Comparison

Expense Keep vs Envelopes

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

Envelopes

This app helps you manage your finances using the envelope budgeting method virtually. Easily track spending, distribute income, and secure your financial data with passcode or biometric authentication.

Highlights
  • Virtual envelope budgeting
  • Unlimited envelope creation
  • Quick budget setup
  • Track deposits and withdrawals
  • Passcode and biometric security
  • Customizable themes
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Envelopes is a virtualisation of the envelope budgeting method. It is simple to use and allows you to keep a close eye on where your money is being spent, but without the need to keep paper envelopes filled with cash around. ∙ Create unlimited envelopes and order them to your preference. ∙ Set up a budget with Quick Deposits and distribute your income to all your envelopes at once. ∙ Create withdrawals, deposits, and transfers with custom memos to track your spending. ∙ Secure your data with a passcode, and use Touch ID or Face ID if supported by your device. ∙ Choose from two themes (red or blue) to suit your preferences.

Screenshots

Expense Keep4 screens
Envelopes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Expense Keep at Free against Envelopes's $6.99. Expense Keep also leads on ratings volume (1.7K vs 126) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months). Envelopes's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#136 vs unranked). On rating, 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 Keep is free to download; Envelopes costs $6.99 up front. Expense Keep sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Envelopes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Expense Keep against 4.4 for Envelopes. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Expense Keep has 1.7K ratings behind it against 126, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of Expense Keep's written reviews are positive against 88% of Envelopes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Expense Keep ships an update every 6 weeks, Envelopes every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Expense Keep versus Envelopes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterExpense KeepEnvelopes
PriceFree — better$6.99
Rating4.4 (1.7K ratings)4.4 (126 ratings)
Positive reviews77.5% of reviews87.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.7K — better126
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#136 — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTayson Nguyenemdentec ltd

Customer experience

Expense Keep

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

Envelopes

All ratings126 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral4.8%
Negative9.5%
Written reviews97 reviews
Positive87.6%
Neutral4.1%
Negative8.2%

User reviews

Expense Keep

From 1.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 📊 Helpful expense tracking and visualization
  • 🔁 Recurring expense and income management
  • 🧠 Useful for budgeting and financial awareness
  • 💰 Good value for the paid version

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes after recent updates
  • 🔒 Lack of cloud backup and data sync
  • 📄 Limited export and reporting options
  • 🔧 Inability to edit expense categories
  • 💸 Some features locked behind paywall

Envelopes

From 126 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Extremely simple and intuitive user interface
  • 💰 One-time purchase instead of subscription model
  • ⚡ Quick deposit feature for fast money allocation
  • 📱 No bank account connection required (manual control)
  • 🎨 Clean, minimalist design without unnecessary features

Room to improve

  • 📱 No cloud sync between devices
  • 👥 Cannot be shared between multiple users/family members
  • 🎨 Limited color options for envelopes
  • 📊 No visualization or pie charts for spending analysis
  • 🔄 No recurring deposits or automatic resets

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

Envelopes

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes when transferring money between envelopes
  • Data loss after iOS updates
  • Failed data import from legacy version
  • App not downloading after purchase
  • Compatibility issues with older iOS versions

Requested features

20 requests
  • Cloud sync and cross-device synchronization
  • Multi-user/family sharing capabilities
  • Recurring deposits and automatic monthly resets
  • Spending visualization (pie charts, graphs, reports)
  • Transaction categorization and tagging system
Show 15 more
  • Envelope grouping/folder organization
  • Custom color wheel for envelope customization
  • Export to PDF or Excel functionality
  • Search feature across all transactions
  • Activity/transaction history log
  • Backup and data export options
  • Notes/sticky pad feature for each envelope
  • Goal-setting with target dates and progress tracking
  • Print summary of envelope balances
  • Multiple account support
  • Bank account connection (optional)
  • User guide with search function and FAQ
  • App tutorial for new users
  • Ability to hide total balance display
  • Recurring withdrawal/payment automation

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Expense Keep

One-time1
  • Expense Keep Pro$19.99
None

Envelopes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Expense Keep free?
Expense Keep is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Envelopes free?
Envelopes costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Expense Keep or Envelopes?
Expense Keep and Envelopes are both rated 4.4 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.7K and 126 ratings respectively.
Do Expense Keep or Envelopes have ads?
Neither Expense Keep nor Envelopes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Expense Keep or Envelopes?
Expense Keep ships an update every 6 weeks, and Envelopes every 3 months. Most recently, Expense Keep was updated on October 15, 2026 and Envelopes on October 18, 2026.

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