Comparison

Principal® vs SaveSpend3

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

Head to head
About

Principal®

Manage your retirement savings and financial goals from your mobile device. Track account balances, adjust contributions, and access educational resources to improve your financial confidence. Tools are available to help you assess your progress towards retirement.

Highlights
  • View account balances
  • Roll over funds
  • Change contributions
  • Adjust investments
  • Financial education resources
  • Retirement Wellness Score
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Keep up with your financial goals on the go. The updated Principal® app makes it easy to keep on top of your retirement savings and gain insights to help you reach your financial goals. Download and use the app to: • Complete simple transactions and quick check-ins: view account balances, roll over funds, change contributions, adjust investments, and more • Discover financial education to help build your confidence and make progress in budgeting, saving, debt payoff, and more • Learn from tools like our personalized Retirement Wellness Score to see how you’re tracking toward your retirement goals • Find your insurance information The availability of information and functionality will vary depending on your plan type(s). To make changes not available on the app, visit principal.com. Some screens may contain more information than is illustrated in the samples. This document is intended to be educational in nature and is not intended to be taken as a recommendation. Insurance products and plan administrative services provided through Principal Life Insurance Co., a member of the Principal Financial Group®, Des Moines, IA 50392. Visit our online privacy policy at https://www.principal.com/privacy-policies © 2025 Principal Financial Services, Inc. 3729939-072024

About

SaveSpend3

Features
Read full description

Helpful to plan and budget your money, SaveSpend3 calculates Savings, or Social Security Accumulation vs filing age, or Spending over time. Interest, earnings, inflation, and taxes are included in the calculations as appropriate. Results can be viewed in a table or as a chart. Separate tabs are provided to calculate Save, SSAccumulate, and Spend. Save can easily calculate the growth effects of compound interest rates and yearly taxes and on your regular monthly savings. Compounding frequencies of daily, monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annually can be selected in the Settings. SSAccumulate similarly calculates compound growth but also takes into account inflation COLA adjustments to the SS amounts. The default 3 filing ages of 62, 66, and 70 can be adjusted by the user in the Settings. Spend will calculate the remaining balance year after year given an initial principal amount and initial withdrawal amount per year. You can budget how long your money will last given its earnings rate per year and the inflation rate per year. This is minimalist by design with no ads, no in-app purchases, no bells and whistles, and no fancy moving graphics to distract you, just numbers. Note: Financial entertainment value only, fun playing with numbers. This uses simple yearly compounding, assumes constant interest, earnings, inflation, and taxes, and should NOT be used for accurate predictions.

Screenshots

Principal®4 screens
SaveSpend34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: Principal® at #141 against SaveSpend3's unranked. On price, update cadence, 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Principal® ships an update every 8 days, SaveSpend3 every 9 days. Both last shipped on September 28, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 10 level
Principal® versus SaveSpend3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPrincipal®SaveSpend3
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (236K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews32.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings236K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#141 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size106 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPrincipal Financial Group29Apps LLC

Bugs and requests

Principal®

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Unable to change contribution rates
  • Inconsistent login and logout functionality
  • Rollover check deposit not working as advertised
  • Certain account details not displaying properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved transaction history and reporting
  • Ability to deposit checks via the app
  • More customization options for the dashboard
  • Seamless integration with other financial accounts

SaveSpend3

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Principal®

No in-app purchases

None

SaveSpend3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Principal® free?
Principal® is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SaveSpend3 free?
SaveSpend3 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Principal® or SaveSpend3 have ads?
Neither Principal® nor SaveSpend3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Principal® or SaveSpend3?
Principal® ships an update every 8 days, and SaveSpend3 every 9 days. Most recently, Principal® was updated on September 28, 2026 and SaveSpend3 on September 28, 2026.

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