Comparison

Buddy vs Expense Tracker

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

Head to head
About

Buddy

This app helps you create and manage personal or shared budgets. Track expenses, connect your bank account for automatic transaction import, and gain a clear overview of your spending, income, and savings. It also features tools to split costs and settle up with others.

Highlights
  • Create personal budgets
  • Shared budgeting for couples/groups
  • Connect bank accounts for transaction import
  • Detailed spending and income overview
  • Expense splitting and settlement tracking
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Buddy helps you set up a budget and keep track of your expenses, either by yourself or together with your loved ones. Here’s what is waiting for you inside: BUDGETS Buddy will help you not to overspend on your well-earned salary by setting up a budget plan that fits you. Do you want a shared budget with your partner? Or keep the expenses between you and your mates fair on the vacation? No problem, just invite them and get a clear picture of who spent what. CONNECT YOUR BANK Import all transactions from your bank account into Buddy and see how your budget is doing. OVERVIEW We'll give you a beautiful & detailed overview of your spendings, income, and savings. SPLIT Split lets you know who paid what, and how to settle up. And much more for you to find. Take control of your finance today! Buddy offers a $9.99 monthly renewing and a $49.99 yearly renewing subscription to unlock Premium functionality. The purchase will be charged from your iTunes account if you choose to buy the Buddy Premium subscription. You can manage or cancel your subscription through the user settings in iTunes after the purchase. The subscription period ends with the same kind of subscription you already bought to the same price unless you turn off your subscription 24 hours before it renews. It is not possible to cancel your current subscription during the time your subscription is active. Terms & Conditions: http://www.nattkod.tech/privacy_policy_terms_conditions

About

Expense Tracker

This app offers a straightforward way to track your income and expenses without requiring account registration or bank connections. It prioritizes local data storage for speed and security, with a familiar interface for instant budgeting. Customize themes, export data, and secure your finances with a passcode.

Highlights
  • Simple and easy to use
  • No account registration
  • Local data storage
  • Budget settings by category
  • Monthly, yearly, and cumulative reports
  • CSV and PDF export
  • Passcode lock with Face ID/Touch ID
Features
Read full description

Simple & Free Budget Tracker A simple budgeting app to track income and expenses with ease. No account registration, no bank connections, and no subscriptions. All data is stored locally for fast, secure, offline use. Designed with a familiar iOS interface, This app lets anyone start budgeting instantly. FEATURES ---------------- • Extremely simple and easy to use • No account registration required • Free to use forever (no hidden charges later) • Built-in calendar for easy tracking • Budget settings by category • Monthly, yearly, and cumulative reports • Unlimited custom categories • Unlimited fixed income and expense settings • 20+ theme colors and 20+ app icons • CSV (Excel) export, PDF export, and printing • Passcode lock with Face ID and Touch ID • iCloud backup and iPad sync • 15+ Home Screen widgets • Lock Screen widgets supported Everything you need for daily expense management, completely free. RECOMMENDED FOR ---------------- • People who don’t want a complicated budgeting app • Users who feel uneasy linking bank accounts or credit cards • Those who dislike apps that constantly connect to the internet • Anyone who wants to record expenses simply and quickly • Users who gave up on receipt scanning apps • People who just want easy input • Anyone who doesn’t want monthly subscription fees This app stores all data locally, so it’s fast, secure, and works offline. Unlike many other apps, there are no monthly subscriptions, and useful features remain free. FEATURE DETAILS ---------------- [ Input ] Tap large, easy-to-press category buttons and enter amounts quickly. The built-in calculator keyboard makes input fast and comfortable. An automatic input mode allows you to enter multiple receipts continuously. [ Calendar ] Check daily income and expenses at a glance on the calendar. Customize the start day of the week and monthly start or closing dates, making it easy to begin tracking from your payday. Add or delete entries directly from the calendar for easy bulk input. Savings and initial balances can be set to display carry-overs and cumulative totals. [ Reports ] Monthly income and expenses are displayed in clear pie charts. View spending ratios by category to easily spot overspending or hidden waste. [ Backup / CSV / PDF Export ] All data can be exported as CSV (Excel-compatible) files. Use exported files as backups and import them when changing devices, including iPhone and iPad. CSV data can also be used on a computer for accounting or tax filing. Monthly data can be exported as PDF files for archiving or printing. [ Theme Colors & App Icons ] Customize the app with over 20 theme colors, from cute pinks to chic dark blues. Change the app icon to match your style, choosing from more than 20 designs. [ Passcode Lock ] Protect your financial data with a passcode. Face ID and Touch ID are fully supported. [ Widgets ] Supports both Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets. Check remaining budgets by category without opening the app. See how much you can still spend this month. Display a mini calendar showing recorded days. Add new entries directly from the Lock Screen with a single tap. ABOUT THE APP ---------------- This is a simple and free budgeting app with no subscriptions. Just record your income and expenses, and the app automatically organizes them into clear calendars and reports, helping you understand your finances at a glance. Unlike overly complex apps that rely on bank syncing or receipt scanning, This app focuses on essential features only, designed to be fast, clear, and easy for anyone to use. 【Terms of Service】 https://komorebi-studio.com/tos_en.html 【Privacy Policy】 https://komorebi-studio.com/policyredirect.html

