Comparison

HowMuchLeft vs Basic Budget

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

Head to head
About

HowMuchLeft

Easily manage your monthly budget with this straightforward expense tracker. Create custom categories, set budgets, and quickly log spending to see your remaining balance at a glance. Your financial data stays private on your device.

Highlights
  • Monthly budget overview
  • Custom expense categories
  • Quick expense logging
  • Income and credit tracking
  • iCloud backup
  • Edit/delete past expenses
Features
Read full description

Description: Keep track of your expenses—simple, fast, and no-frills. HowMuchLeft shows you at a glance how much of your monthly budget is left. No complicated categories, no account linking, no ads—just the essentials. Here’s how it works: • Create categories for your expenses, e.g., “Personal” or “Joint” • Set a default budget for each category • Track expenses in seconds – enter the amount, done • See immediately how much you can still spend this month Key features: • Clear monthly overview with remaining budget per category • Compact annual overview with remaining balance per month and per category • Flexible budgets – adjust the budget for individual months as needed • Track income – record refunds or income as credits • Edit or delete expenses later • Scroll through months and view past expenses • iCloud Backup Your data stays on your device. No registration, no subscription, no tracking. HowMuchLeft – because there’s only one question: How much is left? Full version: • The free version allows you to record 20 entries. • If you like the app, you can unlock it with a one-time purchase with no restrictions—NO subscription.

About

Basic Budget

Read full description

Basic Budget is a simple, private expense tracker that helps you stay on top of your spending — without accounts, ads, or your data ever leaving your phone. Everything works completely offline. Open the app, log what you spent, and instantly see how much you have left in each budget. No sign-up, no sync, no tracking. WHY BASIC BUDGET - 100% offline — your financial data stays on your device, always - No account required — start tracking in seconds - No ads, no analytics, no data collection - Fast, clean and easy to use every day TRACK YOUR SPENDING - Log expenses in seconds with amount, category and notes - Organise spending with categories and subcategories - See exactly how much you've spent and what's left BUDGETS THAT MAKE SENSE - Set a budget for each category - Watch your remaining balance update as you spend - Clear at-a-glance status so you always know where you stand SEE YOUR HISTORY - Review spending by day, week or month - Spending-over-time chart across your whole history - Category breakdowns to spot where your money goes OWN YOUR DATA - Export your transactions to CSV any time - Import transactions from CSV — categories are created for you automatically - Your data is yours: no cloud lock-in FREE TO USE Basic Budget is free. An optional one-time lifetime unlock adds premium features — pay once, own it forever. No subscriptions, ever. Made for people who just want a straightforward way to track spending and stick to a budget: private, offline and simple.

Screenshots

HowMuchLeft4 screens
Basic Budget3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Basic Budget at 16.4 against HowMuchLeft's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. HowMuchLeft sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Basic Budget 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 every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 7 level
HowMuchLeft versus Basic Budget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHowMuchLeftBasic Budget
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS26.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB47 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChristian KrauseBorder networks Pte ltd

In-app purchases

1 purchases

HowMuchLeft

One-time1
  • Full Version$3.99
1 purchases

Basic Budget

One-time1
  • Lifetime Unlock$3.99

Questions

Is HowMuchLeft free?
HowMuchLeft is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Basic Budget free?
Basic Budget is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do HowMuchLeft or Basic Budget have ads?
Neither HowMuchLeft nor Basic Budget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HowMuchLeft or Basic Budget?
HowMuchLeft ships an update every 3 weeks, and Basic Budget every 3 weeks. Most recently, HowMuchLeft was updated on November 9, 2026 and Basic Budget on November 10, 2026.

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