Comparison

Simple Budget vs Wave Budget

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

Head to head
About

Simple Budget

This financial tool simplifies budgeting using the envelope system with digital enhancements. Manually track expenses, gain powerful insights into spending habits, and forecast future financial scenarios to grow your savings. Access your budget across devices with phone number sign-up.

Highlights
  • Envelope budgeting system
  • Manual transaction entry
  • Spending insights and analysis
  • Budget calculator
  • Cross-device access
  • Transaction export
Features
Read full description

Simple Budget is a hands-on budgeting app for people who want control over where their money goes. SEE WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES Break your spending down into categories, and give each category a budget. By planning your spending ahead of time, you can build savings directly into your budget, allowing you to have guilt-free spending money while still keeping up with your savings. Track your spending habits with Simple Budget to see if your spending matches your goals. HANDS-ON, WITHOUT THE HASSLE Stay close to your spending to see exactly where your money is going. Avoid the set-it-and-forget-it model and plan for every dollar. When you see each one coming in and out, you understand what you're spending and what you're saving. PLAN FOR THE FUTURE, LEARN FROM THE PAST • Plan your spending ahead of time, from retirement savings to weekend shopping. • Budget Calculator: see how your month ends up after the bills you know are coming, before you decide on that splurge. • Projected spending and savings for the current month. • Recurring income on any schedule: weekly, biweekly, monthly and more. • Year Savings: income, spending and savings for every month of the year. • Spending History: track your spending habits month to month. ENVELOPE BUDGETING, MADE EASY Building your budget is quick and easy with customizable, pre-built budget categories. Find what applies to you, tailor it to your needs, and build a budget that works for you. YOUR BUDGET, YOUR WAY • Track balances across your accounts, free. • Search, filter and sort every transaction, free. • Export your transactions to CSV anytime, free. • Sign in with your phone number and pick up your budget on any device, free. FREE AND PREMIUM Simple Budget is built for everyone, and stays affordable for anyone looking for extra budgeting firepower. The core of Simple Budget is free: budgets and categories, transactions, accounts, income, monthly insights and CSV export. Premium adds detailed category insights and trends, yearly insights, full Budget Calculator editing, history from previous years, and more. Simple Budget Premium is an auto-renewing subscription, billed monthly or annually. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Questions or ideas? luke@pgmediasolutions.com Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.gosimplebudget.com/privacy-policy

About

Wave Budget

Easily set up a monthly budget and monitor your spending to understand your remaining funds. Its minimalist design ensures quick and efficient financial management. Connect with your Apple ID for seamless cross-device synchronization.

Highlights
  • Monthly budget setup
  • Expense tracking
  • Minimalist design
  • Cross-device sync via Apple ID
  • No login required
Features
Read full description

Save money with Wave Budget! Wave Budget helps you to set up a monthly budget and keep track of your expenses. This way, you always know how much there is left for you to spend. It sounds simple, and it is! This is, why the app has this minimalistic style. Budgeting should not take more time than necessary, the simple design of Wave Budget helps you with that. You can use Wave Budget without logging in, but we recommend connecting your account with your Apple ID. This way you can manage your budget on all your devices. The app uses the standard Apple End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Simple Budget4 screens
Wave Budget4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Wave Budget at 100% against Simple Budget's 67%. Wave Budget also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months). Simple Budget's advantage is ratings volume (53 vs 13). On price, ads, 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. Simple Budget sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Wave Budget sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Wave Budget holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 53 and 13 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Simple Budget's written reviews are positive against 100% of Wave Budget's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simple Budget ships an update every 3 months, Wave Budget fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Simple Budget versus Wave Budget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple BudgetWave Budget
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (53 ratings)4.8 (13 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings53 — better13
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB55 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLuke BradyStefan Galler

Customer experience

Simple Budget

All ratings50 ratings
Positive86.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Wave Budget

All ratings12 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Simple Budget

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium Subscription1 Month trial$0.991 Month
  • Annual Premium Subscription$9.991 Year
2 purchases

Wave Budget

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$0.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription$9.491 Year

Questions

Is Simple Budget free?
Simple Budget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Wave Budget free?
Wave Budget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Simple Budget or Wave Budget?
Wave Budget is rated higher. Simple Budget averages 4.5 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while Wave Budget averages 4.8 from 13 ratings.
Do Simple Budget or Wave Budget have ads?
Neither Simple Budget nor Wave Budget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simple Budget or Wave Budget?
Simple Budget ships an update every 3 months, and Wave Budget fortnightly. Most recently, Simple Budget was updated on October 24, 2026 and Wave Budget on October 23, 2026.

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