Comparison

Spending Tracker vs Ace Budget 3

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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)
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

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

Spending Tracker4 screens
Ace Budget 34 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spending Tracker ships an update every 2 months, Ace Budget 3 every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard10 real differences · 1 level
Spending Tracker versus Ace Budget 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpending TrackerAce Budget 3
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.8 (19K ratings) — better4.4 (337 ratings)
Positive reviews94.5% of reviews — better51.0% of reviews
Number of ratings19K — better337
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#65 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.5 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMH Riley LtdSVT Software

Customer experience

Spending Tracker

All ratings19,361 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews2,950 reviews
Positive94.5%
Neutral2.5%
Negative2.9%

Ace Budget 3

All ratings336 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral5.4%
Negative8.9%
Written reviews98 reviews
Positive51.0%
Neutral13.3%
Negative35.7%

User reviews

Spending Tracker

From 19K App Store ratings

What 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 ratings

What 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

1 purchases

Spending Tracker

One-time1
  • Pro Upgrade$2.99
None

Ace Budget 3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Spending Tracker free?
Spending Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ace Budget 3 free?
Ace Budget 3 costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Spending Tracker or Ace Budget 3?
Spending Tracker is rated higher. Spending Tracker averages 4.8 out of 5 from 19K ratings, while Ace Budget 3 averages 4.4 from 337 ratings.
Do Spending Tracker or Ace Budget 3 have ads?
Spending Tracker shows ads; Ace Budget 3 does not.
Which is updated more often, Spending Tracker or Ace Budget 3?
Spending Tracker ships an update every 2 months, and Ace Budget 3 every 3 weeks. Most recently, Spending Tracker was updated on October 24, 2026 and Ace Budget 3 on October 24, 2026.

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