BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger vs PlentyBook
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger
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Your checkbook register, kept the way you have always kept it. Write down what you spend. Tick off what the bank has cleared. Balance to the penny at the end of the month. That is the whole job of a checkbook register, and it is all this app does. THREE PROMISES No ads. Not on the free version, not after you pay, not ever, on any screen. No subscription. One payment and it is yours. Nothing renews. No account and no bank login. There is nothing to sign into, so there is nothing to be signed out of. YOUR REGISTER STAYS ON YOUR PHONE Everything you enter is stored on your own iPhone. It works with no internet connection at all, on a plane or out of signal. Your register is never sent to us and never sold to anyone. A copy leaves your phone only in ways you control. If iCloud Backup is switched on, your register is included in it, so it comes back when you set up a new phone. That copy sits in your own Apple account, not ours, and you turn it on or off in Settings. The app never shows you a permission prompt. It does not ask for your contacts, your location, your photos or your camera. WHAT IT DOES - Multiple accounts: checking, savings, credit, cash, each with its own running balance - Fast entry: date, payee, amount, check number, category, memo. Repeat entries take seconds, and check numbers advance on their own. - A proper register list with a running balance on every single line - Reconcile mode: enter the statement date and ending balance, tick off what cleared, and watch the difference count down to 0.00 - Scheduled and recurring entries: weekly, every two or four weeks, monthly, twice a year or yearly, or on a set weekday, like the second Wednesday of the month. They show up as scheduled and only affect your projected balance until you post them. Nothing is ever posted behind your back. - Transfers between your own accounts, entered once and mirrored on both sides - Search by payee, memo, amount or check number, with filters for what is outstanding, what cleared, and what is scheduled - Categories, both the presets and your own - Totals by category for a month, three months or a year, with the exact figures printed beside the chart. Scheduled bills are not counted until you post them. - Bring your history in from a CSV file, with a column mapper for spreadsheet users - Print or save a PDF of your register or of those category totals, or export a CSV of any account BACKUPS, BECAUSE THAT IS THE PART THAT MATTERS The app backs itself up on its own, every day you open it, and gives you a Restore screen to go back to any copy it has kept. You can also send a copy out of the app, so deleting the app does not reach it. Pick a folder and every copy after that goes there too. If you are signed in to iCloud with iCloud Drive turned on, the app also keeps a BalanceWright folder there by itself, and you can open it in the Files app. If you are not signed in, the Backup screen says so rather than claiming a copy it did not make. Your data is never held hostage. Export and backup keep working whether you have paid or not. TRY THE WHOLE THING FIRST Everything works from the moment you install it. Nothing is crippled, grayed out or hidden to push you into paying. The app asks for payment only after you have closed your first statement, so you decide once you have watched it do the exact thing you came for. If you never reconcile, a generous entry limit applies instead. BIG, PLAIN TYPE Built to be read. Large numbers, strong contrast, plain words, no jargon. WHAT IT WILL NEVER DO No bank connection. No budgets, no spending advice, no AI. No ads, no subscription. If a feature would need your register sent to us, it is not going in. ANSWERED BY A REAL PERSON Every review here is read and answered. The support address on this page reaches someone who can actually fix things. Written for anyone who keeps a check register or a checkbook ledger by hand, and wants the same habit on a phone.
PlentyBook
Manage your finances with a straightforward digital checkbook. Track income and expenses across multiple accounts with a running balance. Customize your experience with optional features and search for specific transactions.
- Multiple, color-coded accounts
- Running balance on every entry
- Optional features like categories and notes
- Searchable transaction history
- Quick audit of spending and income
- Device-based data storage
- Data export and backup
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PlentyBook is a checkbook register, and nothing more than that. Type an amount. Tap Income or Expense. Done — the keypad is always on screen, so adding a line takes about two seconds and never opens a single pop-up. MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS Keep a register for checking, for savings, for the cash in your pocket. Give each one a colour so you always know which book you're in at a glance. Every account is completely separate — no shared budget, no combined pot, no cross-talk. A RUNNING BALANCE ON EVERY LINE See what the balance was after each entry, the way a paper register works. Newest entries sit at the top, where you actually look. SIMPLE BY DEFAULT Out of the box there are three ideas: a starting balance, money in, and money out. Notes are optional. Categories, day grouping, and marking entries as cleared all exist — but every one of them is switched off until you decide you want it. LIGHT, OR NOT Light by default, because most checkbook apps are relentlessly dark. Flip it to Inverted if you prefer, or let it follow your system. FIND ANYTHING Search notes, amounts, or categories. Results show how many matched and what they add up to, so "how much have I spent on coffee" is one search away. QUICK AUDIT Money in, money out, and the net for this month, last month, the last 30 days, this year, or any range you pick. LOCK IT Require Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode to open the app — or to open just one account. Off by default, and free. SYNC, IF YOU WANT IT Switch on iCloud sync and your register follows you to your other devices, through your own iCloud. It is off until you turn it on, it comes with the unlock, and you can turn it back off whenever you like. YOUR DATA IS YOURS No account. No sign-up. No email address. No analytics, no trackers, no ads. PlentyBook has no server, so your register never comes to us. It stays on your device unless you switch on iCloud sync, and then it goes to your own iCloud and your own devices. Sync is off until you turn it on, and you can turn it back off. Export a backup to a plain, readable file whenever you like. That's free, always, whether you buy anything or not. FREE, WITH ONE OPTIONAL PURCHASE PlentyBook is free with one account. A single $9.99 purchase unlocks unlimited accounts and iCloud sync — one payment, no subscription. Built by ASHA Technology LLC.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: PlentyBook at every 5 days against BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger's fortnightly. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and PlentyBook sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger ships an update fortnightly, PlentyBook every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger | PlentyBook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Farrukh Ameen | ASHA TECHNOLOGY LLC |
In-app purchases
BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger
- Checkbook Register, Yours Forever$9.99
PlentyBook
- Leave a tip!$1.99
- Unlimited Accounts$4.99
- Leave a bigger tip!$4.99
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- Leave a very generous tip!$9.99
Questions
Is BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger free?
Is PlentyBook free?
Do BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger or PlentyBook have ads?
Which is updated more often, BalanceWright Checkbook Ledger or PlentyBook?
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