Comparison

Buddy vs Paymaster

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

Paymaster

Take control of your finances with this app. Track expenses and income across multiple currencies, plan budgets, and analyze spending patterns. It offers features like SMS transaction import and payment reminders to help you manage your money effectively.

Highlights
  • Expense and income tracking
  • Budget planning
  • Multi-currency support (170+)
  • Transaction creation from SMS
  • Scheduled payment reminders
  • Graphical reports
  • Configurable categories
Features
Read full description

Do not know where your money goes? Can't save money? Paymaster will help to take finances under control! You will always know how much you have in your wallet, on the credit card and on the bank account. How much do you owe and how much one owes to you. You can: - Maintain accounts and keep notes about your expenses and incomes in 170 currencies. - Plan your budget. - Analyze the structure of expenses and incomes. - Monitor the profitability of your savings in foreign currency. Paymaster will be: - Create transactions from SMS banks send. - Remind to make scheduled payments. - Warn about exceeding budgets. Paymaster has everything you need: - Graphical reports. - Configurable categories of expenses and incomes. - Over 170 currencies. - Transaction creation from SMS banks send. - Budgets. - TAGs. - Transaction splitting. - Backups. - Data protection. Paymaster has a free version (Package TRACK) with some limitations (2 accounts, 10 SMS for parsing per month, charts, budgets and currencies functionality limitations). For basic accounting, it is more than enough (and it’s also ad-free)! If you want to take your finances under full control, analyse expenses and incomes, monitor your savings and exchange rates, then there are two subscription plans without limitations: "Plan SAVE UP" and "Plan MANAGE". Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your App Store account settings after purchase. Here is a link to the Terms of Use: https://paymaster.site/terms-of-use?lang=en

Screenshots

Buddy4 screens
Paymaster4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Buddy at 4.7 against Paymaster's 4.0. Buddy also leads on ratings volume (9.5K vs 4) and update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly). Paymaster's advantage is review sentiment (63% vs 49%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 Paymaster sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Buddy holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Buddy has 9.5K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 49% of Buddy's written reviews are positive against 63% of Paymaster's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Buddy ships an update every 9 days, Paymaster monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Buddy versus Paymaster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBuddyPaymaster
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.5K ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews48.9% of reviews62.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.5K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#67 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size152 MB135 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBuddy Budgeting ABSergey Kolyoskin

Customer experience

Buddy

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

Paymaster

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral16.7%
Negative20.8%

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

Paymaster

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
4 purchases

Paymaster

Subscriptions4
  • "SAVE UP" monthly plan1 Month trial$2.991 Month
  • "MANAGE" monthly plan1 Month trial$5.991 Month
  • "SAVE UP" yearly plan1 Month trial$17.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • "MANAGE" yearly plan1 Month trial$35.991 Year

Questions

Is Buddy free?
Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Paymaster free?
Paymaster is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Buddy or Paymaster?
Buddy is rated higher. Buddy averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9.5K ratings, while Paymaster averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Buddy or Paymaster have ads?
Neither Buddy nor Paymaster shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Buddy or Paymaster?
Buddy ships an update every 9 days, and Paymaster monthly. Most recently, Buddy was updated on September 24, 2026 and Paymaster on September 23, 2026.

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