Buddy vs Keep the Diff
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/
Keep the Diff
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Keep the Diff gives you credit for money you decided not to spend. You talk yourself out of things all the time, and nothing keeps a record of those choices, so they never feel like progress. Keep the Diff keeps that record. PLANNED SPEND MINUS ACTUAL SPEND EQUALS THE DIFF It comes down to two numbers: 1. What you were ready to spend. The dinner you nearly ordered, the jacket in the tab you closed. 2. What you actually spent. Often nothing. There is a "Didn't buy" button for the common case. The difference is yours. It adds up by week, by month, and toward whatever you are saving for. PLAN IT BEFORE YOU SPEND IT Plan a spend is the other way round: put in what you are ready to spend on something coming up, pick later today, tomorrow morning or in three days, and get on with your evening. When that time comes the app asks what you actually spent, and the Diff is the gap. Until then, a countdown on Home and on the Lock Screen shows when the question is coming. One switch in Settings turns the countdown off. Planning and answering are part of Classic. YOU DECIDE WHAT COUNTS There is no budget to keep and no challenge to pass. Keep the Diff never tells you what to spend, never links your bank account, and never shows you a red number. NOT SURE YET Not sure about a purchase? Add the item and its price to the Not sure yet list, and pick when to be asked again: tomorrow, in a few days, or in a month. When the time comes, skip the purchase and the Diff is yours, or buy the item with nothing lost. Classic keeps one item at a time; Plus keeps as many as you like. THE 52 WEEK CHALLENGE Make a goal a 52 week savings challenge. Pick the weekly step and whether to start small or start big, and the goal card shows how you are doing against the plan each week. Falling behind never resets anything. YOUR YEAR IN REVIEW Each December and January, a card sums up your year: the total you kept, how many Diffs, your biggest skip, and the goals you reached, with your goal photo. Share the card if you like. Part of Classic. WHAT CLASSIC INCLUDES Logging decisions is part of Classic. So is this week's total, your recent history, and the weekly recap you can share. So is choosing the currency you think in, fifteen of them, each in its own format. Your milestones are marked as you reach them, and you can share one. WHAT PREMIUM ADDS - Your full history, with CSV export - Categories and breakdowns - Goals, with a photo of the thing you are saving for, and a projected pace toward each one - Recurring Diffs, so a canceled subscription counts every month, for up to a year - Sync across every device you sign in on - Widgets, including one for each goal and a large widget, Lock Screen entry, and the watch app - The Mac app - App Lock: Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode in front of your numbers NOW IN 21 LANGUAGES Keep the Diff speaks your language. YOUR MONEY STAYS YOURS TO KNOW ABOUT Keep the Diff does not connect to your bank. You never link an account, hand over a bank password, or share a transaction feed. An account is optional, and logging never needs one. If you sign in and turn on sync, your ledger is encrypted on your device before it leaves, so we never see anything you write down. No analytics, no tracking. PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION Keep the Diff Plus is $33.99 per year or $6.99 per month. New installs also get 3 days of Plus to try first. Plus Lifetime is a one-time purchase of $91.99. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage the subscription, or turn off auto-renew, in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Privacy policy: https://keepthediff.com/privacy Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is chart position: Buddy at #75 against Keep the Diff's 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
Both are free to download. Buddy sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Keep the Diff sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Buddy ships an update every 9 days, Keep the Diff every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Buddy | Keep the Diff |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (9.6K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 48.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 9.6K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Best chart rank | #75 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 169 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Buddy Budgeting AB | Augustus Travels LLC |
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
Keep the Diff
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
Keep the Diff
- Plus Monthly$6.991 Month
- Plus Annual1 Year trial$33.991 Year
- Plus Annual, 3-day trial3 Days trial$41.991 Year
- Plus Lifetime$91.99









