Comparison

Payday vs Paycheck Planner

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

Head to head
About

Payday

Read full description

Payday is a focused paycheck budgeting app that helps you know what your money can do before payday arrives. Use zero-based budgeting to plan every paycheck, map upcoming bills, assign money to categories, and see a clear Safe to Spend amount after your allocations and personal cushion. With Payday, you can: Build a paycheck plan in minutes Track weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, or monthly income Add recurring paychecks and plan ahead Map bills to the paycheck or category covering them View your cash flow in Timeline and Calendar Track allocations, uncovered bills, and low-cushion weeks Export plans as PDF or CSV Use Dark, Light, or System appearance Protect access with Face ID Keep your financial data private without bank syncing No complicated spreadsheets. No guessing what is safe to spend. Payday helps you give every dollar a job and make your money feel more predictable. Start with your next paycheck and build a plan you can trust. https://socialreporthq.com/payday/terms

About

Paycheck Planner

Features
Read full description

Category budgeting doesn't work when you live paycheck to paycheck. You don't need forty envelopes. You need the answer to one question: "After the bills that are still coming before my next payday, how much can I actually spend?" That's the whole app. One number, on the front screen, honest. HOW IT WORKS • Enter your balance, your paycheck, and your bills — once • Paycheck Planner works out which bills land before your next payday • It subtracts them, and shows you what's left: your Safe to Spend • Plus a daily allowance, so you know how to pace it BUILT FOR REAL PAY SCHEDULES Biweekly that drifts across the month. Semimonthly on the 1st and the 15th. Monthly on the 31st in a month that only has 30 days. The date maths is the hard part, and it is done properly. WHAT YOU GET • Safe to Spend, front and centre • Next payday and the days until it • Bills still due before then, and which are already paid • A daily allowance • One-tap spend logging • Trends and charts across pay cycles • A buffer setting, if you like to hold a cushion back NO BANK LINKING — ON PURPOSE Paycheck Planner never asks for bank credentials and has no bank connection. You type in your balance. Everything is calculated on your device. There is no account, no cloud, and no network request of any kind. No analytics, no tracking, no ads. FREE, WITH AN OPTIONAL ONE-TIME UNLOCK Free: one income source, up to 5 bills, Safe to Spend, and spend logging. Full Unlock adds unlimited bills, multiple income sources, Trends and charts, and the buffer. One-time — not a subscription. Paycheck Planner is a budgeting tool, not financial advice.

Screenshots

Payday4 screens
Paycheck Planner3 screens

Verdict

The call

Payday and Paycheck Planner are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Payday sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Paycheck Planner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Payday versus Paycheck Planner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaydayPaycheck Planner
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRAPHAEL MOMANYIDonald Proctor

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Payday

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Plan$7.991 Month
  • Yearly Plan3 Days trial$59.991 Year
1 purchases

Paycheck Planner

One-time1
  • Budget Access$4.99

Questions

Is Payday free?
Payday is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Paycheck Planner free?
Paycheck Planner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Payday or Paycheck Planner have ads?
Neither Payday nor Paycheck Planner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Payday or Paycheck Planner?
Payday ships an update monthly, and Paycheck Planner monthly. Most recently, Payday was updated on November 5, 2026 and Paycheck Planner on October 31, 2026.

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