Comparison

DeskLedger vs Sidetally

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

Head to head
About

DeskLedger

This app simplifies bookkeeping for freelancers and solo business owners. It tracks income and expenses, provides a real-time tax picture, and helps manage invoices and client payments. An optional subscription offers advanced features like receipt scanning and unlimited clients.

Highlights
  • Real-time profit margin dashboard
  • Cash-basis tax estimation
  • Invoice creation and tracking
  • Client payment history and reminders
  • Expense sorting and categorization
  • Receipt scanning (Pro feature)
Features
Read full description

DeskLedger is bookkeeping for people who never wanted to be bookkeepers. If QuickBooks feels like it was built for a company with staff, this is the opposite: a focused ledger for freelancers, Etsy sellers and solo owners who just need to know who owes them money and how much of it is really theirs. SEE WHERE YOU ACTUALLY STAND The dashboard tilts a balance scale by your real profit margin for the period, with income, expenses and the change since last month — no setup, no chart of accounts. KNOW WHAT YOU OWE BEFORE TAX SEASON Every transaction you file feeds a live cash-basis tax picture: year-to-date net profit, an estimated self-employment tax figure, your own set-aside target, and a countdown to the next quarterly deadline. FILE A MONTH OF EXPENSES IN ONE SITTING Anything uncategorized lands in the Sort Deck — one tap files each entry under a tax-form-aligned category. INVOICES THAT CLOSE THE LOOP Build an invoice with line items, tax and terms, share it as text, and track draft to sent to paid. Marking one paid books the income for you, so revenue is never double counted. The aging strip shows exactly where money is stuck. YOUR CLIENT BOOK, WITH MEMORY Each client shows twelve-month revenue, their share of your income, what's unpaid, and how many days they typically take to pay — plus a nudge when one has gone quiet. DESKLEDGER PRO (optional subscription) - Unlimited clients and projects - Receipt scanning that reads the text and keeps only the text — the photo is never stored - Drafted payment reminders and client check-ins - The subscription radar for recurring charges - The CSV accountant pack, ready for tax season Pro is $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, after a 14-day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation. The subscription auto-renews at the same price unless canceled at least 24 hours before the current period ends; manage or cancel it any time in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you subscribe. Your books stay yours: your data is private to your account, you can export it, and you can delete your account and everything in it from inside the app. DeskLedger provides general bookkeeping tools and estimates. It is not tax, legal or financial advice — check anything important with a qualified professional. Privacy Policy: https://preview.apppublishing.ai/legal/239/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://preview.apppublishing.ai/legal/239/terms

About

Sidetally

Track your side income, analyze your earning methods, and set financial goals. This app helps you understand your effective hourly rate and progress towards your savings targets. It also offers a playbook of real-world side hustle ideas.

Highlights
  • Log earnings with method, time, and date
  • Calculate effective hourly rate per method
  • Set and track progress towards financial goals
  • Momentum score based on activity
  • Earning playbook with side hustle ideas
  • AI Earning Coach (Pro feature)
Features
Read full description

Sidetally is a personal tracker for the money you earn on the side. It does not pay you and never holds your money — you earn out in the world, and Sidetally helps you see what it adds up to. LOG WHAT YOU EARN Record an amount, the method, the time it took and the date. Your ledger is yours, and a plain-text export means it never gets trapped. SEE WHICH METHODS ACTUALLY PAY Sidetally works out your effective hourly rate — amount divided by time — so the method that looks busiest and the method that pays best stop being confused for each other. SET A GOAL AND WATCH IT CLOSE Save for a bill, a purchase or a cause you care about. Each goal shows real progress, a pace pointer and an honest projection based only on what you have logged. YOUR MOMENTUM SCORE A single 0-100 reading built from your own consistency, goal pace, hourly-rate trend, streak and how widely you have spread your effort. It reflects your logged activity — it is not a financial rating. THE EARNING PLAYBOOK A curated reference of real ways people earn on the side, with typical pay ranges from public sources, the effort involved, how to start, and the scam-hygiene warnings that matter. Free, always. SIDETALLY PRO (optional subscription) Unlimited goals, the per-method board, best-time and diversification analysis, pace projections, the weekly digest, your full history, and the AI Earning Coach that plans a goal into a weekly mix. - Monthly or annual, with a 7-day free trial - Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation; auto-renews unless canceled at least 24 hours before the current period ends; manage or cancel anytime in your App Store settings Sidetally is a planning and tracking aid, not financial advice, and never a promise or forecast of income. Typical pay ranges are drawn from public sources and are not a guarantee of what you will earn. Privacy Policy: https://preview.apppublishing.ai/legal/411/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://preview.apppublishing.ai/legal/411/terms

Screenshots

DeskLedger4 screens
Sidetally4 screens

Verdict

The call

DeskLedger and Sidetally are too close to call on the numbers: across 9 compared parameters — price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. DeskLedger sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Sidetally sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for DeskLedger against 5.0 for Sidetally. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
DeskLedger versus Sidetally: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDeskLedgerSidetally
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3 — better2
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Women's Career Transformation Network LLCDG70X, LLC

Customer experience

DeskLedger

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Sidetally

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

DeskLedger

Subscriptions2
  • DeskLedger Pro Monthly14 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • DeskLedger Pro Annual14 Days trial$99.991 Year
2 purchases

Sidetally

Subscriptions2
  • Sidetally Pro Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Sidetally Pro Annual7 Days trial$27.991 Year

Questions

Is DeskLedger free?
DeskLedger is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sidetally free?
Sidetally is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, DeskLedger or Sidetally?
DeskLedger and Sidetally are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do DeskLedger or Sidetally have ads?
Neither DeskLedger nor Sidetally shows ads.

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