Comparison

True Balance Lite vs The Checkbook

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

Head to head
About

True Balance Lite

Easily track all your cash, personal, or business expenses with independent, customizable tapes. Correct mistakes, insert new entries, and see real-time recalculations for accurate financial overviews. Securely store data locally with optional password protection.

Highlights
  • 12 independent tracking tapes
  • Customizable tape names and colors
  • Real-time entry correction and recalculation
  • Local data storage with optional password
  • Backup and restore functionality
  • Large numeric keyboard for easy entry
Features
Read full description

True Balance is an easy to use app for tracking your cash, personal or business expenses, purchases, sales, income, project costs, tax deductions, trip costs, vacation costs, or anything else and knowing the true balance. It has 12 independent tracking tapes each with a name and color that you assign. Also, a single tracking tape can have any number of Subtotals. This means you can track the details of how the total is determined. Have you ever tried entering a long list of amounts and every time you get a different total? Then, you need True Balance because it lets you see and scroll through all of your entries and easily correct any mistakes. You can also insert a new entry or delete an existing entry at any time and the subtotals and total are re-calculate in real time! SECURE With True Balance, you don’t need to access any web site and all of your account tapes are stored locally. You have complete control over your data. You can Lock any individual tape and if you want, you can assign an optional password to the app. BACKUP AND RESTORE All your files are backed up automatically when you backup the app. Additionally you can backup up all of your account information to any email address with a single command. You can use the email with the attached account files to restore your account information. You can also transfer your account information to any other device that has the True Balance App. EASY TO USE This app is easy to use because it has a large custom keyboard for a quick and easy touch and a decimal slider to let you choose the number of digits (0-4) after the decimal point in the totals. FEATURES & BENEFITS SUMMARY • 12 account tapes for all your needs • Tape names & colors for easy id • Backup & restore to any device with app • Large numeric keyboard for easy entry • Keyboard clicks for audible confirm • Volume control for quiet locations • Mute mode when full silence is desired • Backspace key for ease of data entry • View and correct any entry at any time • Insert new entries • Delete unwanted entries • Decimal point slider for 0-4 places • Scrolling list to view all entries • “See All” to get to any entry quickly • Optional password for security • Optional individual Account Lock • Email report to yourself or anyone else • iPad support

About

The Checkbook

Manage your finances on the go with this transaction tracker. Easily record income and expenses, schedule upcoming bills, and reconcile with your bank statements for accurate balance tracking. Offers multiple accounts, customizable themes, and secure access.

Highlights
  • Real-time transaction tracking
  • Upcoming bill and deposit scheduling
  • Bank account reconciliation
  • Multiple account management
  • Customizable color themes
  • Transaction search and filtering
  • Recurring transaction setup
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Finance At Your Fingertips Track your financial transactions on-the-go in real time. Enter upcoming bill payments and deposits to see how your account balance will change. Reconcile each transaction against your bank account to balance your checkbook and ensure accuracy to the penny. * No ads. * Quick entry screen for new transactions to keep up with spending while you're on the move. * Create a new transaction in seconds with type ahead feature for common transactions. * Manage transactions in multiple accounts. * Customize color theme for each account. * Search for transactions. * Toggle visibility of reconciled transactions to see what hasn't cleared your bank account yet. * Set up recurring transactions. * Transfer money between accounts. * Basic reporting to view spending or income by category and daily spending. * Export transactions to CSV file. * Enable Face ID / Touch ID to secure access to your financial data. * Turn on iCloud Drive data storage to sync transactions across multiple devices. * Share every new transaction with a joint account owner via email or Shared Storage (subscription required) to keep app in sync for different users. Privacy Note: The developer does not collect any data from this app for the default local device or iCloud storage options. The developer only securely stores data for the Shared Storage option (subscription required) for the purpose of sharing and syncing the data with your invited users. See Privacy Policy for more details.

Screenshots

True Balance Lite4 screens
The Checkbook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: True Balance Lite at Free against The Checkbook's $4.99. True Balance Lite also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.4). The Checkbook's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). On review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

True Balance Lite is free to download; The Checkbook costs $4.99 up front. True Balance Lite sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and The Checkbook sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Checkbook holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Checkbook has 997 ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of True Balance Lite's written reviews are positive against 76% of The Checkbook's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

True Balance Lite ships an update every 6 months, The Checkbook fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
True Balance Lite versus The Checkbook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrue Balance LiteThe Checkbook
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.4 (21 ratings)4.8 (997 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better76.1% of reviews
Number of ratings21997 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#150 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB61 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRobert WohnoutkaFour One Four 213, LLC

Customer experience

True Balance Lite

All ratings18 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews42 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral7.1%
Negative9.5%

The Checkbook

All ratings970 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews109 reviews
Positive76.1%
Neutral9.2%
Negative14.7%

Bugs and requests

True Balance Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

The Checkbook

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Data loss and sync issues
  • Incorrect transaction display
  • Recurring transactions not working as expected

Requested features

6 requests
  • 📊 Spending reports and analytics
  • 🔁 More recurring transaction options
  • 🖨️ Check printing capability
  • 🔀 Ability to split transactions
  • 🔄 Easier transaction editing/deletion
Show 1 more
  • 🔒 Backup and restore options

In-app purchases

1 purchases

True Balance Lite

One-time1
  • Unlimited Entries$3.99
2 purchases

The Checkbook

Subscriptions2
  • Shared Storage - Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Shared Storage - Annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year

Questions

Is True Balance Lite free?
True Balance Lite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Checkbook free?
The Checkbook costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, True Balance Lite or The Checkbook?
The Checkbook is rated higher. True Balance Lite averages 4.4 out of 5 from 21 ratings, while The Checkbook averages 4.8 from 997 ratings.
Do True Balance Lite or The Checkbook have ads?
Neither True Balance Lite nor The Checkbook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, True Balance Lite or The Checkbook?
True Balance Lite ships an update every 6 months, and The Checkbook fortnightly. Most recently, True Balance Lite was updated on November 2, 2026 and The Checkbook on November 3, 2026.

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