Comparison

Check Writer vs BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger

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

Head to head
About

Check Writer

Easily create and print professional checks directly from your mobile device. Manage your written checks and securely back them up via iCloud. Offers a free version with limitations and a Pro subscription for unlimited features.

Highlights
  • Create professional checks
  • Print wirelessly
  • Export as PDF
  • Manage written checks
  • iCloud backup and sync
  • Unlimited accounts and checks (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Check Writer makes it easy to create and print professional checks using your phone or tablet. No sign-in required. Write checks with your phone: Create properly formatted checks in seconds. Print or export as PDF: Print wirelessly or export your checks as PDF documents. Keep track of checks you've written: View and manage your written checks on the Checks screen. Data is backed up: Your checks are securely backed up in iCloud and synchronized across your devices. Without a Pro subscription, you can create one bank account, export a limited number of checks and saving checks is locked. With a Pro subscription, you can create unlimited bank accounts, export unlimited checks and save unlimited checks. If you have any suggestions on how to improve Check Writer – Write & Print, feel free to contact the App Support email. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger

Read full description

Your checkbook register, kept the way you have always kept it. Write down what you spend. Tick off what the bank has cleared. Balance to the penny at the end of the month. That is the whole job of a checkbook register, and it is all this app does. THREE PROMISES No ads. Not on the free version, not after you pay, not ever, on any screen. No subscription. One payment and it is yours. Nothing renews. No account and no bank login. There is nothing to sign into, so there is nothing to be signed out of. YOUR REGISTER STAYS ON YOUR PHONE Everything you enter is stored on your own iPhone. It works with no internet connection at all, on a plane or out of signal. Your register is never sent to us and never sold to anyone. A copy leaves your phone only in ways you control. If iCloud Backup is switched on, your register is included in it, so it comes back when you set up a new phone. That copy sits in your own Apple account, not ours, and you turn it on or off in Settings. The app never shows you a permission prompt. It does not ask for your contacts, your location, your photos or your camera. WHAT IT DOES - Multiple accounts: checking, savings, credit, cash, each with its own running balance - Fast entry: date, payee, amount, check number, category, memo. Repeat entries take seconds, and check numbers advance on their own. - A proper register list with a running balance on every single line - Reconcile mode: enter the statement date and ending balance, tick off what cleared, and watch the difference count down to 0.00 - Scheduled and recurring entries: weekly, every two or four weeks, monthly, twice a year or yearly, or on a set weekday, like the second Wednesday of the month. They show up as scheduled and only affect your projected balance until you post them. Nothing is ever posted behind your back. - Transfers between your own accounts, entered once and mirrored on both sides - Search by payee, memo, amount or check number, with filters for what is outstanding, what cleared, and what is scheduled - Categories, both the presets and your own - Totals by category for a month, three months or a year, with the exact figures printed beside the chart. Scheduled bills are not counted until you post them. - Bring your history in from a CSV file, with a column mapper for spreadsheet users - Print or save a PDF of your register or of those category totals, or export a CSV of any account BACKUPS, BECAUSE THAT IS THE PART THAT MATTERS The app backs itself up on its own, every day you open it, and gives you a Restore screen to go back to any copy it has kept. You can also send a copy out of the app, so deleting the app does not reach it. Pick a folder and every copy after that goes there too. If you are signed in to iCloud with iCloud Drive turned on, the app also keeps a BalanceWright folder there by itself, and you can open it in the Files app. If you are not signed in, the Backup screen says so rather than claiming a copy it did not make. Your data is never held hostage. Export and backup keep working whether you have paid or not. TRY THE WHOLE THING FIRST Everything works from the moment you install it. Nothing is crippled, grayed out or hidden to push you into paying. The app asks for payment only after you have closed your first statement, so you decide once you have watched it do the exact thing you came for. If you never reconcile, a generous entry limit applies instead. BIG, PLAIN TYPE Built to be read. Large numbers, strong contrast, plain words, no jargon. WHAT IT WILL NEVER DO No bank connection. No budgets, no spending advice, no AI. No ads, no subscription. If a feature would need your register sent to us, it is not going in. ANSWERED BY A REAL PERSON Every review here is read and answered. The support address on this page reaches someone who can actually fix things. Written for anyone who keeps a check register or a checkbook ledger by hand, and wants the same habit on a phone.

Screenshots

Check Writer4 screens
BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger4 screens

Verdict

The call

Check Writer and BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Check Writer sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per 7 days and BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Check Writer ships an update every 9 days, BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Check Writer versus BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCheck WriterBalanceWright Checkbook Ledger
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (144 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings144 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB60 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHavard TrymanFarrukh Ameen

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Check Writer

Subscriptions2
  • Pro3 Days trial$5.997 Days
  • Pro$24.991 Year
1 purchases

BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger

One-time1
  • Own Your Register$9.99

Questions

Is Check Writer free?
Check Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger free?
BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Check Writer or BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger have ads?
Neither Check Writer nor BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Check Writer or BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger?
Check Writer ships an update every 9 days, and BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger fortnightly. Most recently, Check Writer was updated on October 25, 2026 and BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger on October 11, 2026.

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