Economy vs Debt Control
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Economy
This app provides a comprehensive snapshot of the US economy, offering the latest key economic indicators and historical data. It includes tens of thousands of indicators for the US, all 50 states, major metro areas, and over 100 other countries. Visualize trends across various timeframes, presidencies, and recessions.
- Key US economic indicators (GDP, Employment, Housing)
- Historical data tracking (months, years, decades)
- Data for 50 US states and metro areas
- Indicators for over 100 countries
- Graphs across presidencies and recessions
- Powerful search engine for 45,000 indicators
- Data-value transformations for charting
Read full descriptionHide full description
***** Featured in iTunes "STAFF FAVORITES" section and also #1 Finance app for several weeks in 2009 ***** ***** Featured on cover and chapter-5 of Wiley Publishing's book on Incredible iPhone Apps ***** This app gives you a snapshot of the US economy by providing the latest key economic indicators and tracking the history of these indicators across the past few months, years and decades. The app includes around 45,000 economic indicators. The primary focus is on US economic indicators (including detailed data on all 50 states and for major metro areas). It also includes some economic indicators for more than a 100 other countries (e.g. UK, Canada, Australia, India, Singapore, China, Mexico, Estonia, Kenya, Nepal, Brazil etc.) Macworld review for the V1 version of the app http://www.macworld.com/article/142855/2009/09/economicnewsapps.html says "tough to do better than Cascade Software’s Economy app" "The app is a one-stop shop ....... economists and financial analysts love to parse" "it’s a handy resource to have available in the palm of your hand." --- Features: 1. Latest values of key (curated) US economic indicators (GDP, Employment, Housing, Manufacturing, Inflation, Trade Deficit, weekly updates of Canadian,Mexican currency exchange rates , M2 Money stock, etc.) published by the US Federal Reserve. 2. Share economic graphs through social media, email, SMS, printouts etc. 3. Graphs to track economic indicators across many different time ranges (e.g. 1 year, 3 years, ...,40 years etc.) 4. Graphs that track the values of economic indicators across Democratic and Republican presidencies and across Recession periods over the past several decades. 5. Around 45,000 economic indicators (mostly for the US, but also for more than a 100 other countries) 6. A powerful search engine that makes it easy to use partial (or full) keywords to search through the 45,000 economic indicators provided by the app. 7. All indicators updated soon after the govt numbers are published. (Most indicators updated monthly, others quarterly, annually, daily or weekly) 8. Help/Descriptions for many economic indicators. 9. Data-value transformations (graphs can be charted on interesting y-axis transformations (e.g. continuously compounded annual rate of change, natural log, change from previous year etc.) 10. The app requires internet connectivity, but previously downloaded/viewed (saved) data can be viewed in offline mode without an internet connection. Are you curious about the economy? Gauge the current state of the US economy with the latest economic indicators, Review historical data for patterns across recessions and patterns across Republican and Democratic presidencies Do you want to win arguments when discussing the economy or make speculative predictions about the economy based on patterns from the past? This app will help you with all of that and more. ---- Please contact us through our website (http://CascadeSoft.net) or blog for questions, comments or suggestions. The app is optimised for multiple iPhone and iPod Touch devices and it has been tested on devices ranging from an iPhone 4 device (running iOS 5.1.1) to an iPhone 7 Plus device (running iOS 10.1) Download the app to see why it was the #1 ranked paid app in the Finance category of the app store (for weeks in summer, 2009) and why it was featured on the cover of Wiley Publishing's book on Incredible iPhone apps.
Debt Control
Manage your finances by tracking income, bills, and debts to understand your cash flow. This app acts as a mobile spreadsheet for personal finance, keeping all your data locally on your device.
- Bill tracking with due dates
- Income tracking
- Debt payoff planning
- Asset tracking
- Net Worth dashboard
- AI financial export
Read full descriptionHide full description
Know exactly which cards to pay and in what order. See your monthly cash flow at a glance income minus bills so you always know what's safe to spend. Built for people who already live in spreadsheets. If you track your expenses in Google Sheets or Excel, Debt Control is the phone version of that. No cloud sync, no account required — just your numbers, on your phone. Perfect for: - eBay and online sellers tracking payments and fees - Turo hosts managing car rental income and expenses - Anyone juggling multiple bills and cards Everything stays on your device. No data is ever sent anywhere. Free: - Bill tracker with due dates - Income tracker - Debt tracker with payoff dates - Asset tracker - One-tap backup & restore Pro: - Net Worth dashboard - Full financial overview - Ask AI export your financial snapshot and send it to ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini in one tap for personalized advice - All future Pro features Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Debt Control at Free against Economy's $2.99. Debt Control also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Economy's advantage is ratings volume (160 vs 4) and chart position (#96 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Debt Control is free to download; Economy costs $2.99 up front. Economy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Debt Control sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Debt Control holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Economy has 160 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Economy's written reviews are positive against 100% of Debt Control's.
