Comparison

Expense Keep vs Circles

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

Head to head
About

Expense Keep

This app offers a simple and fast way to track expenses and income, helping users manage their finances and save money. It allows for organizing funds into separate accounts or spending envelopes, with features for recurring transactions and detailed monthly history.

Highlights
  • Track expenses and income
  • Organize money into accounts/envelopes
  • Set up recurring transactions
  • View monthly history and cash flow
  • Create custom expense categories
  • Transfer money between accounts
Features
Read full description

Expense Keep is the simplest and quickest way to track your expenses. It will save you money and improve your financial health. Expense Keep has been downloaded over 500,000 times and ranked top 5 Finance app in 33 countries. "This is exactly what I was looking for. It has cut my spending tremendously. Couldn't be happier with this app." "I have never rated an app before but I feel so strongly about this app that I knew I had to share with everyone how great it is!" "All I wanted was a sole app to track multiple accounts. This does it. I love it and have deleted all of my other expense tracking apps." "This app is the only budget app that I could find which works well with a zero-based budget." "This is the best budget envelope app available. So beautifully designed and simple to use. Includes recurring transactions and transfers between envelopes." "This app is awesome! Super easy to use without requiring so much personal info like other apps (Mint)." "Finally an expenses tracking app that don't force you to connect every single bank account you have. This app is for those, like me, that like to keep their info as private as possible." "This app is helping me feel in much more control of my finances." "This app is fantastic. Don't know how i ever managed without it." "Awesome app. Easy to use. Quick to set up and quick to input transactions." "Have tried a number of apps to track expenses, and this one has everything I've been looking for." Expense Keep is a personal finance app built to be fast and designed to be flexible yet simple to use. Organize your money into separate accounts and track your expenses and incomes. Accounts can be used to track your bank account balances or as "envelopes" for your different spending groups. FEATURES: Accounts + Add/Edit/Delete accounts. + Set starting balance. + Organize your money into separate accounts. + View current balance of each account. Expenses and Incomes + Add/Edit/Delete entries for expenses and incomes. + Create custom expense categories. + Assign expenses/incomes to an account. + Set a date and note for each entry. + Select a category for expenses. Transfers + Add/Edit/Delete transfers. + Transfer money from one account to another. + Helps you stay on budget when you overspend in one account. Recurring Entries + Add/Edit/Delete recurring entries that get automatically entered. + Setup recurring expenses/incomes/transfers for each account. + Set repeat cycles of daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly and more. + Set a start date and end date for recurring expenses. + Or set recurring expenses to be ongoing with no end date. Monthly History + View all entries for current month. + Go back and see previous months' entries. + Go to future months and add entries ahead of time. Cash Flow + See how much you earned/spent for the month. + Cash flow bar chart helps you spend less than you earn. Expense Chart + Pie chart shows your expenses broken down into categories. + See where all your money is going. + Filter pie chart to show only the accounts you select. Report + CSV export Security + Passcode lock feature More features coming soon! Have questions, requests, or feedback? Send them to info@expensekeep.com If you enjoy using Expense Keep or found the app useful, please consider leaving a review. It helps us a lot. Thank you!

About

Circles

This expense tracker app automatically divides your income into six distinct categories to help you manage your money effectively. It follows the principles of the six-jar system to promote awareness of spending habits and long-term savings.

Highlights
  • Automatic income splitting into 6 categories
  • Expense tracking
  • Money management awareness
  • Long-term savings goal support
  • Six jar system implementation
Read full description

Money Circles is back and now is Circles - Track 'n Save! Circles is an expense tracker app that automatically splits your incomes in 6 categories (circles): Necessities, Hobbies, Investments, Educational, Shopping and Gifts. Based on the six jar system for money management, Circles will help you not only to manage your money in full awareness, but even to track your expenses and, last but not least, save money in the long run. Circles: Saving money, as easy as a blueberry pie!

Screenshots

Expense Keep4 screens
Circles4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Circles at 5.0 against Expense Keep's 4.4. Circles also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). Expense Keep's advantage is ratings volume (1.7K vs 1) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 5 months). On price and ads 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

Both are free to download. Expense Keep sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Circles asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Circles holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Expense Keep has 1.7K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Expense Keep ships an update every 6 weeks, Circles every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Expense Keep versus Circles: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterExpense KeepCircles
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (1.7K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.7K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTayson NguyenMario Matrone

Customer experience

Expense Keep

All ratings1,685 ratings
Positive87.7%
Neutral5.8%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews364 reviews
Positive77.5%
Neutral8.5%
Negative14.0%

Circles

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Expense Keep

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes on launch after recent update
  • Dark mode functionality is broken
  • Recurring expense dates not updating correctly
  • Unable to export data or send feedback in-app

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for multiple currencies
  • Implement a monthly budgeting feature
  • Allow customization of expense categories
  • Improve data export and reporting options
  • Integrate cloud backup and cross-device sync

Circles

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Expense Keep

One-time1
  • Expense Keep Pro$19.99
None

Circles

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Expense Keep free?
Expense Keep is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Circles free?
Circles is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Expense Keep or Circles?
Circles is rated higher. Expense Keep averages 4.4 out of 5 from 1.7K ratings, while Circles averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Expense Keep or Circles have ads?
Neither Expense Keep nor Circles shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Expense Keep or Circles?
Expense Keep ships an update every 6 weeks, and Circles every 5 months. Most recently, Expense Keep was updated on October 22, 2026 and Circles on October 17, 2026.

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