Expensa vs Tael
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Expensa
This app offers a private way to track expenses and manage budgets without linking bank accounts. It uses AI to automatically categorize transactions and build budgets, with support for over 150 currencies and iCloud syncing for privacy.
- Automatic transaction tracking via Wallet Shortcuts
- AI-powered budget creation and categorization
- Multi-currency support for travelers
- Private iCloud sync, no bank linking
- Shared budgets for family and partners
- Customizable budget cycles and alerts
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Track money without handing over your bank password. Expensa is a private budget and expense tracker built for iPhone. Set up one Shortcut and every card tap lands in your budget automatically. AI builds your first budget in seconds. Works in 150+ currencies. Syncs via iCloud — and only iCloud. No bank linking. No data brokers. Your money stays on your devices. ------------------------------------------------- WALLET + SHORTCUTS — AUTOMATIC TRACKING ------------------------------------------------- Set up one Shortcut; every card tap in Wallet logs a transaction Works with Apple Card and any card you've added to Wallet Auto-categorized from your history, with AI Alerts if a purchase pushes you over a category limit No polling a bank, no waiting for statements ------------------------------------------------- BUDGETS THAT ACTUALLY WORK ------------------------------------------------- Always know what's left — live progress bar on your dashboard A limit for every category (groceries, dining, transport…) Alerts before you overspend, not after Monthly, weekly, or custom cycles — auto-rollover each cycle Smart Allocation: tell Expensa your budget, AI splits it across categories based on your region and spending habits ------------------------------------------------- SEPARATE WALLETS FOR SEPARATE LIVES ------------------------------------------------- Keep personal, household, business, and trip budgets fully isolated. Switch spaces with one tap. Invite family or your partner to shared spaces — real-time sync via iCloud, no extra accounts to create. ------------------------------------------------- BUILT FOR TRAVELERS & EXPATS ------------------------------------------------- 150+ currencies with live exchange rates Original amount + converted amount both stored Per-transaction historical rates — accurate reporting forever ------------------------------------------------- PRIVATE BY DEFAULT ------------------------------------------------- No bank login, no Plaid, no third-party aggregators iCloud sync on your Apple ID — that's it Offline-first: log now, sync later Works on iPhone ------------------------------------------------- EVERYTHING ELSE ------------------------------------------------- Recurring transactions (rent, subscriptions, salary) Tags, categories, folders, custom merchant rules CSV, PDF, TXT import/export — move in from any app, out anytime Net worth across accounts and currencies Dashboard, calendar heatmap, category/tag analytics Optional receipt scanning for the rare paper moment Dark mode, Dynamic Type, VoiceOver, localized (EN, UK) ------------------------------------------------- FREE, OR GO PREMIUM ------------------------------------------------- Free: 1 space, 2 accounts, 3 recurrences, 5 receipt scans Premium: unlimited spaces & accounts, 30 scans/mo, AI categorization, category budgets, analytics, shared spaces, multi-currency entry. Your money. Your rules. Your devices. Terms of Use: https://getexpensa.com/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://getexpensa.com/privacy.html
Tael
Effortlessly track expenses for specific events or projects without linking bank accounts. This app learns your habits to automate logging and provides clear insights into where your money goes, all stored securely on your device.
- Two-tap expense logging from lock screen
- Automated logging with learned rules
- Categorize expenses across multiple events
- Multi-currency support with unified ledger
- Offline functionality
- No bank account linking required
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Categories say what. Tael says what for. Two seconds now. An answer you'll badly want at the end of the month. Tap twice when you buy something — or teach Tael a rule and watch it file itself. Then, whenever you wonder what the Japan trip really cost, or whether that client was worth the trouble, the number is already waiting. No bank login. No setup evening. Nothing ever leaves your phone. IT TRACKS WHAT YOU ACTUALLY THINK ABOUT Not Shopping. Not Miscellaneous. The Japan trip. The kitchen renovation. Sundays with your dad. How good it felt. One purchase can belong to several at once — that supermarket run was part groceries, part the dinner party, part the trip — so you never have to pick. SO YOU CAN FINALLY ANSWER • What the whole trip cost — flights, that dinner, the taxi, the 1am souvenir • Whether this client is worth it, once the lunches and the software are in • What the hobby actually costs over a year, and whether you'd miss it • Which purchases you're still glad about a month later Not after a weekend of reconciling. On a Tuesday, in four seconds. IT LEARNS, SO YOU STOP HAVING TO Show it once that your Tuesday coffee is client work, and every Tuesday coffee after that files itself — your Shortcut fires, your rule matches, and it's logged without you opening the app. Everything else is two taps from the lock screen. Correct it once and it remembers. Every correction is one fewer decision, permanently. Nothing to configure on day one — Tael suggests the rules and you say yes. Or open them up and write your own, if that's more your thing. You could do all this in a spreadsheet. People do, for about three weeks. This is the version that survives a busy fortnight. NOBODY SEES THIS BUT YOU No account. No sign-up. Your ledger — every purchase, note, category and rating — is stored on your device and stays there. We never receive it and have no way to read it. Tael never collects your transactions, amounts, notes or categories. Which is why you'll actually record that the dinner was a 3 out of 10, or that you're still annoyed about the jacket. That's the honest version, and the honest version is the one worth having. EVERY CURRENCY, ONE LEDGER Pay in yen, log in yen. Tael does the maths, so a trip is one number instead of four. WHAT'S IN IT • Two-tap capture from the lock screen • Log from anywhere with Shortcuts and automations • Your own categories, that cross each other • One purchase, split across everything it belongs to • Rules suggested from your corrections, or written by you • Multi-currency, one ledger • Works offline, always WHO IT'S FOR People who want their money to make sense on their own terms — whether that means a proper system or just knowing what the holiday cost. Not for people who want an app to drain a bank feed and budget for them with no involvement at all. Tael asks for a little of you early on, but delivers a lot for you later. Tael is free to use. Tael Pro is an optional subscription that unlocks unlimited smart rules and enhanced capabilities — see in-app for details. Apple Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Tael Terms of Use: https://usetael.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://usetael.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Tael at 5.0 against Expensa's 3.9. Tael also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 11 days) and review sentiment (100% vs 86%). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Expensa sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Tael sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Tael holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Expensa's written reviews are positive against 100% of Tael's.
Expensa ships an update every 11 days, Tael every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Expensa | Tael |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (10 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 85.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 10 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 91 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Andrii Sereda | Tael Technology, LLC |
Customer experience
Expensa
Tael
In-app purchases
Expensa
- Expensa PRO Monthly14 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Expensa PRO Yearly14 Days trial$39.991 Year
- 1 Espresso$0.99
- 2 Espressos$1.99
- 4 Espressos$4.99
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- 10 Espressos$9.99
- Expensa Pro Lifetime$79.99
Tael
- Tael Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Tael Pro Annual$29.991 Year









