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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Money Manager Expense & Budget vs YNAB

Money Manager Expense & Budget 4.8★ · Free + IAP 65
Winner YNAB
YNAB 4.8★ · Free + IAP 80

YNAB is better for serious, long-term budgeting with its robust system and educational resources, while Money Manager Expense & Budget is a simpler, more straightforward option for basic tracking.

Full reviews: Money Manager Expense & Budget · YNAB

Money Manager Expense & Budget offers a simple, free solution for basic expense tracking, though it faces recent complaints about glitches and outdated features. YNAB, while more expensive, provides a powerful zero-based budgeting system that many users find life-changing, despite recent frustrations with UI changes and connectivity issues.

Head to head

Features edge: YNABR9R10R12R6
Money Manager Expense & Budget Money Manager offers basic budgeting functions, multi-currency support, and manual data backup/export, but users desire more advanced options like custom budget categories, payee tracking, split payment options, and shared access with a partner R9R10R12R6. Some users also wish for more detailed spending habit insights .
YNAB YNAB excels with its zero-based budgeting approach, credit card handling, and detailed financial reflection tools R68. However, users report issues with linking certain accounts (like Fidelity or Sam's Club Mastercard) and a lack of subscription tracking R62R63R68.
Ease of Use tieR2R8R11R23
Money Manager Expense & Budget Many users praise Money Manager for being easy, simple, and straightforward for daily financial management R2R8R11R23. However, some recent reviews indicate it has become overcomplicated, difficult to understand, and not user-friendly, with a dated interface R13.
YNAB YNAB has a significant learning curve, with users noting it takes a while to get the hang of it and can be complicated, especially for new users or those unfamiliar with zero-based budgeting R95. Despite this, many find it simple to use and navigate once learned .
Reliability tieR1R3R13R16
Money Manager Expense & Budget Money Manager users report significant reliability issues, including transactions getting messed up, data loss, login problems, app crashes after updates, and recurring transactions not updating or appearing correctly R1R3R13R16. Cross-platform data import is also a problem .
YNAB YNAB users have experienced issues with delayed transactions, inaccurate balances, and occasional bugs introduced by updates . Connectivity problems with specific banks (like Fidelity, Sam's Club Mastercard, Amex, Chase UK) and general syncing failures are also reported R63R68R114.
Price/Value edge: Money Manager Expense & BudgetR9R18R33R51
Money Manager Expense & Budget Money Manager is a free app with in-app purchases to remove ads, which some users find intrusive and covering parts of the interface R9R18R33R51. Users appreciate the one-time purchase model for ad removal R9.
YNAB YNAB is a paid subscription service, which many users find expensive, especially given recent price hikes . However, many long-term users believe the app pays for itself by helping them save significantly more money than the subscription cost .
Support edge: YNABR36R39R95R101
Money Manager Expense & Budget Money Manager lacks in-app help options or basic tutorials, making it difficult for some users to understand and set up R36R39.
YNAB YNAB offers extensive educational resources, including website content, YouTube channels, and podcasts, which users find very helpful for learning the system and customizing their budgeting R95R101. Customer support is also highly praised .
Pick Money Manager Expense & Budget if

you need a simple, free app for basic income and expense tracking, don't mind manual data entry, and prefer a one-time purchase to remove ads R9.

Pick YNAB if

you are committed to a zero-based budgeting system, are willing to invest time in learning a robust method, and believe the financial benefits will outweigh the subscription cost .

Evidence note: Recent reviews for both apps show a negative skew, with Money Manager users reporting more critical bugs and YNAB users expressing frustration with UI changes. The lifetime ratings are very close, but the recent sentiment indicates a decline in user satisfaction for both, particularly with updates.

