Comparison

Budgeting App vs Actuali

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

Actuali

Manage your personal finances on the go with this native iOS client for a self-hosted budgeting app. Track expenses, view account balances, and generate reports directly from your iPhone, even offline. Syncs seamlessly with your existing server.

Highlights
  • Budget at a glance
  • Category budgeting
  • Log expenses, deposits, transfers
  • Net worth and spending reports
  • Offline functionality
  • Light & Dark mode
Features
Read full description

Actuali is a native iOS client for Actual Budget, the local-first, open-source personal finance app. Connect to the Actual server you already self-host and budget from your phone, online or offline (sync the moment you're back online). Supports most Actual Budget features: Envelope & Tracking Budgets (inc. Encrypted), Categories, Transactions, Rules, Schedules, Reports, OAuth Plus many additional features including: • Bank sync via SimpleFIN • Import Apple Card, Apple Cash, & Savings transactions straight from Wallet • Tap to pay with Apple Wallet & the transaction logs itself, a Shortcuts automation runs Actuali's Log Transaction action the moment you pay • Payee locations: remembers where you transact, so payee suggestions are one tap away • Bills & Schedules Calendar: upcoming bills and scheduled transactions in one dashboard • Credit card support: payment due reminders, statement history • Notifications for new transactions and card payment due dates • Automatic backups, mirrored to a folder you choose • Category funding automation: top up categories from a source you pick • Transaction history with Undo • iOS Widgets & Shortcuts • Quick math in the amount field (+, −, ×, ÷) • Card & Account Mapping • Hide balances app wide • Light/Dark mode • iPad support Your data, your server: Actuali talks only to the Actual Budget server you configure, nothing else. No analytics, no personal data collected. Requirements: your own Actual Budget server (actualbudget.org) to sync. Actuali is an independent companion client and isn't affiliated with the Actual Budget project.

Screenshots

Budgeting App4 screens
Actuali4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Actuali at none against Budgeting App's 7. Actuali also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and review sentiment (100% vs 79%). Budgeting App's advantage is ratings volume (91 vs 23) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). 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. Budgeting App sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Actuali asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Actuali holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 91 and 23 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Budgeting App's written reviews are positive against 100% of Actuali's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Budgeting App ships an update weekly, Actuali every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Budgeting App versus Actuali: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBudgeting AppActuali
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (91 ratings)5.0 (23 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings91 — better23
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Budgeting CompanyMatthew Farrell

Customer experience

Budgeting App

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

Actuali

All ratings22 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
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

Actuali

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Budgeting App free?
Budgeting App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Actuali free?
Actuali is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Budgeting App or Actuali?
Actuali is rated higher. Budgeting App averages 4.7 out of 5 from 91 ratings, while Actuali averages 5.0 from 23 ratings.
Do Budgeting App or Actuali have ads?
Neither Budgeting App nor Actuali shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Budgeting App or Actuali?
Budgeting App ships an update weekly, and Actuali every 10 days. Most recently, Budgeting App was updated on October 30, 2026 and Actuali on October 28, 2026.

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