Simple Budget vs Pocket Clear
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Envelope budgeting system
- Manual transaction entry
- Spending insights and analysis
- Budget calculator
- Cross-device access
- Transaction export
Read full descriptionHide 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
Pocket Clear
A straightforward, privacy-focused expense tracker that helps you monitor your spending. It offers offline functionality, custom categories, and insightful reports. Optional pro features unlock cloud backup, shared accounts, and advanced budgeting tools.
- Offline expense tracking
- Customizable spending categories
- Spending reports and charts
- Cloud backup and sync (Pro)
- Shared expense management (Pro)
- Multi-currency support (Pro)
- CSV/PDF transaction export (Pro)
Read full descriptionHide full description
Pocket Clear is a simple expense tracker with no ads and no bank linking. Log an expense in five seconds, see your month on a calendar, and let Apple Pay taps and bank texts log themselves — you check every entry, nothing is hidden from you. AUTOMATIC LOGGING — NO BANK LINKING On-Device AI (Beta, opt-in) • Apple Pay taps log themselves — set up a Shortcuts automation once and every tap is added in the background • Bank texts log themselves too — debit and card-spend SMS become entries the moment they arrive • Share a bank message, receipt photo, or card email to Pocket Clear and it's logged for you • Quick Log on Home — paste, type, scan, or choose a photo — or tell Siri "Log an expense in Pocket Clear" • Ask — "How much on food this month?" — and get exact answers from your own transactions • Everything logged for you waits under Recent captures to check, edit, or undo • Read on your iPhone — nothing you share or ask is uploaded to Pocket Clear or any AI company; off until you switch it on SIMPLE & FAST • Add expenses in seconds with "Money In" and "Money Out" • Smart Suggestions turn a repeat expense into one tap • Custom categories with 95 searchable icons, plus subcategories • Split a transaction across categories, and search your whole history by note, amount, or payee • Dark mode, text size, decimal places, and 10+ languages BUILD THE HABIT • A daily reminder that learns the hour you usually log — and only nudges on days you haven't • Catch-up week — see the last seven days side by side and fill in the ones you missed • Road to 50 — rewards at 10, 25 and 50 entries; log 50 and invite one friend who logs an entry for 3 months of Pro if you've never paid • Invite friends — share your link in one tap • Power score — one number for your money habit, with a nightly rank and what to do next • Daily rings — close Log, Budget and Grow every day • A projection of where your month will land • Today's tip — one feature, illustrated, each day PRIVACY FIRST • Works offline once you're signed in • Your entries stay on your phone unless you use Cloud Sync • Synced entries are encrypted with AES-256 • Tap the eye on Home to hide every amount • No ads, no tracking, no data selling BUILT AROUND YOUR PAY CYCLE • Weekly, fortnightly, semi-monthly, monthly or yearly periods • Start your month on payday instead of the 1st • Carry a balance over from one period to the next REPORTS & INSIGHTS • Calendar view — each day's spending on a month grid; tap a day to see its entries • Insights — this week's spending at a glance, every Sunday • Spending and money in by category, with percentages on the chart • Tap a payment type to see every transaction behind it • Monthly and yearly trends, and a running "Spent today" total • An optional Account balances card on Home for each payment type • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, day streaks and milestones PRO FEATURES • Pro Insights — what's creeping up, your repeat charges, and where to cut back • Cloud backup & sync — change phones and everything is there the moment you sign in • Partner Mode — one shared view of your money with your significant other • Groups and Trips — split shared costs, and see what one trip actually cost • Receipt photos on any transaction, backed up with your data • Pocket Clear on the web — read, sort and export on a full screen • Payees — track who you paid, not just what for • Per-category budgets with alerts and rollover • Savings goals and recurring transactions • Tags and inter-account transfers • Secondary currency and Travel Mode for spending abroad • Export transactions to CSV/PDF Pro is available monthly or yearly. PERFECT FOR • Couples managing shared expenses • Expats and travellers tracking in multiple currencies • Anyone who values privacy and simplicity • Anyone leaving an ad-supported money manager or bank-linked app Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Pocket Clear at weekly against Simple Budget's every 3 months. Pocket Clear also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (93% vs 67%). Simple Budget's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Simple Budget sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Pocket Clear sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Pocket Clear holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 56 and 165 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Simple Budget's written reviews are positive against 93% of Pocket Clear's.
Simple Budget ships an update every 3 months, Pocket Clear weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Simple Budget | Pocket Clear |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (56 ratings) | 4.9 (165 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 93.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 56 | 165 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 59 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Luke Brady | Aravind Srinivas C V |
Customer experience
Simple Budget
Pocket Clear
In-app purchases
Simple Budget
- Monthly Premium Subscription1 Month trial$0.991 Month
- Annual Premium Subscription$9.991 Year
Pocket Clear
- Pocket Clear Pro Monthly1 Month trial$0.991 Month
- Pocket Clear Pro Monthly1 Month trial$4.991 Month
- Pocket Clear Pro Annual1 Month trial$34.991 Year
Questions
Is Simple Budget free?
Is Pocket Clear free?
Which has better reviews, Simple Budget or Pocket Clear?
Do Simple Budget or Pocket Clear have ads?
Which is updated more often, Simple Budget or Pocket Clear?
Other comparisons















