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. Privacy Policy: https://buddy.download/privacypolicy/ Terms & Conditions: https://buddy.download/terms-and-conditions/

About

Expense Tracker

Effortlessly track your daily expenses using AI-powered voice input or manual entry. The app automatically categorizes and splits your spending with a beautiful, clutter-free interface. Your data is securely stored in your personal iCloud, with no login required.

Highlights
  • AI-powered voice expense entry
  • Automatic expense categorization
  • Manual expense entry
  • Custom category creation
  • Beautiful and simple UI/UX
  • Privacy-friendly iCloud storage
  • No login required
Features
Read full description

Introducing MonAi, the app that revolutionizes how you track your daily expenses. With a fun, easy, and beautiful interface, MonAi simplifies expense tracking like never before. No more time-consuming data entry. Enter your expenses just like a voice message and MonAi will automatically split and categorize it for you. No login required, all saved securely in your personal iCloud. EFFORTLESS EXPENSE TRACKING Experience the future of expense tracking with MonAi's seamless voice input feature. Effortlessly capture your expenses by simply speaking them out loud. MonAi's robust AI algorithms intelligently categorize and divide your expenses without any manual effort on your part. Don't worry if voice input isn't your preference—MonAi offers versatile options. Enter expenses manually and still benefit from the app's intelligent categorization. Alternatively, drag and drop a category onto the input field to define your own custom category. MonAi adapts to your needs, making expense tracking quick, fun, and tailored to your style. BEAUTIFUL UI/UX DESIGN Enjoy a delightful and user-friendly interface, carefully designed to elevate your expense tracking experience. Embracing simplicity and elegance, MonAi's user-friendly design ensures that you can focus on what matters—your finances. Unlike overwhelming apps with unnecessary features, MonAi strips away the clutter, presenting you with a streamlined and intuitive interface that makes tracking expenses a pleasure. PRIVACY-FRIENDLY AND SECURE Rest assured knowing that your expense data is stored securely in your own personal iCloud. MonAi values your privacy and does not require any login credentials and doesn't have access to any of your data. Download MonAi now and discover a seamless and efficient way to track your expenses. Take control of your finances and experience the convenience of MonAi. Get to know the app and all of it’s features first with a free trial before you can choose between a monthly or yearly subscription. The subscription will automatically renew at the end of the period, for the same price. You can turn off the auto-renewal at any time up until 24-hours before the end of the subscription period in your Account Settings. When you cancel the auto-renewal, access to the "Pro features" will not expire immediately, you will have access until the end of the current payment period. Read more about it in the terms of service: https://www.get-monai.app/terms

Screenshots

Buddy4 screens
Expense Tracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

Buddy and Expense Tracker both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 83% of Expense Tracker's written reviews are positive against 48% of Buddy's. Buddy's advantage is ratings volume (9.6K vs 888) and chart position (#82 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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 17 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Buddy against 4.8 for Expense Tracker. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Buddy has 9.6K ratings behind it against 888, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 48% of Buddy's written reviews are positive against 83% of Expense Tracker's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Buddy ships an update every 9 days, Expense Tracker every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Buddy versus Expense Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBuddyExpense Tracker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.6K ratings)4.8 (888 ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.5% of reviews82.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.6K — better888
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#82 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size169 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBuddy Budgeting ABFlorian Vates

Customer experience

Buddy

All ratings9,567 ratings
Positive92.8%
Neutral3.0%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews889 reviews
Positive48.5%
Neutral11.9%
Negative39.6%

Expense Tracker

All ratings886 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral1.7%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews149 reviews
Positive82.6%
Neutral6.0%
Negative11.4%

User reviews

Buddy

From 9.6K 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 888 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Dictate transactions, no need to enter individually
  • 🚀 Simple and easy to use
  • 👍 Shared account for couples
  • 👍 Practical, solves the problem of writing down expenses
  • 👍 Intuitive and effective

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Doesn't register all transactions, especially Apple Pay
  • 🔒 Requires payment to use, no free trial
  • 🔒 Stops working on alternative devices after paying
  • 🔒 Limited features in free version
  • 🐛 Voice input sometimes gets stuck or has errors

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

3 issues
  • Doesn't register all bank transactions
  • Incompatible with some devices or iOS versions
  • Sharing large lists doesn't work

Requested features

6 requests
  • Weekly/daily expense view
  • Separate savings category
  • Ability to add past expenses
  • Multi-currency support
  • Improved reporting and analytics
Show 1 more
  • Dark mode option

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
17 purchases

Expense Tracker

Subscriptions17
  • Student Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Basic monthly intro7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Advanced$2.991 Month
Show 14 more
  • Family month intro7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Basic monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Family$3.991 Month
  • Student Monthly7 Days trial$4.491 Month
  • Family month7 Days trial$5.491 Month
  • Monthly7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Student Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Basic yearly intro7 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Advanced$24.991 Year
  • Basic yearly7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Family yearly intro7 Days trial$34.991 Year
  • Family$34.991 Year
  • Family yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Yearly7 Days trial$71.991 Year

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 9.6K ratings, while Expense Tracker averages 4.8 from 888 ratings.
Do Buddy or Expense Tracker have ads?
Neither Buddy nor Expense Tracker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Buddy or Expense Tracker?
Buddy ships an update every 9 days, and Expense Tracker every 2 weeks. Most recently, Buddy was updated on October 28, 2026 and Expense Tracker on October 27, 2026.

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