Comparison

Heron vs Simple Checkbook.

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

Head to head
About

Heron

This app helps you manage your money by forecasting your financial future, tracking expenses, and offering secure connections to financial institutions. It provides a simple yet powerful interface to help you make informed financial decisions with confidence.

Highlights
  • Financial forecasting
  • Expense tracking
  • Bank account connectivity
  • Manual transaction entry
  • Transaction file import
  • Ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

Introducing Heron, the simple way to control your finances. Heron gives you the power to see your financial future, track your expenses in an easy-to-understand format, and keep things up to date with financial institution connectivity. How can Heron see your financial future? It starts with your upcoming transactions. You tell Heron what your expenses are - rent, car payments, Netflix, etc. If you connect your bank accounts, Heron can even find those transactions for you. Then, Heron’s magic forecasts your balance for you, so you can see exactly what’s about to happen. What about tracking your spending? Heron gives you three options to track your spending. Secure automated connections to your financial institutions, manual transaction entry, or transaction file import. The choice is yours. Simple, powerful, helpful, and secure. Heron delivers unparalleled simplicity, giving you the power to make financial decisions with little effort. All of this comes with the privacy and security you expect. Ads? Pfft. Heron contains no ads. Just a clean, simple interface to help you maintain control of your money. Heron Membership Try Heron free for 30 days, no credit card required. Then, continue your budgeting journey with monthly or yearly billing using Apple’s trusted and secure subscription management. Take control of your financial future! Terms of Use - https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy - https://heron.money/privacy/

About

Simple Checkbook.

Manage your personal finances with this straightforward checkbook application. Track multiple accounts, log detailed transactions, and visualize your spending habits with insightful charts. Sync your data seamlessly across devices via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Multiple account management
  • Detailed transaction logging
  • Transaction clearing status
  • Balance tracking
  • Transaction filtering
  • Expense/income charts
  • iCloud sync
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

A simple checkbook to help organize your finances. Features: - Keep track of any number of accounts. - For each transaction, track the date, name, type, amount, check number, category, and notes. - Mark transactions as cleared. - Displays cleared, outstanding, and current balance. - Ability to filter transactions displayed. - Display charts for expenses or income by category. - Syncs to iCloud

Screenshots

Heron4 screens
Simple Checkbook.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Heron at Free against Simple Checkbook.'s $3.99. Heron also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.7) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Simple Checkbook.'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and chart position (#134 vs unranked). On 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

Heron is free to download; Simple Checkbook. costs $3.99 up front. Heron sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Simple Checkbook. asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Heron holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Heron ships an update every 3 weeks, Simple Checkbook. every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Heron versus Simple Checkbook.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeronSimple Checkbook.
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better3.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews—50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#134 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size69 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFeathered Tech Inc.Matthew Hiles

Customer experience

Heron

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

Simple Checkbook.

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Heron

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Heron Membership$3.991 Month
  • Annual Heron Membership$39.001 Year
None

Simple Checkbook.

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Heron free?
Heron is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Checkbook. free?
Simple Checkbook. costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Heron or Simple Checkbook.?
Heron is rated higher. Heron averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Simple Checkbook. averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Heron or Simple Checkbook. have ads?
Neither Heron nor Simple Checkbook. shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Heron or Simple Checkbook.?
Heron ships an update every 3 weeks, and Simple Checkbook. every 2 weeks. Most recently, Heron was updated on September 7, 2026 and Simple Checkbook. on September 24, 2026.

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