Frequently asked

Is Money Manager Expense & Budget truly free?
Money Manager Expense & Budget is free to download and use, but it includes in-app ads that some users find intrusive and that can cover parts of the interface; there is a one-time purchase option to remove these ads R9R18R33R51.
Does YNAB offer a free trial?
YNAB offers a free trial, but some users have reported being automatically signed up for it without explicit permission, leading to confusion about charges and cancellation R85.
Can I sync data between devices with Money Manager Expense & Budget?
Money Manager Expense & Budget does not support syncing data between different devices, which is a significant drawback for users who want to access their financial information across multiple platforms R15.
Are there issues with bank connectivity in YNAB?
Yes, YNAB users frequently report issues with connecting to certain bank accounts, including Fidelity, Sam's Club Mastercard, American Express, and Chase UK, sometimes leading to manual transaction entry or an inability to use the app effectively R62R63R68R114.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R9] Money Manager Expense & Budget 3/5 · US A bit outdated: GOOD: Has basic budgeting functions and multi-currency! Can backup/export your data (manually). No subscription, just a one-time purchase to remove ads, but the ads are not super-intrusive. BAD: The interface looks like it was created over 20 years ago. Every category has an icon, but they cannot be changed and new categories and all subcategories have no icon which is boring. (And
  2. [R10] Money Manager Expense & Budget 2/5 · GB Not able to make custom budgets: This app is great but there is such a limited number of budget options. I can have a budget for my pets expenses but not my kids?
  3. [R12] Money Manager Expense & Budget 3/5 · US I like but..: Needs payee category so one can chart how much is spent at different stores and also needs a split payment option for different category purchases on the same bill.
  4. [R6] Money Manager Expense & Budget 3/5 · US Habiten que se pueda compartir con la pareja: Necesito poder compartir los datos con mi pareja en tiempo real y que el también pueda actializar
  5. [R2] Money Manager Expense & Budget 5/5 · US Excelente: Mes es de gran ayuda para llevar mis cuentas y para ahorrar
  6. [R8] Money Manager Expense & Budget 5/5 · US Best budget app ever: I’ve tried a lot of apps and this one definitely is the best!!! Been using it more than a year now and it’s been working great. Recommend 100%!
  7. [R11] Money Manager Expense & Budget 5/5 · US Good: This app good for my daily financial management. I have used 5 years ago and now still use it.
  8. [R23] Money Manager Expense & Budget 5/5 · US Nice: It’s really use to easy and nice
  9. [R1] Money Manager Expense & Budget 1/5 · US Glitches: Got all my transactions messed up in a day, lost tracking of all my information
  10. [R3] Money Manager Expense & Budget 3/5 · US New version login problem: Unable to log into 4.14.0 after downloading. It opens momentarily and the closes before I have a chance to login on my iPhone.
  11. [R13] Money Manager Expense & Budget 2/5 · GB Could be better: This app has so much potential but it’s not user friendly. It’s very complex for what it is. Also after you spend time entering all your incoming and outgoing transactions, it doesn’t update. I entered multiple dates on the calendar for the month and selected the repeat frequency for each yet only on day in the month had anything in it so nothing else updated. Not very useful. The
  12. [R16] Money Manager Expense & Budget 1/5 · GB Dreadful. Inexplicably bad: So I downloaded this with the aim of tracking bills. I enter everything as recurring monthly. Save. Disappears. So I do it again and again. Same thing. Then all of a sudden after a month, all those attempts now show and make a complete mess of things. Utterly useless. Use google calendar and sheets/numbers for the pie charts. This is a rip off being free due to time co
  13. [R18] Money Manager Expense & Budget 3/5 · US Buena aplicación lástima los adds: Buena aplicación lástima los adds
  14. [R33] Money Manager Expense & Budget 3/5 · GB Nice and solid app ruined by ads: This used to be a nice app that can be used ok with a free version, however, recently, they increased the size of the ad banner and you can no longer press some areas of the app because they are covered by ads.
  15. [R51] Money Manager Expense & Budget 5/5 · US Good: Good for daily calculation. I like it most for less Advertisements.
  16. [R36] Money Manager Expense & Budget 3/5 · GB Money manager: It would be helpful to have a help option or basic how to included within the program.
  17. [R39] Money Manager Expense & Budget 1/5 · GB Incredibly hard to use: They give you no instruction or help whatsoever on how to use it
  18. [R95] YNAB 5/5 · US A great tool: Once I learned the system and how the app works, I find it very helpful in maintaining my peace around money. The company has a lot of educational resources on their website and YouTube channel to help.
  19. [R101] YNAB 5/5 · US Financial Clarity: I used to struggle with credit card balances, but after 2 years with YNAB, I don’t pay any interest and can reap all the rewards while my credit is rising. This is the best envelope budgeting system available without a doubt and the community videos are super helpful for customizing to your specific needs. - 3 year update! I both my first home!
  20. [R85] YNAB 1/5 · US Disappointed: As soon as I created an account, it automatically signed me up for a free trial WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. Now I have to spend time figuring out how much they charge afterwards how to cancel it. I didn’t even have a chance to see if I like the app and what it has to offer. They literally TRAPPED me into this free trial. They not how a good financial app has to work.
  21. [R15] Money Manager Expense & Budget 3/5 · US Sync needed: App is good. I’ve been using it for more than 3 years, but there’s no sync between devices.
  22. [R62] YNAB 4/5 · US Great app: Loving the app the only thing I wish I could do is link an account with a certain category like putting my investment account with my investment category if that makes sense otherwise great job!
  23. [R63] YNAB 3/5 · US Please allow Fidelity connection: I have multiple accounts that i need to manually add transactions
  24. [R68] YNAB 5/5 · US Fun, Practical, Helpful: I really like this budgeting app. It teaches you a thing or two about budgeting. I am putting into practice zero-cash dollar budgeting. I have found some difficulty connecting to cards using MX, when not supported by plaid (Sam’s Club Mastercard). I love the way I can reflect on the month as a whole and see where I overspent or did very well in. I would request a new fe
  25. [R114] YNAB 3/5 · GB No support for Amex: Says that American Express is supported, but trying to connect multiple times, same result: failure. Doing a web search, seems it’s a known issue. May be in the Amex side, may not be, but without the bulk of my spending available here, app is worthless.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store