Comparison

Emma vs Impulse

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Emma

Consolidate all your financial accounts in one place to track spending, manage subscriptions, and set budgets. Receive weekly reports, daily balance notifications, and overdraft alerts. Offers bank-level security with SSL encryption and biometric authentication.

Highlights
  • Consolidate all accounts
  • Track subscriptions
  • Set budgets
  • Weekly spending reports
  • Overdraft alerts
  • Bank-level security
Features
Read full description

Meet Emma, your financial super app ● All your accounts in one place ● Find and track your subscriptions ● Set budgets ● Weekly reports ● Analyze your spending & expenses ● Daily balance notifications ● Overdraft alerts BANK LEVEL SECURITY Worried about sharing your data? We hear you. ● Emma uses SSL 256-bit encryption - the same security protocol that banks use - to ensure that your sensitive, personal information is fully encrypted and securely stored. ● Emma uses biometric security authentication for an added level of protection. CUSTOMER REVIEWS “This app is amazing! I used to manually track my expenses using a notepad or a spreadsheet but always used to make mistakes and never found time to update it. This fixes all my budgeting issues and saves me so much time as well as money!” Sarah “I love the fact that I can do everything within this one app. I mainly use it for tracking my expenses but have also started using it to instantly send/receive payments which makes things super easy. Also, the money I’ve saved from using this app is used to invest in my favorite companies using the investment feature!” Mike OUR MISSION We believe everyone deserves a financial advocate to help with money management and budgeting. Someone who watches our back no matter who we are and where we come from. We provide a great experience, which relies on a basic principle - caring about our customers’ financial well being. This is who we are and what we stand for. We have received amazing feedback from the finance community and have been featured in Forbes, Financial Times, Politico, The Sunday Times and CITY A.M. MORE FEATURES? GO PLUS, PRO OR ULTIMATE We have 3 subscription upgrades available in Emma to power charge your finances. Here’s what is available in each subscription upgrade: Emma Plus True Balance - preemptively see the balance of your bank account after your subscriptions are removed Fraud Detection - find out whether your personal details have been part of a known data breach Bill Reminders - get reminded about your upcoming bills so you never miss a payment Cashback - get cashback from your favorite brands Emma Pro All the features in Emma Plus Custom categories - so you can customize your finances to your heart's content Rename transactions - for easier reference Export data - to understand your finances on excel Create Offline Accounts - to manage your cash expenses and any accounts you can’t link to Emma Create Smart Rules - to automate your Offline Accounts. Look, no hands! Split your transactions - into multiple categories for more flexibility Legendary Pro Icon - because you are a Pro Emma Ultimate All the features in Emma Plus & Pro Spaces - group together different accounts to see separated analytics and budgets Ultimate Icon - so you can show them who's boss ----------------------------------- If you choose to purchase Emma Plus, Emma Pro or Emma Ultimate, payment will be charged to your iTunes account, and your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Subscriptions are managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Apple ID. Emma subscription prices start at $4.99 CAD/USD/month with 1-month and 12-month packages available. Prices are subject to change without notice. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. If you don’t choose to purchase Emma Plus, Emma or Emma Ultimate, you can simply continue using Emma for free. Emma Technologies LTD is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 for the provision of payment services. Reference no. 794952 Company Registration Number: 10578464. Terms and Conditions: https://emma-app.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://emma-app.com/privacy

About

Impulse

Features
Read full description

Every price has a hidden cost: your time. Impulse converts what you're about to buy into the hours of work it takes to earn it, instantly. Enter a price, see the real cost in work-time and percentage of your income, and decide with clarity instead of impulse. HOW IT WORKS Enter any price and see it converted to hours (and minutes) of your work See what percentage of your weekly income the purchase represents Not sure yet? Defer the decision. Revisit in 10 minutes or tomorrow Get a gentle reminder notification when it's time to decide Log what you skip and watch your saved hours and money add up WIDGETS Quick Price Check: a tappable keypad right on your Home Screen, no need to open the app Time Kept: see your saved hours and money at a glance Spending Breakdown: category by category view of where deferred purchases came from Weekly Time Kept: lock screen gauge tracking your week WHY IMPULSE Impulse isn't a budgeting app or a spending tracker. It's a pause button, a few extra seconds of perspective before you buy, framed in the currency that actually matters: your time. PRIVACY FIRST All your data stays on your device. No account, no server, no sign-in. Nothing is uploaded anywhere. No ads, no tracking. EVERYTHING INCLUDED Every feature is free. No subscription, no upgrade, no ads.

Screenshots

Emma4 screens
Impulse4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Impulse at none against Emma's 11. Impulse also leads on ads (none vs shown). Emma's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Emma sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Impulse asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Emma ships an update every 6 days, Impulse every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Emma versus Impulse: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmmaImpulse
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.4K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews38.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.4K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size161 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEmma Technologies LTD.Eric Fan

Bugs and requests

Emma

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes or freezes frequently
  • Transactions not syncing properly or showing incorrect balances
  • Issues connecting to certain bank accounts
  • Recurring payments not being tracked accurately

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for more banks and financial institutions
  • Improve budgeting features with better categorization and goal-setting
  • Provide more customization options for categories and reporting
  • Integrate with investment accounts and track net worth
  • Offer a more affordable pricing model or free tier with core features

Impulse

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Emma

Subscriptions8
  • Emma Plus Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Emma Pro Monthly7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Pro Subscription7 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Emma Pro7 Days trial2 variants$9.991 Month
  • Emma Ultimate7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Emma Plus Yearly7 Days trial$41.991 Year
  • Emma Pro7 Days trial2 variants$83.991 Year
  • Subscription7 Days trial$83.991 Year
None

Impulse

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Emma free?
Emma is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Impulse free?
Impulse is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Emma or Impulse have ads?
Emma shows ads; Impulse does not.
Which is updated more often, Emma or Impulse?
Emma ships an update every 6 days, and Impulse every 4 days. Most recently, Emma was updated on October 29, 2026 and Impulse on October 29, 2026.

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