Comparison

Simple Financials vs Cairn

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

Head to head
About

Simple Financials

Read full description

Finally know what's safe to spend Simple Financials shows your real available balance — accounting for paychecks, holidays, recurring expenses, loans, and life's surprises. Built for how your money actually works: Features: - Smart Paycheck Tracking - Current Balance Baseline Start by entering your current account balance. Everything flows from there — income adds, expenses subtract, and you always know your real number. - Multiple Income Sources Enter your standard base pay — then set a reduced amount for days with a holiday or a missed shift. Simple Financials automatically projects the correct paycheck whenever one of those days falls in your cycle. Add as many income streams as you have — salary, freelance, side income. Each gets its own schedule and amount, all factored into your available balance automatically. - Annualized Expense Splitting Set a yearly due date, recurrence frequency, and installment frequency. The app divides the total and shows you exactly what to set aside each month (excluding that amount from your "available" balance) — no surprises when that big bill arrives. - Loans That Auto-Expire Enter your installment amount and remaining payment count. The loan disappears from your expense sheet the moment it's paid off — your safe-to-spend number automatically improves. - See where you stand before you get there With Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly forecasts for income and expenses you'll know how much you can safely spend now and later, or correct if you see a deficit upcoming. All forecasts account for holiday pay reductions, loan payoffs, and installment schedules. Up and running in minutes: 1. Enter your current balance Type in your account balance right now. This is your starting point — the number everything builds from. 2. Add your income sources Set up your paycheck(s): base amount, payment cycle, and a reduced amount for short weeks or holidays. Add as many sources as you need. 3. Add your expenses Bills, subscriptions, annual vehicle registration, property taxes, loan payments — enter each one with its recurrence. For loans, just add the installment amount and how many remain. 4. Know your number Simple Financials calculates your real Safe to Spend amount — with daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly forecasts, all updated automatically. Optionally visit www.simplefinancialsapp.com from your tablet, or computer, to input your income, expenses, then export your data, and import it to the app. Terms of Use / End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://simplefinancialsapp.com/privacy *Calculations are best effort, not liable for errors, always validate calculations prior to making financial decisions.

About

Cairn

Manage tasks and notes directly within your existing Markdown files. This app offers focused views, quick capture, and robust task management features, all while keeping your data private and locally stored. It integrates seamlessly with Obsidian and other file sync services.

Highlights
  • Native Markdown task and note management
  • Works with Obsidian vaults or any folder
  • Quick capture with date, tag, and priority parsing
  • Multiple task views (Today, Upcoming, Inbox, Pool)
  • Full support for sub-tasks and recurring tasks
  • Local reminders and Live Activity integration
  • Data stays local, no cloud sync required
Read full description

Cairn is a fast, native task and note companion that lives on top of the Markdown files you already own. Point it at your Obsidian vault — or any folder of Markdown notes — and your tasks and notes appear in clean, focused views. Everything you do in Cairn is written straight back to your files as plain text, in the Obsidian Tasks format. YOUR NOTES STAY YOURS • No account, no sign-up, no Cairn cloud database — your tasks live in your own files • Cairn does not send your notes or tasks to the developer • Careful, patch-based edits change only the content you touched, preserving the rest of your note • Works alongside Obsidian, iCloud Drive, Git, or any sync you already use CAPTURE, BROWSE, AND PLAN • Browse and edit Markdown notes directly in your vault • Quick capture into your daily note, with date, tag, and priority tokens parsed as you type • Choose where longer captures are saved • Today, Upcoming, Inbox, and Pool views, plus a global filter for folders, tags, dates, priority, and status • Full support for sub-tasks and task hierarchies • Recurring tasks in Obsidian Tasks format, with safe completion handling • Convert upcoming calendar events into tasks, or mirror your dated tasks into a calendar you choose (optional) STAY ON TRACK • Local reminders for due tasks — including sunrise-relative reminders computed entirely on your device • A Live Activity keeps today's progress on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island • Home Screen widgets and a Control Center quick-capture control • Search across every task in your vault MADE FOR OBSIDIAN — NOT ONLY OBSIDIAN Cairn reads and writes the Obsidian Tasks plugin format (due, scheduled, start, and done dates, priorities, recurrence, tags), so your vault stays fully compatible with your desktop setup. Don't use Obsidian? Create a plain task folder in the Files app and Cairn works as a stand-alone Markdown to-do app. Cairn asks for access only to the folder you pick. Calendar access and location (used to compute local sunrise times) are optional and processed on your device. If you choose iCloud Drive or another Files or calendar provider, that provider's own sync and privacy terms apply.

Screenshots

Simple Financials4 screens
Cairn4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cairn at none against Simple Financials's 10. Cairn also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 5 weeks). On price, ads, 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. Simple Financials sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Cairn asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simple Financials ships an update every 5 weeks, Cairn every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 28, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Simple Financials versus Cairn: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple FinancialsCairn
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB9 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperJoshua ArmerYoung Hun JEONG

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Simple Financials

Subscriptions5
  • Coffee Supporter$0.991 Month
  • Bronze Supporter$2.991 Month
  • Silver Supporter$4.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Platinum Supporter$9.991 Month
  • Platinum Supporter$19.991 Month
One-time5
  • Spare Change$0.99
  • I like it$1.99
  • Here's a Coffee$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Here's a large coffee$9.99
  • Founder Support - Thank you$19.99
None

Cairn

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Simple Financials free?
Simple Financials is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cairn free?
Cairn is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Simple Financials or Cairn have ads?
Neither Simple Financials nor Cairn shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simple Financials or Cairn?
Simple Financials ships an update every 5 weeks, and Cairn every 6 days. Most recently, Simple Financials was updated on October 28, 2026 and Cairn on October 28, 2026.

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