Economy ships an update every 6 months, Debt Control fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Economy | Debt Control |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (160 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 86.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 160 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #96 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 56 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Cascade Software Corporation | MAYA SYLVIA VANTERPOOL |
Customer experience
Economy
Debt Control
Bugs and requests
Economy
Reported bugs
8 issues- App won't open
- App crashes
- App crashing on iPad
- App no longer functioning
- App is buggy
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- App is outdated
- App recently hacked, displaying incorrect currency
- Offline mode gives error message
Requested features
111 requests- Fix crashes and make the app open
- Provide refunds for non-functioning apps
- Update the app to current versions
- Add more historical data
- Add more recent data
Show 106 moreShow fewer
- Improve user-friendliness for sorting and navigation
- Include a calendar for upcoming report releases
- Show expectations for each report
- Faster app updates
- Clearer definitions and descriptions for economic metrics
- Display current percentages alongside changes
- Allow for more data variation and comparison
- Fix currency display issues
- Include more historical data for specific indices
- Add more beige book information
- Include a chart for margin debt of equities
- Add a view by House of Representatives
- Improve graph aesthetics
- Increase data depth and breadth
- Add more data points for specific sectors like housing
- Include a scale on the y-axis of graphs
- Add an email button for sharing data
- Include summary and breakdown data of Federal spending
- Add data on Federal debt to GDP
- Incorporate features for business applications and MBA students
- Add a way to sort on upcoming indicators
- Provide information on upcoming publications (month/week/day)
- Address shortcomings in GDP reporting
- Include average yearly home price/value adjusted for inflation
- Add local and state-level economic information
- Incorporate worldwide economic data
- Improve graph tweaking and customization
- Allow offline access to previously downloaded data
- Add more data for the housing sector
- Display actual numbers on the left scale of graphs
- Allow selection of specific year ranges for analysis
- Label vertical axes on graphs for clarity
- Enable auto-rotation of graphs
- Allow simultaneous display of two graphs
- Display graphs with different scales effectively
- Show imports and exports on the same graph
- Include data on US trade with specific regions like China or Asia
- Add more indicators such as Consumer Spending and Consumer Confidence
- Add local and state information
- Add worldwide data
- Improve graphs
- Add more data
- Add features for business applications and MBA students
- Add a way to sort on upcoming indicators
- Provide information on upcoming publications (month/week/day)
- Address shortcomings in GDP reporting
- Include average yearly home price/value adjusted for inflation
- Add local and state-level economic information
- Incorporate worldwide economic data
- Improve graph aesthetics
- Allow offline access to previously downloaded data
- Add more data for the housing sector
- Display actual numbers on the left scale of graphs
- Allow selection of specific year ranges for analysis
- Label vertical axes on graphs for clarity
- Enable auto-rotation of graphs
- Allow simultaneous display of two graphs
- Display graphs with different scales effectively
- Show imports and exports on the same graph
- Include data on US trade with specific regions like China or Asia
- Add more indicators such as Consumer Spending and Consumer Confidence
- Add local and state information
- Add worldwide data
- Improve graphs
- Add more data
- Add features for business applications and MBA students
- Add a way to sort on upcoming indicators
- Provide information on upcoming publications (month/week/day)
- Address shortcomings in GDP reporting
- Include average yearly home price/value adjusted for inflation
- Add local and state-level economic information
- Incorporate worldwide economic data
- Improve graph aesthetics
- Allow offline access to previously downloaded data
- Add more data for the housing sector
- Display actual numbers on the left scale of graphs
- Allow selection of specific year ranges for analysis
- Label vertical axes on graphs for clarity
- Enable auto-rotation of graphs
- Allow simultaneous display of two graphs
- Display graphs with different scales effectively
- Show imports and exports on the same graph
- Include data on US trade with specific regions like China or Asia
- Add more indicators such as Consumer Spending and Consumer Confidence
- Add local and state information
- Add worldwide data
- Improve graphs
- Add more data
- Add features for business applications and MBA students
- Add a way to sort on upcoming indicators
- Provide information on upcoming publications (month/week/day)
- Address shortcomings in GDP reporting
- Include average yearly home price/value adjusted for inflation
- Add local and state-level economic information
- Incorporate worldwide economic data
- Improve graph aesthetics
- Allow offline access to previously downloaded data
- Add more data for the housing sector
- Display actual numbers on the left scale of graphs
- Allow selection of specific year ranges for analysis
- Label vertical axes on graphs for clarity
- Enable auto-rotation of graphs
- Allow simultaneous display of two graphs
- Display graphs with different scales effectively
- Show imports and exports on the same graph
- Include data on US trade with specific regions like China or Asia
Debt Control
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Economy
- V6 Upgrade for Early Adopters$1.99
Debt Control
- Month Membership$0.991 Month
- Debt Control Lifetime$4.99








