# Expenses vs Costbook

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Expenses at 1.8K against Costbook's 2. Costbook's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 5 days) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Expenses sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Costbook sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Costbook holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. 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 100% of Costbook's.

Expenses ships an update every 5 days, Costbook daily. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Expenses | Costbook |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.8 (1.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/expenses-spending-tracker/id1492055171/reviews) | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/costbook-expense-tracker/id6821447451/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **1.8K** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 86.8% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | **Daily** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Size | 70 MB | 39 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.0** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [BLUE COMET LABS LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1492055170) | [Mesut Altuncu](https://appshunter.io/developer/1624955662) |

## 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


### Costbook

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/costbook-expense-tracker/id6821447451)

Easily track personal expenses, set budgets, and manage shared costs. Scan receipts with AI to log spending quickly. Collaborate on lists with friends and see who owes whom.

**Highlights:** Expense logging in any currency, Budget setting per list, AI receipt scanning, Shared expense tracking, Home/Lock Screen widgets, Apple Watch app

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Costbook Plus (Monthly) | $1.49 | per month |
| Costbook Plus (Yearly) | $12.49 | per year |
| Costbook Plus (Lifetime) | $29.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Expenses free?

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

### Is Costbook free?

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

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

Costbook is rated higher. Expenses averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.8K ratings, while Costbook averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do Expenses or Costbook have ads?

Neither Expenses nor Costbook shows ads.

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

Expenses ships an update every 5 days, and Costbook daily. Most recently, Expenses was updated on October 29, 2026 and Costbook on October 29, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*