar widths: Death by a thousand cuts. No single big problem; lots of small leaks. Common for users with subscription creep.
Visible “Transfers” stream that’s bigger than expected: Money moving between accounts often gets miscategorized as expenses. Re-categorize transfers as Type:Transfer to clean this up.
Income from multiple sources: Multiple inputs (paycheck + freelance + interest + dividends). Usually a sign of a healthier-than-average financial position.
A noticeably wider Savings/Goals stream: You’re winning. Maintain.
Privacy: sharing the diagram without dollar amounts
For Reddit posts, financial advisor consultations, or spouse conversations where you want the structure but not the absolute numbers:
- Open the Sankey
- Toggle “Hide dollar amounts” (or “Anonymize” depending on UI version)
- Export the image
The structure stays — categories, relative widths, flow patterns — but specific dollar amounts are removed. Useful for:
- Reddit r/personalfinance (where posting your full income makes you a target)
- Showing a family member without revealing actual numbers
- Including in financial planning conversations with someone you’re not yet ready to share absolute figures with
Common questions
Why don’t other budgeting apps have a Sankey diagram?
Honestly: it’s not technically that hard. The math is straightforward (proportional flows from sources to destinations). Monarch chose to invest in it as a differentiator; competitors haven’t prioritized it. There’s open discussion of this exact question on Hacker News (one notable thread asks “I love Sankey diagrams and don’t understand why major personal finance apps like [others] don’t have them”). Monarch’s answer: they should, and we built one.
Can I export the Sankey as an image?
Yes. Right-click on the diagram → Save image, or use Monarch’s built-in export. The image is suitable for sharing or printing.
Does the Sankey work with Shared Views (couples)?
Yes. Each partner can view the household Sankey, or filter to just their own accounts/transactions. The ownership filtering carries through to the Sankey view.
Does the Sankey show historical data or just current?
Historical. Pick any time window — last month, last quarter, last year, custom range — and the diagram redraws with that data.
What about Monarch Plus’s Forecasting feature — does that include a Sankey?
The Forecasting feature in Plus uses different visualizations (line charts, projection cones) for future cash flow. Sankey is for historical actuals; Forecasting is for projections. They’re complementary.
Can I see the Sankey on mobile?
Not currently. Per Monarch’s documentation, “Reports, including the Sankey diagram, are currently available on web only.” Mobile shows the standard Cash Flow chart instead.
Does the Sankey export to PDF for taxes?
The Sankey itself exports as an image. For tax-grade documentation, export your transactions to CSV (How to Export Transactions) and your CPA can build whatever views they need from the underlying data.
What if my Sankey looks weird?
Usually means transactions are miscategorized. Common culprits:
- Credit card payments being counted as expenses (re-categorize as Transfer)
- Refunds tagged as positive expenses (categorize as Returns)
- Internal transfers between savings/checking (Type:Transfer)
Spend 15 minutes cleaning these up and the diagram becomes accurate.
Can I customize the colors or layout?
Limited customization. Monarch’s color scheme is fixed but consistent across categories (so the same category is always the same color). Layout is automatic based on your data.
Does the Sankey work for non-USD currencies?
Yes — Monarch supports multiple currencies and the Sankey renders in whatever your default currency is.
What if I want a more customizable Sankey?
If you want full visual control, export your Monarch transactions to CSV and use a free tool like SankeyMATIC (no affiliation; just a useful third-party tool). You’ll lose the auto-update feature but gain layout flexibility.
Code SMARTMONEY · WSJ Best Overall Budgeting App · 4.9 stars across 60,000+ reviews · No ads, no selling data
The Sankey alone won’t fix your finances — but it’s the visualization that makes the work feel meaningful. If you’ve been doing budget spreadsheets for years and still don’t intuitively know where your money goes, this is the tool that finally clicks. Mostly because rivers are easier to look at than tables.
Related reading:
- Monarch Money Review 2026
- Is Monarch Money Worth It?
- Monarch Money Promo Code 2026
- Monarch Plus vs Core
- How to Track Expenses in Monarch
- How to Create a Budget in Monarch
- How to Set Financial Goals in Monarch
- How to Share Finances With a Partner in Monarch
- Monarch vs YNAB
- Monarch vs Copilot Money
Not financial, legal, or tax advice. We earn a commission if you sign up for Monarch through a link on this page; the price is the same. Sankey diagram features and limitations verified against Monarch’s official Help Center and product blog as of May 7, 2026.