Comparison

Basic Checkbook vs Simple Register

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

Head to head
About

Basic Checkbook

This personal finance app helps you track your real-time balance by logging every transaction as it happens. It supports various account types, offers detailed spending insights, and provides tools for managing bills and credit cards. Enjoy a private, secure register that works like a traditional checkbook but with enhanced digital features.

Highlights
  • Log all transaction types in real-time
  • Accurate running balance updates
  • Credit card and debt tracking
  • Monthly spending insights
  • Scheduled bill payments and reminders
  • Account reconciliation tools
  • Quick Add widget and Siri integration
Features
Read full description

Your bank app shows what cleared. Basic Checkbook shows what's real. Most banking apps only show transactions that have already posted, not the check you wrote yesterday, the bill that hits Friday, or the withdrawal you made this morning. Basic Checkbook is a personal register where you log every dollar as you spend it, across checking, savings, credit cards, and brokerage accounts, so your running balance is always accurate, up to date, and yours. No bank logins. No credentials on anyone's server. Just a fast, private register that works the way a checkbook always has, only better. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Log purchases, deposits, bills, withdrawals, checks, credits, and transfers as they happen • Watch your true running balance update with every entry • See every account's combined total at the top, with card debt subtracted • See any month at a glance, free: money in, money out, your net, and your biggest expense • Track credit cards alongside your bank accounts: what you owe, the credit you have left, your APR, and the day payment is due • See how much of a card's limit you are using, so you know when a balance is creeping up • Decide what interest costs you: your card shows a projected charge on its due day, and you accept, adjust, or skip it • Add a transaction from your home screen with the Quick Add widget • Add a transaction hands-free with Siri, the Shortcuts app, or Spotlight • Mark items cleared one at a time, fly through a statement with Quick Reconcile, or balance a statement step by step • Void a canceled or torn-up check and keep it on the record while the money returns to your balance • Tag transactions with as many labels as you like, and reuse any tag with one tap • Filter by type or status and search your whole register by payee, amount, memo, or tag • Schedule bills and income every 1 to 4 weeks, twice a month, monthly by date or weekday, quarterly, or yearly, with reminders, and skip one • Set a low balance warning and get a notice two days before a scheduled bill takes the balance under it • Earn interest on savings: choose the day it posts each month, and see the total at a glance • Track a brokerage account, 401(k) or IRA by its value: type it, paste it, scan a screenshot, or ask Siri, and Checkbook writes the gain or loss, shows your return, and reminds you to update it • Scan a check or receipt to fill in the details automatically • Track a different currency per account • Keep every account in sync across your devices with iCloud, free • Back up your entire register to a file and restore it anytime • Bring your history from another checkbook app: import its QIF or CSV file, free • Lock the app with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode BASIC CHECKBOOK PREMIUM Two ways to upgrade: Lifetime Premium, one purchase that never renews or expires, or a yearly plan. Both unlock: • Unlimited accounts: keep checking, savings, credit cards, brokerage, and more in one place • Your accounts over time: tap the total and see how they have moved, month by month, with a tile for each one • Full Monthly Recap: the tags and payees you spent the most on, plus save any month as a PDF • Payoff plan: set a monthly payment on any credit card and see the payoff date and what the interest will cost • Projected balance: where your balance is headed from your scheduled and recurring activity • Receipt photos: attach a receipt to the transaction it belongs to • Spending analytics: charts, trends, budgets, and period comparisons • Monthly PDF statements: clean, bank-style statements for any date range • CSV export: take your history anywhere • Color themes and app icons: premium palettes and home-screen icons Basic Checkbook doesn't connect to your bank or your brokerage. It never reads your transactions or stores your credentials anywhere. It's your ledger: private, accurate, and completely yours. Privacy Policy: https://basicapps.tech/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Simple Register

This app provides a digital checkbook register for tracking personal finances. It allows users to quickly record transactions, manage bills, and reconcile statements without connecting to bank accounts. Designed for privacy, it offers local-only mode and optional biometric security.

