7 Best Personal Expense Tracker Apps of 2024

Expense tracker apps help you collect and classify your purchases so that you recognize spending patterns and spot where to trim your costs. Or, in the case of building net worth, places where you can allocate more money, such as savings. You might track expenses for a while just to check where your money’s going, or it might be a stepping stone toward making and following a budget.

» Inflation got your money working overtime? See if the 60/30/10 budget can help.

How do expense trackers work?

The goal here is to move from a spreadsheet at best — or, at worst, no tracking at all — to some form of collection and categorization of money spent. Apps can do that. However, the experience varies widely.

These are the most popular apps on the iOS and Android platforms, but you'll likely need to test-drive a few before you find one you're comfortable with. While our list focuses on free apps, for the most part, you'll probably have to upgrade at a small cost to get all the features you want.

The list of features you may want might include:

• Easy transaction download.

• Automatic logging of recurring transactions.

• A forecast of your ending balances at some point in time (cash flow).

• Auto-categorization of transactions, especially taxable items.

• And one real luxury on the wish list: the ability to scan receipts.

It's likely you won't find every feature you want or need in one of these apps, especially if it's free. But starting the process of tracking your expenses is more than half the battle. When you've been at it a while, you'll know more about what you want in a financial app.

Best iOS personal expense tracker apps

EveryDollar

This app helps you deploy a zero-based budget plan by helping you account for each dollar spent. Users are enthusiastic about the spending and saving approach of EveryDollar, but some recent and older reviews express complaints about the app’s user interface and expense-tracking capability.

Download: iOS

Cost: The basic version of the app is free. The premium version is $17.99 a month, or $79.99 a year. New users are offered a 14-day free trial.

YNAB

You Need a Budget touts no in-app ads or product pitches. Thing is, that's because it's only free for a 34-day trial. The app is pricey, but reviews gush that YNAB is "life-changing," "exactly what I needed" and "excellent."

You can share one subscription with your partner, family or friends. And you can use the app to set and track your goals, and calculate some of your debt with the loan planner tool.

Download: iOS

Cost: You can purchase the annual plan for $109 a year or pay $14.99 a month.

Expensify

Combining personal and business expense tracking capabilities lures many users to this app — as does the convenience of scanning receipts. It’s important to note that categories are limited in the free version of the app. There are also two paid versions of the app, aimed at businesses with 1-10 employees or up to 1,000.

Download: iOS

Cost: Free to $36 per month, depending on the plan.

Rocket Money

This app has an interesting wrinkle: It not only helps you track your expenses, but promises to find and cancel unused subscriptions that are tied to your financial accounts. Rocket Money also says it can lower some charges on recurring bills. There is a free version of the app and a paid premium version. Some features, including bill negotiation services, require an additional fee.

Download: iOS

Cost: Free. The premium version has a sliding scale from $6 to $12 a month.

Best Android personal expense tracker apps

Money Manager & Expenses

Money Manager tops our list of Android expense tracker apps for its high rating, clean display and personalization options. App developers seem quick to respond to user questions and suggestions. Many reviews are very favorable, and note that the number of ads shown (the tradeoff for a free app) is not overly irritating.

Download: Android

Cost: Free

AndroMoney

AndroMoney has been described as a versatile app that can help track daily expenses, manage budgets, and manage multiple accounts. Some special features AndroMoney offers include alerts when you’ve exceeded your budget and real-time expense reports. Overall, AndroMoney earns a high user rating, though developer responses to suggestions and complaints are few and far between. There is also an ad-free version of the app.

Download: Android

Cost: Free. The premium version costs $3.99.

1Money

1Money touts the ability to "add a new transaction with a single tap." All you'll need to do is enter the amount of the item. Most users are enthusiastic, praising its easy navigation and simplicity. Support responds quickly to inquiries. One feature that seems missing: the ability to snap receipts from a smartphone. There is a premium version of the app that allows you to create multiple accounts, categories and sync between all of your devices.

Download: Android, iOS

Cost: Free for the basic version. On iOS, the premium version is $1.99 for one month, $24.99 for lifetime access, and $9.99 for premium expense tracking.

If you're ready to start a budget

Once you get a handle on where your money is going, you may want to take even more control of your efforts to build your net worth. That is likely to lead to exploring the budgeting process. NerdWallet has compiled the best budget apps for your consideration.

NerdWallet also offers a free app that lets you track your cash, see your net worth and debt, and track your credit score. We chose not to include ourselves in the list above in order to present an unbiased view. (This review in The Wall Street Journal will give you a sense of what others are saying about NerdWallet's app.)

We also provide non-app options: