Comparison

Budgeting App vs Simple Self Budget

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

Head to head
About

Budgeting App

Manage your personal finances with this comprehensive budget planner and expense tracker. It offers features like device syncing, custom categories, flexible budgeting, and insightful analytics to help you stay on track with your spending and savings goals.

Highlights
  • Sync across devices
  • Customizable spending categories
  • Flexible budget creation (weekly, monthly)
  • Track income and expenses
  • Automated recurring transactions
  • Detailed spending analytics
  • Multiple account management
  • Savings and loan tracking
Features
Read full description

The Budgeting App is a manual-first budget planner and expense tracker for people who want to feel in control of their money, not just watch an automatic dashboard. When you log spending yourself, you stay aware of every purchase, notice your habits, and make calmer decisions about where your money goes. - Flexible budgets that fit your life: create weekly, fortnightly, or monthly budgets and see at a glance whether you're on track. - Fast expense logging: add income and spending in seconds, with a built-in calculator so you can do the maths before you save. - Custom categories: organise your spending with categories and icons you choose, so your budget reflects how you actually live. - Insightful analytics: spot patterns in your spending and make informed decisions about credit cards, savings, and your emergency fund. - Recurring transactions: keep track of regular bills and subscriptions, from insurance to streaming, so nothing catches you by surprise. - Savings and loan trackers: set savings goals and follow loan repayments in one place to stay focused on what matters. - Multiple accounts and currencies: manage separate accounts, each with its own budgets, goals, and currency. - Automatic bank sync (Australia, United States, and Canada): connect your bank to import transactions automatically, then review and categorise them yourself. Bank connections are provided by Fiskil in Australia and Plaid in the United States and Canada. Everywhere else, The Budgeting App is manual by design. - Sync across devices: pick up your budget on any device and stay on top of your spending wherever you are. Budgeting works best when you're part of it. The Budgeting App keeps you close to your money so good habits actually stick. Download The Budgeting App and start budgeting with intention today. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ [:mav: 5.9.3]

About

Simple Self Budget

This app helps you track your monthly budget without linking bank accounts or displaying ads. It offers a calm, straightforward way to log expenses, view spending, and manage categories. An optional one-time purchase unlocks advanced analysis and features.

Highlights
  • Monthly budget per category
  • Quick expense logging
  • Recurring bill management
  • CSV import/export
  • Spending analysis (Pro)
  • Receipt scanning (Pro)
  • Home/Lock Screen widgets (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Simple Self Budget is a calm, native budget tracker for people who just want to know where their month stands. No bank logins, no ads, no judgment. Set a monthly budget for each category, log expenses in seconds, and see what's left at a glance. The numbers state the facts. Nothing nags and nothing throws confetti. It stays honest and out of your way. FREE, FOREVER • A monthly budget per category, with a clear spent, remaining, and percentage view • Over budget is shown plainly: a red number and an icon, never shame or alarm • Log an expense in seconds with description autocomplete and the right keyboard • Tap a past expense while typing to reuse its amount and category, and pick in Settings what gets filled • Log hands-free with Siri, Shortcuts, and the Action Button: "Log $12 for lunch in Food" • Recurring subscriptions and bills added automatically each month, on the same day, even if you skip opening the app • Schedule a payment ahead, so next month's rent logged now counts toward next month's budget • This month's category breakdown, plus your recent months of history • CSV import and export, whenever you want GO FURTHER WITH PRO: ONE PURCHASE, YOURS FOR GOOD • Spending analysis in plain words: a recap of any period, an unusually large charge, a subscription you never marked. Ask it a question and it answers from your own numbers. Needs a device that supports Apple Intelligence • Scan receipts to auto-fill the amount, date, and merchant, or attach a photo to any expense • Spending trends across week, month, quarter, or year • Compare any two periods side by side • Your full monthly history, as far back as your data goes • A calm yearly review: totals, category shifts, highest and lowest months • Budget status on your Home and Lock Screen with widgets, plus a quick-log widget • Roll leftover budget into next month • Lock the app with Face ID Pro is a single one-time purchase. No subscription, no recurring charges. YOURS, AND PRIVATE • Your data lives on your devices and syncs through your own private iCloud, not a third-party server • Check your iCloud sync status in Settings, so you know a new device is caught up • Spending analysis runs on your device with Apple Intelligence. Nothing is uploaded, and nothing is sent to an AI company • No bank account linking, no ads, no tracking • Your data is never behind the paywall: logging, budgets, and CSV export stay free MADE FOR iOS • SF Symbols, Dynamic Type, system colors, and full light and dark mode • VoiceOver labels and Reduce Motion support throughout • Choose your own category colors and currency Simple Self Budget does one job, monthly per-category budgeting, and does it well. Privacy Policy: https://simpleselfbudget.w8bs4cpzx2.workers.dev/privacy

Screenshots

Budgeting App4 screens
Simple Self Budget4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Simple Self Budget at none against Budgeting App's 7. Simple Self Budget also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Budgeting App's advantage is ratings volume (91 vs 3) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.2). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Budgeting App sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Simple Self Budget asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simple Self Budget holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Budgeting App has 91 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Budgeting App ships an update weekly, Simple Self Budget every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Budgeting App versus Simple Self Budget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBudgeting AppSimple Self Budget
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (91 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings91 — better3
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Budgeting CompanyAndre Havasi

Customer experience

Budgeting App

All ratings87 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative21.1%

Simple Self Budget

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Budgeting App

Subscriptions5
  • Pro (Monthly)$2.991 Month
  • Lifetime Bank Sync Add-On (Monthly)$5.991 Month
  • Pro Sync (Monthly)1 Month trial$9.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Pro (Annual)$26.491 Year
  • Pro Sync (Annual)1 Month trial$89.991 Year
One-time2
  • The Budgeting App Pro Lifetime$33.99
  • The Budgeting App Pro Lifetime$59.90
None

Simple Self Budget

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Budgeting App free?
Budgeting App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Self Budget free?
Simple Self Budget is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Budgeting App or Simple Self Budget?
Simple Self Budget is rated higher. Budgeting App averages 4.7 out of 5 from 91 ratings, while Simple Self Budget averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Budgeting App or Simple Self Budget have ads?
Neither Budgeting App nor Simple Self Budget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Budgeting App or Simple Self Budget?
Budgeting App ships an update weekly, and Simple Self Budget every 10 days. Most recently, Budgeting App was updated on October 30, 2026 and Simple Self Budget on October 19, 2026.

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