Comparison

SpendLists vs Surplus

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

Head to head
About

SpendLists

This app offers a straightforward way for freelancers and creators to manage their income and expenses without complex spreadsheets. It provides clear monthly summaries and helps reduce financial anxiety by organizing money details simply. Designed for those with irregular income, it offers a clean and trustworthy platform to understand earnings.

Highlights
  • Track income and expenses
  • Organize money details in lists
  • Clear monthly summaries
  • iCloud Sync across Apple devices
  • Multiple currency support
  • Private and secure with Face ID/Touch ID
  • Share lists as images or PDFs
Features
Read full description

Track income, log expenses, and see your monthly totals in one clear place. SpendLists helps freelancers, creators, and anyone with changing income understand where their money goes — without spreadsheets or accounting software. RECORD EVERYDAY MONEY Log a client payment, a coffee, or a project cost in a few taps. Add the details you need and keep moving. KEEP IT ORGANIZED Create simple lists for each month, project, trip, or part of your life. Use dates and tags to find the right items quickly. SEE WHAT ADDS UP Review your totals and spending categories to understand your biggest costs. Keep income and expenses clear even when no two months look alike. USE MULTIPLE CURRENCIES Record items in different currencies within the same list. Keep the original amounts visible when your work or everyday life crosses borders. MORE WAYS TO WORK • Find entries with search. • Share lists as images or PDFs. • Sync your lists with iCloud across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. • Protect the app or individual lists with a passcode or supported biometrics. Some features require SpendLists Pro. No SpendLists account is required. Start with one list and get a clearer view of your money.

About

Surplus

This app helps you manage your monthly finances by tracking income, expenses, and upcoming payments. It provides insights into your spending habits, categorizes transactions, and offers customizable reports. Sync your accounts automatically or manually for a clear overview of your leftover spend.

Highlights
  • Monthly income and expense tracking
  • Categorization of spending
  • Customizable reports with CSV export
  • Transaction grouping
  • Home and lock screen widgets
  • Automation via Shortcuts app
Features
Read full description

Surplus is a monthly expense tracker that takes into account your monthly income, expenses and upcoming payments to provide you with a clear overview of your leftover spend. -- Spend Wisely -- Know how much you have left to spend, including your subscriptions and installments. -- Profile Your Spend -- Categorize your expenses into meaningful groups that drive insights into your spend profile. This can include popular budgeting methods such as the “50/30/20 budget rule” or the “80/20 budget rule”. -- Adaptable Workflows -- Manual or automatic, easily sync and categorize transactions from all your accounts. -- Transaction Collections -- Group related transactions across buckets and time. They can be themed around trips, shared expenses or anything you'd like! -- Widgets -- Customize your home and lock screens with widgets that showcase your leftover spend, upcoming transactions and buckets. -- Interactive Reports -- Customizable reports for your historic and upcoming spend with support for CSV Export. -- Shortcuts -- Automate your expense tracking with actions configurable via the Shortcuts app. Examples include triggering an expense entry when leaving your favorite coffee shop or scheduling spend summaries on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Actions can be run via Siri, Apple Watch and the Shortcuts app. -- Privately Synced with iCloud -- All financial data is stored on your device(s) and synced privately via your iCloud Account. We do not store any personal information or transaction data on our servers. Surplus is free to use with pro features that can be activated via in-app purchases. Surplus Pro can be purchased as a one time payment or as a recurring subscription. Current pricing and purchase offers are available in the app. By downloading and using Surplus you agree to our terms and conditions: Terms of Use https://surplus.app/terms Privacy Policy https://surplus.app/privacy Surplus is an indie app developed and maintained by Omar Inam. If you have any questions or feedback please feel free to contact me through Twitter @_oinam

Screenshots

SpendLists4 screens
Surplus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: SpendLists at fortnightly against Surplus's monthly. Surplus's advantage is review sentiment (83% vs 75%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. SpendLists sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Surplus sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Surplus holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19 and 28 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of SpendLists's written reviews are positive against 83% of Surplus's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SpendLists ships an update fortnightly, Surplus monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
SpendLists versus Surplus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpendListsSurplus
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (19 ratings)4.8 (28 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews83.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1928 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB67 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPhanith NyDev Harvest LLC

Customer experience

SpendLists

All ratings19 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative16.7%

Surplus

All ratings27 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral3.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

SpendLists

One-time4
  • Snack-Sized Tip$5.99
  • Lunch-Sized Tip$7.99
  • Unlock Pro$9.99
Show 1 more
  • SpendLists Pro Lifetime$9.99
4 purchases

Surplus

Subscriptions3
  • Surplus Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Surplus Pro Yearly$14.491 Year
  • Surplus Pro Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Surplus Pro Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is SpendLists free?
SpendLists is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Surplus free?
Surplus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SpendLists or Surplus?
Surplus is rated higher. SpendLists averages 4.6 out of 5 from 19 ratings, while Surplus averages 4.8 from 28 ratings.
Do SpendLists or Surplus have ads?
Neither SpendLists nor Surplus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SpendLists or Surplus?
SpendLists ships an update fortnightly, and Surplus monthly. Most recently, SpendLists was updated on October 25, 2026 and Surplus on October 22, 2026.

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