Comparison

Expense List vs Pico Spend

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

Head to head
About

Expense List

Track expenses, group them by category, and email detailed lists. Supports multiple currencies with user-defined exchange rates. Organize custom categories and subcategories for comprehensive financial overview.

Highlights
  • Expense tracking with amount, date, notes, and category
  • Multi-currency support with custom exchange rates
  • Customizable categories and subcategories
  • Filter expenses by date range
  • Email expense lists and database exports
  • Automatic date tagging
Features
Read full description

Expense List, Version 2.7 this free version is limited to saving 50 Expense Items. After an In-App Purchase, it can save over 500 expense items. Expense List keeps track of expenses, grouping and listing the expenses into different Categories, and e-mailing the expenses to other computers. Expense items - amount, date, notes and Category - Amount - recorded in $, €, £ or ¥ and converted to any one of these. Items are converted from one currency to any other currency using user-supplied exchange rates. - Date - automatically tags expense item with current day/time - Notes - add optional descriptions to expense items - Category - each expense item is assigned to a Category Categories - comes with an original table of Categories - Delete any original Category and add new ones - Rearrange table of Categories - Make any Category a subcategory of another Category. Subcategories can have subcategories. Lists - Display a list of expense items assigned to any specific Category, or to all Categories, converted and totaled in $, €, £, or ¥. - Filter-by-date expense items included in lists, keep a running total from one date to another - E-mail lists - E-mail a formatted listing of entire dBase of expense items to another computer for processing by a spreadsheet program capable of parsing format (NOTE - spreadsheet program is not supplied with this App - compatible with Excel).

About

Pico Spend

Easily track your daily expenses with a calculator-like interface and detailed reports. Analyze spending by category, view summaries, and export data. Includes an Apple Watch app for on-the-go tracking.

Highlights
  • Quick expense entry
  • Detailed spending reports
  • Category-based analysis
  • Apple Watch app
  • iCloud backup
  • Passcode protection
Features
Read full description

Pico Spend is a simple, intuitive expense tracker with robust reporting and drill-down capabilities for everyday spending analysis. Pico Spend is a private expense tracker that stores all spending data on your iPhone. It doesn’t require external servers, account creation, or any helper apps. Data connection is unnecessary for expense entry and reporting, as Pico Spend works completely offline. There are no subscriptions or in-app purchases with Pico Spend. It comes as a one-time purchase with an Apple Watch app included. You can also try Pico Spend Lite - a free version with limited functionality. FEATURES • Track your expenses right after the app launch - no servers or accounts needed • Calculator-like screen for quick expense entry • Expense categories are pre-populated, but fully customizable • Dashboard with up to four configurable periods for quick spending overview • List of your expenses day by day, searchable and editable • Summary reports of your data - daily, weekly, monthly, or by expense category • Option to define a comparison period for parallel analysis with the current reporting period • Reports can be presented in drill-down tables, bar graphs, pie charts, or PDF documents • Print, email, or share PDF reports directly from within the app • Spending data can be exported in CSV format, which is convenient for use in various spreadsheet programs • Backup and restore all spending data to iCloud • Optional passcode protection upon launch • Foreign currency conversion • Bundled Apple Watch app for a quick overview of your spending for the current day

Screenshots

Expense List3 screens
Pico Spend4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Expense List at Free against Pico Spend's $1.99. Expense List also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (100% vs 82%). Pico Spend's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ratings volume, 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

Expense List is free to download; Pico Spend costs $1.99 up front. Expense List sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pico Spend asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Expense List holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Expense List's written reviews are positive against 82% of Pico Spend's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Expense List ships an update every 3 months, Pico Spend every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Expense List versus Pico Spend: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterExpense ListPico Spend
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.3 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better81.8% of reviews
Number of ratings23 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPeter KramerDejan Petrovski

Customer experience

Expense List

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Pico Spend

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive81.8%
Neutral18.2%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Expense List

One-time1
  • upgrade to save over 500 expense items$0.99
None

Pico Spend

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Expense List free?
Expense List is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pico Spend free?
Pico Spend costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Expense List or Pico Spend?
Expense List is rated higher. Expense List averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Pico Spend averages 4.3 from 3 ratings.
Do Expense List or Pico Spend have ads?
Neither Expense List nor Pico Spend shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Expense List or Pico Spend?
Expense List ships an update every 3 months, and Pico Spend every 7 months. Most recently, Expense List was updated on October 15, 2026 and Pico Spend on October 6, 2026.

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