Comparison

Monthly Spending Tracker vs RealBudget

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

Head to head
About

Monthly Spending Tracker

This personal finance app helps you monitor your monthly expenditures. Record transactions, categorize expenses, and set spending limits to stay within your budget. View past spending and generate expense reports.

Highlights
  • Track monthly spending
  • Categorize expenses
  • Set monthly budget limits
  • Receive budget warnings
  • View transactions by month
  • Generate expense reports
Features
Read full description

Monthly Spending Tracker is a personal finance app that helps you track your monthly spending habits. Whenever you spend money, enter the transaction into monthly spending tracker. The app records the transaction, the category (what type of expense it is), the date and the payee. With Monthly Spending Tracker, staying within your monthly budget is simple. The app allows you to set a monthly spending limit, and will warn you when your spending reaches your budget. You can also view all of your transactions by month, and even print out monthly expense reports.

About

RealBudget

Manage your money effectively with a digital envelope budgeting system. This app allows you to create custom envelopes, track expenses, and gain full control over your finances. It offers features like bank syncing and budget sharing to simplify your financial management.

Highlights
  • Digital envelope budgeting
  • Custom budget periods
  • Budget sharing
  • Bank transaction syncing
  • Flexible rollover options
  • Persistent savings envelopes
  • Cross-device access
Features
Read full description

RealBudget helps you organize your money with envelope budgeting in a clean, modern, and intuitive way. Create digital envelopes for your spending categories, track expenses, and always know what’s available to spend. Whether you prefer manual budgeting or automatic bank imports, RealBudget makes it simple to stay organized and in control. Key Features: • Create envelopes for groceries, dining, bills, savings, and more • Know exactly what’s left to spend in each category • Flexible budget periods — monthly, weekly, bi-weekly, quarterly, yearly, and more • Automatic bank transaction imports* • Helpful spending estimates based on past transactions* • Share budgets with family or partners in real time* • Carry over leftover funds between budget periods • Savings envelopes for long-term goals • Export budget data to CSV • Access your budget across mobile devices and the web* • Clean, simple, and distraction-free design RealBudget is free to use on a single mobile device and on the web. Upgrade anytime with RealBudget Premium: Share Tier — $3/month USD • Share budgets in real time • Access budgets across multiple mobile devices Sync Tier — $10/month USD • Everything included in Share • Automatic bank transaction imports • Spending estimates based on past transactions • 30-day free trial for first-time subscribers *Bank sync currently available in the US & Canada. Start envelope budgeting with RealBudget today. See the following link for the end user license agreement (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/.

Screenshots

Monthly Spending Tracker4 screens
RealBudget4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: RealBudget at none against Monthly Spending Tracker's shown. RealBudget also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 18 months) and ratings volume (138 vs 3). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Monthly Spending Tracker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and RealBudget sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Monthly Spending Tracker against 4.9 for RealBudget. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RealBudget has 138 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Monthly Spending Tracker ships an update every 18 months, RealBudget fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Monthly Spending Tracker versus RealBudget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMonthly Spending TrackerRealBudget
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better4.9 (138 ratings)
Positive reviews—94.6% of reviews
Number of ratings3138 — better
Update frequencyEvery 18 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB89 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrandon SteckleinLimitless Innovative Technologies

Customer experience

Monthly Spending Tracker

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

RealBudget

All ratings136 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive94.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.4%

Bugs and requests

Monthly Spending Tracker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

RealBudget

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Too many glitches to deal with
  • Cannot budget for future budgets
  • Savings budget messes up monthly budget

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to see notes at a glance
  • Duplicate budget button or master budget option
  • Ability to share budget
  • Ability to split transactions
  • Option to approve money withdrawal visualization
Show 1 more
  • Visual deposit animation

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Monthly Spending Tracker

One-time1
  • Spending Tracker Premium$2.99
10 purchases

RealBudget

Subscriptions3
  • Premium1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • Premium14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Sync1 Month trial$9.991 Month
One-time7
  • Tip$1.99
  • Tip$3.99
  • Tip$4.99
Show 4 more
  • Tip$5.99
  • Tip$7.99
  • Tip$8.99
  • Tip$9.99

Questions

Is Monthly Spending Tracker free?
Monthly Spending Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is RealBudget free?
RealBudget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Monthly Spending Tracker or RealBudget?
Monthly Spending Tracker is rated higher. Monthly Spending Tracker averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while RealBudget averages 4.9 from 138 ratings.
Do Monthly Spending Tracker or RealBudget have ads?
Monthly Spending Tracker shows ads; RealBudget does not.
Which is updated more often, Monthly Spending Tracker or RealBudget?
Monthly Spending Tracker ships an update every 18 months, and RealBudget fortnightly. Most recently, Monthly Spending Tracker was updated on November 11, 2026 and RealBudget on November 12, 2026.

Other comparisons