Comparison

Expense Tracker vs SpendSteps

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

Head to head
About

Expense Tracker

Features
Read full description

Track expenses with less effort. Digits brings your spending, budgets, and insights together in a clear, simple interface, with expense records stored locally on your iPhone. ADD EXPENSES YOUR WAY โ€ข Text: Enter an amount and description, with on-device AI category suggestions on supported devices. โ€ข Speech: Turn a spoken expense into editable details. โ€ข Image: Scan a receipt or select an image and review the extracted expense details before saving. โ€ข Apple Pay: Set up a personal automation in Shortcuts to import purchases into Digits. UNDERSTAND YOUR SPENDING โ€ข See spending totals, budget progress, and recent expenses on Home. โ€ข Explore today, this week, previous budget months, or a custom date range. โ€ข Tap charts to explore daily spending and monthly category trends. โ€ข View category shares, top merchants, and on-device spending insights. โ€ข Compare spending with the same point in the previous period. โ€ข Search your transaction history and filter by category. A BUDGET THAT FITS YOUR MONTH Set a monthly budget and choose when your budget month starts. See how much you have spent, what remains, and how your spending is tracking. KEEP THINGS ORGANIZED โ€ข Multi-currency expenses with conversion to your default currency. โ€ข Eight default categories, plus custom categories with your choice of icons and colors. โ€ข Editable expense details and CSV export. โ€ข Optional Face ID or Touch ID app lock. ON-DEVICE BY DESIGN No app account or sign-up is required. Your expense records stay on your iPhone, and AI expense processing and spending analytics run on device. Internet access is used for services such as exchange rates and subscription management. REQUIREMENTS Digits requires iOS 26 or later. AI features require a compatible iPhone with Apple Intelligence enabled and available. Manual expense entry works without Apple Intelligence. Apple Pay import requires setup in Apple's Shortcuts app. SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED Digits requires a subscription to use: โ€ข Monthly: $5.99/month โ€ข Annual: $29.99/year (includes 3-day free trial) Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.notion.so/Privacy-Policy-for-Digits-2eeae2047e3c81a9a88cf3b4290b3a7a

About

SpendSteps

Features
Read full description

SpendSteps is a beautifully simple expense tracker that keeps every number on your device. Log spending in seconds, ask where your money went in plain language, and stay ahead of your budget. WHY SPENDSTEPS - Private by design. Your data lives on your phone โ€” including the AI that answers your questions. There's no login and no cloud account required to get started. - Fast to log. Quick-add an expense or income in a couple of taps, with an optional note. - Made to look at. A clean, calm interface with light and dark themes. LOG WITHOUT LIFTING A FINGER - Auto-log Apple Pay: a one-time Shortcuts setup logs every Apple Pay purchase silently, with a guided walkthrough in the app. - New Apple Pay cards are added as accounts automatically, and gas-pump holds are flagged so you can enter the final amount. - SpendSteps learns your merchants โ€” file a purchase once and future ones are categorized for you. - Glance at your recent entries right from the record screen to confirm a save or undo a mistake. ON YOUR WRIST AND HOME SCREEN - Apple Watch: see this month's spending and your budget at a glance, and log a spend with the Digital Crown. - Add SpendSteps to your watch face to log or check your budget in one tap. - Home Screen widgets show your spending and budgets, refreshed at midnight, and let you log without opening the app. TRACK EVERY PURCHASE - Scan receipts with your camera or photo library and attach them to a transaction โ€” in any of the app's supported languages. - Multi-currency support with live or cached exchange rates, converted to your base currency. Change your base currency any time and convert your existing amounts. - Browse transactions as a list or on a calendar, and search or filter instantly. KEEP YOUR ACCOUNTS STRAIGHT - Create accounts for your cash, cards, and bank accounts, and manage them in Settings. - Pick an account on every transaction, right where you log it. - See an account breakdown in Insights to know which one your money flows through. BUDGETS & INSIGHTS - Set monthly spending limits by category and see how much is left at a glance. - Get an alert when a budget is almost used up, and when you go over. - Spot trends with weekly, monthly, and yearly charts for spending and income. JUST ASK - Ask about your spending in plain language โ€” "what did I spend most on?", "how does this month compare to last month?", "what was my biggest purchase this year?" - Every answer comes with the chart or list behind it, so you can see the figures rather than take them on trust. - Answers are worked out on your iPhone. Your question and your transactions never leave the device, and nothing is used to train anything. - Requires Apple Intelligence, available on iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. SpendSteps simply hides the feature when it cannot run. NEVER MISS A BILL - Log recurring payments, from subscriptions to bills, automatically. - Get a reminder before each bill or subscription is due. - Choose weekly, biweekly, monthly, or yearly, pause any time, and always know your next charge. ORGANIZE YOUR WAY - Customize categories with your own names, colors, and icons. - Start fast with a built-in set: Snack & Drink, Groceries, Transport, Shopping, Bills & Subscriptions, and more. YOUR DATA, YOUR CONTROL - Lock the app with Face ID or your passcode. - Export all transactions to CSV, edit in a spreadsheet, and import them back โ€” re-importing the same file never creates duplicates. - Available in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Arabic. SpendSteps is a fast, private way to know exactly where your money goes. Download SpendSteps and take control of your spending today.

Screenshots

Expense Tracker4 screens
SpendSteps4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SpendSteps at none against Expense Tracker's 2. SpendSteps also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Expense Tracker ships an update fortnightly, SpendSteps every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Expense Tracker versus SpendSteps: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterExpense TrackerSpendSteps
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 5 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, Apple Watch โ€” better
Requires iOS26.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size21 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAbir MajumderZestworks LLC

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Expense Tracker

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium$4.991 Month
  • Annual Premium7 Days trial$29.991 Year
None

SpendSteps

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Expense Tracker free?
Expense Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SpendSteps free?
SpendSteps is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Expense Tracker or SpendSteps have ads?
Neither Expense Tracker nor SpendSteps shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Expense Tracker or SpendSteps?
Expense Tracker ships an update fortnightly, and SpendSteps every 5 days. Most recently, Expense Tracker was updated on October 24, 2026 and SpendSteps on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons