Spending Tracker vs Ace Budget 3
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Spending Tracker
Easily track your expenses and income to gain control over your finances. Set budgets, view spending summaries, and generate reports with interactive charts. Take the first step towards saving money by understanding where your money goes.
- Simple and intuitive interface
- Flexible time period tracking (Weekly, Monthly, Yearly)
- Budget mode with carry-over
- Summary view of spending progress
- Log expenses and income
- Editable spending and income categories
- Interactive charts and reports
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Spending Tracker is the easiest and most user friendly Personal Finance App in the store. And best of all, it's free! The simple fact is, by tracking your spending you will be able to stick to a budget and therefore SAVE MONEY. So give it a try and have instant control over your spending! *** Features *** ------------------ √ Simple and intuitive user interface - helps you track your spending quickly and easily √ Flexible Time Periods - choose to track Weekly, Monthly or Yearly √ Budget Mode - optionally set a fixed budget amount to help you meet your spending targets - carry over any remaining budget to the next period √ Summary View - overview of your current spending progress - time travel backwards and forwards in time - see your main areas of spending √ Log Expense and Income - easy and quick transaction entry - sort by date, name or amount - repeat transactions daily, weekly or monthly (Pro Upgrade required) - export transactions (Pro Upgrade required) √ Categories - editable spending and income categories - choose a quality icon for each category √ Reports - easy visualisation of where your money goes - beautiful and interactive charts - view spending grouped by category - see the history of your spending
Ace Budget 3
Easily track your spending and manage your finances with this intuitive personal finance app. Create custom budgets, schedule recurring transactions, and view insightful reports. Securely access your data with biometric authentication and sync across devices.
- Biometric authentication (Face ID/Touch ID)
- iCloud data synchronization
- Customizable budget cycles
- Recurring transaction scheduling
- Photo receipt capture
- Charts and reports
- Data export (CSV/HTML)
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Ace Budget 3 is an easy to use personal finance application to help you track your spending and keep to a budget. You can create daily, weekly, monthly, semimonthly, quarterly, and yearly budgets. You will be able to schedule recurring transactions, set reminders, view graphs, compare historical data, and much more. Every feature of Ace Budget 3 is designed to be quick, clean, intuitive, and easy to use. FEATURES * Face ID and Touch ID Support - Use Face ID or Touch ID to authenticate and launch the app quicker and more conveniently. * Sync Data via iCloud - Sync your data across iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices. * Universal Binary - Designed for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices. No need to buy separate apps for each device. * Charts and Reports - See your monthly income and expenses through charts and reports. * Photo Receipts - Capture and store photo receipt as part of a transaction. * AirPrint Support - Print reports directly from your iPhone or iPad to any AirPrint-enabled printer. * Multiple Budget Cycles - Create daily, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly budget cycles. * Transaction Reminder - Set reminders for scheduled transactions to warn you when expenses are due. * Transactions Scheduling - Schedule recurring transactions based on the start date and frequency you choose. * Quick Entry List - Create a repeating transaction list for quick selection instead of retyping details. * Smart Autocomplete - As you type, a list will show the previously entered descriptions for you to select from to save re-typing. * Search - Quickly search for transactions and edit from the same screen. * Budget History - At the end each cycle, all information for a budget category is archived and can be easily viewed for comparative purposes. * Transfer - Move funds from one budget category to another in a single operation. * Export Capability - Export budget data in CSV or HTML format for external viewing. * Customization Settings & Themes - Configurable settings and themes to customize the application based on your preferences. * Budget Delete Lock - Prevents accidental deletion of all the transactions under a budget category. * Customizable Sorting - Sort transactions based on your preference either ASC or DESC order by date. * Backup / Restore - You can backup and restore via Dropbox, email, or iTunes file sharing. * Clean, Intuitive User Interface * FREE Ace Budget 3 Lite Version - Please download the Ace Budget 3 Lite version to try before you buy. * If you like this app, then please support us with a positive rating. Thank you!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Spending Tracker at Free against Ace Budget 3's $1.99. Spending Tracker also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 51%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). Ace Budget 3's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On monetization model 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
Spending Tracker is free to download; Ace Budget 3 costs $1.99 up front. Spending Tracker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ace Budget 3 asks for nothing beyond the download.
Spending Tracker holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spending Tracker has 19K ratings behind it against 337, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Spending Tracker's written reviews are positive against 51% of Ace Budget 3's.
Spending Tracker ships an update every 2 months, Ace Budget 3 every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Spending Tracker | Ace Budget 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (19K ratings) — better | 4.4 (337 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.5% of reviews — better | 51.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 19K — better | 337 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #65 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MH Riley Ltd | SVT Software |
Customer experience
Spending Tracker
Ace Budget 3
User reviews
Spending Tracker
From 19K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 📊 Helpful reports and charts
- 💰 One-time fee for premium features
- 🔁 Recurring transactions
- 🗂️ Multiple accounts and categories
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional syncing issues
- 🔢 Lack of fortnightly budget option
- 🗂️ Difficulty deleting unused categories
- 💰 Paid upgrade required for some features
- 📈 Limited budget tracking within categories
Ace Budget 3
From 337 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and simple to use
- 👍 Straightforward budgeting tool
- 💯 Effective for tracking expenses
- 📊 Helpful monthly charts and data
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and glitches with recent iOS updates
- ⚠️ Inability to edit past months' data
- 🔄 Inconsistent monthly budget cycle
- 🔗 Lack of sync with Accounts 3 app
Bugs and requests
Spending Tracker
Reported bugs
2 issues- Transactions sometimes entered in wrong order
- Backup and restore functionality not always reliable
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to split transactions into multiple categories
- Incorporate currency conversion and exchange rates
- Allow family/shared account access and updates
- Implement a 'Debt' category to track loan payments
- Add option to take photos of receipts and attach to transactions
Ace Budget 3
Reported bugs
3 issues- iCloud sync issues causing data loss
- Recurring transactions not working properly
- Budget categories overlapping with UI elements
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to manually adjust budget cycle dates
- Option to view/edit past months' data
- Sync with Accounts 3 app
- Multi-user support for shared budgets
- More customization options (colors, graphs, etc.)
In-app purchases
Spending Tracker
- Pro Upgrade$2.99
Ace Budget 3
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Spending Tracker free?
Is Ace Budget 3 free?
Which has better reviews, Spending Tracker or Ace Budget 3?
Do Spending Tracker or Ace Budget 3 have ads?
Which is updated more often, Spending Tracker or Ace Budget 3?
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