# Expenses vs SpendNotes

The clearest difference is update cadence: Expenses at every 4 days against SpendNotes's every 3 weeks. Expenses also leads on review sentiment (87% vs 71%) and ratings volume (1.8K vs 397). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Expenses sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and SpendNotes sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 3 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Expenses against 4.8 for SpendNotes. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.8K and 397 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Expenses's written reviews are positive against 71% of SpendNotes's.

Expenses ships an update every 4 days, SpendNotes every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Expenses | SpendNotes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.8 (1.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/expenses-spending-tracker/id1492055171/reviews) | [4.8 (397 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spendnotes-budget-tracker/id1505752740/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.8K** | 397 |
| Positive reviews | **87.3% of reviews** | 70.8% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 days** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Size | 70 MB | 16 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [BLUE COMET LABS LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1492055170) | [Suhaib Al-Absi](https://appshunter.io/developer/1505752739) |

## What reviewers say

### Expenses

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/expenses-spending-tracker/id1492055171)

Easily track your spending and income in any currency with this private finance app. Organize expenses with custom categories and gain insights into your spending habits through intuitive charts and trends. Collaborate with others on shared sheets and sync data across Apple devices.

**Highlights:** Expense and income tracking, Multi-currency support with auto exchange rates, Customizable categories, Spending trend analysis, Real-time sheet sharing, Private by design, no account needed, Data import/export (CSV)

**Features:** Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Expenses Pro - Monthly | $1.99 | per month |
| Expenses Pro - Yearly | $14.99 | per year |
| Expenses Pro - Lifetime | $39.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 🚀 Straightforward functionality
- 🔒 No bank account required
- 💡 Flexible customization options
- 🚀 Seamless iCloud sync

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
- 🔒 Sharing/collaboration issues
- 💡 Lack of advanced budgeting features
- 💡 Missing subcategories and reporting options
- 🔒 Requirement to pay for full access

**Reported bugs**

- Syncing issues between devices
- Disappearing transaction data after updates
- Inconsistent balance display
- Unresponsive UI elements

**Requested features**

- Ability to create folders/groups for sheets
- Option to view combined stats across sheets
- Recurring expense/income tracking
- Improved sorting and filtering of transactions
- Budget comparison and forecasting tools


### SpendNotes

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spendnotes-budget-tracker/id1505752740)

Easily track daily income and expenses with an intuitive interface. Organize transactions, set budgets, and monitor financial goals. Offers detailed analytics and customizable PDF reports for better financial control.

**Highlights:** Track expenses and income, Organize transactions by account, Create custom categories, Set daily, weekly, monthly, yearly budgets, Define saving goals, Finance overview with charts and tables, Detailed analytics and PDF reports

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SpendNotes Plus - 3 Months | $4.99 | per 3 months |
| SpendNotes Plus - Yearly | $14.99 | per year |
| SpendNotes Plus - Lifetime | $59.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use and track spending
- ⭐️ Excellent for financial management
- 💰 Inexpensive subscription/purchase
- ✨ Highly customizable
- 💯 Best app of its kind

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Glitching during purchase
- 🤔 Some features not fully understood
- ⚠️ Widget issues after update
- 💸 Lifetime purchase price steep
- ❌ Inability to track category totals over time (initially)

**Reported bugs**

- App boots off when trying to purchase full version
- Widgets not showing properly after update
- Developer not responding to emails

**Requested features**

- Add a 'debts' section
- Add 'deposit', 'withdrawal', and 'savings' categories
- MAC compatibility
- Set budgets on a biweekly basis
- Add multiplication and division to the calculator


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Expenses free?

Expenses is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is SpendNotes free?

SpendNotes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Expenses or SpendNotes?

Expenses and SpendNotes are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.8K and 397 ratings respectively.

### Do Expenses or SpendNotes have ads?

Neither Expenses nor SpendNotes shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Expenses or SpendNotes?

Expenses ships an update every 4 days, and SpendNotes every 3 weeks. Most recently, Expenses was updated on September 23, 2026 and SpendNotes on September 21, 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.*