Comparison

Trace vs Cashews

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

Head to head
About

Trace

This app helps you manage your daily spending to achieve monthly financial goals. It offers a simple way to create budgets, track expenses, and understand your available spending money each day. Focus on today's habits to build effective personal finance.

Highlights
  • Daily spending tracking
  • Monthly financial goal setting
  • Simple budget creation
  • Expense and income tracking
  • Automatic transaction clearing
Features
Read full description

Trace helps you understand your money—not manage a budget. Instead of asking you to categorize every purchase or stay within spending limits, Trace automatically analyzes your financial activity and reveals the story behind your money. Securely connect your accounts to see income, spending, balances, recurring payments, and financial trends in one beautifully designed experience. Every transaction includes context, every trend has a comparison, and every month tells a clearer story. Built for professionals who value precision over spreadsheets and insights over notifications, Trace surfaces the information that actually matters. Features Financial Intelligence See where your money is going without creating budgets Compare spending month-over-month Understand what changed and why Identify meaningful financial trends automatically Complete Account Overview View all connected accounts in one place Monitor balances across institutions Track cash flow over time Secure bank connectivity powered by Plaid Transaction Transparency Rich transaction details on every purchase Merchant information and categorized spending Compare transactions against previous periods Instantly understand spending patterns Recurring Income & Expenses Automatically detect subscriptions and recurring payments Track recurring income Monitor upcoming financial commitments Spot changes in recurring charges Smart Notifications Stay informed about important account activity Receive meaningful financial insights—not noise Get notified when spending trends shift Surface unusual changes automatically Designed for Clarity Trace isn't about telling you to spend less. It's about giving you complete visibility into your finances so every dollar has context. Know where your money went. Understand what's changing. Make decisions with confidence. Please see below for our user agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Cashews

This app analyzes your income and expenses to tell you how much you can safely spend. It offers a unique approach to budgeting by focusing on your current financial health rather than rigid categories. Make informed decisions with a 'Can I afford it?' widget and achieve your financial goals.

Highlights
  • Connect to bank accounts
  • Analyze income and expenses
  • Predictive cash flow algorithm
  • Spendable money calculation
  • Financial goal setting
  • 'Can I afford it?' widget
  • Automated account syncing
Features
Read full description

What did you spend this month? Cashews answers that in 10 seconds. Connect your bank accounts and credit cards, and Cashews shows you one number: Spent So Far. It's the simplest way to stay on top of your money, whether you budget or not. WHAT MAKES CASHEWS DIFFERENT Most finance apps make tracking your spending feel like homework. Cashews takes a different approach. Connect your accounts, see what you've spent, categorize with a swipe. Need, Want, or Other. Done. You get the clarity of knowing where your money goes without the effort of maintaining a traditional budget. And if you want more detail, custom categories let you go deeper. IT PAYS FOR ITSELF Cashews automatically detects every recurring charge across all your accounts. Subscriptions you forgot about, bills you didn't realize were still running, annual renewals you missed. Most people find more in forgotten charges than Cashews costs. HOW IT WORKS 1. Connect your banks and credit cards (12,500+ US institutions supported). 2. See your Spent So Far number, updated daily across all accounts. 3. Swipe to categorize your transactions in seconds. 4. See every recurring charge, cashflow trend, and credit card balance in Insights. HOUSEHOLD SHARING (NEW) Your partner's credit cards, your checking account, that joint savings. Now everyone sees the same number. Invite your financial plus one and get a complete picture of your household's spending. One price covers everyone. KEY FEATURES - Spent So Far: one number, all accounts, updated daily - Household Sharing: invite your partner or family - Simple categorization: Need, Want, Other (or custom categories) - Recurring charge detection with payment reminders - "Can I Afford It?" spending confidence check - Credit card utilization tracking - Cashflow trends: month over month, year over year - Smart notifications: unusual activity, upcoming bills, missed payments - 12,500+ US banks and credit cards supported - Bank-level encryption via Plaid. Read-only access. We never see your login. PRICING $3.99/month or $39.99/year for your whole family. Most people find more than that in forgotten charges. No ads, no hidden fees, no selling your data. Cancel anytime. Cashews uses Plaid (https://plaid.com) to securely connect to your financial institutions. We have read-only access to your accounts. Check if your bank is supported at https://plaid.com/institutions. Currently supports US banks and credit cards only. SUPPORT Questions or feedback? Reach us anytime at support@cashews.finance. Learn more: https://cashews.finance Terms of Service: https://cashews.finance/terms-and-conditions Privacy Policy: https://cashews.finance/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Trace4 screens
Cashews4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Trace at free with in-app purchases against Cashews's subscription. Trace also leads on review sentiment (83% vs 50%). Cashews's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 8 days) and ratings volume (70 vs 18). On price, rating, 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. Trace sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month and Cashews sells 9 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 — 4.4 for Trace against 4.5 for Cashews. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 18 and 70 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of Trace's written reviews are positive against 50% of Cashews's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Trace ships an update every 8 days, Cashews every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Trace versus Cashews: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTraceCashews
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (18 ratings)4.5 (70 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1870 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStackchief LLCCashews Finance LLC

Customer experience

Trace

All ratings18 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral5.6%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral5.6%
Negative11.1%

Cashews

All ratings70 ratings
Positive87.1%
Neutral5.7%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative40.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Trace

Subscriptions1
  • Daily Budget Pro7 Days trial$4.991 Month
9 purchases

Cashews

Subscriptions9
  • Cashews Finance Monthly14 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Monthly3 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Monthly7 Days trial$8.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Quarterly$13.493 Months
  • Quarterly14 Days trial$19.993 Months
  • Cashews Finance Annual14 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Yearly3 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Yearly14 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Yearly1 Year trial4 variants$69.991 Year

Questions

Is Trace free?
Trace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cashews free?
Cashews is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Trace or Cashews?
Cashews is rated higher. Trace averages 4.4 out of 5 from 18 ratings, while Cashews averages 4.5 from 70 ratings.
Do Trace or Cashews have ads?
Neither Trace nor Cashews shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Trace or Cashews?
Trace ships an update every 8 days, and Cashews every 3 days. Most recently, Trace was updated on September 17, 2026 and Cashews on October 14, 2026.

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