About ActivePayOS
Hi. We are two lieutenants who started learning about military finances the same way most people do: by trying to figure it out ourselves.
How much money do I actually make? What happens if I have dependents? What is a good budgeting spreadsheet? What do all these numbers online actually mean — and which ones are correct? Very quickly we realized the problem: it is confusing.
So we built ActivePayOS — a free tool to help service members understand the basics of their finances: pay, housing allowances, budgeting, retirement, and the decisions that matter early in a career. Our goal is simple: cover the bases. Not complicated investing strategies, not endless financial theory — just the important things everyone in uniform should probably be doing.
Where this is going
Built to become the trusted military pay toolkit.
ActivePayOS is being shaped around accuracy, transparency, and community review so service members can understand the numbers before they make real financial decisions.
Versioned 2026 pay, BAS, and BAH tables with visible source notes and repeatable checks. Every number can be traced back to its official source.
Designed to be a community-reviewed, open-source reference. The code is readable, the data is sourced, and corrections happen out in the open.
Plain-English tools for pay, housing, PCS, taxes, retirement, and the financial decisions that matter early in a career.
Open, transparent, community-owned
ActivePayOS is a non-profit, community-owned public good. There is no profit motive — the mission is a trustworthy, openly verifiable pay reference for the military community, and a growing family of tools for service-member life.
- Free and open source. The application code is intended to be released under a copyleft open-source license so anyone can read it, check it, improve it, and contribute back. The community version cannot be taken private or enclosed.
- Public data, clearly labeled. The pay, BAH, and BAS tables come from U.S. Government sources and are public domain. Our original work is the curation, normalization, validation, and presentation around those numbers.
- Verify, do not just trust. Instead of a black box, every figure is meant to be sourced and versioned so you can check it yourself. See the Accuracy page and the Resources links.
- Community-shaped. Found a wrong number or have an idea? The goal is for corrections and contributions to happen in the open, with credit to the people who help.
If ActivePayOS helps you get organized, avoid a mistake, or feel more confident about the numbers — then it is doing its job. We are glad you are here.
— Two lieutenants who decided to build the tool we wish we had.
Help build ActivePayOS
ActivePayOS is open source and community-owned — and we want the community to help drive where it goes. We are actively looking for collaborators. If you write code, check numbers, or just have ideas, we would love the help: jump into the repo, pick up an open issue, or tell us what to fix or add. Built in the open, by and for the military community.
Frontend, data, accuracy checks, new calculators — all welcome. Read the code, star the repo, and open a pull request.
A wrong number, a confusing flow, or a feature you want? Leave us a note on GitHub — it becomes a ticket we can track and fix in the open.
Prefer email? Reach us at contact@activepayos.com.