Screenshots

Buddy4 screens
Expense Tracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Expense Tracker at 90% against Buddy's 49%. Expense Tracker also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Buddy's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Buddy sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Expense Tracker sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Expense Tracker holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9.5K and 3K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of Buddy's written reviews are positive against 90% of Expense Tracker's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Buddy ships an update every 9 days, Expense Tracker every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Buddy versus Expense Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBuddyExpense Tracker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.5K ratings)4.9 (3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.9% of reviews89.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.5K — better3K
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#72 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size152 MB110 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBuddy Budgeting ABKomorebi Inc.

Customer experience

Buddy

All ratings9,455 ratings
Positive92.8%
Neutral3.0%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews857 reviews
Positive48.9%
Neutral12.0%
Negative39.1%

Expense Tracker

All ratings2,996 ratings
Positive98.1%
Neutral1.6%
Negative0.3%
Written reviews551 reviews
Positive89.8%
Neutral4.9%
Negative5.3%

User reviews

Buddy

From 9.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 Visually appealing
  • 💡 Customizable categories
  • 🚀 Intuitive interface
  • 👍 Helps with budgeting

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Recurring transactions not working properly
  • 🐛 Balance not carrying over to next month
  • 🐛 Syncing issues between devices
  • 🐛 Transactions disappearing or resetting
  • 💸 Expensive subscription

Expense Tracker

From 3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use and understand
  • 🎨 Customizable interface with icons and colors
  • 📊 Clear visual representation of expenses and income
  • 🔍 Detailed expense tracking and categorization
  • 🗓️ Convenient calendar view for daily expenses

Room to improve

  • 🗓️ No option to lock or protect past months' data
  • 💳 Lacks support for tracking credit card payments
  • 🔍 Search function could be improved
  • 💱 Limited currency options

Bugs and requests

Buddy

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Recurring transactions not working as expected
  • Balance not carrying over to next month
  • Syncing issues between devices
  • Transactions disappearing or resetting
  • Inability to edit categories without creating new ones

Requested features

8 requests
  • Calendar view for transactions
  • Bill reminders and due date tracking
  • Ability to hide/exclude certain transactions
  • Savings/investment tracking
  • Multi-currency support
Show 3 more
  • Ability to reorder categories
  • Weekly budget view
  • Ability to split transactions

Expense Tracker

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Data loss after uninstalling and reinstalling the app
  • Issues with date synchronization after updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to set budgets for expense categories
  • Option to mark expenses as 'paid'
  • Sync data across multiple devices
  • More detailed reporting and analytics
  • Support for multiple accounts/wallets

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Buddy

Subscriptions10
  • Buddy Premium7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Buddy Premium$4.991 Month
  • Premium$9.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • Buddy Premium$9.991 Month
  • Buddy Premium7 Days trial$16.991 Year
  • Buddy Premium7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Buddy Premium7 Days trial$34.991 Year
  • Buddy Premium1 Year trial$34.991 Year
  • Buddy Premium7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Buddy Premium7 Days trial2 variants$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Unlimited$49.99
2 purchases

Expense Tracker

One-time2
  • Removing Ads$12.99
  • Premium Service (Lifetime)$14.99

Questions

Is Buddy free?
Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Expense Tracker free?
Expense Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Buddy or Expense Tracker?
Expense Tracker is rated higher. Buddy averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9.5K ratings, while Expense Tracker averages 4.9 from 3K ratings.
Do Buddy or Expense Tracker have ads?
Expense Tracker shows ads; Buddy does not.
Which is updated more often, Buddy or Expense Tracker?
Buddy ships an update every 9 days, and Expense Tracker every 3 weeks. Most recently, Buddy was updated on September 24, 2026 and Expense Tracker on September 22, 2026.

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