DIY FinanceFAQ
Questions, answered honestly.
Direct answers about your data, Orb, your financial Guide, the Financial Wellbeing Score, what membership costs, and when the app launches.
Your data
Your money and your data
What we can see, what we can never do, and the rights you keep.
Is my data secure?
We treat your data as yours. Bank connections are read-only. Bank tokens are encrypted with AES-256-GCM, sensitive details and your Orb chat history are encrypted at rest, and every Member’s data is isolated at the database layer. You can export everything, or delete your account and data, at any time. Your financial data and your email are never sold. Employers never see individual Member data — your balances, Score, and conversations are never visible to an employer, including one that might someday sponsor memberships. And we don’t yet claim any third-party certifications: we’ll pursue them and publish the results when we have them. The full picture is on Security and Privacy.
How does bank linking through Plaid work?
Plaid is a widely used service that connects apps to banks. If you link an account, the connection is read-only: DIY Finance can see balances and transactions to inform your Score and your coaching, but it can never move your money — and we never see or store your bank password. Prefer not to link at all? Manual entry works too: you can type in your numbers yourself.
Can I export or delete my data?
Yes — both, whenever you want. You can export everything DIY Finance holds about you. You can delete your account and your data, and deletion completes within 30 days. You can tell Orb to forget something you’ve shared, and it does. We honor do-not-sell requests under the CCPA, we don’t use your financial data for advertising, and your email is never shared or sold.
The coaching
A coach, not an advisor
How Orb works — and the rules it works under.
How does Orb work?
Orb is a chat and voice coach that works from your real numbers — the accounts and details you’ve connected or entered. It remembers your context between sessions, and forgets anything you tell it to. Instead of a wall of tips, it surfaces Your Next Best Step: one Guided Action at a time, with the reasoning, so the choice stays yours. And Orb is coded — not just instructed — never to give individual investment advice. What it offers is educational coaching that could help you think a decision through, not investment advice.
Is this investment advice?
No. DIY Finance is a coaching and education tool, not an investment advisory service. Orb can explain how money tends to work, help you understand your own numbers, and lay out options with their trade-offs. It never tells you what you must do, you can defer any decision, and for tax, investment, or legal questions it will point you toward a licensed professional. If you want someone to manage your money and investments for you, this isn’t that — on purpose.
Who decides what I do?
You do. DIY Finance is built on a simple rule: inspire, inform, and guide — never decide for you. Every Guided Action comes with the reason it’s there, alternatives if it doesn’t fit your life, and the option to set it aside for now. When a question needs licensed help, Orb says so. You’re the decision-maker: we hand you the framework, the Score, and a coach — and the calls stay yours.
The Score
One honest number
What the Financial Wellbeing Score is — and what it isn’t.
Is the Financial Wellbeing Score a credit score?
No. A credit score measures how reliably you repay lenders. The Financial Wellbeing Score looks at your whole financial picture across seven factors — Credit, Income, Expenses, Debt, Savings, Investments, and Home Equity — so your credit is one part of the story, not the whole of it. The Score is also honest by design: it isn’t shown at all until enough of your picture is known, estimates are labeled as estimates, and it’s never a ranking against anyone else — it measures your own position and what tends to move it. The Score page has the full plain-language explanation.
Joining
Pricing, launch, and who it’s for
The practical details, stated plainly.
What does it cost?
DIY Finance has a free tier and a paid membership. Exact pricing will be published plainly on this site before launch — findable by anyone, with no sales conversation required. What we can say now: the paid membership renews automatically until you cancel, you can cancel at any time, and joining the Founding Community is free and commits you to nothing.
When does the app launch, and on what platforms?
Soon — and we’d rather be honest than falsely precise. The DIY Finance app is in active development and launches on iOS first, with founding members getting first access. We don’t announce dates until we’re sure we can keep them, so instead of a countdown you’ll get occasional, honest build updates by email if you join the Founding Community. Status last updated September 1, 2026.
Who can join?
You need to be 18 or older to become a Member. The app is built US-first: accounts, credit, and coaching assume United States banking at launch. Past that, there’s no minimum balance and no wealth requirement — DIY Finance is built for everyday people who want an honest system for their money, whatever their starting point.
DIY Finance is a financial coaching tool, not an investment advisor. Orb’s guidance is educational. For tax, investment, or legal advice, consult a licensed professional.