Comparison

Buddy vs Budget Boost

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

Budget Boost

Manage your money effectively with this personal finance tool. Track expenses, monitor income, and work towards your financial objectives. Features enhanced security with Face ID and Touch ID for privacy.

Highlights
  • Expense tracking
  • Income monitoring
  • Financial goal setting
  • Face ID/Touch ID security
  • Private data handling
Features
Read full description

Take control of your monthly money without linking a bank account. Budget Boost is a clear, calm budgeting app built for real life: track income and expenses, see your surplus, and plan ahead with tools that stay on your device. Your monthly command center Set up income and expense lines in minutes. Watch planned spending against what you actually spend, search your budget, and switch pay periods (monthly, weekly, or biweekly). Savings sub goals and budget profiles help you organize more than one plan on the same device. Breakdown See where your money goes with a simple category breakdown. Understand spending patterns at a glance instead of digging through spreadsheets. Forecast and Financial Vitals Check Financial Vitals for a quick health score on your month. Explore the future timeline to see how your plan plays out over time. Premium unlocks the What If simulator: try trimming a category and preview how much you could save over the next twelve months. Stay private and in control Your data stays on your iPhone or iPad. Optional Face ID or Touch ID can hide amounts until you unlock the app. No ads. No selling your information. No bank login required. Premium when you are ready Start free with core budgeting, vitals, and Forecast. Upgrade once for unlimited expense lines, category templates, rename categories, export to PDF and CSV, email reports, What If plans, and sharing from monthly replay. Try a seven day Premium preview to explore everything before you buy. Helpful extras Home screen widget for surplus and goals. Monthly replay of your progress. Archive and restore past months. A built in guide walks you through every tab. Download Budget Boost and build a budget you can actually stick with. Plan smarter. Save more.

Screenshots

Buddy4 screens
Budget Boost4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Budget Boost at 100% against Buddy's 48%. Budget Boost also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Buddy's advantage is ratings volume (9.6K vs 2) and chart position (#65 vs unranked). On price, update cadence, 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. Buddy sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Budget Boost sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Budget Boost holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Buddy has 9.6K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 48% of Buddy's written reviews are positive against 100% of Budget Boost's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Buddy ships an update every 9 days, Budget Boost fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Buddy versus Budget Boost: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBuddyBudget Boost
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.6K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.6K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#65 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size169 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBuddy Budgeting ABGary Cox

Customer experience

Buddy

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

Budget Boost

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Budget Boost

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
1 purchases

Budget Boost

One-time1
  • Premium Unlock$9.99

Questions

Is Buddy free?
Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Budget Boost free?
Budget Boost is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Buddy or Budget Boost?
Budget Boost is rated higher. Buddy averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9.6K ratings, while Budget Boost averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Buddy or Budget Boost have ads?
Neither Buddy nor Budget Boost shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Buddy or Budget Boost?
Buddy ships an update every 9 days, and Budget Boost fortnightly. Most recently, Buddy was updated on October 30, 2026 and Budget Boost on October 6, 2026.

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