Comparison

Pocket Register vs Basic Checkbook

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

Head to head
About

Pocket Register

Manage your finances without linking bank accounts. Track income, expenses, and upcoming bills to see your projected balance and plan your spending before payday. Features include recurring transactions, budgeting, receipt scanning, and offline functionality.

Highlights
  • Manual transaction logging
  • Running balance with pending/cleared entries
  • Recurring transaction setup
  • Payday planning and spending projection
  • Receipt scanning
  • Category budgeting with progress bars
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Keep a running balance, track upcoming bills, and plan what's left before payday, without linking your bank. Pocket Register is a no-frills checkbook register, right in your pocket. Whether you're managing your main account, a cash stash, or a side budget, Pocket Register makes it easy to: - Log deposits, withdrawals, and transfers - See your running balance, with pending and cleared entries kept apart - Set up recurring transactions: weekly, every two weeks, twice a month, or monthly (perfect for paydays) - Plan ahead: see upcoming bills, debts, and what's safe to spend before your next paycheck - Reconcile against your bank statement - Scan receipts with the built-in document scanner - Set monthly budgets per category, with progress bars - Get smart category suggestions as you type, or add an entry by typing or speaking it - Save Quick Fills for repeat transactions - Stay organized with memo notes, splits, and date selection - Works fully offline by default. iCloud Sync is available as an optional Pro feature. Plan Ahead: The optional Plan tab shows your projected balance, upcoming bills and debts, and what's safe to spend before payday, built from your own recurring transactions. It stays out of the way until you need it, so a simple register stays simple. Beautiful Design: Cleanly designed for iPhone and iPad, with full light and dark mode support. No Bank Linking: You enter your own transactions, so there are no bank logins to connect. Your transactions stay on your device by default. iCloud Sync is opt-in and uses your private iCloud account. Lightweight: Simple by design, built for speed and clarity. Widget Support: View your balance and recent transactions at a glance. Home Screen widgets in three sizes, plus Lock Screen widgets so your balance is always one tap away. Whether you're tracking a vacation budget, side hustle income, or just keeping tabs on daily spending, Pocket Register gives you full control, offline and clutter-free. Pro (one-time purchase): - Removes all ads - Unlimited accounts and transactions (free includes 2 accounts and 500 transactions per 12 months) - iCloud Sync across all your devices - Custom color themes - Lock Screen widgets - Family Sharing for up to 5 family members - Unlimited splits and Quick Fills - Advanced CSV export with profiles, presets, splits, and Excel/YNAB-compatible formats

About

Basic Checkbook

This personal finance app helps you track your real-time balance by logging every transaction as it happens. It supports multiple account types, including checking, savings, credit cards, and investments, providing a clear overview of your spending and financial health without requiring bank logins.

Highlights
  • Log all transactions in real-time
  • Track checking, savings, and credit card accounts
  • Monitor credit card debt and payment due dates
  • View monthly spending summaries
  • Schedule bills and income
  • Set low balance warnings
  • Track investment account values
Features
Read full description

