A spreadsheet is free and does exactly what you build into it. A budget app costs a little each month and does the sums, the phone entry and the sharing for you. If one person keeps the budget and enjoys formulas, a spreadsheet is enough. If two people share the money, or the sheet keeps getting abandoned in March, an app is the better fit.
01Side by side
The right-hand column is Spendhog, the app we make.
| Spreadsheet | Spendhog | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | SpreadsheetFree in Excel, LibreOffice or Google Sheets | Spendhog30 days free with no card, then CHF 8.99 a month for the first 30 households, for the whole household |
| Getting started | SpreadsheetYou build the sheet, or download a template | SpendhogYou create an account and enter or import your first month |
| Entering a payment when you are out | SpreadsheetPossible on a phone, but fiddly | SpendhogIn the browser on your phone |
| Two people | SpreadsheetOne shared file; edits at the same time can clash | SpendhogOne shared ledger, up to three logins, and each entry shows who added it |
| Bills every 3 or 12 months | SpreadsheetYou build the logic yourself | SpendhogBudgets repeat every 1, 2, 3, 6 or 12 months |
| Why a month went wrong | SpreadsheetYou compare the numbers yourself | SpendhogIt explains the month in words, compared with your usual month |
| Bank connection | SpreadsheetNone | SpendhogNone, by design: you type entries in or import your bank's CSV or camt file |
| Leaving | SpreadsheetThe file is yours | SpendhogExport to CSV or Excel at any time; after cancelling you keep read-only access |
02When a spreadsheet is the better choice
- One person looks after the money and likes building things in Excel.
- You want to try budgeting for a month before paying for anything.
- Your household is simple: one income, one account, few bills that are not monthly.
03When an app is the better choice
- Two of you spend from the same money and both need to see it.
- You want to note a payment at the till, on your phone.
- You have several accounts, a currency besides your own, or bills that come every three or twelve months.
- You have started a spreadsheet before and stopped after a few weeks. It happens a lot. January goes well, the receipts pile up in February, and by March nobody opens the file.
04Moving from one to the other
You can start with the spreadsheet and move later. Our budget template comes with a CSV file whose categories are the ones a new Spendhog household starts with, so an import puts every row in its place. Going the other way, Spendhog exports your entries to CSV or Excel whenever you want.
Questions about this page? Reach us any time and we'll walk you through it. info@spendhog.com