2 Best Expense Tracking Apps for Malaysians: Free vs Paid Comparison

Looking for the best expense tracking apps for Malaysians? Finding the right money management app can transform how you spend, save, and invest your money.

We spend money every single day—on food, transport, shopping, entertainment. Yet, when someone asks how much we spent last month, we can’t give an exact number. This lack of awareness is exactly why so many people struggle to save, invest, or get ahead financially.

The solution? An expense tracking app. These simple apps let you record every transaction, categorize your spending, and see exactly where your money goes. At Better With Ringgit, we believe that stretching your ringgit starts with understanding your spending patterns. That’s why we tested dozens of expense tracking apps to find the best options for Malaysians who want to take control of their finances—without paying subscription fees.

In this guide, we’ll share our personal picks for the best expense tracking apps in Malaysia 2026, compare them with the most popular alternatives, and show you a clever pro tip for Android users that’ll save you even more money.

Why You Need an Expense Tracking App

You’ve probably heard the saying: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” This applies perfectly to personal finances.

According to recent data, 87% of Malaysians use e-wallets for daily transactions. Yet, very few actually track where their money goes. They pay with e-wallets, see the transaction happen instantly, but never look back to analyze spending patterns. The result? Money disappears without a trace.

An expense tracking app solves this problem by automatically categorizing your spending (or letting you do it manually), showing visual reports so you can see spending by category at a glance, identifying patterns that help you cut unnecessary expenses, tracking your progress toward savings and investment goals, and alerting you when you’re approaching budget limits.

Our Top Picks: Best Expense Tracking Apps for Malaysians

After testing multiple apps and using them personally, here are our winners for each platform.

Rating: 4.6/5 on App Store | Cost: FREE | Best for: Users who value privacy, automatic expense tracking, and a clean interface

Wallet by BudgetBakers is our choice for the best expense tracker for iOS users in Malaysia. First, it’s completely free. There are no hidden paywalls, no premium features gating basic functionality. You download it, create an account, and start tracking—no credit card required.

Second, it connects directly to your bank account (if your bank supports it). This means transactions auto-sync into the app. You’re not manually entering every coffee purchase—the app does the work for you. For Malaysians with busy schedules, this hands-off approach is game-changing.

Third, BudgetBakers doesn’t sell your data. In a time when privacy feels like a luxury, Wallet respects your financial information. All your transaction data stays with you. The interface is simple, intuitive, and beautiful. Creating budgets takes seconds. Checking your spending summary is instant.

Rating: 4.8/5 on Google Play | Cost: FREE (Premium RM24.90 optional) | Best for: Detail-oriented users, people who want complete control over categorization, and those who like beautiful visual reports

For Android, our personal favorite is Money Manager Expense & Budget. This app ranks highest on Google Play for a reason. Money Manager excels at detailed tracking. You get unlimited custom categories. Need to track “Starbucks coffee,” “Restaurant meals,” and “Hawker stalls” separately? You can. Most apps limit you to generic categories like “Food.” Not this one.

The reports are gorgeous. Pie charts, bar graphs, trend analysis—all presented in a beautiful interface that actually makes looking at your spending patterns enjoyable. You can view reports by day, week, month, or year. The app also manages multiple accounts. Have cash, a debit card, and two e-wallets? Track all of them separately in one app.

The Xiaomi WiFi Toggle Pro Tip (Save RM24.90!)

If you use a Xiaomi smartphone (or other Android phones like Poco, Redmi, etc.), you can block ads for free using a simple setting. Here’s how: Open Settings > Apps > Money Manager, then tap Permissions > WiFi, and Toggle WiFi OFF for just this app. The app still works perfectly offline, but ads won’t load. Result: Free, ad-free expense tracking forever. No need to pay RM24.90 for the premium version.

This is the kind of frugal hack we love at Better With Ringgit. It shows that with a bit of creativity, you don’t have to pay for premium features when a workaround exists.

You might be wondering: What about other apps everyone talks about online? Let’s compare our picks against the two most popular and most discussed expense tracking apps globally.

Rating: 4.4/5 (Android and iOS) | Cost: RM52 per month (or RM365 per year)

YNAB is powerful. It teaches you budgeting philosophy, offers debt payoff features, and has a strong community of users sharing tips. However, it’s a paid subscription. For Malaysians looking to start expense tracking without spending money, YNAB doesn’t fit the brief. It’s also overkill for simple tracking—you’re paying for features you might not need.

Our verdict: YNAB is excellent if you can afford the subscription. But Wallet (iOS) and Money Manager (Android) give you 95% of the functionality for free.

iPhone Users

• Download Wallet by BudgetBakers from the App Store
• Create an account with your email
• Connect your bank account (if supported)
• Create budget categories for your lifestyle
• Let the app auto-track your spending
• Review your spending report weekly

Android Users

• Download Money Manager from Google Play
• Create an account
• Manually set up your spending categories
• Start logging transactions as you spend
• Check reports weekly to identify patterns
• (OPTIONAL) Toggle WiFi off to remove ads