Comparison

Control vs Penni

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 • Shared Budgets via iCloud • 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

Penni

Manage your finances with a calm, beautifully simple approach. Track spending, set gentle budgets, and grow savings without spreadsheets or account creation. Your data stays private on your device and synced via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Private by design, no sign-up required
  • Track expenses and income
  • Set gentle budgets
  • Manage savings goals
  • Financial health score
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
  • iCloud sync and backup
Features
Read full description

Penni is a calmer way to manage your money. Track what you spend, set gentle budgets, and watch your savings grow — in an app that feels warm, unhurried, and beautifully simple. No spreadsheets, no clutter, and no account to create. Just open Penni and start. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No sign-up, no login, no account. Ever. • Your data is stored on your device and synced privately through your own iCloud — it never touches our servers, because we don't have any. • Lock the app behind Face ID or Touch ID for an extra layer of privacy. SEE YOUR MONEY AT A GLANCE • A clean home dashboard with your total balance, income, and spending for the month. • Beautiful wallet cards for cash, bank accounts, cards, savings, and more. • A simple financial-health score that tells you how you're doing. TRACK EVERY TRANSACTION • Log expenses and income in seconds. • Organize with tidy, colorful categories and per-day grouping. • Search and filter by date range to find anything fast. BUDGETS THAT GUIDE YOU • Set gentle limits for the categories you care about. • Always know exactly where you stand — without the guilt. REACH YOUR GOALS • Save for an emergency fund, a new phone, or a dream trip. • Watch each goal fill up as you set money aside. INSIGHTS • Spending trends and category breakdowns that actually make sense. WORKS WHERE YOU DO • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets keep your balance and budgets a glance away. • A Live Activity keeps an eye on your budget while you spend. ICLOUD SYNC & BACKUP • Turn on iCloud Sync and your wallets, transactions, budgets, and goals stay up to date across your iPhone and iPad automatically — and are safely backed up to your iCloud account. Penni is a personal bookkeeping tool to help you understand your own money. It does not connect to your bank, move money, or give financial advice. — PENNI PRO Penni is free to use. Penni Pro unlocks everything: unlimited wallets, unlimited budgets and goals, unlimited transactions, iCloud sync, dark mode, advanced insights, and custom categories. • Penni Pro Monthly — $3.99 / month • Penni Pro (3 Months) — $9.99 / 3 months • Penni Pro Yearly — $29.99 / year Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription renews automatically for the same price and duration unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your Apple Account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial, if offered, is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://penni.cc/privacy

Screenshots

Control4 screens
Penni4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Penni at 5.0 against Control's 4.0. Control's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and ratings volume (8 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Penni sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Penni holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Control has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of Control's written reviews are positive against 100% of Penni's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Control ships an update every 3 days, Penni every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Control versus Penni: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterControlPenni
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (8 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews94.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 4 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size58 MB59 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperAlex Patrick PalaceanOTHMANE MDIDET

Customer experience

Control

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive94.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.3%

Penni

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Control

Subscriptions1
  • Control Club$3.991 Month
One-time1
  • Lifetime payment$11.99
3 purchases

Penni

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly$3.991 Month
  • 3 Months$9.993 Months
  • Yearly$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Control free?
Control is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Penni free?
Penni is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Control or Penni?
Penni is rated higher. Control averages 4.0 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Penni averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Control or Penni have ads?
Neither Control nor Penni shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Control or Penni?
Control ships an update every 3 days, and Penni every 4 days. Most recently, Control was updated on September 25, 2026 and Penni on September 20, 2026.

Other comparisons