# Lucent Budget vs PennyWise

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Lucent Budget at none against PennyWise's 2. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. PennyWise sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Lucent Budget asks for nothing beyond the download.

Lucent Budget ships an update every 5 days, PennyWise every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on August 30, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Lucent Budget | PennyWise |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Every 6 days |
| Size | 6 MB | 31 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | **17.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Gregory Bell](https://appshunter.io/developer/1436446484) | [Andrii Klymyshyn](https://appshunter.io/developer/1894667180) |

## What reviewers say

### Lucent Budget

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lucent-budget/id6756186023)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### PennyWise

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pennywise-expense-tracker/id6762556862)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PennyWise Pro Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| PennyWise Pro Yearly | $29.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Lucent Budget free?

Lucent Budget is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is PennyWise free?

PennyWise is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Lucent Budget or PennyWise have ads?

Neither Lucent Budget nor PennyWise shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Lucent Budget or PennyWise?

Lucent Budget ships an update every 5 days, and PennyWise every 6 days. Most recently, Lucent Budget was updated on August 30, 2026 and PennyWise on September 13, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*