Best Expense Tracker Apps Compared: Which Suits You?

An expense tracker has one job: help you write down what you spend, then show you where the money went. This guide compares the main apps for that job. They are Monefy, Spendee, Wallet by BudgetBakers, Money Manager by Realbyte and our own Budget & Expense Tracker. Each one suits a different kind of person, so the best choice depends on how you like to log.

This guide is about logging spending. If you want a method for planning a month before it starts, such as zero-based or envelope budgeting, that is a different kind of app with a different list.

This comparison is based on what each product is designed for. Check each app's own site for its current plans and prices, because they change.

The short version

App	Suits	Platforms	Works offline	Free to use
Monefy	Logging fast with a few taps	iPhone, Android	Check their site	Has a free version
Spendee	Seeing spending from linked bank accounts	iPhone, Android, web	Check their site	Has a free version
Wallet by BudgetBakers	Many accounts and bank connections in one place	iPhone, Android, web	Check their site	Has a free version
Money Manager (Realbyte)	Detailed records, accounts and cards	iPhone, Android	Check their site	Has a free version
Budget & Expense Tracker	Manual logging with privacy, no app store	iPhone, Android, computers (from the browser)	Yes	Yes

Two ways to track spending

Before you pick an app, decide how your spending gets into it. There are two ways.

You type it in. You add each purchase yourself, or import a file from your bank. It takes a few seconds per purchase. In return, you notice every purchase, and you never hand a bank login to an app. You may find that the act of logging is what changes your habits.

The app pulls it from your bank. You connect your bank account and transactions arrive on their own. It is less work, but you share access to your bank data with the app or a partner service. Bank connections also depend on your country and your bank, and they can break and need reconnecting.

Monefy, Money Manager and our app are built around typing it in. Spendee and Wallet offer bank connections, with manual entry as well.

Monefy

Monefy is known for speed. You open it, tap a category on a round chart, type the amount and you're done. The main screen shows your spending as a pie chart by category, so you see the picture at a glance.

Choose Monefy if you want a quick way to log cash and card spending on your phone and you don't need much more. It keeps things simple on purpose. It offers backup and sync through cloud storage; check their site for which services it supports.

You install it from the App Store or Google Play.

Spendee

Spendee combines manual entry with bank connections. It is known for clean charts and for shared wallets, where more than one person can add to the same wallet.

Choose Spendee if you want your bank transactions to appear on their own and you're comfortable linking your accounts. It also suits couples who want to track shared spending together. Bank connections depend on where you live, so check that your bank is supported.

Wallet by BudgetBakers

Wallet is built to pull many accounts into one view. It can connect to banks, track accounts in different currencies, and show reports across all of them. It runs on phones and on the web.

Choose Wallet if you have many accounts across banks and want them in one place with as little typing as possible. It suits people who like a lot of reports and want to see their whole financial picture along with daily spending.

Money Manager by Realbyte

Money Manager is built for people who like detail. It tracks assets, accounts and credit cards side by side, and it uses a double-entry style so that money moving between accounts stays consistent. Its calendar and statistics views help you check past months.

Choose Money Manager if you think of your money like a set of accounts and want careful records, including card payments and transfers. It has more screens and settings than Monefy, so it takes a little longer to learn.

Budget & Expense Tracker

The Budget & Expense Tracker is our app. You type in what you spend and earn in a few taps, and it shows where the money went. It doesn't link to your bank. It also lets you give categories a monthly budget, but logging works on its own if that is all you want.

What it does well for logging:

• Quick to add. Pick an amount, a category and an account, and add a note such as "Lunch with Sam". On Android and computers, the installed app has an "Add spending" shortcut.
• Several accounts. Keep a wallet, a current account and a credit card side by side, and move money between them so the balances stay right.
• Different currencies. Each account has its own currency. To include one in your totals, you type the rate you want to use.
• Bank statements without bank access. Download a CSV file from your bank, choose which column is the date, the amount and the description, and check a preview before you import. It can skip rows you already have. The file is read on your device.
• See where it went. A category chart and a comparison with last month show what changed.
• A reminder to log. Turn on a reminder so you don't forget to add the day's spending.
• Works offline and installs from the browser. On iPhone, open it in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android, open it in Chrome and tap Install. It works on computers too. You don't need an app store.
• Private by design. Your spending stays on your device unless you choose to sync it to an EveryApp account. You can download or delete it any time.
• Shared with a household. Sign in and invite your partner or family by link. Everyone adds spending on their own phone, or you can give someone view-only access.

It is free to use. Logging spending and income is never capped. The free plan has two accounts, one category of your own, one repeating transaction, one reminder, monthly budgets and reports, CSV import and a shared budget with up to five people. Pro adds more accounts and categories, more repeating transactions, rolling over what's left in a budget, 12-month reports, CSV export, more reminders and up to ten people in a shared budget.

Choose the Budget & Expense Tracker if you want to log by hand, keep your data on your device, and use the same app on your phone and computer without an app store.

What the Budget & Expense Tracker doesn't do

Be clear about the limits. It doesn't scan receipts. It doesn't connect to your bank, so transactions never arrive on their own; you add them or import a CSV file. It doesn't convert currencies for you; you type the rate. If you want automatic bank feeds, Spendee or Wallet will save you more time.

If you track spending for work

If your costs go to an employer for repayment, you need a business expense tool with receipt scanning, approvals and reports. Expensify is one well-known example. Our comparison of Expense Split and Expensify explains what that kind of tool does. And if you only need to split costs with friends on a trip, Expense Split is built for that.

How to choose

Ask yourself these questions in order.

1. Will you type it in, or do you want bank feeds? If you want transactions to appear on their own, look at Spendee or Wallet and check that your bank is supported. If you're happy to log by hand, Monefy, Money Manager or the Budget & Expense Tracker will do.
2. How much detail do you want? For the fewest taps, Monefy. For careful records of accounts, cards and transfers, Money Manager. For a middle ground with several accounts, notes and charts, the Budget & Expense Tracker.
3. Where do you want to use it? If you want the same app on a phone and a computer, pick one with a web version or one that installs from the browser. Monefy and Money Manager are mainly phone apps, so check their sites if you also want to use a computer.
4. Who else needs to see it? If you share costs with a partner or family, Spendee and the Budget & Expense Tracker both let more than one person add to the same records.
5. How much do you care about privacy? If you'd rather not link a bank or send your spending to a server, choose an app that works with manual entry and keeps data on your device.

Whatever you pick, the habit matters more than the app. Log every day for a month, then look at the category chart. You may find one or two categories that surprise you.

If you're also saving toward a goal, the free Savings Tracker keeps track of what you've put aside.