Comparison

Basic Expense Tracker vs Smart Budget

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

Head to head
About

Basic Expense Tracker

Easily track your daily spending and cash flow with this finance app. It syncs across your iOS devices and offers features like expense rating and currency switching. Export your data to spreadsheets for further analysis.

Highlights
  • Daily expense tracking
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Expense rating indicator
  • Currency switcher
  • CSV export/import
  • Daily reminders
Features
Read full description

The straightforward expense tracker that syncs across all your iOS devices. This expense tracker was inspired by the book "Your Money or Your Life" by Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez and Mr. Money Mustache. - Daily reminder - Currency-switcher - Good-Neutral-Bad indicator to rate your expenses. - Did I want to buy this? - iCloud-sync - CSV Spreadsheet (export/import)

About

Smart Budget

Effortlessly track your spending and manage budgets with automatic transaction logging from Apple Pay. Features include smart budgeting, subscription management, and receipt scanning. Simplify your finances without manual data entry.

Highlights
  • Automatic expense tracking
  • Smart monthly budget planner
  • Free budget tracker tools
  • Receipt tracker with OCR
  • Subscription manager
  • Widgets for instant insights
  • Custom categories and budgets
Features
Read full description

Track Spending Automatically. Budget Without the Headache. WalletPal is a powerful expense track and budgeting and spending tracking app designed specifically for people who use Apple Pay. No more logging every purchase manually. With WalletPal, your tap-to-pay transactions are automatically tracked — including the name, amount, location, date, and category. Budgeting just got easier. *Features You’ll Actually Use:* - Automatic Expense Tracking Tap to pay and forget it — WalletPal logs the transaction instantly with all details. - Smart Monthly Budget Planner Create a simple budget for your daily, weekly, or monthly expenses and receive notifications when you're close to overspending. - Free Budget Tracker Tools Import/export your data in CSV, filter transactions, and analyze spending — all included in the free version. - Receipt Tracker with OCR Snap a photo of a receipt and let WalletPal add it as a new expense automatically. - Subscription Manager Effortlessly manage subscriptions and get reminders for recurring bills. - Widgets for Instant Insights Track your spending, upcoming payments, and progress toward your money goals — right from your home screen. - Custom Categories & Budgets Tailor WalletPal to your lifestyle with custom tracking for each area of your life. Whether you're trying to track spending, manage your monthly bill planner, or just need a spending tracker that works with you — WalletPal is the budget app that fits. Download WalletPal now and simplify your finances — no spreadsheets needed.

Screenshots

Basic Expense Tracker4 screens
Smart Budget4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Basic Expense Tracker at 5.0 against Smart Budget's 4.3. Basic Expense Tracker also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 83%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Basic Expense Tracker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Smart Budget sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Basic Expense Tracker holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 20 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Basic Expense Tracker's written reviews are positive against 83% of Smart Budget's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Basic Expense Tracker ships an update fortnightly, Smart Budget every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Basic Expense Tracker versus Smart Budget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBasic Expense TrackerSmart Budget
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (7 ratings) — better4.3 (20 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better82.6% of reviews
Number of ratings720 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS16 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB172 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIvo MaagMICHAEL JOHN S WILLER

Customer experience

Basic Expense Tracker

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Smart Budget

All ratings20 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive82.6%
Neutral8.7%
Negative8.7%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Basic Expense Tracker

One-time1
  • Tip$1.99
3 purchases

Smart Budget

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Annual3 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Basic Expense Tracker free?
Basic Expense Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Smart Budget free?
Smart Budget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Basic Expense Tracker or Smart Budget?
Basic Expense Tracker is rated higher. Basic Expense Tracker averages 5.0 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Smart Budget averages 4.3 from 20 ratings.
Do Basic Expense Tracker or Smart Budget have ads?
Neither Basic Expense Tracker nor Smart Budget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Basic Expense Tracker or Smart Budget?
Basic Expense Tracker ships an update fortnightly, and Smart Budget every 3 weeks. Most recently, Basic Expense Tracker was updated on October 6, 2026 and Smart Budget on October 14, 2026.

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