Comparison

PocketSim vs CustomBudget

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

Head to head
About

PocketSim

Easily simulate various financial situations, from new jobs and businesses to debt payoff and investment returns. Create custom scenarios with income, taxes, accounts, and expenses to visualize financial outcomes quickly.

Highlights
  • Financial scenario simulation
  • Income and expense tracking
  • Tax and account management
  • Debt and investment planning
  • Month-to-month outcome visualization
  • User feedback integration
Features
Read full description

PocketSim - A Wallet Simulator for EVERY scenario! Did you just start a new job? A new business? Open a new pretax or post tax account? Want to run simulations on paying off debt or potential return on investments? What about simulating any random crazy and hypothetical financial scenario quickly without having to use Google or Excel Spreadsheets? If you like this idea, PocketSim is the app for you! With a simple design you can easily create what we call 'scenarios' and our in-app calculator will automatically run month to month simulations to help you visualize any financial outcomes quickly and easily! Currently we include a broad range of variables on our "Scenarios" page that will automatically be input into the calculator and displayed on the timeline page for you to view your first scenario! Current Scenario Model includes: Scenario Name, Income Streams, Taxes, Checking Accounts, Pre Tax Accounts, Post Tax Accounts, Debt and Bills & Expenses Future: Right now our app terminology, scenario inputs and calculator are simple representations of what they're capable of and do not encompass the full embodiment of what we believe PocketSim is capable of! So please stay tuned for future updates as our tool will only get stronger, and better. NOTE: Here at PocketSim we love user feedback and strive for maintaining and designing intuitive user interfaces while keeping full calculation transparency! Please use the 'user feedback' and 'support' form to include any bugs or potential features you'd love to see! We will release new versions in the future that will help you keep track of current and future features as they come out and are agreed on creating. Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Policy Agreement: https://braydenyancy.github.io/pocketsim-public/

About

CustomBudget

This app offers a private and secure budgeting experience without requiring bank account access. It uses an envelope system to help you track spending, manage recurring bills, and visualize where your money goes, all while keeping your data offline and on your device.

Highlights
  • Envelope budgeting system
  • No bank account linking
  • Offline functionality
  • Customizable budget start date
  • Bill reminders
  • Recurring bill automation
  • Data export and backup
Features
Read full description

Every other budget app wants your bank password. This one just wants five seconds a day. CustomBudget is envelope budgeting with no bank linking, no account, and no cloud. You give each category an amount at the start of the month, record what you spend as you go, and always know what is left. Everything stays on your phone. WHY CUSTOMBUDGET Most budget apps start by asking for read access to your bank. CustomBudget never asks, because it never needs to. There is no sign-up, no password, no sync, and no server. Open it, budget, close it. ENVELOPES THAT MATCH YOUR REAL MONTH * Give every category an amount and watch it draw down as you spend * Money left in an envelope rolls into next month; overspending does not follow you * Set your month to start on any day from the 1st to the 28th, so your budget matches your payday instead of the calendar * Starts with 16 spending envelopes and an income category, or build your own from 29 icons and 12 colours * Retire an envelope without losing its history FAST ENTRY, HONEST MATH * A big keypad built for one-handed entry in a checkout queue * Payee, note, account and date when you want them, none of them required * Cash, checking, savings and credit accounts * Transfers between your own accounts are tracked but never counted as spending * Every amount is exact to the cent, with no floating point drift REMINDERS THAT ARRIVE * Bill reminders 1, 3 or 7 days ahead of a recurring payment, at 9am * An alert when an envelope reaches 80% and again at 100%, while you can still do something about it * A month-end nudge the day before your budget month rolls over * Every reminder is scheduled by your phone. Nothing is sent anywhere RECURRING BILLS ON AUTOPILOT * Weekly, every two weeks, monthly, quarterly or yearly * Post automatically on the due date, or hold it for you to confirm * Catches up correctly after you have been away from the app SEE WHERE IT WENT * A spending ring that adds up to exactly what you spent, including retired envelopes * Budgeted against actual, worst overspend first * Uncategorised spending is shown, never quietly hidden PRIVACY FIRST BY DESIGN * No account and no login * No bank linking and no email scanning * No cloud, no sync, no server * No ads, no trackers, no analytics * Works completely offline, always YOUR DATA STAYS YOURS * Export a full backup to Files, iCloud Drive, email or AirDrop * Restore in one tap, with a seven-day undo if you change your mind * Delete everything permanently whenever you want * Backup and export are free forever, because it is your data BUILT TO READ WELL * Light and dark themes * 30 currencies * Money columns that line up properly instead of jittering PERFECT FOR * Anyone who wants a budget without handing over bank credentials * People paid on the 15th, or the last Friday, whose month is not the calendar month * Envelope and zero-based budgeters * Anyone who has tried a budgeting app and quit because it took too long YOUR MONEY. YOUR PHONE. NOBODY ELSE'S BUSINESS. Download it and set up your first envelope in under a minute.

Screenshots

PocketSim3 screens
CustomBudget3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CustomBudget at none against PocketSim's 1. PocketSim's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1). On price, rating, ads 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. PocketSim sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. CustomBudget asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for PocketSim against 5.0 for CustomBudget. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
PocketSim versus CustomBudget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocketSimCustomBudget
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequency—Every 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB39 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrayden YancyCustomApps LLC

Customer experience

PocketSim

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

CustomBudget

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

PocketSim

Subscriptions1
  • Premium Subscription$2.991 Month
None

CustomBudget

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PocketSim free?
PocketSim is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CustomBudget free?
CustomBudget is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PocketSim or CustomBudget?
PocketSim and CustomBudget are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do PocketSim or CustomBudget have ads?
Neither PocketSim nor CustomBudget shows ads.

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