The best expense tracker depends on what you want from it. For a full budgeting method, YNAB. For automatic US bank sync with a polished iPhone and Mac app, Copilot. For a whole household’s finances, Monarch. For cancelling subscriptions, Rocket Money. For spends caught without a bank login and one daily number, 6pm.
Full disclosure: 6pm wrote this. So we kept ourselves honest the boring way. Every fact about another app comes from its own App Store page or website (linked at the bottom), and where another app does something better, we say so.
How to pick
Three questions sort most people:
- Do you want your bank connected? Bank sync means less typing. It also means handing a third party read access to your accounts, and it mostly works in the US, Canada, the UK and Europe.
- Do you want a budget or an answer? Some apps give you categories, rollovers and reports. Others give you one figure to live by.
- Do you need it beyond iPhone? Android, Mac and web support vary a lot.
Quick comparison (October 2026)
| Price (US) | Free tier | Bank sync | Platforms | App Store rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YNAB | $14.99/mo or $109/yr | No (34-day trial) | US, Canada, UK, EU (select banks) | iOS, Android, web, Watch | 4.8 (62K) |
| Copilot Money | $13/mo or $95/yr | No (1-month trial) | US only, 10,000+ institutions | iPhone, iPad, Mac, web | 4.8 (31K) |
| Monarch | Core $14.99/mo or $99.99/yr; Plus $199.99/yr | No (7-day trial) | Yes | iOS, Android, web | 4.9 (~115K) |
| Rocket Money | Free; Premium tiers in-app | Yes | Yes | iOS, Android, web | 4.5 (401K) |
| Spendee | Plus $1.99/mo, Premium $5.99/mo on spendee.com (in-app prices vary) | Yes (1 wallet, 1 budget) | Yes | iOS, Android, web | 4.6 (6.3K) |
| 6pm | Max $4.99/mo or $34.99/yr | Yes: the close, every capture, Budget together | No, by design | iPhone (Android later) | Not yet rated (launches 6 Nov) |
Prices and ratings were checked on 21 October 2026 and change often. Check the store before you subscribe.
YNAB: the method
Best for: people who want to change how they think about money, not just see it.
YNAB asks you to give every dollar a job before you spend it. It is a method as much as an app, with plenty of teaching around it, goals, a loan planner and net worth. It imports from select banks in the US, Canada, the UK and the EU, and runs on iPhone, Android, the web and Apple Watch. One subscription can be shared with up to five other people. There is a 34-day free trial, and students get a year free.
Better than 6pm at: a proven, deep budgeting system; web and Android; bank import; sharing a whole budget.
Trade-off: it asks for regular attention. If budgeting feels like homework, read our YNAB alternatives for people who hate budgeting.
Copilot Money: the polished one
Best for: US iPhone and Mac users who want everything synced and nicely drawn.
Copilot connects to more than 10,000 US institutions, with direct integrations for Venmo, Apple Card and Coinbase. It has adaptive budgets with rollovers, AI categorisation, subscription detection, investments and net worth. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web. No ads.
Better than 6pm at: automatic US bank sync, including Apple Card and Venmo; investments and net worth; a Mac app.
Trade-off: US only, and no free tier.
Monarch: the household view
Best for: couples and families who want every account in one place.
Monarch does read-only account connections, auto-categorisation, net worth, investments, a bill and subscription calendar, goals, and either flex or category budgeting. A partner joins at no extra cost with their own login, and both of you see every account and transaction in the household. Web, iOS and Android.
Better than 6pm at: whole-household finances; investments; web and Android; a shared view of everything.
Trade-off: that shared view is total. If you want to save together but keep your own spending to yourself, see budgeting as a couple.
Rocket Money: the subscription hunter
Best for: people who suspect they are paying for five streaming services.
Rocket Money’s free tier links accounts, tracks spending and finds subscriptions. It can cancel subscriptions for you and negotiate some bills, for a fee of 35% to 60% of the first year’s savings (nothing if it fails). It also shows a credit score and net worth. iOS, Android and web.
