Comparison

Bow vs BudgetBox Envelopes

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

Head to head
About

Bow

Features
Read full description

Bow is an envelope budgeting app that helps you aim every dollar before you spend it. Plan your spending, stay ready for every bill, get ahead on credit cards and always know what you can safely spend. Your budget stays private, on your iPhone and in your own iCloud. HOW BOW WORKS 1. Add your checking, savings and credit card accounts. 2. Your money lands in Ready to Assign. 3. Assign it to envelopes for bills, groceries, savings goals and fun. 4. Spend from your envelopes, and watch each one count down. 5. Overspent? Cover it from another envelope in a tap. Zero-based budgeting isn't about spending everything. It's about deciding what every dollar is for, so nothing surprises you. ENVELOPES AND TARGETS • Set a target for any envelope: a monthly amount, a bill due on a date, or a savings goal by a deadline. • Bow shows how much to set aside this month to stay on track. • Snooze a target for a month when plans change. • Group envelopes your way and save custom budget views. BILLS AND PAYCHECKS • Schedule rent, subscriptions, paychecks and every-other-week bills once. • See what's due next, and get a reminder before it's due. • Bills you schedule can fill in their envelope targets for you. • Share a payment plan screenshot and Bow schedules each payment, ending after the last one. CREDIT CARDS, MADE SIMPLE • When you spend on a card, Bow sets that amount aside in the card's payment envelope in your budget, automatically. • You'll always know you've budgeted enough for the bill. • Paying down debt? Set a payoff goal and track your progress. BANK SYNC, OPTIONAL • Connect your bank with SimpleFIN to bring in transactions for review. A SimpleFIN Bridge account is required. • Or log purchases by hand. Bow can also add purchases from your bank's notifications using Shortcuts. • Reconcile accounts to make sure Bow matches your bank. FASTER ENTRY • Scan a receipt, or share a screenshot of a purchase to Bow. • Speak a purchase out loud and Bow fills in the details. • Ask Siri to log a transaction or check an envelope. • Ask Bow questions like "How much did I spend on dining out this month?" Receipt scanning, speaking a purchase and asking questions use Apple Intelligence on supported iPhones. SPENDING INSIGHTS • See spending by envelope, month by month. • Track income against spending and search every transaction. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No Bow account to create. Your budget syncs between your devices through your own iCloud. • Your data is never sold or shared for advertising. • Export a backup anytime. MOVING FROM YNAB? Import your YNAB budget, with your accounts, envelopes and history, and pick up right where you left off. TRY BOW FREE FOR 2 WEEKS Start Bow Annual or Bow Monthly with a 2-week free trial, or buy Bow Lifetime once. Bow reminds you before your trial ends. Without a subscription or Lifetime, your budget stays readable but can't be changed. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm a purchase, or when a free trial ends. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://bowbudget.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://bowbudget.com/privacy

About

BudgetBox Envelopes

Features
Read full description

Keep monthly spending organized with a simple envelope-style budget. BudgetBox lets you create one budget plan and divide it into boxes, each with its own name, icon, color, and planned monthly amount. SEE YOUR MONTH • Check planned, spent, and remaining amounts for every box, with a progress bar and an “Over planned” tag when spending exceeds the plan. • View income logged this month, total planned expenses, spending so far, and remaining in the month summary. • Tap a box to see its entries for that month. LOG BY HAND • Record expenses, income, and refunds with an amount, date, box, and optional note. • Use “Repeat last transaction” to refill the entry form. • Swipe to delete an entry. Refunds reduce a box’s spent amount; income appears in the month summary. MAKE IT YOUR OWN • Choose from four starter templates with editable example amounts: Family Basics, Student, Cash Envelope Lite, and Freelancer Lite. • Try a sample budget with four boxes and three entries. • Drag boxes to reorder them, or swipe to archive a box. • Check the Review tab for this month’s planned-versus-spent figures and top five boxes by spending. The review is descriptive only. • Turn on an optional weekly or monthly check-in reminder. PREMIUM — ONE-TIME LIFETIME UNLOCK • Add as many boxes as you want. • Browse any past or future month. • Export all entries as CSV through the iOS share sheet, or import CSV entries in the same format. Without Premium, your plan supports up to eight active boxes, and the Month tab lets you browse the previous, current, and next month. YOUR DATA STAYS ON YOUR DEVICE All budget data is stored only on this iPhone or iPad. There’s no account, sign-in, tracking, or data collection, and no cloud sync. BudgetBox is for personal organization and recordkeeping, not financial advice or official guidance.

Screenshots

Bow4 screens
BudgetBox Envelopes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Bow at every 3 weeks against BudgetBox Envelopes's every 2 months. BudgetBox Envelopes's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 27.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Bow sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and BudgetBox Envelopes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bow ships an update every 3 weeks, BudgetBox Envelopes every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
Bow versus BudgetBox Envelopes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBowBudgetBox Envelopes
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS27.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDaniel BaezaCosmic Production d.o.o.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Bow

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly14 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Bow Monthly14 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Bow Annual14 Days trial$49.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Annual14 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • Bow Lifetime$129.00
  • Lifetime$149.99
1 purchases

BudgetBox Envelopes

One-time1
  • BudgetBox Premium$6.99

Questions

Is Bow free?
Bow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BudgetBox Envelopes free?
BudgetBox Envelopes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Bow or BudgetBox Envelopes have ads?
Neither Bow nor BudgetBox Envelopes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bow or BudgetBox Envelopes?
Bow ships an update every 3 weeks, and BudgetBox Envelopes every 2 months. Most recently, Bow was updated on October 24, 2026 and BudgetBox Envelopes on October 24, 2026.

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