Pulse Local Brings Private AI Budgeting to the Mac

Summary

Pulse Local is a free beta budgeting app for Apple Silicon Macs that answers questions about spending with models running on the user’s machine. Its local mode requires no account, keeps the imported ledger and questions on the device, and sends no analytics or crash logs; it downloads models and occasional updates. Users can import a CSV from a bank in any currency. A fine-tuned Qwen3 0.6B model converts a question into a structured query, while application code performs the money calculations against the ledger. A separate 4B checker model reviews each money answer, and the app reports uncertainty when the two readings disagree rather than guessing. Across the developer’s last three tests, this reduced wrong answers from about one in five to 5 out of 494 questions, although the write-up says the result has limits. The tuned weights are published on Hugging Face. The initial model download is about 2.9 GB, and answers take 12 to 14 seconds with checking enabled; users can disable the checker. The app can still misread open-ended questions, answers only in English, and currently supports Mac only, with Windows planned next. An optional Connected mode, called Sync Pass, costs $29 per year and syncs US bank accounts through Plaid; transactions pass through the company’s server memory but are not stored.