# Buddy vs Budget Hound

Buddy and Budget Hound both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 91% of Budget Hound's written reviews are positive against 49% of Buddy's. Buddy's advantage is ratings volume (9.6K vs 8) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 2 months). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Buddy sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Budget Hound sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Buddy against 4.6 for Budget Hound. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Buddy has 9.6K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 49% of Buddy's written reviews are positive against 91% of Budget Hound's.

Buddy ships an update every 9 days, Budget Hound every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Buddy | Budget Hound |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (9.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/buddy-budget-planner-app/id936422955/reviews)** | [4.6 (8 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/budget-hound-expense-tracker/id1533403452/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **9.6K** | 8 |
| Positive reviews | 48.8% of reviews | **91.1% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 9 days** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#64** | — |
| Size | 173 MB | 34 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 18.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Buddy Budgeting AB](https://appshunter.io/developer/936422954) | [Aleksandr Romanov](https://appshunter.io/developer/737480497) |

## What reviewers say

### Buddy

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/buddy-budget-planner-app/id936422955)

**Currently charting:** #64 Top Grossing · Finance (US App Store)

Manage your finances by creating budgets, tracking expenses, and viewing detailed overviews of your income and savings. Collaborate on shared budgets with friends and family, and easily settle up any shared costs.

**Highlights:** Budget creation and tracking, Expense and income monitoring, Shared budgets for groups, Bank account transaction import, Detailed spending overviews, Transaction splitting and settlement

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Apple Watch app, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Buddy Premium | $4.99 | per month |
| Buddy Premium | $4.99 | per month |
| Premium | $9.99 | per month |
| Buddy Premium | $9.99 | per month |
| Buddy Premium | $16.99 | per year |
| Buddy Premium | $24.99 | per year |
| Buddy Premium | $34.99 | per year |
| Buddy Premium | $34.99 | per year |
| Buddy Premium | $49.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

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

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- Calendar view for transactions
- Bill reminders and due date tracking
- Ability to hide/exclude certain transactions
- Savings/investment tracking
- Multi-currency support


### Budget Hound

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/budget-hound-expense-tracker/id1533403452)

This app helps you manage your personal finances by tracking daily spending and planning budgets. It offers smart estimations, detailed analytics, and custom goal setting to help you understand your habits and save money.

**Highlights:** Daily budget planner, Smart budget estimator, Advanced spending analytics, Effortless expense tracking, Custom spending categories, Financial goal setting

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $5.99 | per month |
| Annual | $24.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- 🎨 Beautiful and attractive design
- ⚡ Simple and lightweight app
- 📊 Clear analytics and expense tracking
- 💰 Effective budget planning tools

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Subscription button inactive/not working
- 🐛 Recent update made app less convenient
- 🐛 Monthly expenses not visible after update
- 🐛 iPad support missing (not full screen)
- 🐛 Date editing issues in new version

**Reported bugs**

- Subscription purchase button inactive despite account funds
- Data not transferring to new phone
- Cannot edit transaction dates
- Cannot add new categories outside food folder
- Plans dropdown menu unresponsive (requires multiple taps)

**Requested features**

- Category-level budget remainder tracking
- Search bar for transactions/categories
- Multi-currency support with auto-conversion
- Shared/family budget functionality
- Automatic bank transaction import


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Buddy free?

Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Budget Hound free?

Budget Hound is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Buddy or Budget Hound?

Buddy is rated higher. Buddy averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9.6K ratings, while Budget Hound averages 4.6 from 8 ratings.

### Do Buddy or Budget Hound have ads?

Neither Buddy nor Budget Hound shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Buddy or Budget Hound?

Buddy ships an update every 9 days, and Budget Hound every 2 months. Most recently, Buddy was updated on November 11, 2026 and Budget Hound on November 7, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*