Ask any tech enthusiast why they stick with the Apple ecosystem, and the answer is usually the same: iMessage, AirDrop, FaceTime, and the seamless continuity between devices. While those features are certainly strong, they weren’t enough to stop me from constantly eyeing a jump to Android or Windows.

And then I discovered Budget Flow. This isn’t just another expense tracker; it’s the genius third-party application that finally made all my Apple devices work in perfect financial harmony. Here’s why BudgetFow has become the single piece of software that officially locked me into the Apple experience.

Native design and experience

The Apple feel

When you invest in the Apple ecosystem, you expect software that feels right — polished, fast, and respectful to the rest of the OS. Cross-platform apps, even popular ones like Spendee or Wallet, often feel like a web page stuffed into a generic container. Budget Flow is the complete opposite.

The moment you open Budget Flow on any Apple device, you can tell it was built using Apple’s native frameworks rather than a clumsy cross-platform toolkit.

While other apps are still trying to catch up to the previous design language, Budget Flow is already supporting the new Liquid Glass interface across all its apps.

The navigation bars and toolbars have that beautiful, fluid, refractive quality that subtly blends with your wallpaper and shifts based on motion. Whether I’m sitting at my Mac reviewing quarterly reports or quickly adding a coffee expense on my iPhone, the layout, icons, and even the unique numeric keypad feel identical.

Solid budgeting concept

Aligns with my requirements

For years, I was forced to squeeze my entire financial life — my household spending, freelance income, investment goals, and vacation fund – into a single, confusing spreadsheet or a single, limited app view. That’s not budgeting; that’s just tracking.

Budget Flow is different because it understands that I have different financial lives that require boundaries. The secret weapon here is the concept of Budget Books.

The most immediate benefit was simplifying my household. Instead of constantly texting my partner about who paid for what, we operate entirely within one dedicated ‘Home Expenses Budget Book.’

This is where the flexibility truly shines. We are currently renovating and buying new furniture. Trying to track that temporary, high-value project alongside our daily coffee runs would destroy our ‘Home Expenses’ clarity.

I created a separate ‘Furniture Project’ budget book and even shared it with our interior architect. This book contains only transactions related to vendors, material purchases, and labor costs. There is even an ‘Investment tracker’ book. The possibilities are endless here.

The Apple Watch / iPhone entry workflow

Making expense tracking frictionless

If an expense tracker is slow or requires too many taps, you simply won’t use it, and your budget will fail. The beauty of Budget Flow lies in how it makes logging expenses nearly instantaneous.

Most budgeting apps are phone-centric, meaning I have to pull out my iPhone, unlock it, find the app, and wait for it to load. Budget Flow is on my wrist, ready to go.

With a single flick on my wrist, I can see the exact remaining balance in my most critical budget category. As expected, Budget Flow also supports home screen widgets, lock screen widgets, and Siri Shortcuts.

I wish the developer would consider releasing at least a web version so that I can review my home lab spending and other budget books right from my Linux machine.

Robust set of features

With iCloud sync

Let me start with the Mac experience. The desktop version isn’t just a stretched-out iPhone app. I get full Mac menu bar support and, critically, native keyboard shortcuts. Logging a new transaction is often as simple as hitting Command + N.

Because it’s a native app, Budget Flow plays perfectly with advanced iPadOS features like Split View and Stage Manager. I can drag the Budget Flow window right next to my bank statement in Safari to quickly review balances without any hiccups or resizing issues.

I can set up and monitor multiple accounts (checking, savings, credit card, cash) with clear, separated balances, and avoid the common ‘all-in-one’ confusion of simpler apps.

The sync between my device and my partner’s is effectively instant. When they log a grocery run on their Apple Watch, I see the budget update immediately on my Mac.

Crucially, the data remains private, secured by Apple’s end-to-end encryption, which is a massive peace of mind factor that web-synced alternatives can’t offer.

The list of features continues with recurring transactions, custom reminders, custom repetition intervals, scan your receipts, integrated calculator, the ability to attach photos and locations, a customizable dashboard, and more.

Forget iMessage and FaceTime

While there is no shortage of finance and budgeting apps out there, most of them felt clunky, outdated, and lacked the privacy and deep integration I craved across my devices. It is the gold standard for what a modern, native finance application should be.

Although Apple’s native apps often receive all the praise, it is innovative third-party apps like Budget Flow that truly fill the crucial gaps and deliver the killer features. Aside from Budget Flow, Bear Notes is another Apple-exclusive app that is worth exploring in your workflow.