Spend.Control vs Simple Budget Envelopes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Spend.Control
This app helps you determine how much discretionary income you can safely spend daily without jeopardizing your financial goals. It allows you to budget your allowance into virtual envelopes and track your spending.
- Calculate safe daily spending
- Budget allowance into virtual envelopes
- Track spending by category
- Prioritize spending between categories
- Future balances calculator
- Generate financial reports
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'Spend Control' answers the following most basic of financial questions: "How much can I safely spend today such that I can still meet my upcoming obligations and ultimately reach my desired goals?" Or to put it more succinctly: "How much can I spend today without harming my future?" And here's how it works: First you tell 'Spend Control' (in a user-friendly way) about your upcoming financial situation (your expected income over the next 12 months and how much of that income is already dedicated to such things as rent, utilities, car payments, savings, etc.) Given that information 'Spend Control' tells you how much is available for your “allowance” (i.e., discretionary spending money.) You then create a budget for that leftover allowance money at which point 'Spend Control' generates a virtual envelope for each category and seeds it with one week's allowance (an amount you can easily change.) Thereafter, the app will automatically, every day, feed each envelope with one day's allowance such that if you don't spend anything in that category your spendable amount will continue to grow. If you do spend something, you need only tap on the category, enter the amount spent and 'Spend Control' will subtract the amount from the appropriate envelope. The process described above is the app's main function but there are other tools that further help you track and prioritize. For example, if you see an outfit you really want but don't yet have enough in your 'Clothing' envelope, you can choose (prioritize) to transfer money from another envelope, say, 'Entertainment' (as opposed to, say, 'Rent'.) Or you can use the tool called the 'Future Balances Calculator' to answer the question "If I hold off buying now, when will I have the necessary funds in that envelope?" or perhaps the question "How much will I have in my 'Paris Vacation' envelope when that date arrives?" 'Spend Control' also generates a number of reports, such as 'Current Budget' and 'Current Balances' which you can then email to yourself or to someone else.
Simple Budget Envelopes
Easily track your remaining budget with an unlimited number of digital envelopes. Add or subtract funds as you spend or receive money. This straightforward app requires no sign-in or in-app purchases.
- Unlimited digital envelopes
- Add/subtract funds easily
- Track remaining budget
- No sign-in required
- No in-app purchases
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An incredibly simple app, perfect for keeping track of how much money remains in your budget. Simple Budget Envelopes allows you to have as many envelopes as you need, then add or subtract as you receive or spend money. No in-app purchases. Yours to simply use as you like.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Spend.Control at Free against Simple Budget Envelopes's $0.99. Spend.Control also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 5 months). Simple Budget Envelopes's advantage is ratings volume (115 vs 7) and chart position (#154 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
Spend.Control is free to download; Simple Budget Envelopes costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Spend.Control holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Simple Budget Envelopes has 115 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Spend.Control's written reviews are positive against 89% of Simple Budget Envelopes's.
Spend.Control ships an update every 5 weeks, Simple Budget Envelopes every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on June 4, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Spend.Control | Simple Budget Envelopes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better | 4.6 (115 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 88.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 7 | 115 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #154 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Renee Borsari | Joseph Palmer |
Customer experience
Spend.Control
Simple Budget Envelopes
Bugs and requests
Spend.Control
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Simple Budget Envelopes
Reported bugs
3 issues- New update whites out numbers and envelopes are blank
- App crashes when trying to open envelopes after an update
- White on white text in dark mode, making text entry impossible
Requested features
26 requests- Add a tutorial within the app
- Add a button to reset all envelope balances at once
- More color options for envelopes
- Ability to sort envelopes
- Running balance for each envelope
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- Ability to put dates on transactions
- Form field in envelopes to note budget amount from each paycheck
- Ability to customize envelopes with pictures
- Make the app shareable with a spouse
- Make sub-envelopes within an envelope
- Support multi-device syncing
- Option to list transactions newest to oldest
- Create a way to have envelopes start from scratch each month
- Add a date next to input items
- Ability to edit a transaction
- Sync across devices
- Change the color of envelopes
- Add a memo feature for transactions
- Add a budget limit for envelopes
- Create a transaction statement
- Ability to sync with a husband's app for real-time updates
- Display total amount budgeted vs total spent at the top
- Option for making notes on transactions
- Standard 'delete and reorder' UI
- Way to rename accounts
- Add a budget limit so users know what number to stay under
In-app purchases
Spend.Control
No in-app purchases
Simple Budget Envelopes
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Spend.Control free?
Is Simple Budget Envelopes free?
Which has better reviews, Spend.Control or Simple Budget Envelopes?
Do Spend.Control or Simple Budget Envelopes have ads?
Which is updated more often, Spend.Control or Simple Budget Envelopes?
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