Money Tracker vs Copilot Money: an honest comparison

Disclosure: we make Money Tracker, so we are not neutral. To keep this fair, every fact about Copilot Money comes from its own website, help center, or App Store listing, linked inline and checked on October 13, 2026. We say where Copilot Money is the better choice, and we report Money Tracker's App Store privacy label exactly as Apple shows it.

The short answer

Copilot Money is one of the best-designed budgeting apps on Apple devices, with an Apple Editors' Choice badge to show for it, plus Mac, iPad, and web apps and investment tracking. If you want all of that and are happy for your transactions to live in Copilot's cloud, it is a strong pick. Money Tracker is the alternative for people who only need an iPhone, want a free plan or a lower price, and want their transactions kept on the phone with no account.

Copilot Money vs Money Tracker at a glance

US prices and App Store labels as of October 13, 2026. The label row lists the categories each developer reports under “Data Linked to You”. Neither app shows a “Data Used to Track You” section.

About our label: Money Tracker's list is no shorter than most cloud apps', so here is what our servers actually hold. If you turn on bank sync, they keep an encrypted token that connects your bank, which bank it is, and a random ID for your install; new transactions pass through to your phone without being stored. They also hold your subscription status, a notification token if you turn on reminders, and your email only if you contact support. The privacy policy lists every processor.

The real differences

Where your data lives

Copilot stores your data on Google Cloud, encrypted at rest and in transit, and says on its security page that it doesn't sell your financial information or advertise based on it. That cloud copy is what lets you open the same data on your Mac, iPad, or a browser. Money Tracker keeps transactions in an encrypted database on your iPhone. Nothing to sign in to, and nothing to open on another device either.

Price

Copilot is $95 a year after a one-month trial, with no free plan. Money Tracker is free for manual tracking, and bank sync costs $24.99 a year on Sync (4 bank connections) or $39.99 on Pro (8), after a 7-day trial. See pricing.

Features

Both apps categorize transactions automatically and learn from your corrections, detect subscriptions, and track savings goals and cash flow. Copilot goes further on investments, with intraday updates and benchmarks, and connects directly to Apple Card, Venmo, and Coinbase. Money Tracker adds things Copilot's listing doesn't describe: receipt scanning on the phone, Siri logging, Split the Tab for splitting bills with friends, a cash-flow forecast to your next payday, and an on-device Assistant that answers questions about your money (open-ended questions need Apple Intelligence). Money Tracker's categorization runs on the iPhone itself.

Which should you choose?

Choose Copilot Money if:

• You want the same budget on your Mac, iPad, or the web, not just your iPhone.
• You track investments and want performance in the same app.
• You rely on Apple Card, Venmo, or Coinbase connections.
• You want in-app support from a person and a long, one-month trial.

Choose Money Tracker if:

• You want your transactions stored on your iPhone, not on a company's servers, with no account.
• You want a free plan, or bank sync for less than Copilot's price.
• You want an Android app as well as iPhone.
• You want receipt scanning, Siri, bill splitting, and a payday forecast in your budget app.

Both apps connect only to US banks.

How to switch from Copilot Money to Money Tracker

1. In Copilot on your iPhone, open Settings, scroll to Account, and tap Export your transactions. Copilot opens a CSV of all your transactions; tap the share button to save it to Files. (On the web, export from the Transactions tab.) Steps from Copilot's export guide.
2. Install Money Tracker on your phone. You don't need an account, and CSV import is on the Free plan.
3. Save the CSV to the Files app (or AirDrop it to your phone), then in Money Tracker open Settings, tap Import Data, and choose the file.
4. Pick the account the rows belong to, or let the importer read an Account column and match each name to one of your accounts. Date, amount, and description columns are detected automatically, and you can change any column before importing. A file with separate money-out and money-in columns works too: map them to debit and credit.
5. Check the preview. Money Tracker treats negative amounts as spending; if your file lists spending as positive numbers, map the amount column to Amount (positive = spending).
6. Import. A category that matches one of yours is applied directly, and the rest are categorized on your iPhone. Re-importing the same file is safe: rows already imported are skipped, and you can revert an import if something looks wrong.

Copilot's export includes category, account, and notes columns, which Money Tracker reads. Budgets, recurrings, and goals don't carry over in a CSV, so set those up again; Money Tracker detects recurring charges from your imported history.

Frequently asked questions

Is Money Tracker cheaper than Copilot Money?

Yes. Manual tracking is free, and bank sync is $24.99 or $39.99 a year, against Copilot's $95 a year as of the date above.

Does Money Tracker have a Mac or iPad app like Copilot?

No. Money Tracker is an iPhone app, with no iPad or web version. If you budget on a Mac or iPad, Copilot is the better fit.

Can I bring my Copilot categories with me?

Yes. Categories in the CSV that match one of yours are applied directly, and the rest are categorized on your iPhone after the import. You can create matching categories first if you want them to carry over exactly.

How we checked

On October 13, 2026 we read the competitor's US App Store listing (price list, compatibility, and privacy label) and its own pricing, security, and help-center pages, which are linked throughout. Prices, labels, and features change often, so check the App Store before you decide. If something here is out of date, email support@macaroni-studios.com and we'll fix it.

Money Tracker is free on the App Store if you'd like to try it.