Comparison

Starling vs Precisionpay Go

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Starling

Manage personal, business, and joint finances with a seamless mobile banking experience. Enjoy fee-free international transactions, advanced budgeting tools, and secure, human support. It offers features for individuals, families, and businesses, making banking simple and satisfying.

Highlights
  • Fee-free overseas spending and ATM withdrawals
  • Virtual 'Spaces' for saving and budgeting
  • Real-time payment notifications and spending insights
  • Automated bill management
  • Seamless international money transfers
  • Digital cheque deposits
  • 24/7 in-app human support
Features
Read full description

Our personal, business and joint accounts make managing your money as seamless, simple and satisfying as it should be in 2026. It's why we're the Which? Recommended Provider for a seventh year in a row. Apply for a bank account online in minutes - for free - from your phone, and join the millions who have already discovered the better way to bank. What's in it for you? No overseas fees • We won't charge you a penny for using your card abroad, or for withdrawing cash at an ATM. • We'll give you the Mastercard exchange rate, and won't add anything on top. • Get notifications in the local currency, and in GBP. Better budgeting • Use Spaces to set money aside in a virtual change jar. Personalise with pictures, set a target, and track your progress. • Get instant payment notifications and track your balance in real-time • Learn where your money goes, and how to make savings, with Spending Insights • Use Bills Manager to set aside money for your bills. It means your main balance will only show you what's actually available for day-to-day spending. • Save on autopilot - automatically round up payments to the nearest pound and put away the spare change. Pay and get paid seamlessly • Owed money? Send a simple link to get paid back. • Enjoy easy international transfers to 34 countries from your app – no hidden fees or exchange rate markups • Pay people instantly in-app – no fiddly card reader needed • Deposit cheques digitally from your phone and pay in cash at the Post Office. Keep your money safe • Your money is covered up to £120,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme • With 24/7 in-app support from real humans in the UK, we're always here to help • Lock your card in-app and turn settings on and off, such as contactless, online, gambling and swipe payments Business banking No monthly fees. Get mobile and web banking access, 24/7 support and simplified accounting. Deposit cash at the Post Office from as little as £3, and deposit cheques in-app by taking a photo. Automate your expenses, ring-fence money for bills, keep track of invoices with instant payment notifications and spot where your business is spending with smart analytics. Voted Most Innovative Business Bank at RFI UK Banking & Finance Awards 2026. The joint bank account Manage collective household expenses or set aside money together; our joint account simplifies shared spending. Get instant payment notifications, track your spending with Insights, budget together and make important payments from one account. Banking for the whole family, all in one app Under 16s is our free debit card and app for 6-15 year olds. It's built seamlessly into the adult's Starling account (personal or joint) for better visibility and control. Starling Bank Limited (trading as Starling) is registered in England and Wales (No. 09092149), 5th Floor London Fruit And Wool Exchange, 1 Duval Square, London, United Kingdom, E1 6PW. We are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 730166.

About

Precisionpay Go

Manage business expenses with virtual payment cards. Request and pay for approved business purchases like travel and office supplies securely online or on-the-go. View transactions and attach receipt images.

Highlights
  • Request virtual payment cards
  • Pay for business expenses
  • Secure online payments
  • Add to Apple Wallet
  • View completed transactions
  • Attach receipt images
Read full description

“Request and pay for your business expenses easily and securely with Barclaycard Precisionpay Go.” WHY USE PRECISIONPAY GO? If you're an employee, contractor or other approved user and your employer has a Precisionpay Go account with Barclaycard, you’ll be able to use this app for approved business payments including hotel bookings, flights, office stationery, and more. Through the app, you are issued a virtual payment card, which you can then use online or on-the-go. HOW DOES IT WORK? Eligible? Your employer needs to have a corporate account with Barclaycard that you’re connected to. Once your employer has created a Precisionpay Go account, you'll be sent an invite to download the app. Once you're connected, you can either generate or request a secure virtual payment card, which you'll then be able to access in the app and use for either online payments or add to your Apple Wallet and use with Apple Pay – a safer, more secure and private way to pay. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? - Brings flexibility and convenience to your business payments - Saves you time and effort - removing the burden of 'Pay and Reclaim' for both you and your employer - Make payments securely with unique virtual payment cards created for a single purpose - Ensures that you, won't be paying for business expenses out of pocket - Removes the need for plastic - no need to wait for your physical card to arrive in the post, and helps reduce environmental impact WHAT ELSE CAN I DO ON THE APP? You can also view completed transactions and attach images of your receipts. Please note, the application will need to access your camera to capture images.

Screenshots

Starling4 screens
Precisionpay Go4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Starling at 74% against Precisionpay Go's 0%. Starling also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Starling ships an update weekly, Precisionpay Go every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Starling versus Precisionpay Go: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarlingPrecisionpay Go
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (2.8K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews73.8% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2.8K — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size529 MB87 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSTARLING BANK LIMITEDBarclays Services Limited

Customer experience

Starling

All ratings2,792 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral0.9%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews1,538 reviews
Positive73.8%
Neutral4.2%
Negative22.0%

Precisionpay Go

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Starling

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login issues after phone updates
  • Inability to record video for verification
  • App crashes on certain devices
  • Delayed or failed money transfers

Requested features

7 requests
  • Joint account cards with different designs
  • Ability to set up automatic transfers to savings
  • More customization options for Spaces
  • Integration with password managers
  • Showing pending payments in balance
Show 2 more
  • Daily balance history view
  • Ability to split transactions into categories

Precisionpay Go

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Starling

No in-app purchases

None

Precisionpay Go

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Starling free?
Starling is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Precisionpay Go free?
Precisionpay Go is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Starling or Precisionpay Go have ads?
Neither Starling nor Precisionpay Go shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Starling or Precisionpay Go?
Starling ships an update weekly, and Precisionpay Go every 3 months. Most recently, Starling was updated on October 28, 2026 and Precisionpay Go on October 17, 2026.

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