Comparison

Budget Flow | Expense Tracker vs Nickel

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

Head to head
About

Budget Flow | Expense Tracker

Effortlessly track income and expenses with this modern, user-friendly financial manager. It offers secure, offline use with no registration, allowing you to manage accounts, plan budgets, and secure your financial data.

Highlights
  • Track income and expenses
  • Manage multiple accounts and categories
  • Plan budgets for categories
  • Shared budgeting with multiple users
  • Secure data storage with no login
  • Offline functionality
  • Currency conversion
Features
Read full description

Budget Flow lets you keep track of your income and expenses and manage them effortlessly. This modern and user-friendly expense tracking app is quick to set up, requires no registration and can even be used offline. Budget Flow is the app for anyone who wants to manage their finances efficiently while maintaining a high level of data security. Download Budget Flow today and achieve your financial goals! HIGHLIGHTS: Clear financial management: - Keep track of your accounts, balances and transactions - Configurable dashboard with numerous widgets - Multiple sorting, search and filtering options - Customizable time period for the entire app Create accounts and categories: - Create multiple accounts and categories - Personalizable with icons, emojis and colors - Organize categories into folders Easy transaction management: - One-time and recurring transactions - Integrated calculator for accurate entries - Automatic conversion to over 150 currencies - Add photos, locations and notes - Scan receipts including automatic evaluation - Reminders for planned transactions Budget planning: - Plan budgets for your categories - Choose different recurrence intervals Shared budgeting: - Supports multiple budget books and users - Share data via iCloud to collaborate with multiple people Data security: - Secure data storage - No login required - FaceID / TouchID / Passcode support Other features: - Apple Watch app incl. complications - Mac app incl. keyboard support & shortcuts - Home & lockscreen widgets - Siri shortcut support - Import and export data via CSV file - Numerous personalization options - Seamless iCloud synchronization - Responsive design incl. darkmode - Dynamic text size - ...and much more! IN-APP-PURCHASES: Budget Flow is free to download. Some features require an optional subscription or one-time purchase of the full version. LEGAL: Privacy policy: https://budget-flow.app/privacy-policy Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

About

Nickel

Features
Read full description

Nickel is a private expense tracker. No bank login, no account, no cloud. You log what you spend, or photograph the receipt and let Nickel read it, and every number stays on your phone. FAST TO LOG - Amount, category, date and a note in a couple of taps - Scan a receipt and Nickel reads the merchant, the total and the date on your device - Ask Siri to log a spend without opening the app - A widget, a Lock Screen glance and two Control Center buttons for the times you are already holding your phone BUDGETS THAT SAY SOMETHING - A monthly limit per category, with a live burn rate rather than a total after the fact - A Live Activity in the last week of the month, so the budget is on the Lock Screen while it matters - Insights written as sentences: what you are over on, what you are on pace for, what changed since last month THE MONTH AHEAD, ALREADY COUNTED - Nickel finds the subscriptions and bills hiding in your own history - Put one on the calendar and it logs itself on the day, or reminds you and waits for a tap - See what next month is committed to before it starts BRING YOUR HISTORY WITH YOU - Import a CSV statement from your bank or card. You export it, you hand it over, nothing connects to anyone - Export a spreadsheet any time, or a clean PDF statement with Pro ON A BIGGER SCREEN On iPad, Nickel opens into two columns: your months down the left and the month you picked on the right, with the budgets and the category breakdown beside them. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything lives on your device. No account, no sign-up, no tracking, no ads, and no connection to your bank, ever. NICKEL PRO Unlimited receipt scans, unlimited budgets, your full history, custom categories, CSV import and PDF statements. Start with a 7-day free trial, then $2.99 per month or $19.99 per year. There is also a one-time purchase if you would rather not rent it. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel any time in your Apple Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://legal.unreel.ae/privacy/nickel.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Budget Flow | Expense Tracker4 screens
Nickel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Nickel at every 4 days against Budget Flow | Expense Tracker's every 2 weeks. Budget Flow | Expense Tracker's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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. Budget Flow | Expense Tracker sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Nickel sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Budget Flow | Expense Tracker ships an update every 2 weeks, Nickel every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Budget Flow | Expense Tracker versus Nickel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBudget Flow | Expense TrackerNickel
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (335 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews90.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings335 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size147 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFabian HasseAndrii Zakharov

Bugs and requests

Budget Flow | Expense Tracker

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Transactions disappearing from accounts
  • Inconsistent data display in reports
  • Rounding issues with decimal amounts

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add monthly recurring reminders
  • Improve search functionality
  • Provide more detailed budgeting options
  • Integrate receipt scanning and OCR
  • Allow custom currency support

Nickel

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Budget Flow | Expense Tracker

Subscriptions2
  • Full Version (1 Month)$4.991 Month
  • Full Version (1 Year)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time2
  • Full Version (Discounted)$49.99
  • Full Version (Lifetime)$69.99
1 purchases

Nickel

Subscriptions1
  • Cashflow Pro3 Days trial$2.991 Month

Questions

Is Budget Flow | Expense Tracker free?
Budget Flow | Expense Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Nickel free?
Nickel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Budget Flow | Expense Tracker or Nickel have ads?
Neither Budget Flow | Expense Tracker nor Nickel shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Budget Flow | Expense Tracker or Nickel?
Budget Flow | Expense Tracker ships an update every 2 weeks, and Nickel every 4 days. Most recently, Budget Flow | Expense Tracker was updated on October 20, 2026 and Nickel on October 11, 2026.

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