Your bank app shows what cleared. Basic Checkbook shows what's real. Most banking apps only show transactions that have already posted, not the check you wrote yesterday, the bill that hits Friday, or the withdrawal you made this morning. Basic Checkbook is a personal register where you log every dollar as you spend it, across checking, savings, credit cards, and brokerage accounts, so your running balance is always accurate, up to date, and yours. No bank logins. No credentials on anyone's server. Just a fast, private register that works the way a checkbook always has, only better. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Log purchases, deposits, bills, withdrawals, checks, credits, and transfers as they happen • Watch your true running balance update with every entry • See every account's combined total at the top, with card debt subtracted • See any month at a glance, free: money in, money out, your net, and your biggest expense • Track credit cards alongside your bank accounts: what you owe, the credit you have left, your APR, and the day payment is due • See how much of a card's limit you are using, so you know when a balance is creeping up • Decide what interest costs you: your card shows a projected charge on its due day, and you accept, adjust, or skip it • Add a transaction from your home screen with the Quick Add widget • Add a transaction hands-free with Siri, the Shortcuts app, or Spotlight • Mark items cleared one at a time, fly through a statement with Quick Reconcile, or balance a statement step by step • Void a canceled or torn-up check and keep it on the record while the money returns to your balance • Tag transactions with as many labels as you like, and reuse any tag with one tap • Filter by type or status and search your whole register by payee, amount, memo, or tag • Schedule bills and income every 1 to 4 weeks, twice a month, monthly by date or weekday, quarterly, or yearly, with reminders, and skip one • Set a low balance warning and get a notice two days before a scheduled bill takes the balance under it • Earn interest on savings: choose the day it posts each month, and see the total at a glance • Track a brokerage account, 401(k) or IRA by its value: type it, paste it, scan a screenshot, or ask Siri, and Checkbook writes the gain or loss, shows your return, and reminds you to update it • Scan a check or receipt to fill in the details automatically • Track a different currency per account • Keep every account in sync across your devices with iCloud, free • Back up your entire register to a file and restore it anytime • Bring your history from another checkbook app: import its QIF or CSV file, free • Lock the app with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode BASIC CHECKBOOK PREMIUM Two ways to upgrade: Lifetime Premium, one purchase that never renews or expires, or a yearly plan. Both unlock: • Unlimited accounts: keep checking, savings, credit cards, brokerage, and more in one place • Your accounts over time: tap the total and see how they have moved, month by month, with a tile for each one • Full Monthly Recap: the tags and payees you spent the most on, plus save any month as a PDF • Payoff plan: set a monthly payment on any credit card and see the payoff date and what the interest will cost • Projected balance: where your balance is headed from your scheduled and recurring activity • Receipt photos: attach a receipt to the transaction it belongs to • Spending analytics: charts, trends, budgets, and period comparisons • Monthly PDF statements: clean, bank-style statements for any date range • CSV export: take your history anywhere • Color themes and app icons: premium palettes and home-screen icons Basic Checkbook doesn't connect to your bank or your brokerage. It never reads your transactions or stores your credentials anywhere. It's your ledger: private, accurate, and completely yours. Privacy Policy: https://basicapps.tech/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Pocket Register4 screens
Basic Checkbook4 screens

Verdict

The call

Pocket Register and Basic Checkbook both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Basic Checkbook's written reviews are positive against 69% of Pocket Register's. Basic Checkbook also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 days). Pocket Register's advantage is ratings volume (26 vs 8). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Pocket Register sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Basic Checkbook sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $23.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Basic Checkbook holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 26 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 69% of Pocket Register's written reviews are positive against 100% of Basic Checkbook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pocket Register ships an update every 6 days, Basic Checkbook every 3 days. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Pocket Register versus Basic Checkbook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocket RegisterBasic Checkbook
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (26 ratings)4.6 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings26 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.517.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChad PickardSean Trapani

Customer experience

Pocket Register

All ratings26 ratings
Positive88.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.5%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive69.2%
Neutral7.7%
Negative23.1%

Basic Checkbook

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Pocket Register

One-time4
  • Small Thanks Tip$0.99
  • Medium Thanks Tip$2.99
  • Big Thanks Tip$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Pocket Register Pro$9.99
2 purchases

Basic Checkbook

Subscriptions1
  • Annual Premium$23.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$59.99

Questions

Is Pocket Register free?
Pocket Register is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Basic Checkbook free?
Basic Checkbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pocket Register or Basic Checkbook?
Basic Checkbook is rated higher. Pocket Register averages 4.4 out of 5 from 26 ratings, while Basic Checkbook averages 4.6 from 8 ratings.
Do Pocket Register or Basic Checkbook have ads?
Neither Pocket Register nor Basic Checkbook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pocket Register or Basic Checkbook?
Pocket Register ships an update every 6 days, and Basic Checkbook every 3 days. Most recently, Pocket Register was updated on November 5, 2026 and Basic Checkbook on November 5, 2026.

Other comparisons