Better than 6pm at: finding and cancelling subscriptions; bill negotiation; credit score; US bank sync.
Spendee: shared wallets, worldwide
Best for: people outside the US who want bank sync and shared wallets.
Spendee has shared wallets for couples, families and roommates, category budgets, savings goals, an AI receipt scanner and multiple currencies, on iOS, Android and the web. The free plan covers one cash wallet and one budget.
Better than 6pm at: Android and web; group wallets where everyone sees the transactions; e-wallet and crypto sync.
6pm: expense tracking on autopilot, one number to live by
Best for: iPhone users who have quit expense trackers before, and want a daily answer instead of a dashboard.
6pm is built around a one-minute ritual. During the day, spends land in one Inbox on their own: Apple Pay taps (through a Shortcuts automation you set up once), receipt photos read on your phone, bank and shop emails forwarded to your own address (like k7m2qx@at6pm.app), voice (“lunch, twelve dollars”), QR codes, and a keypad for cash. Duplicates seen two ways merge into one.
At 6pm (or the time you pick) you swipe through the day: Keep, Edit or Not mine. The last card stamps the day CLOSED. Next morning you get one number, Safe to spend today: your pay, minus bills, minus pots and Future you, spread evenly to payday. Ask 6pm answers “Can I afford $350 on Saturday?” from your own numbers.
The free tier is the whole ritual: the close, every way to capture, Budget together (shared pots for two). 6pm Max ($4.99/month or $34.99/year, 7-day trial) adds looks, unlimited Ask and pots, Travel mode, Year book and encrypted backup.
Where 6pm is weaker, plainly: no bank sync, so a card swipe you never photograph, forward or tap with Apple Pay has to be typed. No Android yet, no web or Mac. No investments or net worth. Light on reports. And it has not launched yet: it reaches the App Store on 6 November 2026.
So which one?
- You want a system and will put in the time: YNAB.
- You are in the US and want everything synced: Copilot or Monarch.
- You share all finances with a partner: Monarch.
- You want subscriptions cancelled for you: Rocket Money.
- You are outside the US and on Android: Spendee.
- You want spends caught for you and one number each morning: 6pm.
The best expense tracker is the one you still open in week three. If that has never happened for you, our piece on why expense tracking fails after two weeks is worth five minutes.
FAQ
What is the best free expense tracker for iPhone?
Rocket Money, Spendee and 6pm all have free tiers. 6pm’s free tier includes the daily close, every capture method and shared pots; YNAB, Copilot and Monarch offer trials rather than free plans.
Which expense tracker works without connecting my bank?
6pm never asks for a bank login. It catches spends from Apple Pay taps, receipts, forwarded bank alert emails, voice and QR codes. We never store your transactions; they live on your iPhone, encrypted. No bank login.
Is 6pm a YNAB replacement?
For some people. YNAB is a full budgeting method; 6pm gives you one daily number with bills and savings set aside first. If you enjoy assigning every dollar, stay with YNAB.
Does 6pm work outside Vietnam?
Yes. 6pm works in English and Vietnamese and uses your phone’s currency, so a US user sees dollars.
Is 6pm on Android?
Not yet. It launches on iPhone on Friday 6 November 2026; Android comes later.
Try 6pm
6pm arrives on the App Store on Friday 6 November 2026 at 18:00 Vietnam time (6:00 a.m. Eastern). Want it now? Join the public beta on TestFlight: testflight.apple.com/join/a8UrvT5P. More at at6pm.app.
Every spend, caught.
Sources (checked 21 October 2026): YNAB on the App Store, YNAB pricing, Copilot on the App Store, copilot.money, Monarch on the App Store, Monarch pricing, Monarch for couples, Rocket Money on the App Store, Rocket Money bill negotiation fee, Spendee on the App Store, Spendee pricing.