Basic Expense Tracker vs Mona
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Daily expense tracking
- iCloud sync across devices
- Expense rating indicator
- Currency switcher
- CSV export/import
- Daily reminders
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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)
Mona
This AI-powered app simplifies personal finance by helping you track daily expenses, create budgets, and gain insights into your spending habits. Log transactions effortlessly with natural language input and organize your finances with clear reports and summaries.
- AI expense tracking with natural language input
- Real-time budget planning and progress monitoring
- Spending analysis with finance reports and charts
- Multi-account and wallet management
- Bill and recurring payment awareness
- Savings goal tracking
- Privacy-first, offline-first design
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Mona answers the one question a money app should: how much can I actually spend? Not your balance. Not what is left in the account. What is genuinely yours to spend today — once this month's budget and the bills already on their way out have been counted. Free — every feature, no subscription, no ads. SAFE TO SPEND One number, at the top of the screen. Your budget, minus what you have spent, minus the rent and subscriptions Mona has found in your own history and set aside before showing you the figure. No app should tell you the rent is available to spend. AN ANSWER FOR TODAY Mona divides what is left across the days remaining, so every day has a number. Stay near it and you land inside your budget. SEE WHERE THE MONTH LANDS One bar carries two things at once: how much you have spent, and how much of the month has gone. Fill behind the marker means you are pacing well. Mona projects where you will finish while there is still time to change it. ADD AN EXPENSE IN SECONDS • A purpose-built keypad — no menus to scroll • Or describe it: type "coffee 5" and Mona files it • Or say it out loud • Your most-used categories sit one tap away EVERYTHING ELSE • Cash, bank accounts and cards in one place • Budgets by month, week, quarter or year — and by category • Transfers between your own accounts, which never count as spending • Recurring charges found in your own history • A weekly read on your spending, and a quiet word when something is unusual • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets • An evening reminder, if you want one FREE, YOURS, AND PRIVATE • Free — every feature, for everyone, with nothing locked • No subscription, no ads, no upsell • No account to create • Works offline • Your data stays on your device and in your own iCloud • Encrypted backups you keep yourself • Export everything as a spreadsheet, whenever you like IN YOUR LANGUAGE English, Vietnamese, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese — with every amount, date and number written the way your country writes it. Know what you can spend. Privacy Policy: https://get-mona.app/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://get-mona.app/terms/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Basic Expense Tracker at 5.0 against Mona's 4.3. Basic Expense Tracker also leads on iOS requirement (16 vs 18.2). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Basic Expense Tracker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Mona sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
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 3 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Basic Expense Tracker ships an update fortnightly, Mona every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Basic Expense Tracker | Mona |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better | 4.3 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16 — better | 18.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ivo Maag | Anh Nguyen |
Customer experience
Basic Expense Tracker
Mona
In-app purchases
Basic Expense Tracker
- Tip$1.99
Mona
- Mona Pro (Monthly)$2.991 Month
- Mona Pro (Yearly)$9.991 Year
- Mona Pro (Lifetime)$12.99
- Mona Pro (Lifetime)$19.99
Questions
Is Basic Expense Tracker free?
Is Mona free?
Which has better reviews, Basic Expense Tracker or Mona?
Do Basic Expense Tracker or Mona have ads?
Which is updated more often, Basic Expense Tracker or Mona?
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