Comparison

The Checkbook vs Basic Budget+

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

Head to head
About

The Checkbook

Manage your finances on the go with this transaction tracker. Easily record income and expenses, schedule upcoming bills, and reconcile with your bank statements for accurate balance tracking. Offers multiple accounts, customizable themes, and secure access.

Highlights
  • Real-time transaction tracking
  • Upcoming bill and deposit scheduling
  • Bank account reconciliation
  • Multiple account management
  • Customizable color themes
  • Transaction search and filtering
  • Recurring transaction setup
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Finance At Your Fingertips Track your financial transactions on-the-go in real time. Enter upcoming bill payments and deposits to see how your account balance will change. Reconcile each transaction against your bank account to balance your checkbook and ensure accuracy to the penny. * No ads. * Quick entry screen for new transactions to keep up with spending while you're on the move. * Create a new transaction in seconds with type ahead feature for common transactions. * Manage transactions in multiple accounts. * Customize color theme for each account. * Search for transactions. * Toggle visibility of reconciled transactions to see what hasn't cleared your bank account yet. * Set up recurring transactions. * Transfer money between accounts. * Basic reporting to view spending or income by category and daily spending. * Export transactions to CSV file. * Enable Face ID / Touch ID to secure access to your financial data. * Turn on iCloud Drive data storage to sync transactions across multiple devices. * Share every new transaction with a joint account owner via email or Shared Storage (subscription required) to keep app in sync for different users. Privacy Note: The developer does not collect any data from this app for the default local device or iCloud storage options. The developer only securely stores data for the Shared Storage option (subscription required) for the purpose of sharing and syncing the data with your invited users. See Privacy Policy for more details.

About

Basic Budget+

Manage your finances with a simple ledger. Track multiple account types, transfers, and view basic reports. Quickly record transactions and understand your spending habits without linking financial accounts.

Highlights
  • Multiple account types
  • Transfers between accounts
  • Basic reporting
  • Quick transaction entry
  • Transaction recall
  • No financial account linking
Features
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A basic ledger that allows for multiple account types, transfers between accounts, and basic reporting. Quick entries on app open and transaction recall make this a simple and quick way to manage your finances and see where your spending habits are without connecting your financial information anywhere.

Screenshots

The Checkbook4 screens
Basic Budget+4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Basic Budget+ at Free against The Checkbook's $4.99. Basic Budget+ also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). The Checkbook's advantage is ratings volume (970 vs 1) and chart position (#31 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Basic Budget+ is free to download; The Checkbook costs $4.99 up front. The Checkbook sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Basic Budget+ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Basic Budget+ holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Checkbook has 970 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Checkbook ships an update fortnightly, Basic Budget+ every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
The Checkbook versus Basic Budget+: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe CheckbookBasic Budget+
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (970 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings970 — better1
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#31 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size61 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFour One Four 213, LLCFurious Rhino

Customer experience

The Checkbook

All ratings970 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.8%
Written reviews109 reviews
Positive76.1%
Neutral9.2%
Negative14.7%

Basic Budget+

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

Bugs and requests

The Checkbook

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Data loss and sync issues
  • Incorrect transaction display
  • Recurring transactions not working as expected

Requested features

6 requests
  • 📊 Spending reports and analytics
  • 🔁 More recurring transaction options
  • 🖨️ Check printing capability
  • 🔀 Ability to split transactions
  • 🔄 Easier transaction editing/deletion
Show 1 more
  • 🔒 Backup and restore options

Basic Budget+

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

The Checkbook

Subscriptions2
  • Shared Storage - Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Shared Storage - Annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year
None

Basic Budget+

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is The Checkbook free?
The Checkbook costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Basic Budget+ free?
Basic Budget+ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, The Checkbook or Basic Budget+?
Basic Budget+ is rated higher. The Checkbook averages 4.8 out of 5 from 970 ratings, while Basic Budget+ averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do The Checkbook or Basic Budget+ have ads?
Neither The Checkbook nor Basic Budget+ shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Checkbook or Basic Budget+?
The Checkbook ships an update fortnightly, and Basic Budget+ every 2 weeks. Most recently, The Checkbook was updated on October 13, 2026 and Basic Budget+ on October 1, 2026.

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