Highlights
  • Digital checkbook register
  • Record payments, deposits, checks, transfers
  • Bill planning and reminders
  • Statement reconciliation
  • Multiple register support
  • Data export to CSV/PDF
  • Optional biometric security
Features
Read full description

Your checkbook register, exactly as you remember it. Simple Register brings the familiar paper checkbook register to your Apple devices. Open it, enter a transaction, see your balance, and close it. No bank connections, no complicated budgeting system, and no subscription. TRY IT FREE FOR 7 DAYS New customers can start a seven-day free trial with every feature. After the trial, unlock permanently with one purchase: US $9.99, with local pricing shown in the app. There is no subscription or automatic charge. Your existing records stay available to read and export after the trial. Customers who already own the paid app keep full access at no additional charge. FAST, FAMILIAR ENTRY • Record payments, deposits, checks, and transfers • Type 1254 and Simple Register enters $12.54 • A type-ahead payee list as you type, built from your own history • Save an entry and immediately add another • See your running and cleared balances at a glance • Move an entry to a different register when it landed in the wrong one RECONCILE WITH CONFIDENCE Enter your statement balance, check off cleared transactions, and watch the difference reach zero. Simple Register never changes your transaction amounts just from checking them off. Found something you forgot to enter, or a mistyped amount, while matching your statement? Add or fix it without losing your place — and if you need to step away, your checked items and statement amount are still there when you come back. SCHEDULED, ON ONE CALENDAR Set up anything that repeats — a paycheck, the mortgage, a bill whose exact amount isn't known yet — and see every register's upcoming entries on one monthly calendar. An entry that should post itself does; one you'd rather confirm yourself shows as a reminder until you say it's handled, or until a matching payment checks it off on its own. BIG ORDERS, HANDLED Enter a large order once at its full total — even if the bank bills it as several separate charges. List each charge under the entry as it posts, check them off one by one, and reconcile against your statement exactly the way the bank sees it. MADE FOR HOUSEHOLDS Keep as many registers as your household needs — checking, savings, a credit card, vacation fund, gift money — each with its own column labels so a savings register and a card balance never look like a checkbook. Transfers record both sides automatically and stay linked, and every entry shows who added it. YOUR REGISTER, YOUR STYLE Choose from familiar checkbook-inspired covers and ledger styles while keeping every number clear and readable. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No bank logins • No Plaid or financial account linking • No ads • No analytics • No Simple Register account • Optional local-only mode • Optional Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode protection YOUR DATA STAYS USEFUL Export your register to CSV or PDF whenever you need it. Edit history and Recently Deleted help protect you from mistakes. BUILT FOR APPLE DEVICES Use Simple Register on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with your private iCloud keeping your registers in step across your devices. Simple Register is for people who want to track their money themselves — without handing their financial history to another service. If you'd like to support development, an entirely optional one-time tip is available from Settings & Privacy — it never changes what the app unlocks.

Screenshots

Basic Checkbook4 screens
Simple Register4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Simple Register at 5.0 against Basic Checkbook's 4.6. Simple Register also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Basic Checkbook's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks) and monetization model (freemium vs paid). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume 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. Basic Checkbook sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $23.99 per year and Simple Register sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simple Register holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 13 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Basic Checkbook ships an update every 3 days, Simple Register every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Basic Checkbook versus Simple Register: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBasic CheckbookSimple Register
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (8 ratings)5.0 (13 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings813 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium — betterPaid
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSean TrapaniJennifer Hendrickson

Customer experience

Basic Checkbook

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Simple Register

All ratings11 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Basic Checkbook

Subscriptions1
  • Annual Premium$23.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$59.99
5 purchases

Simple Register

One-time5
  • 7-day TrialFree
  • Small Tip$1.99
  • Medium Tip$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Full Unlock$9.99
  • Generous Tip$9.99

Questions

Is Basic Checkbook free?
Basic Checkbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Register free?
Simple Register is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Basic Checkbook or Simple Register?
Simple Register is rated higher. Basic Checkbook averages 4.6 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Simple Register averages 5.0 from 13 ratings.
Do Basic Checkbook or Simple Register have ads?
Neither Basic Checkbook nor Simple Register shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Basic Checkbook or Simple Register?
Basic Checkbook ships an update every 3 days, and Simple Register every 2 weeks. Most recently, Basic Checkbook was updated on November 7, 2026 and Simple Register on November 5, 2026.

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