# Expense vs MugVault

The clearest difference is price: Expense at Free against MugVault's $2.99. Expense also leads on ratings volume (112 vs 3). MugVault's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Expense is free to download; MugVault costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

MugVault holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Expense has 112 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 97% of Expense's written reviews are positive against 100% of MugVault's.

Expense ships an update every 6 months, MugVault every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Expense | MugVault |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $2.99 |
| Rating | [4.8 (112 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/expense-spending-tracking/id1020335225/reviews) | **[5.0 (3 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mugvault/id6749722614/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **112** | 3 |
| Positive reviews | 97.1% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Paid |
| Size | 4 MB | 9 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 18.5 |
| Devices | iPhone | **iPhone, iPad** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Shan Cao](https://appshunter.io/developer/652897325) | [Philip Pilalas](https://appshunter.io/developer/1831864744) |

## 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


### MugVault

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mugvault/id6749722614)

Catalog your Starbucks mug collection with ease. Add photos, locations, and details for each mug. Search, sort, and export your collection to share with fellow enthusiasts.

**Highlights:** Organize mug collection, Track mug details, Add photos and locations, Sort and search collection, Export collection data

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Expense free?

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

### Is MugVault free?

MugVault costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

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

MugVault is rated higher. Expense averages 4.8 out of 5 from 112 ratings, while MugVault averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.

### Do Expense or MugVault have ads?

Neither Expense nor MugVault shows ads.

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

Expense ships an update every 6 months, and MugVault every 2 months. Most recently, Expense was updated on October 13, 2026 and MugVault on September 26, 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.*