Comparison

Control vs TakeControl

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

TakeControl

Easily manage shared expenses with friends and family. Track group spending, calculate who owes what, and simplify payments. Supports multiple currencies and customizable categories.

Highlights
  • Group expense tracking
  • Automatic debt calculation
  • Simplified payment settlement
  • Multi-currency support
  • Customizable expense categories
  • Receipt scanning
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Splitting expenses as a couple or on a trip should not turn into an argument. TakeControl helps couples, friends, families, and groups split bills, track shared expenses, and see who owes whom. Add an expense and the app calculates each person’s share, updates balances instantly, and shows the simplest way to settle up. PERFECT FOR COUPLES AND TRIPS Traveling with friends? Track hotels, flights, gas, restaurants, groceries, activities, and travel expenses, then split the cost without spreadsheets. Living together or managing money as a couple? Use TakeControl to split rent, groceries, delivery, pharmacy, utilities, household bills, subscriptions, and shared expenses. Split couple expenses equally, by percentage, or by exact amount. Also great for: - Roommates and shared housing - Dinners, parties, birthdays, and events - Family expenses, school, and healthcare - Group funds and loans between friends HOW IT WORKS 1. Create a group and add the people involved 2. Add expenses as they happen 3. See everyone’s balance update instantly 4. Settle up with the fewest payments possible Not everyone needs to download the app. Add local members and manage the split yourself, ideal for couples, trips, or groups where not everyone wants another app. SPLIT EVERY EXPENSE FAIRLY Not every bill should be split 50/50. With TakeControl, you can split expenses: - Equally between everyone - By percentage - By exact amount - With more than one person paying the same expense DEBT SIMPLIFICATION Instead of everyone paying everyone, TakeControl reorganizes group balances and calculates the fewest transfers needed to settle all debts. Everyone pays the right amount, with fewer transfers. GROUP INSIGHTS Understand your money without opening a spreadsheet: - Spending trends over time - A financial overview of the group - Balance between members and who is covering more - Recent group activity - More insights to understand where the money is going MORE THAN 130 CURRENCIES Record every expense in the currency it was paid in. Balances stay separated by currency, so amounts are never mixed. Turn on currency conversion whenever you want to see balances in your preferred currency. CATEGORIES YOUR WAY Create categories and custom subcategories for each group. Choose icons and colors, and disable anything you do not use. A travel group can have different categories from your household or couple expenses. MORE CONTEXT FOR EVERY EXPENSE - Attach receipts directly to expenses - Add notes explaining each purchase - Leave group notes for everyone - Browse the group receipt gallery - See what changed, who changed it, and when LESS TYPING - Scan a receipt and let TakeControl fill in the expense - Add expenses using your voice - Use the built-in calculator - Create recurring and installment expenses automatically - Add expenses offline and sync when connected again AND MORE - Group budgets with spending progress - Home Screen widget with balance and budget - Real-time activity notifications - Send reminders when someone still needs to settle up - Import your Splitwise groups in minutes - Import contacts from your phone - Biometric lock - CSV export - Available in 6 languages FREE TO GET STARTED Create up to 6 groups and add up to 8 expenses per day for free. No ads. TAKECONTROL PRO - Unlimited groups and expenses - Unlimited receipt scanning and voice expense entry - Convert balances into the currency you choose - Set custom exchange rates for each group - Advanced expense search filters A Lifetime option is also available: pay once and keep access forever. Your PRO subscription is charged to your App Store account and renews automatically unless auto- Terms of Use: https://gettakecontrol.app/en/legal/terms-of-use/ Privacy Policy: https://gettakecontrol.app/en/legal/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

Control4 screens
TakeControl4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: TakeControl at none against Control's 3. Control's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 9 days). On price, monetization model, device support and iOS requirement 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. TakeControl asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Control ships an update every 3 days, TakeControl every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Control versus TakeControl: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterControlTakeControl
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (11 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews95.7% of reviews — better87.5% of reviews
Number of ratings11 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB131 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperAlex Patrick PalaceanHello Design & Tecnologia LTDA

Customer experience

Control

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

TakeControl

Written reviews8 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Control

Subscriptions2
  • Control Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Control Club$3.991 Month
One-time1
  • Lifetime payment$14.99
None

TakeControl

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Control free?
Control is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is TakeControl free?
TakeControl is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Control or TakeControl have ads?
TakeControl shows ads; Control does not.
Which is updated more often, Control or TakeControl?
Control ships an update every 3 days, and TakeControl every 9 days. Most recently, Control was updated on October 16, 2026 and TakeControl on October 14, 2026.

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