Comparison

Expense Tracker vs Expense Log XL

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

Head to head
About

Expense Tracker

Effortlessly track daily income and expenses with a notebook-like interface. On-device AI automatically categorizes your entries, and all data is securely stored locally or synced via iCloud. Customize your experience with various page styles and widgets.

Highlights
  • Notebook-style daily expense and income tracking
  • On-device AI for automatic categorization
  • Local data storage and private iCloud sync
  • Customizable page styles, fonts, and currency
  • Home screen widgets for quick overview
  • Offline functionality
Read full description

YOUR DAILY CASHBOOK: Today Expenses brings the simplicity of a paper notebook to your personal finances. Write naturally — jot down what you spent or earned, and on-device AI fills in the details automatically. No outside servers, no account creation. Everything stays securely in your own iCloud. Each day gets its own page. Turn back to see previous days. Turn forward to plan ahead. HOW IT WORKS Open the app to your Today Page Tap Expense or Income to set the record type Type naturally — "coffee 4.50" or "freelance payment 2500" On-device AI extracts the category and amount instantly Tap any record to edit or correct the details Turn the page to navigate between days RECORD KEEPING Daily notebook page for expenses and income One page per day — navigate forward and back through any date Add, edit, and delete records on any day Tap the metadata panel to correct anything the AI gets wrong Set your own category, amount, and currency manually anytime AI MODELS Two on-device AI models — you choose. Apple Foundation Models — powered by Apple Intelligence. Reads your full note and infers meaning from context. Available on iPhone 15 Pro and later. Pre-Trained Model — trained on 16,700 expense and income notes across 71 categories. Works on every iPhone, with or without Apple Intelligence. Fast, private, fully on-device. Your notes are never sent to any server. Your data is never used to train any model. Switch between models anytime from Settings. PAGE STYLES AND CUSTOMIZATION Multiple paper styles including Classic, Ivory Rose, Obsidian Gold, Sage, and more Choose your font and font size Set your preferred currency and category list Set an initial balance for accurate net tracking BUDGETS Set a budget for any category, or one overall budget for everything Track spending against your budget as you record See how much is left at a glance Adjust or remove a budget anytime CHARTS AND INSIGHTS Net balance tracking over time Spending and income breakdown by category Weekly and monthly overviews 6-month chart and spending calendar HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Today Balance, Today Records, This Week, This Month 6 Month Overview, Spending Calendar, Streak, Category Breakdown Multiple sizes — small, medium, and large Widgets follow your chosen page style theme SYNC AND PRIVACY Stored locally and synced privately to your iCloud via CloudKit No accounts, no sign-up, no outside servers Works fully offline — syncs automatically when you reconnect FREE PERIOD AND PLANS 24 hours of full access to try everything — no card required. Choose a monthly or yearly subscription, or buy once and keep it forever. WHY TODAY EXPENSES? Notebook-style UI that makes recording feel natural Two on-device AI models — Apple Foundation Models or Pre-Trained Model Pre-Trained Model works on every iPhone, no Apple Intelligence needed Budgets by category or for everything, tracked as you write Beautiful page styles, fonts, and home screen widgets Full offline support with automatic iCloud sync No ads. No account required. Your data stays yours. REQUIREMENTS iOS 26 or later and iCloud required. Pre-Trained Model works on every supported device. Apple Foundation Models requires Apple Intelligence on iPhone 15 Pro or later. If unavailable, Pre-Trained Model is used automatically. TRY IT FREE Download and start with 24 hours of full free access — no card required. Privacy Policy: https://www.notion.so/Today-Expenses-Privacy-Policy-3392d576f5a48029a0dedcca7dd3ae31?source=copy_link Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Expense Log XL

Features
Read full description

Track what you spend — in seconds, on your phone, without a subscription. Expense Log XL is a manual expense tracker for people who want their money in their own hands: type the amount, tap a category, done. No bank logins, no accounts, no cloud, no ads. AN EXPENSE IN 3 SECONDS • A big numpad and big category buttons — one tap saves the expense • 10 ready-made categories, or build your own with your own icons • A note or a different date only when you actually need one SEE WHERE THE MONEY GOES • This month's total at a glance • Every category with its share, as bars and percentages • Swipe left or right to walk through your months • Search your notes CSV EXPORT THAT ACTUALLY WORKS Date, Amount, Currency, Category, Note — a clean UTF-8 file with BOM that opens correctly in Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets. Commas and quotation marks inside your notes stay intact instead of breaking the columns. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything stays on your iPhone. No account, no server, no cloud sync, no analytics, no advertising. Your expenses are nobody else's business. HONEST PRICING Adding expenses is always free and never limited. Your first 14 days open everything. After that, the free version keeps this month in full, plus backup. One purchase unlocks every past month, CSV export of any period and one-tap recurring expenses. Forever, with no subscription.

Screenshots

Expense Tracker4 screens
Expense Log XL3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Expense Tracker at every 3 days against Expense Log XL's every 2 weeks. Expense Log XL's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, 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. Expense Tracker sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Expense Log XL sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Expense Tracker ships an update every 3 days, Expense Log XL every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Expense Tracker versus Expense Log XL: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterExpense TrackerExpense Log XL
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size99 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMin Thet Maungihor Romanenko

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Expense Tracker

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Yearly$14.991 Year
1 purchases

Expense Log XL

One-time1
  • Unlock Forever$8.99

Questions

Is Expense Tracker free?
Expense Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Expense Log XL free?
Expense Log XL is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Expense Tracker or Expense Log XL have ads?
Neither Expense Tracker nor Expense Log XL shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Expense Tracker or Expense Log XL?
Expense Tracker ships an update every 3 days, and Expense Log XL every 2 weeks. Most recently, Expense Tracker was updated on October 31, 2026 and Expense Log XL on November 6, 2026.

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