Buddy vs SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Create personal budgets
- Shared budgeting for couples/groups
- Connect bank accounts for transaction import
- Detailed spending and income overview
- Expense splitting and settlement tracking
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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/
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.
- Voice-activated transaction logging
- Manual transaction entry
- Budget creation and tracking
- Recurring transaction management
- Spending analytics
- Customizable alerts
- No bank connections
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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, snap a receipt, or ask your own money assistant, then see exactly where it all goes. Nothing to connect and no permissions to grant, so you are tracking in under a minute. A calm, focused expense tracker you will actually open every day. 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. Speech is transcribed on your iPhone, so audio never leaves the device. • Snap a receipt Point your camera at any receipt. AI reads the merchant, total, and date, turns it into a ready-to-save entry, and you confirm in a tap. No manual typing. • Just say "Hey Pocket" Your hands-free assistant. Say "Hey Pocket" to log a purchase, jump to a screen, or ask about your money, all without touching the keyboard. • Ask Pocket anything Chat with a money assistant that actually knows your budget. "Can I afford dinner out?" "How is my grocery budget doing?" Pocket answers in plain language using your real numbers. • Budgets that update live Set a budget for each category and watch the progress move as you spend. Clear alerts show where you stand, with no end-of-month surprises. A budget planner that works the way you actually spend. • Budgets that reset on your payday Your paycheck doesn't reset on the 1st, so your budget shouldn't either. Pick when your cycle starts and budgets reset when money actually arrives. • Share it with your partner Budget together in one shared space. Invite your partner by email and you both see the same transactions and budgets, kept in sync. One subscription covers you both. • See where your money goes Every budget shows spending against its limit, so you can spot where it's going at a glance and know what's left before you overspend. • Prefer to type? Paste a whole list Add one expense fast, or paste a batch of transactions and save them all at once. • Alerts you control Get notified when a budget is running low or goes over. Set your own thresholds or turn alerts off entirely. PERFECT FOR Couples who want to budget together, anyone who tried a bank-syncing budget app and quit, spreadsheet trackers who want something faster, and anyone who just wants to know where their money goes without handing over bank passwords. 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
Verdict
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 update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). 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
Both are free to download. Buddy sells 11 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.
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.
Buddy ships an update every 9 days, SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Buddy | SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (9.6K ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 49.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 9.6K — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #66 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 169 MB | 63 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Buddy Budgeting AB | Otis Kelley |
Customer experience
Buddy
SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker
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 moreShow fewer
- 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
Buddy
- Buddy Premium7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Buddy Premium$4.991 Month
- Premium$9.991 Month
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- 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
- Unlimited$49.99
SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker
- Monthly3 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Yearly3 Days trial$14.991 Year
- Lifetime Access$4.99
Questions
Is Buddy free?
Is SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker free?
Which has better reviews, Buddy or SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker?
Do Buddy or SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker have ads?
Which is updated more often, Buddy or SimplifyPocket Expense Tracker?
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