# Expenses vs Budget Brief

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Expenses at 87% against Budget Brief's 0%. Expenses also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (1.8K vs 2). Budget Brief's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Expenses sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Budget Brief asks for nothing beyond the download.

Expenses holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Expenses has 1.8K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Expenses's written reviews are positive against 0% of Budget Brief's.

Expenses ships an update every 4 days, Budget Brief every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Expenses | Budget Brief |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.8 (1.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/expenses-spending-tracker/id1492055171/reviews)** | [3.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/budget-brief/id6444294573/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.8K** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | **87.3% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 days** | Every 5 days |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 70 MB | 5 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.0** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [BLUE COMET LABS LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1492055170) | [Yannik Bloscheck](https://appshunter.io/developer/300840788) |

## 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


### Budget Brief

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/budget-brief/id6444294573)

Log all your financial transactions to gain insights into your spending habits. The app provides various helpful breakdowns of your financial data.

**Highlights:** Transaction logging, Financial breakdowns, Spending insights, Cross-device support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Expenses free?

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

### Is Budget Brief free?

Budget Brief is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Expenses or Budget Brief?

Expenses is rated higher. Expenses averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.8K ratings, while Budget Brief averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do Expenses or Budget Brief have ads?

Neither Expenses nor Budget Brief shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Expenses or Budget Brief?

Expenses ships an update every 4 days, and Budget Brief every 5 days. Most recently, Expenses was updated on September 23, 2026 and Budget Brief on June 1, 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.*