Comparison

PayCheck Budget vs Expense Tracker

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

Head to head
About

PayCheck Budget

This app helps users budget based on their pay cycle, whether weekly, biweekly, or monthly. It provides a cash flow forecast, safe-to-spend amounts, and allows for dual-income household planning. Features include receipt scanning and Apple Watch integration.

Highlights
  • Budget by paycheck
  • Cash flow forecast timeline
  • Safe-to-spend calculation
  • Dual-income household support
  • Receipt scanning
  • Apple Watch integration
  • Private iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

PayCheck Budget is built for people who budget by paycheck, not just by month. Plan every dollar around the day you are actually paid. Add as many paychecks as a month requires—including bonuses, overtime, freelance work, or an extra biweekly payday—then assign bills and income to the paycheck that should cover them. KNOW WHAT IS SAFE TO SPEND See your income, committed bills, and safe-to-spend amount at a glance. Each paycheck gets its own plan, so you can make decisions today without losing sight of the next payday. BUILT FOR REAL PAY SCHEDULES • Semi-monthly, biweekly, weekly, and monthly schedules • Unlimited one-time paychecks for irregular income • Bills assigned to the paycheck that actually pays them • Bill frequencies for every paycheck, monthly, annual, or one-time expenses • Dual-income household planning • Cash flow forecasting with a running balance PLAN AHEAD • Build savings goals a little at a time from upcoming paychecks • Ask “Can I Afford It?” before a purchase • Track paid and unpaid commitments separately • Scan receipts and quickly add everyday spending • Export budget reports as PDF or CSV PAYCHECK BUDDY Ask practical questions such as: • “Am I on pace this paycheck?” • “How much did I spend on dining?” • “Can I afford $120 today?” Paycheck Buddy works on device. Your budget questions are not sent to our servers. YOUR BUDGET, YOUR DATA No bank linking and no separate account are required. Your budget stays on your device and can sync through your iCloud account. You can also share a household budget with a partner through iCloud. TRY EVERYTHING FOR 30 DAYS New users receive 30 days of full in-app access beginning on first launch, with no card and no account required. After that, Premium unlocks paycheck budgeting, forecasts, sharing, Apple Watch support, receipt scanning, reports, and Paycheck Buddy. Current U.S. introductory pricing for eligible customers: • Monthly: $3.99/month for the first 12 months • Annual: $29.99 for the first year Standard pricing, eligibility, renewal terms, and any promotional details are shown before purchase and may vary by storefront. Privacy Policy: https://paycheckbudget.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://paycheckbudget.com/terms

About

Expense Tracker

Features
Read full description

Spendy is a plain, fast expense tracker. Open it, tap the amount, pick a category, done. No sign-up, no bank linking, no cloud. THREE TAPS PER ENTRY A full-screen keypad, fourteen categories and an optional note. Logging a coffee takes about four seconds, which is the only reason anyone keeps doing it past the first week. NOTHING LEAVES YOUR IPHONE Spendy makes no network requests at all. There is no account, no server, no analytics and no advertising SDK. Your ledger is a file on your phone and nowhere else. Turn on Airplane Mode and everything still works. SEE WHERE IT WENT A monthly budget with a live "left to spend" figure, six months of spending as a bar chart, and a category breakdown with percentages. YOURS TO TAKE AWAY Export the whole ledger to CSV at any time and open it in Numbers or Excel. WHAT'S INSIDE • Expenses and income, both with categories • 14 categories out of the box, or make your own • Monthly budget with progress ring • Six-month chart and category breakdown • 12 currency symbols • Edit or delete any entry • CSV export SAMPLE DATA The app opens with a set of sample entries so you can see how it works straight away. They are marked SAMPLE and are never counted in any total, chart or free-entry quota. The first time you add an entry of your own, Spendy clears them all, so every figure from then on is only yours. FREE TO TRY Log your first 5 entries free, with no time limit. After that, Spendy Pro keeps it going — an auto-renewing subscription, monthly or yearly. Everything you already logged stays readable, chartable and exportable whether or not you subscribe. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically at the same price unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage or cancel in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions, or from the Settings screen inside the app. Privacy Policy: https://spendy.comedev.com/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Support: mytestid888@gmail.com

Screenshots

PayCheck Budget4 screens
Expense Tracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: PayCheck Budget at 3 against Expense Tracker's 1. On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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. PayCheck Budget sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Expense Tracker sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
PayCheck Budget versus Expense Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPayCheck BudgetExpense Tracker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (12 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings12 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNathan Haring丽 江

In-app purchases

2 purchases

PayCheck Budget

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription1 Month trial$7.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription1 Year trial$79.991 Year
2 purchases

Expense Tracker

Subscriptions2
  • Spendy Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Spendy Pro Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is PayCheck Budget free?
PayCheck Budget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Expense Tracker free?
Expense Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PayCheck Budget or Expense Tracker have ads?
Neither PayCheck Budget nor Expense Tracker shows ads.

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