Portability
Expense Logger — one file, anywhere, forever
On Expense Logger —
The Expense Logger is one HTML file. Not one file plus a database. Not one file plus a config folder. One file, self-contained, running the whole tracker end-to-end. You can email it to yourself and it works.
The file on a drive
USB stick, Dropbox folder, network share, encrypted container, phone. Anywhere a file can live, the Expense Logger can live. Double-click; it opens. No installer, no dependencies, no runtime to keep patched.
This is what "runs anywhere" used to mean before it started meaning "runs in our cloud, from any device".
Browsers, operating systems, and time
The Expense Logger runs in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari; on Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS; on a work laptop, a personal one, or a friend's. Offline in a cabin, offline on a plane, offline on the second morning of a data-centre outage you did not cause.
The portability isn't a feature we bolted on. It's what happens when you refuse to build a back end.
Backup discipline
Because the Expense Logger is a file, you back it up the way you back up anything that matters: a copy on your machine, one on a drive, one somewhere safe. Export the data as JSON alongside the file for good measure.
You are not delegating your backup to a vendor's status page. You are keeping copies, like a grown-up.
Where the Expense Logger runs
- Any browser after ~2018Chromium, Firefox, Safari — recent versions of each.
- Any OSWindows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS.
- Fully offline once cachedFirst open populates the browser cache; then, forever, offline.
- Any storage mediumSSD, HDD, USB, encrypted volume, network drive, sync folder.
Questions people ask
Can I use the Expense Logger on my phone?
It opens on mobile. Whether it is comfortable there depends on the shape of the tool — read on the phone, edit on a laptop for the fiddly bits.
Two devices at once?
Sequential, not simultaneous. It is a file, not a service. Sync via any file-sync tool you already trust (Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Syncthing) or pass a USB.
How big is the file?
Small. The bulk is JSON of your own data, which for most people is a few hundred KB at most.
One file. Your work. Your machine. Anywhere you plug in.