Comparison

Control vs Budget

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

Head to head
About

Control

An elegant budgeting app designed for clarity and control over your finances. It offers features like voice transaction entry, bill splitting, and AI-powered financial insights. Track expenses, manage multiple jobs, and monitor investments with beautiful reports.

Highlights
  • Apple Pay transaction import
  • Voice transaction entry
  • Split bills
  • AI-powered financial insights
  • Investment tracking
  • Shared budgets
  • Receipt scanning
Features
Read full description

Control is an elegant budgeting app designed for clarity without complexity. Its beautifully crafted interface makes managing finances feel magical. • Apple Pay transaction import • Bank notification transaction import • Add transactions by voice • Split bills when adding a transaction • Groceries list with Live Activity • Travel Mode for trip expense tracking • Work page to track hours, shifts, and pay across multiple jobs • Net worth and portfolio tracking, with prices you update yourself • Live Activities and Dynamic Island support • Ask AI - instant financial insights powered by AI • Apple Watch • Business page • Credit cards • Debt tracker • Past trips page • Wishlist shopping page • Quit Tracker for breaking habits • Interest rate for your bank deposits • Receipt scanning with camera • Add transactions by sharing a receipt, email, or webpage • Monthly/weekly/yearly and category budgets with visual progress • Investments transactions • Beautiful reports and spending insights • Wrapped - your year in review summary • Recurring payments and installment tracking • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets • Multiple currency support with conversion • Tags for organizing transactions • Siri Shortcuts • Custom budget start day • Rollover budget • Photos for transactions • Custom budget start day • Variable recurring payments amount • Appearance customization with themes and gradients • iCloud backup • Face ID • No ads, no tracking, no data collection Take control of your finances today. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Budget

Track your spending and income to understand where your money goes. Set budgets, schedule bills, and save for goals. All your financial data stays private on your device.

Highlights
  • Log expenses, income, and transfers
  • Set monthly budgets per category
  • Schedule recurring bills and paychecks
  • Save toward financial goals
  • Track net worth
  • View spending breakdown by category
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Where does your money actually go each month? Budget shows you. No ads, no account needed. Log every expense, income, transfer, charge, or payment. Pick the account, pick the category, add an optional note. Set monthly limits per category, schedule recurring bills and paychecks, and save toward goals like vacation or an emergency fund. Everything you log lives on your phone, with no sign-in and no cloud sync. Answers to your money questions • Where did all my money go this month? • How much can I still spend on groceries before I'm over budget? • What's my current net worth? • When is my next bill due? • How much have I saved for vacation so far? • Did this account move up or down this month? Transactions • Expense, income, and transfer entries • Charge and payment entries for credit cards and loans • Required fields: amount, account, category, date • Optional note on every transaction • Edit or delete with a tap Accounts • Asset accounts: cash, checking, savings, investment • Liability accounts: credit cards, loans, lines of credit • Per-account name, color, and a toggle to include or exclude from your total • Balances roll up to a Net Worth total • Bars showing each account's share of the total • Archive retired accounts and restore them later Budgets • One-off budgets per expense category, per month • Recurring budget templates that renew every month • Progress bar with remaining or over-by amount • Tap a category to see the month's transactions • End a recurring budget on any month Recurring transactions • Daily, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, or yearly cadence • Optional end date on every series • Upcoming entries appear on the home screen • Calendar shows projected and recorded entries with different markers Saving goals • Name, optional target, optional deadline • Presets: Vacation, Car, House, Wedding, Emergency Fund • Progress ring with percent complete and a Reached state • Deposits and withdrawals create linked transactions • See remaining amount, percent complete, and days to deadline Calendar • Month grid with markers on transaction days • Different markers for recorded and projected (recurring) entries • Tap a day to see that day's transactions and projections • Projected end-of-month balance at the top Stats • Expense breakdown by category for the active range • This Month or Last 6 Months toggle • 6-month income and expense bar chart • Income, Expense, and Net columns at the bottom • Tap any category in the legend to see its transactions Net Worth • Assets minus liabilities at the top • Month-to-date change since the start of the month • Line chart of net worth over time • Per-account asset and liability breakdowns More to explore • 28 hand-built themes • Daily reminder with quiet days • Cent-accurate math, no rounding errors • Translated into 39 languages Ad-free & private • No ads • All data stays on your device • No account required. Works completely offline Your money, your phone. Disclaimer This app is for personal money tracking and is not financial advice. All figures reflect what you log. Always verify against your bank or card statements.

Screenshots

Control4 screens
Budget4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Budget at 5.0 against Control's 4.3. Budget also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Control's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months). On price, 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. Control sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Budget sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Budget holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Control ships an update every 3 days, Budget every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Control versus Budget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterControlBudget
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (11 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews95.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings11 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, Mac, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlex Patrick PalaceanEHM TECH LLC

Customer experience

Control

All ratings11 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive95.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.3%

Budget

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Control

Subscriptions2
  • Control Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Control Club$3.991 Month
One-time1
  • Lifetime payment$14.99
2 purchases

Budget

Subscriptions2
  • Pro - Weekly7 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • Pro - Weekly7 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Control free?
Control is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Budget free?
Budget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Control or Budget?
Budget is rated higher. Control averages 4.3 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Budget averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Control or Budget have ads?
Budget shows ads; Control does not.
Which is updated more often, Control or Budget?
Control ships an update every 3 days, and Budget every 2 months. Most recently, Control was updated on October 16, 2026 and Budget on October 11, 2026.

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