Comparison

Buddy vs SimplifyPocket 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

Manage your money effectively by creating budgets and tracking expenses. Share budgets with loved ones for joint financial planning and easily settle shared costs. Connect your bank account for automatic transaction import and gain a clear overview of your financial health.

Highlights
  • Budget creation and tracking
  • Shared budgets with partners and friends
  • Bank account connection for transaction import
  • Detailed spending and income overview
  • Transaction splitting and settlement
  • Customizable budget plans
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

SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker

Track your personal finances without connecting to your bank. Log expenses via voice or tap, set custom budgets, and monitor recurring bills. Gain clear insights into your spending habits with detailed analytics and smart alerts.

Highlights
  • Voice-activated transaction logging
  • Manual transaction entry
  • Budget creation and tracking
  • Recurring transaction management
  • Spending analytics
  • Customizable alerts
  • No bank connections
Features
Read full description

Add an expense just by saying it out loud. No bank logins, no spreadsheet. SimplifyPocket is a personal finance tracker and budget app that keeps money simple: log spending by voice, scan a receipt or bill, or ask your own money assistant, then see exactly what's left to spend. Bills and paychecks add themselves, and savings goals keep money set aside. Nothing to connect, so you are tracking in under a minute. WHAT YOU CAN DO • Add expenses by voice Hold the mic and say what you spent. "Twenty on lunch, fifteen on parking." SimplifyPocket fills in the amount, merchant, category, and date, then you review and save. Add a note the same way: "45 at the flower shop, note: mom's birthday." Speech is transcribed on your iPhone, so audio never leaves the device. • Scan anything Snap a receipt, a bill, or a bank screenshot, or pick a PDF. Pocket works out what it is: a receipt becomes an expense, a bill becomes an upcoming payment, and a bank screenshot becomes a list of transactions. Anything you already logged is skipped, and documents are read once and never stored. • Bills and paychecks that add themselves Set rent, subscriptions, or a paycheck to repeat weekly, every 2 weeks, monthly, or yearly, or schedule a one-off. It's added on the day, and you get a notification you can undo or edit. Turn on bill reminders to get a heads-up before each bill. • Savings goals Make a goal, then say "put 50 toward Japan" or add a set amount every month. Money in a goal comes out of Left to spend, so it doesn't get spent by accident. When you use it, pay with goal money. • Know what's left to spend Left to spend starts from what you earn and subtracts your expenses, including bills that are still coming. Tap the number to see the math. • A widget on your Home Screen See what's left to spend without opening the app, in small, medium, and large sizes. On the medium and large widgets, tap Say it to log by voice. • Ask Siri Say "Hey Siri, log a purchase in SimplifyPocket", ask how much you have left, check a budget, or add money to a goal, all without opening the app. • Ask Pocket anything Chat with a money assistant that actually knows your budget. "Can I afford dinner out?" "Where did my money go this month?" Pocket answers in plain language, with charts and a monthly report built from your real numbers. • Just say "Hey Pocket" Turn it on in Settings, and while the app is open just say "Hey Pocket" to log a purchase, jump to a screen, or ask about your money. • Budgets that update live Set a budget for each category and watch the progress move as you spend, with alerts before you go over. A budget planner that works the way you actually spend. • Start your budget month on payday Your paycheck doesn't arrive on the 1st, so your budget month doesn't have to start then either. Pick the day it starts. • Share it with your partner Budget together in one shared space. Invite your partner by email and you both see the same transactions, bills, goals, and budgets, kept in sync. One subscription covers you both. • Catch up in one go Add several expenses at once, each with its own date, or write them out like "coffee 4.50 this morning, lunch 18 yesterday" and Pocket finds each one. • Speak and chat in your language Voice entry, scanning, and Pocket work in English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese. PERFECT FOR Couples who budget together, anyone who quit a bank-syncing budget app, and spreadsheet trackers who want something faster. PRIVACY YOU CAN VERIFY • No bank connections. Ever. You enter what you want to track. • No ads. No tracking across apps. • Audio from voice entry stays on your iPhone. Only the transcript reaches our backend. • Delete your account in the app any time. Privacy Policy: https://simplifypocket.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://simplifypocket.com/terms Support: support@simplifypocket.com

Screenshots

Buddy4 screens
SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker at 100% against Buddy's 49%. SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Buddy's advantage is ratings volume (9.6K vs 5) and chart position (#86 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 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker sells 3 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

SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker 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 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of Buddy's written reviews are positive against 100% of SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Buddy ships an update every 9 days, SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Buddy versus SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBuddySimplifyPocket Expense Tracker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (9.6K ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.6K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#86 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size159 MB68 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperBuddy Budgeting ABOtis Kelley

Customer experience

Buddy

All ratings9,638 ratings
Positive92.8%
Neutral2.9%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews899 reviews
Positive48.8%
Neutral11.8%
Negative39.4%

SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 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

SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Buddy

Subscriptions9
  • Buddy Premium7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Buddy Premium$4.991 Month
  • Premium$9.991 Month
Show 6 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 trial2 variants$49.991 Year
3 purchases

SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$4.99

Questions

Is Buddy free?
Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker free?
SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Buddy or SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker?
SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker is rated higher. Buddy averages 4.7 out of 5 from 9.6K ratings, while SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Buddy or SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker have ads?
Neither Buddy nor SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Buddy or SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker?
Buddy ships an update every 9 days, and SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker every 2 weeks. Most recently, Buddy was updated on November 13, 2026 and SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker on November 5, 2026.

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