# Expense vs AJournal

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Expense at none against AJournal's 2. Expense also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (97% vs 77%). AJournal's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (5.3K vs 112). On price, rating, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. AJournal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Expense asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Expense against 4.7 for AJournal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AJournal has 5.3K ratings behind it against 112, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 97% of Expense's written reviews are positive against 77% of AJournal's.

Expense ships an update every 6 months, AJournal every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Expense | AJournal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (112 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/expense-spending-tracking/id1020335225/reviews)** | [4.7 (5.3K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ajournal-planner-and-journal/id1594064594/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 112 | **5.3K** |
| Positive reviews | **97.1% of reviews** | 76.6% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Every 3 weeks** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 4 MB | 120 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **16.0** |
| Devices | iPhone | **iPhone, iPad** |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | [Shan Cao](https://appshunter.io/developer/652897325) | [WonderApps AB](https://appshunter.io/developer/519561369) |

## What reviewers say

### Expense

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/expense-spending-tracking/id1020335225)

Effortlessly monitor your finances with this intuitive spending tracker. Visualize your expenses with a clean line chart and gain insights into your spending habits. Customize categories and export your data for detailed analysis.

**Highlights:** Intuitive expense tracking, Beautiful line chart visualization, Monthly spending overview, Customizable categories, Export data to CSV, Local data storage

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Extremely simple and easy to use
- 🚀 Fast and efficient expense tracking
- ✨ Clean and minimalistic interface
- 🆓 Free to use with no ads
- 💡 Intuitive GUI

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💡 Lacks search functionality
- 💡 No recurring expense option
- 💡 Limited category icon selection
- 💡 No subcategories
- 💡 Currency display can be odd

**Reported bugs**

- Currency display issues
- No visible way to delete entries (user reported)

**Requested features**

- Search functionality
- Increased list of category icons
- Ability to use Emojis as category icons
- Set a recurring expense
- Add a 'memo' or text field for notes


### AJournal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ajournal-planner-and-journal/id1594064594)

This app combines digital planning with the tactile feel of handwriting. Organize your days, weeks, and months, set goals, and track habits using Apple Pencil or your finger. Choose from numerous templates or create your own custom layouts.

**Highlights:** Handwriting and text input, Digital calendar integration, Over 100 customizable templates, Sticker library and custom stickers, Reminders integration, PDF export and iCloud sync

**Features:** Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly subscription | $2.99 | per month |
| Yearly subscription | $26.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great integration with calendar and reminders
- 👍 Highly customizable templates
- ✨ Ability to create own templates
- 💡 Combination of digital and handwritten planning
- 🎨 Variety of stickers and colors

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Sync issues between devices
- 🔒 Requires subscription for full functionality
- 📱 No iPhone app, only iPad
- 🖋️ Limited handwriting tools compared to other apps
- 🔍 Difficult to find some features or settings

**Reported bugs**

- Text boxes sometimes lose formatting or disappear
- Occasional crashes when switching between views
- Syncing issues causing data loss

**Requested features**

- Add PDF support
- Improve handwriting recognition and tools
- Implement iCloud sync
- Develop iPhone app version
- Add more customization options for templates


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Expense free?

Expense is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is AJournal free?

AJournal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Expense or AJournal?

Expense is rated higher. Expense averages 4.8 out of 5 from 112 ratings, while AJournal averages 4.7 from 5.3K ratings.

### Do Expense or AJournal have ads?

AJournal shows ads; Expense does not.

### Which is updated more often, Expense or AJournal?

Expense ships an update every 6 months, and AJournal every 3 weeks. Most recently, Expense was updated on November 1, 2026 and AJournal on November 8, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*