Comparison

Beancount vs BeanLedger

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

Head to head
About

Beancount

This app helps you manage your finances by recording transactions in text files. It then generates financial statements like income statements and balance sheets to provide insights into your financial health.

Highlights
  • Record financial transactions
  • Generate income statements
  • Create balance sheets
  • Visualize financial data
  • Improve financial life
Features
Read full description

Your ledger is a plain-text file. You own it for good. Beancount brings serious double-entry bookkeeping to your phone without locking your financial history inside a proprietary database. Record a purchase in seconds, inspect the underlying Beancount file, and keep a Git history of every change. FINANCIAL CLARITY • See net worth, assets, liabilities, income, and expenses • Compare spending across months, quarters, and years • Explore cash flow, profit trends, budgets, merchants, and account reports YOUR BOOKS, YOUR FORMAT • Keep real Beancount-syntax text files • Browse commits, authors, and line-by-line changes • Edit the ledger source directly and take your files with you BUILT FOR REAL BOOKS • Full double-entry transactions, splits, transfers, and reimbursements • Multiple ledgers, currencies, investments, crypto, and property • Receipt capture, payee and account suggestions, search, and filters Beancount is free, with no ads and no in-app purchases.

About

BeanLedger

This personal finance app offers streamlined double-entry bookkeeping with no sign-in or ads. Track all your financial moves, visualize your spending with powerful charts, and manage assets and income across multiple currencies. Data is stored locally and synced via iCloud for ultimate privacy.

Highlights
  • Double-entry bookkeeping
  • Local data storage & iCloud sync
  • Calendar view with recurring transactions
  • Powerful financial charts & visualizations
  • Home screen & lock screen widgets
  • Multi-currency support
  • Apple Watch transaction entry
Features
Read full description

Bring everyday bookkeeping and asset tracking together. Record income and expenses, see your account balances and net worth, and review investment gains and losses by month or year. BeanLedger supports multiple currencies, with no ads or BeanLedger account required. [Everyday Income & Expenses] Quickly record spending, income, transfers, and refunds. Review transactions in a calendar, explore categories and events, and filter records to find the details you need. Double-entry bookkeeping connects each transaction to your accounts for a consistent view of your money. [Your Assets in One Place] Keep track of assets, debts, and net worth across accounts. Follow balance trends, compare income and expenses, and explore how money moves with the asset Sankey diagram. Create a Financial Recap to review and share a month or year. [Investment Returns] Record investment income and expenses alongside your everyday finances. Review the resulting gains, losses, and return rates by month or year, with a breakdown by investment account. Returns are based on your recorded transactions, rather than live market prices. [Multiple Currencies] Manage accounts in different currencies and view your finances in your base currency. Exchange-rate lookup includes built-in fallback rates when current rates are unavailable. [Private Records, Easy Access] Your financial records stay on your devices and sync through your iCloud; BeanLedger does not store them on its own server. Automatic backups help you restore your records. Add transactions from Apple Watch, use widgets on supported watch faces, and access balances and quick entry from Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, Control Center, and Siri shortcuts. [Plan & Explore] Set up recurring transaction plans, category budgets, and account, net worth, or debt goals with optional reminders. Use transaction locations to revisit spending on a map. Export a Beancount-compatible ledger for further analysis. With BeanLedger Pro, create custom metrics from income, expenses, and transaction categories and analyze any date range. --- [BeanLedger Pro] Choose a one-time purchase for lifetime access to premium features, or a subscription for access while it remains active. No ads with either option. If you choose to subscribe to the membership, your subscription will automatically renew through your iTunes account after purchase confirmation and payment. Your Apple iTunes account will be charged within 24 hours before the expiration of the current period. Upon successful payment, the subscription period will extend for another billing cycle. To cancel the renewal, please manually disable auto-renewal in your iTunes or Apple account settings at least 24 hours before the current subscription period ends. Cancellation of this service is at your own discretion. If you choose not to cancel, the renewal service for the next billing cycle will be activated automatically. Service and Subscription Terms: https://my.feishu.cn/wiki/INLGw3WtQiNyO1kOPWXcG2WEnQc Privacy Policy: https://my.feishu.cn/wiki/RCTPwbGY6iIpdmkP4AUcWpFYn0b Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Beancount3 screens
BeanLedger4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: BeanLedger at 5.0 against Beancount's 3.4. BeanLedger also leads on review sentiment (76% vs 67%). Beancount's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ratings volume (9 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. BeanLedger sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Beancount asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BeanLedger holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Beancount's written reviews are positive against 76% of BeanLedger's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Beancount ships an update every 2 weeks, BeanLedger every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Beancount versus BeanLedger: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeancountBeanLedger
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.4 (9 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews76.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB59 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStargately, Inc.琦 黎

Customer experience

Beancount

All ratings8 ratings
Positive62.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative37.5%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

BeanLedger

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive76.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative12.0%

In-app purchases

None

Beancount

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

BeanLedger

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Subscription3 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Weekly Subscription$0.997 Days
  • Annual Subscription1 Year trial$6.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$14.99

Questions

Is Beancount free?
Beancount is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BeanLedger free?
BeanLedger is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Beancount or BeanLedger?
BeanLedger is rated higher. Beancount averages 3.4 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while BeanLedger averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Beancount or BeanLedger have ads?
Neither Beancount nor BeanLedger shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Beancount or BeanLedger?
Beancount ships an update every 2 weeks, and BeanLedger every 8 days. Most recently, Beancount was updated on October 24, 2026 and BeanLedger on October 28, 2026.

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