Comparison

SpendLens vs PennyWise AI Expense Tracker

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

Head to head
About

SpendLens

Features
Read full description

SpendLens helps you see exactly where every dirham, dollar, and euro goes โ€” without connecting your bank or creating an account. Track daily spending, automatically capture transactions from your bank's SMS alerts, and spot trends with a private, beautiful expense tracker built for your iPhone. Most people underestimate their daily spending by 30%. SpendLens closes that gap. TRACK EVERY EXPENSE IN SECONDS Add expenses with a single tap on the floating action button. Pick a category from the grid, enter the amount, optionally add a note. Done in under three seconds. AUTO-CAPTURE FROM YOUR BANK'S SMS โ€” FREE When your bank texts you a transaction alert, SpendLens can turn it into an expense for you. Set it up once with a simple Shortcuts automation, and new transactions land in your Inbox to review and approve in a tap โ€” no bank login, no account linking. Free for everyone. SCAN RECEIPTS WITH ON-DEVICE AI Snap a photo of any receipt and SpendLens uses Apple's Vision framework to extract the amount, date, and merchant โ€” completely on-device. The image never leaves your phone. SEE THE TRENDS Compare this month to last. Spot which categories are growing or shrinking. Daily spending charts reveal patterns you didn't know existed. 55+ CURRENCIES SUPPORTED Travel, expat life, mixed currencies โ€” no problem. Track expenses in any currency and SpendLens converts everything to your home currency automatically. Original amounts are always preserved. WIDGETS FOR EVERY MOMENT See today's spending right on your home screen. Five widget variants included: small (free), medium and large (Pro), plus circular and rectangular lock screen widgets (Pro). EXPORT YOUR DATA Export expenses as CSV for spreadsheets, or as beautifully formatted PDF reports for taxes and reimbursements. Your data, your way. SIRI SHORTCUTS Add expenses by voice. Ask Siri "How much did I spend today?" and get an instant answer. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts. No bank linking. No ads. No third-party trackers or analytics SDKs. Everything you enter stays on your device, with optional iCloud sync across your Apple devices. The one feature that uses the cloud โ€” Smart Parsing, which powers bank-SMS auto-capture โ€” is opt-in, off by default, and never stores or sells your data. You're always in control. SpendLens Pro unlocks unlimited categories, receipt scanning, spending trends, all widgets, CSV & PDF export, custom app icons, and Siri Shortcuts โ€” for a one-time purchase. No subscription. Ever. (Auto-capture from your bank's SMS is free for everyone.) Made with care in Abu Dhabi.

About

PennyWise AI Expense Tracker

Features
Read full description

PennyWise is a private expense tracker and budget app that keeps your money โ€” and your data โ€” entirely on your device. No accounts. No cloud. No tracking. No ads. Add expenses in seconds, import your bank statements, and watch a clean, categorized timeline of where your money goes โ€” with budgets, trends, and insights that never leave your iPhone. Why PennyWise โ€ข 100% on-device & private โ€” your data never leaves your phone โ€ข No sign-up, no accounts โ€” open the app and start โ€ข Import statements โ€” bring in Google Pay & PhonePe PDF statements โ€ข Smart analytics โ€” spending trends, category breakdowns, top merchants โ€ข Budgets โ€” set limits per category, with custom monthly cycles โ€ข Subscription tracking โ€” keep an eye on recurring payments โ€ข Smart rules โ€” auto-categorize your transactions โ€ข Multi-currency support โ€ข Beautiful dark mode โ€ข Open source (AGPL-3.0) Expense tracking, your way Add income and expenses fast, or import a statement to backfill your history. Every transaction lands in a searchable, categorized timeline โ€” a spending tracker that's always up to date. Budgets that fit real life Set category budgets and track progress at a glance. Custom cycle start days mean your "month" can begin on payday, not the 1st. Private by design All processing happens on your device โ€” no servers, no API calls, nothing leaving your phone. There are no accounts to create, and the full source is open (AGPL-3.0) so anyone can verify exactly what the app does. Free & open source PennyWise is completely free, with no ads and no in-app purchases. The full source is open (AGPL-3.0). Download PennyWise for private, effortless expense tracking and budgeting.

Screenshots

SpendLens4 screens
PennyWise AI Expense Tracker3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PennyWise AI Expense Tracker at none against SpendLens's 4. PennyWise AI Expense Tracker also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs monthly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. SpendLens sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. PennyWise AI Expense Tracker asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SpendLens ships an update monthly, PennyWise AI Expense Tracker every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
SpendLens versus PennyWise AI Expense Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpendLensPennyWise AI Expense Tracker
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 6 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size45 MB8 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperZeeshan Ahmedsarim ahmad

In-app purchases

4 purchases

SpendLens

One-time4
  • Coffee Tip$0.99
  • Pizza Tip$2.99
  • Party Tip$4.99
Show 1 more
  • SpendLens Pro$6.99
None

PennyWise AI Expense Tracker

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SpendLens free?
SpendLens is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PennyWise AI Expense Tracker free?
PennyWise AI Expense Tracker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SpendLens or PennyWise AI Expense Tracker have ads?
Neither SpendLens nor PennyWise AI Expense Tracker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SpendLens or PennyWise AI Expense Tracker?
SpendLens ships an update monthly, and PennyWise AI Expense Tracker every 6 days. Most recently, SpendLens was updated on October 18, 2026 and PennyWise AI Expense Tracker on October 25, 2026.

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