Comparison

ZappExpense vs Paykeep

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

Head to head
About

ZappExpense

Features
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ZappExpense is the envelope budgeting app that makes managing money simple, visual, and completely private. No account. No ads. Works 100% offline. Split your income into envelopes — groceries, rent, savings, fun — and always know exactly what's safe to spend. It's the time-tested method that finally makes budgeting click. BUDGET BY ENVELOPE • Create envelopes for spending, bills, savings goals, and sinking funds • Choose daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly budgets • Balances update the instant you spend • Roll unused money forward or start each period fresh • Move money between envelopes in a tap TRACK EVERY TRANSACTION • Log expenses in seconds • Record income and split it across envelopes • Mark recurring bills so they post automatically when due — never miss one • Full, searchable transaction history SEE WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES • Clear charts and category breakdowns • Spot trends and spending patterns over time • Decisions based on real numbers, not guesswork BUILD BETTER HABITS • Get a Financial Wellness Score that reflects your real habits • Earn achievements and keep your streak alive • Budgeting that's genuinely satisfying to use PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Works fully offline — no sign-up, no cloud • Lock the app with Face ID • Export to CSV or JSON anytime; delete everything in one tap • We never sell your data BEAUTIFUL & EASY • Clean, modern design with light and dark modes • Warm, friendly colors — built for real people, not accountants PERFECT FOR • Anyone tired of wondering where their money went • Families running a household budget • Savers working toward a specific goal • Breaking the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle Your money, your rules. Download ZappExpense and start budgeting with confidence. Privacy Policy: https://zappexpense.com/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Paykeep

Features
Read full description

Paykeep gives you two numbers that matter: what is safe to spend this month, and what is still to come out of your accounts. Both are calculated from your real pay stubs, not a hopeful guess. Tap in each pay stub as it arrives. Paykeep averages what your months really paid and helps you budget off a steady share of that, say 70%. It deliberately expects less than your average, so a surprise can only ever be a good one. A steady salary gets the same honest plan, and pay that moves around, overtime, tips, shift differentials, invoices, is exactly what the math was built for. Your month runs payday to payday, and every bill knows its day. At any moment you can see what has already gone out, what is still to come, and what that leaves you. WHAT IT DOES - One steady number to live on: everything above it is a bonus - Always know what has come out this month, and what is still to pay - Months run payday to payday, so the bills reset the day you are paid - Optional weekend and bank holiday rule: pay that is due on a Saturday arrives the working day before, and bills leave the working day after, the way your bank really moves money - Pay stubs pre-fill from the last one: entry is a check, not a chore - Variable bills like groceries and electricity learn from what they actually cost - Bills sit on the accounts they leave from, and a shared joint account is tracked without touching your own totals - Group yearly expenses like tax, insurance and the service into one savings pot with one monthly amount, and the pot pays each bill when it lands - Savings pots and loans on honest bars: the goal, the plan, and the truth - A plain-words summary that reads your month back to you SET UP ONCE Ten or fifteen minutes, one sitting: your last few pay stubs, the bills, any loans, your savings. After that, about two minutes a month. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account, no server, no analytics. Your figures stay on your phone and in your own iCloud, and nowhere else. Paykeep cannot see your pay. ONE MONTH FREE Every plan starts with one month free: time to add as many pay stubs as you like, old ones included, and live with the prediction. After the trial, Paykeep Pro keeps the app working for 2.99 a month or 24.99 a year, cancel any time. Without Pro everything you entered stays safely visible, read-only. Paykeep is a planning tool, not financial advice. Every figure is an estimate built from your own pay stubs. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy: https://brambleapps.com/paykeep/privacy-policy.html

Screenshots

ZappExpense4 screens
Paykeep4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Paykeep at 3 against ZappExpense's 1. On price, update cadence, 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. ZappExpense sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $8.99 per month and Paykeep sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.39 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 5 level
ZappExpense versus Paykeep: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZappExpensePaykeep
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developergetcode.ptRuth McCarthy

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ZappExpense

Subscriptions1
  • Premium$8.991 Month
2 purchases

Paykeep

Subscriptions2
  • Paykeep Pro Monthly1 Month trial$3.391 Month
  • Paykeep Pro Yearly1 Month trial$26.491 Year

Questions

Is ZappExpense free?
ZappExpense is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Paykeep free?
Paykeep is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ZappExpense or Paykeep have ads?
Neither ZappExpense nor Paykeep shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ZappExpense or Paykeep?
ZappExpense ships an update every 3 days, and Paykeep every 3 days. Most recently, ZappExpense was updated on September 27, 2026 and Paykeep on October 25, 2026.

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