Comparison

Bills io vs Balance

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

Head to head
About

Bills io

Organize and track all your recurring and one-off expenses with this privacy-focused finance app. Get timely notifications for upcoming bills and analyze your spending patterns. Data syncs securely across your Apple devices via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Organize bills with tags
  • Track expenses by account
  • Log payment history
  • Export data to Excel/Numbers
  • Receive bill notifications
  • Sync across Apple devices
Features
Read full description

Know exactly where your money goes — without giving up your privacy. Bills io is the simple, privacy-first way to track your recurring expenses, subscriptions, and one-off bills. No bank connection required. No data sold. No algorithms watching your finances. Just you and your bills, organized. YOUR MONEY. YOUR DATA. Bills io syncs privately through your iCloud account using Apple’s CloudKit. Your financial data never touches our servers — we literally can’t see it. Everything stays between you, your device, and your iCloud. STOP LOSING MONEY TO FORGOTTEN SUBSCRIPTIONS The average person is paying for 2–3 subscriptions they’ve forgotten about. Bills io helps you see every recurring charge in one place so nothing slips through the cracks. BILL TRACKING Organize bills with tags and accounts. See exactly how much hits your credit card each month across all your subscriptions — then plan around it. PAYMENT LOG Record payments as you make them. Add notes with Markdown support for links and details. Export everything to CSV whenever you need it. OVERVIEW & NOTIFICATIONS See what’s due this week or month at a glance. Get notified before auto-withdrawals hit or when it’s time to pay manually — all handled locally, never from a server. WORKS ACROSS APPLE DEVICES iPhone, iPad, and Mac. One purchase, everywhere you already work. ◆ FREE TIER Bills io is free — and we mean it. The core experience is fully featured with no paywalls on the essentials. Premium is there if you want deeper organization tools or just want to support an indie developer keeping your data private. ◆ PREMIUM Bills io is fully usable for free. Premium adds powerful organization upgrades for power users — and if you love the app, it’s the best way to support independent development. Available as monthly, annual, or a one-time lifetime purchase. ◆ Payment graphs & average monthly cost charts ◆ Collections, filtering by account & tags ◆ Face ID / Touch ID lock ◆ Custom notification times ◆ CSV export for bills & payments ◆ Payment notes ◆ All future premium features Privacy Policy: https://billsio.com/pages/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://billsio.com/pages/tos/ EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Balance

Manage all your financial accounts in one place with a clean, intuitive interface. Track expenses, create budgets, and generate detailed reports to gain insights into your spending habits. Securely sync your data across Apple devices via iCloud.

Highlights
  • All account tracking
  • iCloud sync across Apple devices
  • Quick expense entry
  • Advanced search and filtering
  • Customizable reports
  • Budget management
  • Scheduled and recurring transactions
Features
Read full description

All Accounts Keep financial records for all accounts in one place. iCloud Sync Use Balance on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro. Your data will sync automatically via iCloud, no need to create additional accounts. Thoughtful Design Clean and easy-to-use interface designed for quick expense entry. Buttons at the bottom of the screen, swipe gestures, and suggestions allow effortless on-the-go transaction recording. Advanced Search Quickly filter existing transactions based on type, amount, payees, categories, or tags without the need to create detailed reports. Detailed Reports Create highly customizable reports to get insight on what your money is being spent on and what you can optimize. Budgets Use budgets to control spendings in particular categories, tags, or accounts. Scheduled & Recurring Transactions Create scheduled and recurring transactions to avoid missing a payment. Privacy We don’t collect or store your personal data. All data is stored locally on the devices you use Balance on and is synced across devices using your personal iCloud account. There are no analytics or tracking frameworks used. Advanced Features • Reconciliation • Siri Shortcuts • Split Category Transactions • Batch Transaction Editing • Refund Transactions • CSV Export and Import • Automatic Backups • Face ID & Touch ID • Keyboard Shortcuts Subscription Details • Balance Pro is an optional subscription to unlock unlimited number of accounts, custom report filters, and support future development. • Balance Pro is available as monthly, quarterly, annual subscriptions or lifetime purchase. • Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. • Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is disabled at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. • Subscriptions can be managed or cancelled by going to Account Settings on the App Store after purchase. Terms of Service: https://blnc.co/termsofservice Privacy Policy: https://blnc.co/privacypolicy

Screenshots

Bills io4 screens
Balance4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Balance at every 2 weeks against Bills io's every 6 weeks. Balance also leads on review sentiment (85% vs 74%). 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. Bills io sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Balance sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 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 — 4.7 for Bills io against 4.7 for Balance. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 34 and 16 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 74% of Bills io's written reviews are positive against 85% of Balance's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bills io ships an update every 6 weeks, Balance every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Bills io versus Balance: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBills ioBalance
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (34 ratings)4.7 (16 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.7% of reviews84.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings34 — better16
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS26.0 — better27.0
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB54 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperStudio Ember LLCAnatoliy Gershman

Customer experience

Bills io

All ratings34 ratings
Positive91.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive73.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative26.3%

Balance

All ratings15 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive84.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative15.4%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Bills io

Subscriptions2
  • Premium (1 Month)$0.991 Month
  • Premium (1 Year)$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium (Lifetime)$39.99
4 purchases

Balance

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Quarterly$4.993 Months
  • Yearly1 Month trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$49.99

Questions

Is Bills io free?
Bills io is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Balance free?
Balance is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bills io or Balance?
Balance is rated higher. Bills io averages 4.7 out of 5 from 34 ratings, while Balance averages 4.7 from 16 ratings.
Do Bills io or Balance have ads?
Neither Bills io nor Balance shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bills io or Balance?
Bills io ships an update every 6 weeks, and Balance every 2 weeks. Most recently, Bills io was updated on October 20, 2026 and Balance on October 24, 2026.

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