Comparison

Pothos vs Payfold

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

Head to head
About

Pothos

This app helps you manage your finances using the 50/30/20 budgeting rule. It allows you to track expenses, allocate income, and gain insights with an AI money coach. Prioritizes user privacy with on-device analytics and no data selling.

Highlights
  • 50/30/20 budgeting rule
  • Customizable budget rules
  • Expense and income tracking
  • AI money coach
  • Weekly AI recap
  • Subscription scan for recurring charges
  • Privacy-focused analytics
Features
Read full description

BUDGET with better clarity and focus on your long-term financial goals by budgeting with the 50-30-20 rule. LEARN with valuable tips, educational resources, and interactive tools that will enhance your financial knowledge. Pothos is the budget app built around the 50-30-20 rule: 50% Needs, 30% Wants, 20% Savings โ€” allocate your income to three categories and watch your money balance itself. INTUITIVE BUDGETING & SPENDING TRACKER APP With Pothos, you begin with a powerful advantage: your hard-earned income. Instead of building up expenses from $0 like traditional budget tracking apps, you allocate your income to three essential categories: Needs, Wants, and Savings. Our expense tracker is built to help you follow this simple budgeting rule and reach your financial goals โ€” simply, and mindfully. HOW DOES THE 50-30-20 BUDGETING RULE WORK? - It helps you divide your income into categories that make saving easy. - The rule states that 50% of your money goes toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. - The savings category can also include money for future goals, like paying down a loan. HOW CAN YOU FOLLOW THE 50-30-20 RULE WITH POTHOS - Tell us your budget by entering your salary or earnings and your pay schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, etc). - Every expense or income you log deducts from the right category and shows your remaining budget. - See your remaining budget and every transaction on clear, visual charts and graphs โ€” or set a fully custom rule instead of 50-30-20. โ€” YOUR AI MONEY COACH โ€” Ask "Can I afford this $400 phone?" and get an answer grounded in YOUR ledger, not generic advice. Every Sunday, get an AI recap with two specific, dollar-quantified actions for the week ahead. Subscription scan finds recurring charges you forgot you were paying for. AI insights flag spending anomalies before they end your month. AI-generated โ€” never financial advice. โ€” PRIVACY FIRST โ€” We never sell or share your data. Cloud AI never receives your identity โ€” no name, no email, nothing that identifies you. On-device first for analytics โ€” trends and anomaly detection run on your phone. One-tap export and delete-everything, any time, in Settings. โ€” WHAT WE DON'T DO โ€” No advertising SDK. No third-party analytics broker. No identity-bearing telemetry. No selling your data, ever. โ€” SUBSCRIPTION โ€” Free tier covers core budgeting, the 50-30-20 rule (or your own custom rule), and manual transaction tracking. Premium unlocks the AI coach, the weekly recap, and full insights. Cancel any time in your account settings. POTHOS: BUDGET & EXPENSES TRACKER APP FEATURES: - Allocate your income to Needs, Wants, and Savings, following the 50-30-20 rule (or set a custom rule). - Log expenses and watch your budget stretch every dollar, staying in balance. - Visualize progress with charts, and set savings goals. - Ask an AI coach questions about your own spending โ€” privately. - Weekly AI recap with two specific actions, every Sunday. - Gain financial literacy through tips and resources built into the app. - Complete data safety and privacy โ€” see Settings โ†’ Your privacy for every commitment we make. Questions? Tap Settings โ†’ Your privacy in the app for the full commitments list.

About

Payfold

Features
Read full description

Payfold shows you exactly what lands in your bank account โ€” not just your gross salary. Enter your salary or hourly rate, pick your state and filing status, and get a full breakdown: federal income tax, state income tax, Social Security, and Medicare, all using current tax-year figures for every state (including the nine states with no income tax). WHY PAYFOLD โ€ข All 50 states + DC โ€” flat-rate, bracketed, and no-tax states, done right โ€ข Salary or hourly, any pay frequency (weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, annual) โ€ข Pre-tax deductions: 401(k), HSA, health insurance โ€ข Full FICA breakdown, including Additional Medicare for high earners โ€ข Save and compare past calculations โ€ข No account, no sign-in โ€” your numbers never leave your device Who it's for: job offers, raises, relocating to a new state, switching from salary to hourly (or back), or just wanting to know your real take-home pay before payday. Payfold is free to use and supported by ads. Remove all ads with a single one-time purchase โ€” no subscriptions. Payfold is a free estimator. It is not tax advice โ€” for anything that matters, double-check with your employer's payroll department or a tax professional. Questions or feedback: use the App Store's Report a Problem link, or leave a review โ€” we read every one. Privacy policy: https://payfold-app.web.app/privacy.html

Screenshots

Pothos4 screens
Payfold4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Pothos at none against Payfold's shown. On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Pothos sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Payfold sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 7 level
Pothos versus Payfold: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPothosPayfold
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews75.0% of reviewsโ€”
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksโ€”
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumโ€”
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.515.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size128 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChanna Edirisinghemehmet atalan

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Pothos

Subscriptions3
  • Unlimited access$9.991 Month
  • Unlimited access7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Pothos Premium Annual7 Days trial$99.991 Year
1 purchases

Payfold

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$4.99

Questions

Is Pothos free?
Pothos is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Payfold free?
Payfold is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Pothos or Payfold have ads?
Payfold shows ads; Pothos does not.

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