B&W Budget vs Spendly
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
B&W Budget
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Black & White Budget ā opinionated, monochrome, beautifully simple personal budgeting. Built around one idea: see exactly what's coming in, what's going out, and what's left to spend. No rainbow charts. No category overload. No subscription. THE DESIGN ⢠Strict monochrome ā no green, no red, no opinion-by-colour. Hierarchy comes from typography and weight, the way good print does. ⢠Every interaction respects the same 4pt grid. SF Rounded everywhere. ⢠Private by design ā no login, no account, no telemetry. Your data lives on your device, or in your private iCloud with optional sync (Pro). THE BASICS ⢠Add income and expense in seconds. ⢠Create categories and sub-categories with built-in icons. ⢠Set a monthly spending limit on any category. When you cross it, the app offers a "split" ā push the overage into another category, cascading until everything fits, or choose to go over. RECURRING ⢠Rent, salary, subscriptions ā set them once, let them fire on their schedule. ⢠Upcoming view shows the next 30 days of expected income and expense, with a "balance after" line so you know what's actually free to spend. INSIGHTS ⢠Monochrome donut breaking down spend by category for the focused period. ⢠Trend chart of income vs expense over days, weeks, months, or years. ⢠Plain-English deltas: "$120 less spent than last month." NOTIFICATIONS ⢠Reminders when recurring transactions fire. ⢠"Due tomorrow" reminders before they fire. ⢠Low-balance alert when your total drops below your threshold. SHARING & EXPORT ⢠Export everything to CSV or JSON via the native share sheet. ⢠Home-screen widget shows Capital + this-month flow at a glance. ⢠Long-press the app icon for "Add income" / "Add expense" quick actions. OTHER ⢠Multiple budgets ā Personal, Work, Family ā switch with one tap. ⢠Two app icon variants ā default and inverted. ⢠Replay the walkthrough any time from Settings. Free. No ads. No subscription. A single one-time purchase unlocks Pro ā iCloud sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Spendly
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Spendly: Visual Expense Logs Spendly helps you track every expense with a clean, modern design built for effortless daily use. Get clear insights into your money without the complexity, subscriptions, or privacy worries. ⢠Yearly Spending Heatmap: Track your habits with a GitHub-style daily heatmap for any year. Plus, get an instant annual summary featuring your year total, daily average, and busiest month. ⢠Siri and Shortcuts Integration: Log on the go! Just say, "Hey Siri, log an expense" or ask, "How much did I spend this month?" ⢠Receipt Photos: Snap and attach a photo to any transaction to keep your proof of purchase organized. Stored 100% privately on-device. ⢠CSV Import and Restore: Easily import a previously exported Spendly CSV to back up your data or migrate between devices. ⢠Massive Currency Expansion: Added 40+ new world currencies - including the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) - bringing the total to over 50+ supported currencies! ⢠Streamlined Currency Experience: Features a beautiful new searchable currency picker and an updated first-launch onboarding. Changing your currency in Settings now updates everywhere instantly with no app restart needed. SEE YOUR SPENDING CLEARLY ⢠Visual Month Chips: See exactly how much you spent each month at a glance. ⢠Beautiful Charts: Pie charts and bar graphs reveal exactly where your money goes. ⢠Instant Comparisons: Compare this month vs. last month to spot trends instantly. POWERFUL YET SIMPLE ⢠Quick Logging: Add transactions in seconds with smart categories and icons. ⢠Smart Dashboard: View your Today, This Week, and This Month totals in one place. ⢠Full History: Search, filter, and review your entire transaction history by month. GLOBAL AND FLEXIBLE ⢠50+ World Currencies: Full support for major global currencies with instant, app-wide conversion. ⢠Clean Exports: Export monthly data as a CSV spreadsheet or a clean PDF report for easy budgeting. 100% PRIVATE BY DESIGN ⢠On-Device Storage: Your financial data and receipt photos stay securely on your device. Download Spendly today and take control of your daily spending!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Spendly at none against B&W Budget's 1. B&W Budget's advantage is device support (4 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
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
Both are free to download. B&W Budget sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Spendly asks for nothing beyond the download.
B&W Budget ships an update every 2 days, Spendly every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | B&W Budget | Spendly |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days ā better | Every 3 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No ā better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch ā better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 ā better |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Juan Pierre Lotter | TextWaves Inc |
In-app purchases
B&W Budget
- Black & White Pro$4.99
Spendly
No in-app purchases









