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Looking for a PocketGuard alternative

By , who built Keep the Diff

PocketGuard is built around one number. It looks at your linked accounts, sets aside what is due for bills, goals and savings, and tells you what is left to spend. For a lot of people that single figure is exactly the right amount of information.

People leave it for three different reasons, and each one points somewhere different.

Reason one: the bank link

PocketGuard's number is only as current as your transactions, so it is designed around connecting your accounts. You can add cash accounts and type transactions in by hand, but a manual setup gives up most of what makes it PocketGuard.

If this is you, you want an app built for typing things in rather than one that tolerates it. The options are laid out in budget apps that don't connect to your bank.

Reason two: the price

PocketGuard is a paid subscription after a short free trial. The free plan it was once known for is no longer offered, which is why a lot of long time users are looking around now.

If this is you, check whether the number was the thing you were paying for. If it was, a spreadsheet that subtracts your bills from your balance does the same arithmetic for free, without the phone app.

Reason three: the question itself

"How much can I spend?" is a permission question. Asked every day, it keeps your attention on spending, and a comfortable number can start to read as a target rather than a ceiling.

If this is you, you may want to measure the other side instead: what you chose not to spend.

What Keep the Diff is, and what it is not

It is not a PocketGuard replacement in the sense of answering the same question. It records one thing: at the moment you decide not to buy something, you log what you were ready to spend and what you actually spent. The difference is money you kept, and it adds up by week, by month and toward a goal.

There is no bank connection, because there is no bank integration in the app at all, and there is nothing to reconcile. There is no limit to go over either: buy the thing anyway and there is simply no difference to record that time. The running total does not fall.

The honest comparison

  • PocketGuard tells you what is safe to spend. Keep the Diff cannot, and does not try to. If that number is what keeps you out of your overdraft, keep it.
  • PocketGuard follows your bills and income. Keep the Diff follows neither. It suits people whose bills are already handled and who want to save more on purpose.
  • PocketGuard needs connected accounts to stay current. Keep the Diff is only as complete as what you chose to log, and it is still useful when you log half of it.
  • PocketGuard costs a subscription. Logging in Keep the Diff is free forever, with no ads and no limit. Premium adds full history, categories, goals, widgets and sync across your devices.

If the question you want answered is how much you kept rather than how much you may spend, you can try it in your browser without installing anything, or read reverse budgeting for the method on its own.

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