Comparison

The Beans vs CardBrain

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

Head to head
About

The Beans

This app offers a free, personalized visual financial plan to help you achieve money and life balance. It automatically categorizes transactions, plans expenses, and provides spending updates. Securely connect your accounts for a holistic financial overview.

Highlights
  • Custom visual financial plan
  • Automatic transaction labeling
  • Monthly expense planning
  • Spending and bill updates
  • Secure account connection
  • Personalized plan customization
Features
Read full description

The Beans — We’ll build you a custom, simple, free, Visual Financial Plan and keep you updated, so you find your Money + Life Balance. The Beans is the only Visual Financial Planning mobile app that will: • Build you a custom, simple, and free Visual Financial Plan that you can personalize. • Automatically and accurately label your transactions. • Plan your monthly expenses. • Keep you updated on how much you are free to spend and any upcoming bills. • Keep your information safe and secure. What is a Visual Financial Plan and how does it work? A Visual Financial Plan is a more holistic look at your finances. Think of it as an upgrade to a budget. You’d connect your active accounts (checking, credit cards, loans, savings— whichever apply to you), then we’d surface your bills and other financial commitments for you to confirm. After confirming your commitments, The Beans calculates your average spending outside of bills and presents you with a Visual Financial Plan, which you’ll then customize and commit to. New Plans begin on the first of each month. We’ll send you support to stay on track and you’ll earn achievements as time goes on. As your finances evolve so will your Plan, which you can adjust at anytime. How much does The Beans cost? The Beans app is free to download. Is it safe and secure? The Beans keeps your information private and secure. We won’t sell your information or advertise to you. Does The Beans work with my bank? The Beans works with close to 10,000 banks, if yours is not supported we will work to get you connected as soon as possible. Read our friendly Terms of Service here: https://www.thebeans.io/home/terms-of-service/

About

CardBrain

Read full description

Get more value from every card in your wallet. Premium credit cards can include statement credits, category bonuses, travel protections, and other perks—but remembering what is available, what you have used, and which card to choose can be difficult. CardBrain brings your wallet into one clear, private dashboard on iPhone and iPad. Track benefits, compare perks, choose the best card for a purchase, and see whether annual fees are paying for themselves. TRACK BENEFITS Follow monthly, quarterly, semiannual, annual, and multi-year statement credits. Mark a benefit as used or enter a partial amount to see what remains before it resets. FIND THE BEST CARD Search a store or select a spending category to see which card in your wallet is likely to earn the most. Categories include dining, groceries, gas, travel, online shopping, rental cars, and foreign purchases. UNDERSTAND YOUR REAL ANNUAL COST CardBrain calculates effective annual fees using the benefits you have actually redeemed. Review the math by card and use the wallet value audit to make more confident renewal decisions. COMPARE PERKS AND PROTECTIONS Review rental car coverage, trip delay, cell phone protection, purchase protection, extended warranty, foreign transaction fees, and more across your cards. STAY ORGANIZED Add card open dates and private notes for retention offers, downgrade plans, referral bonuses, or anything else you want to remember. You can also add custom benefits. BUILT FOR IPHONE AND IPAD Use a streamlined phone experience or take advantage of spacious iPad dashboards, split views, and side-by-side card details. 230+ CARDS SUPPORTED Explore a growing catalog from major U.S. and Canadian issuers, including American Express, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bilt, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Discover, and more. CARDBRAIN PRO CardBrain is free to start. The optional CardBrain Pro upgrade adds reminders for expiring credits, card anniversaries, and free-night certificates, plus wallet value audit tools. Choose an annual auto-renewable subscription or a lifetime unlock. PRIVACY FIRST No bank login. No advertising. Your selected cards, benefit progress, notes, reminders, and preferences stay on your device. CardBrain uses RevenueCat to manage purchases and fetches public card catalog data over HTTPS so card information can stay current. CardBrain is not affiliated with any card issuer or payment network. Benefit terms change frequently; always confirm current details with your issuer before making financial decisions. CardBrain Pro Annual renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Manage or cancel in App Store subscription settings. Prices vary by region and are displayed before purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://becky2019.github.io/creditbrain/privacy-policy.html

Screenshots

The Beans4 screens
CardBrain4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: The Beans at 15.1 against CardBrain's 17.0. 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. The Beans sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and CardBrain sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Beans ships an update every 2 weeks, CardBrain every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
The Beans versus CardBrain: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe BeansCardBrain
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (87 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews65.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings87 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size58 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTheBeansYishu Gu

Bugs and requests

The Beans

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • 🐛 App unable to recognize all income flows for entrepreneurs
  • 🐛 Buggy app preventing access to transferred money details
  • 🐛 Inaccurate tracking of expenses and month-over-month spending
  • 🐛 App overheats iPhone
  • 🐛 Transactions on account not showing up in the app
Show 5 more
  • 🐛 Glitches in initial setup steps
  • 🐛 Difficulty connecting to banks
  • 🐛 Slow manual input process
  • 🐛 App not recognizing income accounts correctly
  • 🐛 App not downloading on iPhone

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to manually add reoccurring expenses and income
  • More clear explanations of visuals and functionality
  • Option to delete account directly within the app
  • Support for weekly payment schedules
  • Improved handling of complex income flows for entrepreneurs

CardBrain

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

The Beans

Subscriptions2
  • The Beans Premium - 1 month7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • The Beans Premium - 1 year14 Days trial$29.991 Year
6 purchases

CardBrain

Subscriptions1
  • CardBrain Pro Annual7 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time5
  • Small thanks$2.99
  • You're awesome$6.99
  • This app rocks$9.99
Show 2 more
  • You're a legend$14.99
  • CardBrain Pro Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is The Beans free?
The Beans is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CardBrain free?
CardBrain is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do The Beans or CardBrain have ads?
Neither The Beans nor CardBrain shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Beans or CardBrain?
The Beans ships an update every 2 weeks, and CardBrain every 10 days. Most recently, The Beans was updated on November 6, 2026 and CardBrain on November 5, 2026.

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