PennyweightPennyweight

Start here: your path into Pennyweight

Last verified October 13, 2026

On this page

Everyone sets up the same few things once. After that, the right next step depends on where your money lives. This page lists both and links to the guide for each step. For the idea behind the product, read How Pennyweight works.

Set up once

  1. Create your account and passphrase. You choose a passphrase and a base currency for your totals. The base currency can't be changed later. See Create your account and passphrase.
  2. Save your recovery code. Pennyweight shows you a recovery code during setup. If you lose both your passphrase and this code, your data can't be recovered. See Save your recovery code.
  3. Choose how to start. The last setup step asks whether to explore with demo personal data, explore with demo business data, or use your own data. A demo ledger holds 12 months of fictional transactions. It's free and stays out of your real totals, and you can delete it at any time. You can also create one later from the Ledgers section of the web app's settings. See try Pennyweight with a demo ledger.
  4. Turn on two-factor. The setup steps above don't include it. You turn it on later in the web app's security settings, and you need it before you connect an AI or link a bank. See Turn on two-factor authentication.
  5. Connect your AI. You add Pennyweight to your AI app and approve the connection with your passphrase. The connection stays active while you use it and ends after 30 days without use. See Connect your AI, then the next section for your app.
  6. Have your first conversation. Ask your AI what it can do with your data, and start from there. See Your first conversation.

Pick your path

You use Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Grok

Pennyweight accepts connections from these four AI services and from MCP apps that run on your own computer. Each has its own guide:

If you aren't sure which one fits, start with Connect your AI.

You bank in the US

You can link US bank accounts. Linking happens in your browser: your AI gives you a link to the Pennyweight web app, and you finish there. A new link asks your bank for up to two years of history, and your bank decides how much it sends.

For cash, a loan or an account you'd rather not link, add a manual account.

You bank outside the US

Bank linking works only with US banks. Everywhere else, you add a manual account for each bank account, from your AI or from the form in the web app's settings. Then you give your AI your statements. Your AI reads the PDF, CSV or screenshot and adds the transactions; Pennyweight doesn't read PDFs or images itself. Each account can have its own currency. Pennyweight never converts the amounts it stores; totals that combine ledgers, such as your net worth, are shown in your display currency. See accounts and totals in more than one currency.

You're moving from another app or a spreadsheet

Export your history from the old app or spreadsheet, then give the file to your AI. Your AI reads it and adds the transactions to your accounts. Pennyweight has no built-in importer for other apps' file formats, so your AI does the reading, and it can plan an import that spans several accounts before it starts.

After setup

  • How Pennyweight works: your AI is the interfaceYour AI assistant reads, organizes and reports on your money through Pennyweight. The web app is where you set up and look things over.
  • Create your account and passphraseSign up, choose an encryption passphrase and your base currency, and save your recovery code in the three-step setup wizard.
  • Connect your AIAdd Pennyweight to Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Grok with one link, then authorize it with your passphrase. How connecting works and where each guide lives.
  • Use Pennyweight without a bank linkOutside the US, or your bank can't be linked? Add a manual account and have your AI read your statements and exports into it.